Saviour

Ashley

We spent all night getting everything ready for the tour. We had everything sorted out and by the time midnight rolled around we were finished. Everyone went to bed in order to not be extremely tired for the ride tomorrow morning. I slept for a few hours before I heard the door open upstairs. I waited patiently for her to walk in but I could hear her stumbling. I got up and walked out to meet her. She was fairly close to the bedroom; tears were in her eyes and she was visibly shaking.
“Em?” I asked softly. She sobbed as she tried to make her way over to me. She bumped into the bookcase that was next to the hallway that led to her room. I grabbed onto her before she fell.
“What’s wrong baby?” I asked. I picked her up and carried her to her room after she tried to wipe her tears away. I went to grab her bag and shoes. When I walked back into the room again she was curled into a ball. I laid next to her on the bed and wrapped my arms around her. I let her cry in my arms until she was ready to tell me what was wrong. When she was I listened as she told me all about the guy who had attacked her. it made me furious that someone had tried to attack her but I was thankful that she knew how to defend herself. Even if she didn’t know how she knew what to do at least she was safe.
“He didn’t hurt you though right?” I asked after she was finished talking. She shook her head and buried it into my chest. “Then that’s what matters. You didn’t hurt him and he didn’t hurt you. You most likely will never see him again” I told her as I stroked my hair. She took deep breaths until she calmed down. She slowly pulled herself out of my arms. I watched as she quickly undressed and looked around, probably for a hoodie. I grabbed one from her dresser and handed it to her. after she put it on I helped her into bed where she cried in my arms until she fell asleep. Once I was sure that she was asleep I kissed her forehead before trying to fall asleep.

Andy woke the two of us up the next morning. Emerald was still in my arms; Emerald still had tear tracks and I could see the worry on Andy’s face.
“We’re getting ready to head out. Mark and Matt bought everyone breakfast and coffee.” Andy told us. I told him that we would be upstairs after we got ready. He nodded then left.
“Are you feeling any better?” I asked gathering the rest of my stuff together.
“Yeah I think I am. I think I’ve come to terms with what happened.” She told me as she searched for clothes.
“Do you want to shower first or should I?” I asked from my place by the futon.
“Go ahead. I want to make sure I have everything packed up.” She said before she started going around the room. I walked into the bathroom, clothes in hand, and turned on the shower. I quickly washed my hair and body before jumping out and getting dressed. I fixed my hair and put a thin layer of eyeliner on before walking back into Emerald’s room. Emerald was waiting patiently for me when I walked in.
“It’s all yours” I told him before she walked out. while I was waiting I took all of our suitcases and put them by the door. Then I found her phone and put my number in it. I programed her number into my own phone. After about ten minutes Emerald walked in dressed in a tank top and a pair of shorts. I smiled at her and asked if she was ready. She smiled back and grabbed two of her stuffed animals before grabbing two of her three suitcases. I grabbed the one that I had brought down and Emerald’s third suitcase. I followed her upstairs and placed the luggage with everyone else’s. We walked into the kitchen and Mark handed both of us coffee and a breakfast burrito. I watched carefully as Emerald ate as much of her burrito as she could. I wolfed my burrito down not realizing how hungry I really was.
After we finished breakfast we loaded up the busses and headed off for the road. I texted her telling her that I was proud of her for indulging her friends in her eating. I also told her that she needed to talk to her band mates and that I would see her when we stopped. Moments later she text back saying she would talk to them later. Andy walked into the back room where I was sitting in my bunk.
“So what happened last night?” Andy asked after a few minutes of silence. I looked up at him confused for a slight moment.
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“Don’t give me that Ash. You and Emerald were curled around each other when I woke you up this morning and she looked like she had been crying. So what the fuck happened last night?” Andy asked slightly angry.
“She almost got attacked on her way home from work. She was able to stop the guy before he could do anything but it scared her. She didn’t really know how she was able to defend herself because apparently none of what she did was from her karate class. I was comforting her” I told him calmly. I wasn’t sure why he was getting angry. Out of everyone I was the one that spent the most time with her.
“Andy! Ash! We’re setting up a Call of Duty tournament!!” Jake called out from the front room. I sighed and decided to join them. I couldn’t talk to Emerald because I knew she would be sleeping. We played video games for a few hours until we came to the first rest stop. We gassed up and bought snacks.
“Hey we’re going to hang out on CH’s bus” Andy called over to me as I walked out of the gas station. I shrugged and walked onto their bus. Emerald wasn’t in the front where everyone else was so I figured she was still sleeping.
Everyone from all three bands were in the front room except for Emerald. We were all just talking and eating the massive junk food we had bought. After about an hour McKenzie walked into the back and after a few minutes he came back with Emerald in tow. Her hair was now out of the hair tie she had put it in and her clothes were slightly ruffled. She sat down on Danny and Mark; Danny started scratching Emerald’s head as McKenzie placed a plate with a sandwich on her lap. She started nibbling it which caused her band mates to smile at her. she looked over at me and I gave her a small nod. Danny stopped scratching her head which caused her to groan. She put the sandwich down and laid her head on Danny’s shoulder. After a little while she started hitting her head against his shoulder until he placed his hand on her head. She whined at him until he started scratching her head again. Mark took the plate off of her lap as she quickly fell asleep again.
We all talked for a while until we heard Emerald cry. We all looked over at her concerned. Danny gave her a gentle shake which brought her out of her sleep.
“You alright there Memmy?” Danny asked. Emerald nodded and told him that it was just a bad dream before walking back to the bunks.
“She seems to like talking to you Ashley. You could try to see what happened.” Andy suggested after Johnny asked if someone should talk to her. I nodded before standing up and walking into the back.
“You wanna talk about it Em?” I asked her as I pulled her into my arms. She cried into my chest and nodded her head.
“It was my grandfather and father. They were talking about abusing someone and then they forced their way into my room. I was hiding under the bed but one of them grabbed my ankle and dragged me out from under it.” She told me softly.
“Have they ever abused you?” I asked her quietly. I was hoping that the answer would be no. She was quiet for a moment.
“I don’t think so” she said almost like she was confused.
“You think?” I asked her trying to clear up the confusion.
“I can’t remember much about my childhood. I don’t think that I was abused but I barely remember anything before I was ten.” She said upset. I sighed and wondered why she couldn’t remember anything . I tightened my arms and just held her while she cried. Randomly out of her crying she gave a small laugh.
“What?” I asked confused.
“You barely know me yet you’ve held me while I’ve cried over really small things” she told me with a teary smile.
“I’d like to get to know you” I mumbled to her.
“I think we can arrange that” she said as she laced her fingers with mine. I smiled as I stared down at her. she smiled back at me and leaned into me.
“We have a free day in a week. May I take you out to dinner?” I asked her.
“I’d love that.”
“It’s a date then” I said feeling happier than I had been in a while.