WAIT FOR ME TO COME HOME
Ali stood there speechless.
What does she mean “her sister”? I didn’t know she even had one. This is..I don’t know what to think.
She pulled Ash closer and embraced her into a tight hug. Ash grabbed her shirt and broke down..She sobbed uncontrollably while looking at the grave in front of them.
“Ash, I’m so sorry. I didn’t know..” Ali didn’t know how to react because this was something big. Really big. She kissed Ash’s forehead and they sat there on the cold grass for hours. Ali didn’t even consider trying to get Ash home. She needed this. She needed Ali.
“She was so-“Ash broke down immediately when she tried to explain to Ali what happened.
“Shhh, don’t..” Ali kissed her neck and pulled her even closer.
Eventually, Ash asked Ali to drive her home and they arrived after a few minutes.
“Do you want me to fill the tub for you?” Ali carefully asked, not knowing how to break the silence.
“Sure..” Ash entered the bathroom and took her shirt and her jeans off. She leaned to the sink and tried to clear her mind. Ali interrupted her with the hug from behind.
“Thank you.” Ash smiled politely and entered the tub.
While she was trying to calm down, Ali kneeled beside her and took Ash’s hand in hers, rubbing little circles on the back of her hand. Soon enough, she started washing all that dirt off of her.
“Let’s get you to bed.” Ali helped her up and handed her a towel.”I will wait outside.”
After she got dressed, Ash walked in the bedroom and she saw Ali sitting on the end of the bed. She sat next to her and after she removed Ali’s hair from her neck, she kissed her.
“Thank you for being there..” Ash whispered in her ear. After Ali nodded, she continued. “ That was her room..”
“Ash, you don’t have to-“ Ali felt like her heart is going to explode from all this sadness.
“You deserve to know.” Ash took Ali’s hand in hers. “She used to come here a lot. When I wasn’t at home, she would miss me a lot so my mum would drive all the way here from Orlando just so she could be with me.” She quickly wiped the tears away. “She is-“ She narrowed her brows in pain. “-was my anchor. And what happened was my fault.” She admitted it out loud.
“No, baby, don’t blame yourself. I’m sure it wasn-“
“No Ali, it was my fault. I am not trying to feel sorry for myself; it’s just the way it is.” Ash lied down and pulled Ali down so her head would rest on Ash’s chest. “I’m sorry that I didn’t tell you.”
“Ash, don’t..don’t worry about it. It’s just too early and I will wait. As long as I have to and I’m not leaving your side.” She tightened her grip around Ash and closed her eyes. She fell asleep listening to Ash’s heartbeat.
Morning came earlier than expected. Both of them felt like nothing is going to be the same again. Since they didn’t have practice today, Ali decided to invite a few friends over to cheer Ash up.
Ash was still in bed, checking her phone, when Ali walked in carrying the breakfast.
“Princess, you didn’t have to..” Ash tried to protest.
“I wanted to.” Ali placed it on the night stand and kissed her. This kiss was different. Every bit of pain they both felt was in it. Ali couldn’t hold the tears down. “Sorry.” She apologized.
“Don’t ever apologize for crying. I might just kill the person who made you cry, but it is okay to cry. I cried for a long time and here I am now, sitting beside the most beautiful person in the whole world.” Ash smiled as much as she could and hugged Ali.
“My warrior.” Ali whispered to her neck. When they broke the hug, Ali spoke up again.”Would you mind if I invited a few players over? I was thinking Engen, O’Hara, Syd, Heath and HAO.”Ali handed a plate over to Ash.”That is if you want. If not, I totally unders-“
“Sounds like a plan.” Ash smiled and took her shirt off as she was planning to take a shower.
“Wow, wow..Not while I’m carrying the dishes!” Ali almost dropped the plate when she saw Ash standing there in her boxers and sports bra.
“Well it’s not my fault that you can’t get enough of this.” Ash joked gesturing to her body.
“Well it is your fault because you are constantly taking off your shirt!” Ali fought back.
“And how do you suggest I take a shower? With my jacket on?” Ash came closer to Ali. She knew that it would distract Ali even more.
“Maybe you should!” Ali didn’t know what to say. She left as soon as she said that and took the dishes to the kitchen. That made Ash laugh and she heard it. She smiled in return.
After Ash took a shower and got dressed the doorbell rang.
“I’ll get it!” Ali yelled from downstairs and ran to the door. “Hey guys, come on in!”
Engen and HAO were the first to arrive. They brought some chips and two packs of beer.
“When did you come here? We thought we were going to be the first to arrive!” HAO was confused when she saw Ali opening the door.
Ali just laughed; she didn’t want to answer just yet.
“Good to see you Ali.” Engen hugged Ali and noticed that Ash was looking from upstairs. “Come here!” Whit ran towards her and hugged her tightly. “My brick wall!” She kissed her cheek.
“Whit, she knows.” That was the only thing Ash said and Whit knew. Only one thing was kept as this big dark secret and Ash didn’t have to say anything else.
Whit closed her eyes and shook her head. She looked at Ash and embraced her in another hug.
“Hey, you two coming?” HAO yelled from downstairs as she was taking a bowl to put all that chips inside.
Ash and Whit made their way downstairs when the doorbell rang again. This time Whit opened the door. It was Heath, Syd and O’Hara.
“Fuck! We didn’t come before Whit and HAO!” Kelley yelled jumping up and down.
“Come in!” Whit closed the door behind them and gestured them that Ash is in the kitchen with Ali and HAO.
“Ashhhhhh!” O’Hara ran up to her and practically jumped on her.”I missed you so much!”
