Loving You / Paul Lahote - [EDITED]

7 - [EDITED]

Next morning, after waking up and having her breakfast Ashley got a call from Bella. She said that she got the book and if she wanted she could come over and work on the project. After quickly checking out with her parents, she was soon on her way.

Ashley softly knocked on the door. To her surprise, Chief Swan opened the door. "Good morning, you must be Ashley," he said, holding a cup of coffee. 

Ashley smiled as she came in. "Good morning, yes that's me," she said. 

"Sorry, the house is a bit messy, Bells just informed me of you coming, and I was leaving for the weekend," he said as Ashley made her way to the living room. 

Ashley shrugged. "No worries Chief, I'm sure Bella and I will manage," she replied.

Bella shortly came down and after saying goodbye to her dad they sat at the table with Bella's laptop open and the book. 

As Bella was typing down something Ashley grabbed the book to take a look inside. Bella must've been reading it because she had left some kind of a bookmark. 

When Ashley read the page, she instantly held her breath. The page was talking about the tribe's enemy, specifically the 'cold ones'. Bella had circled the word. Just like her mother predicted, she was close to finding out their secret.

Both of the girls were distracted by the events they experienced yesterday.

After thirty minutes of sloppy working, they both decided on a break. Ashley didn't have anything particular against Bella, she seemed to make her uncle happy and her mother sad. She didn't know where to stand on.

"So, uhm, Ashley, we're friends, right?" Bella asked Ashley out of the blue. 

Ashley furrowed her brows. "Yeah, I mean, yes," she murmured, not really knowing what to say. 

"Even though we haven't spent much time together I feel like I can trust you like you're a true friend," Bella said. Ashley didn't know how to respond to that as well so she smiled in return.

"Some things happened yesterday, with your brother," Bella said and Ashley bit her lip. 

"Yeah? He didn't really tell us much yesterday," Ashley said in response. 

"While I was getting the book, uhm, I was kind of attacked by some drunk guys, Edward showed out of nowhere and he saved me, I think, " Bella said. 

Ashley nodded, not really knowing what to say. "When I asked him how he found me he said that he could hear people's thoughts," Bella added and Ashley took a big breath. Sometimes her uncle was really irresponsible. 

"Oh, wow, uhm, I'm surprised he told you," Ashley said.

Bella shrugged. She wasn't also sure of what to say, she knew even though they were 'friends' Ashley probably wouldn't choose her friendship with Bella over her family. She wasn't going to tell her anything. 

Plus, the things she read yesterday night were creeping on Bella's mind, even though it came on as bizarre most of the facts were there.

After an awkward chat about her brother and slightly more sloppy work, Ashley decided to leave. She didn't have anything Bella and she mostly liked hanging out with her but the grounds they were on at the moment wasn't anything good. 

As Ashley got into her car and started driving she realized she didn't want to go back home, not yet. Instead, she called Paul.

"Hey beautiful," he opened the phone. 

A smile formed on Ashley's face. "Hey, what's up?" 

"Nothing much, I'm at Emily's,"

 "Oh," Ashley said, "I was wondering if I could come over," she said, biting her lip.