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Chapter Five: A Best Friends Comfort



Ashley and Nikki lay there making plans for later on that night mostly concentrating on how to hook John and Stephanie up. They know exactly what they're going to do. After an hour of talking and making plans the two girls grew quiet as they lay sideways on Nikki's bed. Nikki lost in deep thought on their mission, and Ashley day dreaming about Kyle. 'Could Nikki be right? Will I find happiness in Kyle?' She quietly thought to herself. She lay there quietly thinking about it for a while, until she soon grew tired and drifted off into a deep slumber.


"Ash should we go grocery shopping for tonight?" Nikki suddenly asked, as she was unaware that her friend had fallen asleep while daydreaming of her brother. When Ashley didn't answer she became confused.


"Ashley?" She asked, and sat up and looked at her to find her in a deep sleep.


"Aww," Nikki laughed, than she grabbed the big blanket on her bed and covered Ashley up with it before crawling out of bed carefully and going downstairs.


"Where is Ashley at?" Kyle asked curiously when he only saw Nikki come downstairs.


"Who cares?" Nathan scowled. Kyle shot him a glare and punched him hard in the arm.


"OW!" Nathan nearly shouted in agony.


"Shut up there are some people trying to take a nap!" Nikki demanded, as she looks at Nathan in so much anger.


"She fell asleep while we were making plans for tonight." She answered Kyle's question.


"Oh."


“Yeah, I guess she’s all worn out from shopping."


"I don’t blame her--You two were gone all day."


"We were having a lot of fun--I'm just happy to see her happy."


"So...what’s the deal with her? I know she ran away because she wasn't happy at home, but what made her so unhappy enough to run?" Greg asked, as he was slightly confused about the whole thing. The only people who fully understood were Nikki and Kyle.


"They treat her really badly at home she was really miserable living there. Her sister Brandi who is 14 years old was always looking down on her, was always calling her names, and yelling and screaming at her. She was always saying how Ashley never does any thing but lay around when really Ashley tries the best she can to help out. She does really good things but no matter what Brandi still manages to bring her down. She was always coming to me on the internet crying and telling me all about it, and each time Brandi treated her like shit the more her self esteem began to shrink. Her stepfather Charles was always yelling at her too. Nothing she ever did seemed to be right to him. To her it seemed like he thought she was just a piece of garbage lying around that never did anything right, and was only there for him to yell at. Each time he lectured her, she began to feel more worthless and stupid. Her mother on the other hand just didn’t know or understand her. Ashley was always trying SO hard to get her attention. She would do everything she could think of to get her mother's attention, even if it meant her yelling at her. She would rebel on doing her chores, fight with her about mostly everything. She spends all the time in the world with her sisters, but never spends time with her. Ashley spent most of her time trying to reach for her than anything else, but didn’t know how. It was almost like not even having a mother. The only time she paid attention to her was if she was in trouble or crying."


"Man... That really sucks..." Greg replied, as he now had more respect for Ashley. He never really got a long with her because Ashley strongly dislikes him for what he had done to Nikki when they were together. When they were together he was always so controlling and mean. He would get jealous if Nikki was hanging out with Matt--one of her best friends. One time he got so jealous he almost hit her, but realized what he was doing and immediately apologized. Ever since then Nikki was scared of him. She immediately broke up with him after that. Now he's just around for his son--Nikki and Greg get a long a lot better than they did right after the break up--he was always begging for her to give him another chance, and she would refuse--every time he tried something with her she would get really angry at him and they would start fighting. She used to really hate him, but now they get a long a lot better.


"Yeah it does... Ashley may seem very out going and stuff, but that’s just because to her it feels like she’s known all of us forever, so seeing us for the first time was like seeing a family member that she hasn't seen in forever, but really she’s an extremely shy person and will get really quiet around people she doesn’t know--mostly around the guys she has a crush on. She also has a really low self-esteem--that’s why she’s so shy. Her family is what made her that way. She’s a really nice and sweet person--She’s nice to mostly everyone unless they give her a reason not to be." Nikki explained, the last part looking at Nathan with a glare, and Nathan scowled.


"She doesn't like Greg either, don’t look at me!"


"But she has a lot more respect for him than you."


"Just because she cares about Seth and knows he needs his father!"


