Chapter 41
Lily had gotten used to Asher blurting out the worst things at the most unexpected times, yet she was always shocked.
“It was 13 years ago, we had organized a party for my Lith birthday, but my parents wanted it to be a normal birthday celebration, I on the other hand wanted a pool party for my friends…” He paused and took a deep breath, and Lily immediately reached out to rub his hand in a soothing manner, her gaze soft with care as she stared at him.
You don’t have to continue if it’s too hard for you”
Asher let out a breath and forced a smile on his face. I want to do this. Thinning her lips, Lily gave him a tight but soft squeeze, and she nodded.
“Well…” He cleared his throat, and continued. They agreed to my demands after I refused to eat for a few days and I was overjoyed. The party ended up being a few days later than my birthday but it went exactly as I wanted it to go. I had fun, my friends had fun. My parents were happy 100 It was more than I could ask for at that moment, and even now” the last part came out in a whisper and Lily felt her heart clench painfully.
Everything however turned south when my dad and I went to see my friends off, and my mum was taking rounds around the pool, double- checking if anyone left anything important so it could be returned. Nobody knows what happened, but when my dad and I came back to the pool…
Tears had pooled and were swimming in his eyes now.
Lily wanted to stop him to keep him from recollecting something so painful, but it was already too late. She felt like smacking herself for asking such questions and for the stupid stunt she pulled earlier, but she couldn’t. So instead, she broke free from his hold and instead pulled him into her arms.
Asher inhaled sharply as she cuddled him, he could feel the tears threatening to come out. His bottom lip quivered ever so slightly as he fought against the tears. He just wanted to tell her the story, he didn’t want her to see him break down, but the image of his mother floating on the pool they all once loved, all because he asked for a stupid pool party was not
“It’s not your fault.” Lily said, breaking into his thoughts and Asher felt the world come to a halt. “You were a child, and if you knew it would cost you one of the people you loved the most in the world, you wouldn’t have asked for the party. But you didn’t know. It’s not your fault. Asher. It has never been.”
The tears that he had been fighting so much to keep at bay, finally broke free from his hold and trailed down his cheeks in torrents. Lily felt the teardrops trickle down her arm and chest, and she just pulled him closer to herself
Her heart hurt from seeing him in that state, but at the same time she was glad he could be like this with her. Without giving it a second thought.. she placed a kiss on his forehead.
“My mum was a good swimmer” He said out of the blue, as if he just realized it, and Lily froze, her eyes wide with uncertainty.
“I know,” he said, confirming her thoughts. There was however no proof that someone was behind it. Nobody was left in the pool, Lily
“And the CCTV didn’t…”
“We had none at the pool” An exasperated sigh left Lily’s lips at and tell him to install a cam by the pool.
lins at his w
words, and she wished she could go back in time and whack Mr Allan’s head
“Do you want to know what’s more shocking! A high dose of Temazepan and meth were found in her system when an autopsy was carried out, but my mum never used those. She was a clean woman. Gardening gave her the needed exhaustion for sleep, she had no use for such drugs, and yet…..
Tears blurred his vision and he sucked his bottom lip in as he tried to keep himself from shedding more tears, but it was almost unpossible to do
Not with Lily holding him so firmly yet so softly, not with the images flashing through his mind; his dad’s distraught face, his mother’s corpse. and definitely not with the frustration and helplessness bubbling inside of him that he lost two of the most precious people in his life and he couldn’t even do anything about it. Not then, not now.
He felt helpless, and
he w
Was
“When I was much younger… Lily started and Asher’s ears perked up. “I always felt so helpless against. She swallowed, holding herself back from saying her dad’s name. She couldn’t let him know about the monster she calls a father. Not now, at least. … Against the monster I imagined in my head. It would keep me up which everyone else had gone to sleep. Torturing me. I always, always wished I could do something. I blamed myself for being weak, for beinga_Human, Do you want to know what helped me get past all that fear?”
Asher slowly nodded his head and she smiled. Sleep. It was the hardest thing to get, but it was the most
st effective remedy. I’d purposely cry so much so that I’d be forced to sleep, and every time I woke up, things were slightly better.”
Asher breathed out a laugh and adjusted so he could get a better look at her face. “You know, that wasn’t exactly what I expected, but I’ll take it.” He
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11:07 AM
Chapter 41
said with a smile on his face, and Lily mirrored his expression.
“Come on, let me lull you to
ou to sleep.
He immediately shook his head, while leaning into her hold. “No! What am I? A baby!” He asked, placing his head on her lap, and Lily giggled. running her hand through his hair, and surprisingly, it didn’t take too long for him to fall asleep.
A fond smile lit up Lily’s face as she stared at him sleeping soundly, but her mind kept returning to his story, and she couldn’t help but wonder if it was the same pool party that. Her line of thoughts was however cut off by her phone going off from a notification
She immediately reached for her phone to silence it and keep it from waking Asher, but she mistakenly swiped on the message, opening in it, and colour instantly drained from her face.
