Chapter 9: You better reply

Come on, pick up the phone.

Pick up the damn phone, Blake!

"He's not picking up?" Harry asked.

I let out a long sigh and stopped the annoying programmed voice over the phone saying that the number was not reachable. I know I said that I didn't want to follow him last night but now I feel like I should've. It was the morning after and Harry barged into my room to see if Blake was with me. Apparently, he never came back home and one of the gang's hidden base was attacked last night. Not to mention, my father was furious, thinking that Blake had ran away and betrayed him. I, knowing Blake for a huge majority of my life, was quick to silence my father and told him that I would handle it. With that, Harry and I were seated in the living room- well, he was sitting and I was pacing around the room, unable to calm myself as I continuously called Blake's number.

"Don't worry. I'm sure his phone just ran out of battery," Harry spoke again with a smile to reassure me but it did nothing to ease the panic.

Even though I know he can take care of himself, I can't help but imagine the worst. There are a few possible places Blake could've gone to based on our previous night rides. My father had insisted that I stay at home and sent his people to all the places I listed to look for him, in case Blake was being held hostage to get me to go to the place. It was a reasonable excuse to keep me at home but I didn't care about my safety at this point. All I wanted was to know was if Blake was safe.

One of the bodyguards walked up to Harry but I wasn't too concerned about trying to listen in on their conversation as I rapidly sent multiple messages to Blake.

"Where are u?"

"Im worried, pls answer me."

"Is everything ok?"

"At least tell me if u're safe."

"Goddamnit Blake answer me!"

"You better reply."

"Im going to kill u when I find u."

The messages showed 'delivered' so his phone wasn't switched off. I groaned to myself just as Harry stood up and walked over to me.

"Hey, are you going to be okay on your own?" Harry began softly, "I have to handle the panic about the attack at the base."

I took a deep breath and put on my most convincing face, "Yeah, of course." I held my phone up to him, "I'll let you know as soon as I get anything."

Harry pursed his lips into a thin line before nodding and walking away. I made sure he was out of sight before running up the stairs, skipping a few steps and almost tripping on the last one but that didn't make me stop.

I immediately opened the door to Blake's room. Everything was how it was supposed to be, neat, put-together and very...Blake. Regardless, I still looked around, in case he had come back home in the middle of the night and left a note. I checked under his clothes, pillow cases and even in the garbage bin. I looked through his drawers, stopping when I found a picture of both of us during our first day in high school. I smiled and traced his grinning face with my thumb. After a moment, I shook my head and kept the picture back in the drawer and closed it.

With the defeated sigh, I slumped down on the edge of the bed and soon laid back on it. Immediately, I was hit with a strong smell of Blake's cologne and a whiff of his natural body scent. The bed was cold without him on it.

Just then, a loud bang and the sound of glass breaking was heard. I sat up panicked, taking a second to make sure I did not imagine it before running out of his room and downstairs. By the time I reached the end of the stairs, the other bodyguards were already crowding by the entrance of the house, blocking all sight of the source of the sound.

I glanced around the area and saw my father stepping out of his room, his hair dishevelled and clothes wrinkled, soon followed by Sloan, clinging to his arm with similarly messy hair. I grumbled quietly, knowing exactly what they were up to.

I heard another loud bang that almost made me jump and a faint voice, "What's wrong with me?"

I didn't even have to take a take a second to recognise who that voice belonged to. Instantly, I pushed past the massive bodies covering the entrance and squeezed myself to the front. The sight before me made my eyes widen. There he slouched against the door with an opened bottle of beer in his hand, spilling it all over himself as he lifted it to take a swig of the beer.

I knew that if I left him there any longer, my father would try to step in and it would end terribly. I had put Blake under too much pain already and I wasn't going to let that happen again. Hesitantly, I kneeled down next to him, avoiding looking at his face and tried to take the bottle from his hand. His grip on the bottle only tightened. He reeked of alcohol, making me scrunch my nose at the smell.

I clicked my tongue and attempted to remove his hand, "Let go."

I could hear him chuckle before his finger poked my side, making me flinch and let out a gasp. I immediately shut my mouth and glanced around at the bodyguards standing around.

I waved my hand at them, "It's okay, I can handle this."

They were reluctant for a moment but one by one, they started walking away. I turned my attention back to Blake and practically had to yank the bottle from him.

"Ash..." Blake slurred and his smile slowly turned into pout. He was really drunk. "I'm sorry," he mumbled with the pout.

I shook my head and grabbed one of his arms, putting it over my shoulder as I struggled to lift him up, "Come on, Blake. Get up."

Thankfully, Harry came to the rescue and took Blake's other arm, standing him up. We avoided my father's glare and limped our way up the stairs, almost dropping him a few times. The whole time Blake kept apologising and but I was too out of breath holding his weight to answer him.

Harry and I stumbled into Blake's room and dropped Blake onto his bed, breathing heavily afterwards. Harry positioned Blake on the bed properly as I removed Blake's shoes and pulled the covers to his chest.

We both let out a breath.

"Thank you," I said to Harry but I couldn't bring myself to smile. I was mad at Blake. He disappears for hours without telling me and got us all worked up only for him to return drunk out of his mind.

Harry walked to my side and patted my shoulder. "At least he's back in one piece," he tried to reason, probably noticing how upset I was.

I simply nodded as Harry walked out of the room, leaving me alone with Blake. I watched him sleeping quietly with a hint of smile tugging at his lips. After a few minutes, I left his room as well.

A few hours later and the sun was about to set. I had my feet dipped in the pool as I swung my legs back and forth, watching the ripples in the water. I wanted to get out of the house but I wasn't allowed to go out without Blake so the only other option I had was the backyard pool.

It helped me relax my mind and be able to think about things clearer. I was hoping the feelings I had for Blake would disappear if I avoided spending too much time with him but it completely backfired. I missed him. The feelings were only getting stronger. Whether I wanted to act on it so I could ease my mind or keep it to myself for Blake's sake is the question.

Out of nowhere, I heard Harry yelling my name.

"Ashley!" Harry walked up to me. "There you are."

I lifted my feet from the pool and stood up, "Is everything okay?"

Harry immediately nodded, "Blake's looking for you."

I narrowed my eyes at him but didn't question it further.

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- S.R. Fizz