Astrid

--19--

(Jordan's pov)

Aiden and Carter slammed the front door open, and I gently slipped out from under a very asleep Astrid. I don't know what the fuck Carter did, but something happened and he wasn't getting away with making her cry.

I opened the door to my room slowly, so I didn't wake her up and walked downstairs, my anger began to settle in while I practically threw myself down the stairs.

Carter was sitting on the kitchen counter, running his hands through his hair while he drank a coke, a very faint lipstick mark on his neck. Assi didn't wear lipstick that day.

I took the drink out of his hands, pouring it into the sink while I glared him down.

"What the fuck man?" he barked angrily, jumping off the counter, trying to scare me.

"I could ask you the same fucking thing."

"What's your problem?"

He loomed closer to me, adrenaline filling my veins, making my heart pound faster and faster while we argued.

"You had fun with Lou then? You've got a bit of lipstick on your neck."

"Shit."

Aiden came running in, his eyes angrier than I had ever seen them. It was very scary, because he was normally chilled out. I saw Assi peeking her head around the doorway, and knew she had told him something.

"You're an asshole, Carter. You're actually so fucked in the head. What the fuck is your problem? You just want to fuck every girl on the planet, don't you?" he angrily shouted, stepping towards Carter, with a small scowl on his face. I watched him shaking as he spoke.

I turned to where Astrid was, her eyes watery and she was shaking as well. I noticed, and ran to her so maybe I could help her out. When my sister wasn't a bitch, she used to have panic attacks all the time, so I got used to helping her out.

She slid down against the wall, Aiden and Carter's voices muffled while they shouted at each other. We were lucky the walls were thick.

I sat down next to her "Assi, tell me three things that you can see."

"Uh-uh..y-you...the wall and...and.."

"One more thing you can see. It's ok, take your time sis."

"and...the door."

"Tell me three things you can hear."

"Y-your voice, Carter and Aiden arguing."

"Tell me three things you're feeling."

"Worthless, guilty and...and... sad."

"Do you want a hug?"

She nodded, and I pulled her to her feet, pulling her into a hug. She rested her head on my shoulder, her tears slowly dying down while I held her tightly. I swear, these guys don't know anything. They're thick in the head.

"Thank you, Jord."

"It's no problem, if you need anything, you come to me. Yeah?"

I felt her nodding against me, and realised that the voices had stopped. I looked at the doorway, Aiden and Carter watching as we stood there. I shot Carter a glare, he was looking very guilty and sheepish while he watched us.

Aiden looked at Assi, worry filling his eyes, as he strained his neck to check she was alright. I could see Carter watching as well, but he was filled with nervousness as he twiddled with his chain.

Assi pulled away, and she sent me a smile before turning around to face Carter. I watched as her eyes flickered to his neck, her whole body tensing when she saw the lipstick.

"he actually did it...I can't believe he actually did it." she kept muttering, her eyes filling with tears.

"Babe, are you ok?" he asked gently, walking towards her. I stepped back, moving to talk to Aiden, and to watch what was happening. "You left my game."

"Don't even ask me that. Don't act like you care, don't act like you actually like me." she retorted back, as she took a large step away from him.

"What do you mean?"

"I heard every fucking thing. 'is she on her period...believe me that's worse...you're too good for her... kiss me, she doesn't have to know...maybe I will.' So don't come crawling back here with Lou's fucking lipstick on your neck and acting like nothing fucking happened."

"That's not what-"

"This is how every single fight in any book goes. I was there, don't try to gaslight me. I was there. Ok? I have one question...why did you do it?"

"Astrid, I didn't do anything. Absolutely nothing. Nothing happened."

I watched her eyes fill up with tears, and she smiled softly. A broken smile, with no heart in it.

"If you won't say it, I will. We're over. I hope you and Lou are happy that you two managed to ruin someone's life. A life that was already fucked up enough to begin with."

"Assi, don't do this."

"You and Lou will have cute children."

She walked out of the room, her chin wobbling as small tears slipped down her cheeks. I heard her go into the bathroom, and decided to go after her, just in case she was going to do something potentially harming.

Aiden nodded at me, still in shock and Carter sank to the floor, rocking his head in his hands. Usually I would feel sympathy for him, but after what he did to her, I didn't feel anything.

I knocked on the door, hearing her sobs against it, I sat down next to the door so that I knew she would hear me. "Hey Assi. I know you're upset. I'm here to talk if you want to, I'm here to help you. We have ice cream in the fridge and chick flicks on Netflix. There's face masks under the sink. We can skip school tomorrow, whatever you want. I'm here for you. I can tell you that men ain't shit and I'll support you through every stage of this, alright?"

I heard her shallowly chuckle, and she stood up, unlocking the door and pulling me into a hug. The poor baby.

She reached for the face masks with a small smile, and told me to go and get the ice cream. She also said that if Aiden wanted to join in, he could but she understood if he wanted to stay with Carter.

I walked downstairs, Carter nowhere to be seen while Aiden played my new video game. I told him what me and Assi were doing, and her told me that Carter had gone to get drunk somewhere.

He used to do that a lot, when he was frustrated and upset with the world, so he would forget. So he could be happy. He used to be addicted, and he was heading along that road again.

"Give him five minutes, then go find him, yeah?"

"Alright. Tell Assi I'm here for her."

"I will."

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A/N
word count:

Woo! How much do you guys hate me? A very awkward chapter next, and then something interesting happens.

It's about to get very sad and very disturbing. You've been warned ;)

Hope you've had a good week :)

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See you Tuesday

xoxo