Firefly

49: dig down reality

Chapter 49: dig down reality.

Justin

I press my fingers on the delicate green veins of his throat until his face turns white before turning blue and I'm convinced that providing oxygen to this swine is under my control. 

"E-l-e-n-a--" Ashton grunts in a broken voice. 

Don't say her name.

My fingers skewer and I switch him mute. Ace keeps punching him in the stomach but contrary to how easily I have a leash on him, it's unnecessary. 

"No," I hear her say in a feeble voice. 

She breaks out of her trance and hops off the bed, charging toward Ashton. My fingers loosen when she holds his gaze. She pulls off Ace from him and shoves my arm away without breaking her shared gaze with Ashton. 

He barely catches air but she's already wrapped her arms around his neck. 

I look away before I do something worse, like killing him. "Thank you," I hear her say to him. He's coughing but laterally, I see him lightly hugging her back. "Thank you. Thank you so much." 

I make the mistake of looking back at them because I see her kissing his cheek before she whispers a silent thank you again. Fuck, this shit. I should be out of here. 

Despite my heightened senses, palpitating heart, and restlessly sweating hands and feet, I hear Ashton ask her. "Did I force you? You kept telling me not to stop but you were shaking--" 

"No, you didn't. I asked you not to stop, didn't I?" She pulls away but what the fuck was she even saying? "I'm sorry for what they did to you." 

He shrugs a smile. "I should've known your cage would follow." She nods a weak smile. Fuck, they have inside jokes now? "Are you okay? I never wanted to hurt you, Elena." 

"You didn't." He tries to touch her cheeks but Ace reacts faster by jostling his hand away. She grimaces at Ace before she takes a step back. "You should go." 

Ashton doesn't argue. He isn't cocky or mocking to anyone in the room. He grabs his jacket fallen beside Dylan's legs without giving Dylan a glance. He glances at her back one last time before walking out the door and letting it shut. 

It would've been so much better if he was the jerk I thought he was. I'd have knocked the daylights out of him for good. But bloody hell, he's not a bad guy. 

"Sit." Dylan orders. 

She doesn't turn. He strides to her, yanks her arm, and pushes her down the bed. Every time he handles her like that, my protective instincts forget she's his sister. His rage is always in control and I know he wouldn't ever hurt her but the flinching never seems to fade. 

She doesn't meet his eyes. "Do you want me to spend the rest of my life babysitting you? Why are you behaving like this? Why are you complicating your life more and more?" She still doesn't speak. "Elena, you've already pissed the fuck out of me. If you don't speak--"

"Apologize." She says. 

He gives her a laughable look. She looks down at her knees after earning that glance. Her silence tells him he has no other choice so when he sighs, I know she's succeeded. "I'm sorry. Now talk." 

A tear drops down her already hanging face. She needs a fucking hug. Hug her. Or let me hug her. "I asked Ashton to push through even though I wasn't comfortable," Ace scoffs. "Because it was stirring the memories of that night." 

Dylan frowns. "What memories?" 

She fidgets with her fingers on her lap. "The intense pain kept bringing me flashes of that night. Every trigger outed a new memory. I thought they were dreams but when they felt too real, I realized it was my memories coming back. The more I pushed the triggers, the more my mind opened."