“Missed you too monkey!” Ash hugged her and Syd handed Ali the ice cream and the champagne.
“I had to drive all the way here with these two kids. I need a drink!” Syd sat down and Ali gave her a beer. She looked at Whit who quickly looked away when she noticed Ali’s look.
I should probably ask Engen, she might know something..
Soon enough, they made their way upstairs, to another living room that had a huge TV and a mini bar. Ash and Kelley turned on the TV and put a video game in her PS4. They looked like someone just handed them a million dollars.
“I am going to beat yo ass right now!” Kelley punched Ash playfully and Ash punched back.“You wish!”
Maybe now is the right time…
“Whit, can you come with me for a second, I need to talk to you.” Ali got up and opened the balcony door. Ash and Whit immediately looked at each other and after Ash gave Whit the nod of permission, she walked outside.
She cleared her throat looking at the floor.”What’s up Kriegs?” She already knew what was up, just didn’t know how to start the conversation.
“I wanted to ask you if you knew something about a girl..”
Whit walked over to the fence and leaned on it looking at the distance. “Maddie.” She looked down and clenched her jaw.
“You know?” Ali looked at Whit with confusion all over her face. “I thought no one knew..”
“I was there.” Whit turned her head to Ali, still looking at the ground.
Ali approached her and listened carefully.
“It was July 11th 2012. Maddie came here a few days earlier and she wanted to go to the beach so bad. Since we didn’t have practice that day, we took her to the beach..” She stopped for a second and sighed heavily.”She was playing with another boy, Chris; he lives a few houses from here. Ash and I.. We turned away for just a split second..And she was gone..No one saw anything that could be worth looking into. And she was the only one who was taken. From all those children!” Whit punched the chair and quickly calmed down before Ash heard. “We searched for 5 days. Five fucking days and not a single lead. The investigation was up and running for almost 6 months. Some people came to the police and described a man with a child but every time it was a different description. After two years they declared her dead.” She rubbed her face.”We buried an empty coffin.”
As soon as she turned around, she saw Ash standing at the balcony door. Ali wiped her tears and Ash approached them. She looked at Whit first and hugged her.”Thank you for doing this.”
“It’s the least I could do.” Whit broke the hug and they both looked at Ali who was looking in the distance, tears streaming down her face.
“Come here.” Ash walked to Ali with the open arms and Ali buried her face in Ash’s neck. Soon enough, other girls came to the balcony to see what is taking Ash so long. They walked out on Ash kissing Ali’s forehead and seeing how red Ali’s eyes were, they knew something was wrong.
“Yo, who died?” Kelley spat out without thinking. Ash raised her brows and looked at Whit who gave Kelley a warning look.
“Tell them.” Ash said, still holding Ali in her arms.
“Ash..” Whit shook her head.”Are you sure?”
“Yeah.Tell them.” She ran her hands through her hair and looked at Whit once again.
“Tell us what?” Syd spoke up before anyone had a chance.”What happened?”
All the girls stood beside Syd and waited for Whit to speak up.
“Well..It’s about Ash’s sister.”Whit scratched the back of her neck, not wanting to talk about it in front of Ash.
“Go ahead.” Ash encouraged her.
“She was abducted 6 years ago from that beach down there.” She pointed to the beach in front of the balcony.”After 2-3 years of searching for her the police declared her dead. Her grave is empty, but..She is nowhere to be found. Like she never existed.” Whit finished there. She thought that talking about it too much would be devastating for Ash.
Girls stood there in shock. What could they feel? How could they react?
Heath was the first to come up to Ash and hug her. After her all of the girls decided to join.
“It’s okay guys. I learned to live with it and we should just have fun.” Ash tried to light up the mood.
“We are really sorry.” Kelley spoke up for all the girls and they nodded.
Whit made her way into the house and everybody else followed. Soon enough, they “forgot” about it and by the time they ordered pizza, they were all drunk. Ash sneaked by Tobin who was discussing with Kelley something about pandas and she took Ali’s hand and pulled her towards the bedroom.
“What are you doing? They will see us! Plus we are a bit tipsy!” Saying that, she tripped three times.
“That’s why we’re hiding!” Ash slammed with the bedroom door and they both giggled.
“Hey, where are Ash and Kriegs?” Syd asked while Whit poured her another glass of champagne.
“I don’t wanna know. Those two have some weird connection.” Kelley said, focusing on the chips that fell on her right leg. She tried to throw it back in her mouth with her leg. When she failed, she decided to call for them.
“Ashhh, come back here! You should be with us, not-“
At that moment, Ash and Ali joined them, hickeys all over their necks, their hair was messy and they were pretty out of breath.
“Not doing Ali.” Kelley finished her sentence and jumped in excitement. “I knew it! You two are doing each other!”
Syd, Heath and HAO just observed the situation since they were too drunk to process what just happened.
“No! I was..I was trying to..” Ash tried to explain.
“Yeah, and she needed help so I helped.” Ali continued.
“Riiight. Guys, tell me you didn’t demolish Ash’s room.” Whit sent them a warning look.
“No..No, just my phone and well.. that’s it.” Ash smiled like she just did something good.
Whit approached them and inspected Ali. She narrowed her brows and turned to Ash.”You should go easy next time, she is a human being.” Ash punched her playfully and Ali ran to the bathroom to see what Ash did.
At that moment, Heath turned on the TV and the news just started. “Guys..” She turned the volume up and suddenly everyone was looking at it.
“BREAKING NEWS: Florida’s girl Madison Harris was reported seen by a local family outside Houston? Stay with us for more information about this heartbreaking story that made the world cry.”