Page 8 of Protecting What's His

It looked like Ashley wasn't going to say anything for a minute. But then she got this conspiratorial look on her face. “Now, I don't know if this is true or not, but I think that Ash is very sick. He is gone all the time, lies about where he's at, and I followed him once to find that he was going to a hospital, I think. I know he's keeping something from me. What else could he be doing?”

The two twins had always been closer than I would have imagined normal. I had, of course, read about how twins were so close, and my siblings were, but it just seemed weird. They should be moving on with their own lives, instead of what they were doing. I would never say it out loud, of course, but I did ask her why they still lived together. I got a dirty look for it, but I stayed strong. I did want to know because it didn't make much sense to me. I lived alone for so long I couldn't imagine anything different.

“I'm sure that it's nothing like that with Ashton. He can’t keep a secret from you.” I didn't sound very sure of myself, and I wished that I could lie better. That was what she needed now. She needed me to lie and tell her that everything was going to be okay, even if I wasn't sure of that fact or not.

The two of us talked the whole way to New Orleans. It was about an hour away, and Ashley had me convinced that something was going on with Ashton. She had thought it through and she knew her brother better than anyone else. I worried that she could be right. Was something wrong with him?

When we stopped to do some shopping, I was sure that Ashley was going to cry about her brother. I knew that we hadn’t been as close as she would have liked us to be, but that didn’t mean that I wasn’t jealous of the relationship the twins had. It was supposed to be us that had that relationship of closeness. We were sisters after all, but it wasn’t how that went. The twins were close to each other instead.

“It’s going to be fine, Ashley. I’m sure of it.”

Ashley smiled through her teary eyes, and I hugged her. I told her that we would talk to Ashton when we got back.

“I don’t know if I can say anything to him. I will be afraid of what he is going to say.”

I waved her off and told her that she didn’t have to do it alone. I wanted her to know that I was going to make sure it all worked out. “I will be there with you, Ashley, so there is nothing to worry about.”

Ashley was still dubious, but it looked like she was going to in fact take my word for it. I liked that I could be there for her, even if it was only temporary. I worried that maybe her observation of our brother was right, and he was sick or something. I felt like Nicholas would have told me if that was true, or at least I like to think he would if he knew. He had been gone too. What if there was something to her worries?

We picked out some outfits for her, and I decided that I would tailor a few of them that weren’t quite ready. Ashley had a big smile on her face. The day had been nice and when she said that she had missed our times together, I had to agree with her. It was how I felt too. There was a moment of real bonding that I wasn’t sure we would ever have. Now that I was back, maybe we could be close. I had always wanted that.

Since Ashton was back and Nicholas was somewhere else, it was a good time to find out what was going on with Ashton. He was obviously hiding something from what Ashley had told me, and I really wanted to help her. We kind of cornered him and I was sure that he knew something was up. Ashton’s blonde hair was pushed back from his forehead, and he must have realized that we were about to make him uncomfortable. “What?”

“Ash, our sister thinks that you are hiding something from us, is that true?”

He looked from me to Ashley, and he sighed. “Did Nicholas tell you?”

I asked him what he was talking about, and at the same time I started to get really scared. Nicholas knew? Was Ashley really right? Why hadn’t he told me?

“I didn’t want you guys to find out like this, but I was hoping that you would be happy for me.”

Ashley scoffed, “Why would we be happy for you? This is the worst news!” Ashley started to tear up and then she was in full-blown crying minutes later. I was feeling my own sadness, but there was something extra heart-crushing with the way she wailed. Ashton looked confused, which was weird. It wasn’t that hard to understand why she felt bad.

“Sis, it’s okay, it’s not the end of the world,” Ashton said calmly. I, of course, didn't understand why he wasn't more upset. He was dying, he should be more upset, shouldn't he? He didn't look like he was at all. I had no idea why that was. It felt off. Everything about the last few minutes felt off, like we were talking about two different things.

“What isn't the end of the world?” I finally asked him. I had a feeling that it was what needed to be said. For some reason, I thought we were talking about two different things, and there was a part of me that wanted that to be the truth. If that was true, then maybe he wasn't dying. I didn't think that I could deal with that, he was so young, not even thirty yet. How could that happen?

“You know that I'm going to be getting married soon. Erin is nice and I know that I might have kept her away for a little while, but it's not what you think. It's not because I don't think that you guys will like her. It's just, I don't know. I didn't want you to react like this.” Ashton looked at his sister twin and they had that unspoken understanding that I’d always wanted with someone.

“Wait, you're not dying?” Ashley asked with tears in her eyes. They looked so much alike that it was sort of creepy, blue eyes, platinum blonde hair, and delicate features. I tousled my darker hair and tried to ignore the fact that it was so different than my siblings. There was always a part of me that thought that maybe if I was more like them, they would accept me more.

I ended up leaving after a time. It was good to hear that our brother was going to get married. We had never met the woman that he was apparently dating, but anyone that made him smile the way that he did when he talked about her, had to be exactly what he needed.

I saw Nicholas coming in the front door and he was looking down. It gave me a moment to study him, take in his hard body, and wonder what was going to happen between us. It had always been like lightning, so now what? Was I ready for a jolt of it? It felt like the perfect thing to do.

“Hey, where is your brother?” Nicholas asked me, barely looking up.

“He is talking to Ashley about getting married. Ashley thought that he was dying because he was keeping something from her. I'm glad that it's just some chick.”

Nicholas agreed. “Love was in the air.” He never looked up once at me. It was super annoying.

“Have you met her?”

“No, but he sure does seem like he is attached. I don't think it really matters if we like her or not, that's who he's going to marry. I've never seen him act that way before, not even when we were young and crazy,” Nicholas observed. I tended to agree with his assessment, Ashton did seem different in a big way.

“Yeah, I don't think I've seen him that way either. It is nice though, to see him so happy. I have wondered for a while if he was ever going to find a girl. He never seemed too interested in it. It's good to know that he found someone to make him happy. I just don't know why he kept her a secret for so long. It makes no sense.” I said the last part more to myself. I was still trying to figure out why it was all so secretive.

“He was afraid that he was going to hurt Ashley's feelings. They've lived together for a long time, and he worries about what will happen when he moves out. From the sound of it, it is going to happen soon. I hope that Ashley will be able to deal with it. It's good that you'll be there to help her.”

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