boats against the current.

“But why me? I’m your sister, I want to be there for you, but I can’t if you don’t let me..” She said, allowing her last words to trail off. She was one to talk. If he were to ask her now what was wrong with her, she wouldn’t tell him. She couldn’t, mostly out of the fear of him hating her. As much as Evelyn didn’t like the idea of being hated, the idea of being hated by one of her siblings was much worse and a thought that happened almost daily. “I want my brother back..” She said softly, her voice cracking. 

Ashton sighed. He feared he'd have to have this conversation one day, but he wasn't ready. "Don't take this personally, but I don't want anyone to be here for me." In his mind not having anyone care about him was easier. He didn't want people telling him everything would be okay. No one knew his situation like he did. "You have me, okay? I'm still your brother and I still love you."

She nodded her head, noting his smile. “Ok, awesome.” She offered a smile in return, before turning to leave his room but decided against it. “Ashton..why..why did you push me away?” She asked softly. The two had been so close and now it was as if Evelyn didn’t know her brother at all. “We were so close, I trusted you more than anyone and that’s really, really hard for me. Stuff happened and I tried to talk to you, and it was like you couldn’t be bothered and I..what did I do? I don’t..I don’t want you mad at me.” She said softly. 

The question he had been dreading was now out in the open. How could possibly explain this to her without giving away his deepest secrets. "Eve, I..." Ashton sighed heavily. "I'm not mad at you. I was never mad at you." He assured. "I pushed a lot of people away, it was just... easier." He said with a shrug.

His words caused a smile to spread across her features. “Good – cause you’re stuck with me now,” she teased with a grin. Riley leaned into him as he wrapped an arm around her, sighing as he offered to stay with her. “You wouldn’t mind? I mean, you don’t have to. I’m sure I’ll be fine.”

"I want you to be okay, so if that means me staying then I'm here. And here's a secret, I'd actually love to stay." He said taking her hands in his.

When his lips met with hers, she smiled warmly as she returned the kiss. Her lips curved upward into a grin as he spoke, a soft giggle slipping through her lips. “You love me?” Riley’s eyes quickly met with his, letting out a breath of air as the smile on her lips grew wider. “Because I hope you know that I love you too, Ash.”

"Of course I love you." He said looking down at her with a smile. His grin only grew when she said those three words back to him. "I like knowing that. I like knowing I have someone, and I like that it's you." He wrapped his arm around her before speaking again. "Would you like to try and get some sleep? I could stay with you." He offered.

She stayed quiet for a few moments, resting her head against his chest. “I really care about you, you know,” she finally said, looking up at him. “I hope you know that.”

Ashton brought his lips down to hers for slow brief kiss. "I do, but I like hearing it." He admitted. It was nice knowing he was cared for. "And I hope you know how much I love you." He said softly.

“I’m gonna be honest now; Halloween is the scariest holiday that exist. Yes, I know what we are living among but when people dress up as scary clowns; my heart literally jumps out off my chest. Why dress up as a scary clown? Or super super scary things. I mean people can literally get a heart attack. Ugh why world, why?”

"Don't worry, it's only for one night."