"Yeah? Well I believe it was YOU who got bitched at earlier when you tried to talk to her, NOT Greg. She hasn't said one rude remark to Greg since she’s been here, or given him evil glares."


"Whatever." Nathan replied.


"Dah STOP arguing, will you??" Kyle asked while becoming annoyed.


"If you didn’t invite him over here, you know this wouldn't happen." Kyle rolled his eyes, but decided not to argue back.


"Anyway I was thinking some of us should run to the store and get a bunch of soda and junk food for tonight. We're about out of dr pepper--Ash will die without her dr pepper. Who is going to run to the store for me? I want to be here for when Ash wakes up."


"I want to stay here," Kyle announced.


"I'll go--just give me a list of all the stuff you all want." Greg replied.


"I'll go with him." Nathan added. Nikki made up a list of all the sodas and junk food that we should have with help from the others, than handed it to Greg.


"Here is a helpful hint on your part--Ash will be pissed if you forget the Hershey bars--they're her favorite."


"I'll definitely keep that in mind." Greg replied, and then got up from the couch and followed Nathan out the door. Nikki sat next to Kyle on the couch and stole the remote from him and turned the channel.


"Heyyy! I was watching that!" Kyle protested. Nikki smiled sweetly at him.


"Not anymore." She switched the TV to 7th Heaven, which she claims to be ‘HER show’, and began to watch it. Kyle scowled and got up and went into the kitchen to get some dr pepper. Just as he was walking back from the kitchen they heard Ashley screaming from upstairs.


"NO! NO! PLEASE STOP YELLING AT ME! I DIDNT DO ANYTHING WRONG! I SWEAR I DIDN'T! NO NO!" she screamed, as she was crying. Nikki jumped up from the couch and Kyle dropped the dr pepper in his hand and followed her as she flew up the stairs in a panic. Once they finally reached Nikki's room they realized Ashley was only having a nightmare. Her entire face drenched in sweat, as she was still half asleep screaming and crying. Nikki sat on the bed and took Ashley gently into her arms and began to gently rub her back.


"Ashley Shhh its okay its only a nightmare honey--You're all right. Wake up hon." Nikki soothed gently. Ashley clung to her best friend for dear life, as she finally opened her eyes, but she did not stop crying. She buried her face in Nikki's shoulder. Kyle sat on the other side of Ashley, as he never looked so concerned in his entire life. His heart broke into a thousand little pieces as he saw Ashley hurt this bad, and he wants to make it go away so bad but doesn't know how.


"Its okay sweetie...You're all right. Tell me all about it--what happened?" Nikki asked, as Ashley's crying soon quieted down. Ashley sat there wrapped in Nikki's arms sniffling, as she was still very frightened at what took place in her nightmare. Kyle suddenly took her hand into his and gently rubbed it with his finger causing Ashley to look at him.


"Its okay...you're going to be all right. Nikki and I are here--please tell us what happened?" Kyle begged, as he had so much gentleness in his voice. Ashley calmed down almost immediately at the sound of his soft soothing voice and she spoke very softly.


"Charles was yelling and screaming at me...I ran and hid in my room and held the door closed tight--He kept pounding on it and trying to get in, and he kept yelling and screaming, and he wouldn't stop." Ashley explained, as she began to sob uncontrollably.


"Oh honey..." Nikki replied softly, and she hugged Ashley tighter. Ashley held onto her tight, as she still held firmly onto Kyle's hand not wanting him to let go. His touch was so gentle towards her and she loved it.


"It wasn't real--it was only a nightmare. Charles is in Arizona, and you're here in Ohio where he can never yell at you again. You're going to be okay I promise. As long as you're here with me, I'm going to make sure you're always happy--I promise you. All I want is for you to be happy." Nikki said gently, as she brushes Ashley's damp dark red hair from her face and looked into her frightened teary brown eyes.


"Its gonna be okay." Nikki repeated. Ashley who was now calm and relaxed closed her eyes, as she lay her head on Nikki's shoulder and felt so thankful to have her best friend near. All she’s ever wanted was her best friend's comfort. She can't even count how many times she’s wished this--because of how many times Ashley has dreamed of Nikki holding her and telling her everything was going to be all right, she began to fear it wasn't real. Just to make sure she hugged Nikki tighter, and held onto Kyle's hand tighter just to make sure they don’t disappear. She would die if she woke up to find it was just a dream.