The Silence Is Scaring Me

(Feb. 11, 2006 Yes, I know, I skipped Harry's B-Day and Christmas and New Years. I'm SORRY! But if you want to get to the interesting part of the story, it had to be done.)

Three months had past. Ashlynn looked at the snow -covered lawn infront of her house and the leaf-less trees that blew in the wind as she cleaned. The house was silent and peaceful. Ashlynn felt like a bird in a cage. Yes, she was alive, but she was so restricted that it barely mattered. She pressed her hot cheek against the freezing glass window staring out at the cars passing by; her sponge still in hand. Her cell phone rang from her pocket and she jumped at the volume of it, but smiled when she saw Danny's picture on the screen of the phone. Ashlynn immediately answered.

"Ash! Ash! Ash! I have something I really need to tell you!" Danny yelled over the phone before she could say hello.

"What's going on?" Ashlynn asked him. She pulled herself away from the window and got back on her hands and knees to scrub the kitchen floor. Her dad had made it very clear that the house needed to be clean when he got home today. Ashlynn usually left the house right after her father so that she could go see Danny and sometimes the rest of McFLY as well as Gio. The house hadn't been properly cleaned in two weeks and her dad had definately taken notice. The previous night, David had taken her by the hair and practically growled at her,

"What in hell have you been doing?" he screamed with his fingers gripping Ashlynn's hair. "You have all day to clean this damn house and yet it looks like shit! You either need to get a proper job or" --he threw her over the back of the couch--"clean this fucking house!"

"Well I really wanted to see you today so maybe I could tell you then," Danny said hopefully.

Ashlynn looked around her. She still needed to vaccum, do laundry, dust, and clean the upstairs bathroom. Where's your Fairy God Mother when you need her?

"Well," Ashlynn deliberated how long it would take to do all of these chores in her head. It was only eleven o'clock in the morning and her father wasn't getting home until six today. She figured that if she skipped dusting, she would only need about two hours. "if you could pick me up from Gio's at 1:30 then we could probably hang out until about five thirty today."

Ashlynn was still skeptical about letting Danny come to her house. She was afraid that, by some weird chance, her father would sense that he had been there. Gio volunteered her house as a meeting place seeing as it wasn't far from Ashlynn's house and she could walk if she didn't have money for a cab.

"Why do you have a curfew all the time?" Danny asked. Sickend by the fact that they barely got to see eachother and when they did it was only for four or five hours.

"Dan, you know my dad's very strict about these kinds of things."

"Well, your nineteen dammit! You can't let him control you like this!" Danny said more in Ashlynn's defense than anger toward her.

"I know," Ashlynn said sadly, misinterpreting his anger. "I'm sorry."

"No, no, no I'm not mad at you," Danny said quietly and sighed. "I'll see you later today."

"Later, Danny."

The line died on the other end. Somtimes Ashlynn wondered if she could tell Danny what was happening. Her mind often agreed to the idea of it, but then she remembered that this was for his safety just as much as it was for hers. There was no way that she was going to tell him. Not even if she was ninety years old and on her death bed.

Ashlynn continued to clean the house, only finishing things half way, and dusting only the most noticeable places. She threw the dishes in the washer as the laundry was going and vaccumed quickly after cleaning the bathroom. She only folded her fathers clothes and threw her clothes carelessly into the back of her closet for the sake of time. When she finished, it was a quarter past one.

Ashlynn searched through the assortment of clothes that she had hastily thrown into her closet to pull out a pair of blue jeans and a pink cami with a blue-gray cardigan, but she then wore a pair of hot pink converse to off set the cami.

It was now about 1: 23 (haha 1,2,3... I couldn't resist). Ashlynn ran down the stairs, grabing her phone as she went, and out the front door.

When Ashlynn got to Gio's house, after running the whole way, it was 1: 32. She was only two minutes late.

"Hey Ash!" Gio greeted Ashlynn, pulling her out of the frosty air, into the warmth of her kitchen where it smelled like she was baking cookies.

"You cooking in here?" Ashlynn asked

"Sure am. Chocolate Chip cookies. The first batch is already finished if you want one."

"You're amazing, Gi." Ashlynn smiled as she grabbed a warm cookie off the plate. "So I take it Danny's not here yet."

"Nope, but he'll probably be here in the next twenty seconds." Gio rolled her eyes. "I swear you guys time these things. It happens every time. Even if you're late."

"Yeah well--" Ashlynn was cut off by a knock at the door.

Gio looked at the door and then raised her eyebrow. Ashlynn bit her lip, smiling at the irony of the situation. She stood to get the door, but Gio beat her to it.

"Coincidence?" Gio said looking at Danny. She turned to look at Ashlynn, "I think not."

"Huh?" Danny stepped over the threshold, taking off his scarf.

"You did it again." Gio informed him.

Before Gio finished speaking Ashlynn ran from her seat in the kitchen and jumped onto Danny's back. She bent her head around to kiss him on the cheek. Danny had Ashlynn's favorite smile plastered all over his face. Danny pulled her off his back and bent down to press his lips against hers.

"Hey, Ash." Danny said, hugging her tightly.

Ashlynn stood on her toes to peck him on the lips again.

"So, you said that you wanted to tell me something?" Ashlynn questioned.

"Oh yeah!" Danny said as it dawned on him. He smiled widely at Gio, who smiled, grimly, back. "We're going on tour!"

"Tour?" Ashlynn smiled. "That's great! When?"

"We leave in March." Danny smiled.

"Well that means you're not going to be here for your birthday," Ashlynn said sadly.

"Ashlynn when I said 'we' I meant you and me," Danny said brightly. "Gio's coming too."

"Danny," Ashlynn sighed. "you know my dad won't let me go."

"You're nineteen, Ashlynn," Danny said exasperated. "You can do whatever the hell you want. There's nothing he can do about it!"

"I know," was all Ashlynn said.

"Then why do you keep using him as an excuse?" He yelled back.

"Danny," Gio whispered in a warning tone.

''I'm sorry. I'm just trying to say is I don't know why you don't just move out. He can't say anything about it and that would mean you could come with us."

"Danny, trust me, it's not that simple." Ashlynn said with crooked smile on her face.

"Why can't it be?" Danny asked.

"Do you know where you're going to be on your birthday?" Ashlynn said to change the subject.

"Manchester. MEN Arena." He told her. All the excitement he had just minutes ago was now gone.

She closed her eyes not beleving what she was about to say.

"I'll be there." She said looking into his eyes.

Danny's smile returned, making Ashlynn smile as well.

"Really?" Danny asked, testing her.

"I promise." Ashlynn reached up and put a hand on his face as she thought, this promise might well be the death of her.

Danny sweeped her into the air and spun her around while his lips were attached to her cheek.