Miles of Pleasure (5 page)

She walked slowly to that table, trying to get the events of the previous night out of her mind. No one would ever understand how grateful she was to Ashton for coming along when he did. And to think her worst enemy was the one to save her from sure doom. After the events of the last day, she was thinking that perhaps he wasn't so bad after all. Look at the way he had taken care of her since last night - he had been the perfect gentleman, the perfect protector. It was like he was a completely different person.

Could he really change though? Was this a new side of Ashton? Was he going to be like this from now on, or was he just walking on egg shells until she was a little more stable? She hoped he would stay like this - she liked this version.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of shuffling feet. "Hey, can we talk?"

Kaylee didn't need to look up to know it was Brandon. She kept her eyes glued to the spot that she was looking at on the ground.

"I guess, but you need to know from the start that I'm not mad at you anymore, I'm just hurt. Really hurt. And I'm not going to get over it easily." She paused. "And before you say anything, yes I slept with Ashton last night, but nothing happened. He was just there to comfort me when I needed someone. I didn't have anyone else to turn to. So I don't want to hear you bitch about that."

"Understood. I'm so sorry, Kaylee. I completely froze. I've never been in that situation before. I've never been in a fight in my life, let alone be threatened with a knife."

Unbelievable! Kaylee rubbed her forehead out of frustration. "Do you think I've been threatened with a knife before? Do you think I've been in a fight before? Don't you think I was scared?" Her blood began to boil. "So you left me to fend for myself. You stood there and watched!" Now she was yelling. She tried to calm herself down, not wanting to be angry about it anymore, but it wasn't doing much good.

"You didn't even go to get help," she added. That was one of the worst things.

"I know, I'm sorry. I have gone over it in my head a thousand times, and there are so many things I would have done differently, if I had it to do over."

Their eyes met for the first time when Kaylee looked up. The sadness in his voice was clear. She saw the tears pooling in his eyes. "I hope that one day you can forgive me, and maybe then we can be friends again, if nothing more."

"I hope so too," Kaylee told him, then watched him walk away.

She didn't know if she'd ever be able to completely put this behind her, but she knew that she had to be strong in order to move on and keep living the life she knew before the attack.

A
nother city, another concert. The excitement was gone for Kaylee. No longer was each new place an adventure; now it was something that struck fear to her very core. After each concert, instead of hanging out in the dressing room, she went to the bus to be alone. When she and the band were in large groups, she made sure that one of the guys was by her side so that nothing happened to her.

She was so bored, feeling as if she was stuck on thetourbus all the time. When she considered venturing out on her own, the fear threatened to overwhelm her. She didn't feel she had any other options, not after that night. It had been almost a month, but she could still smell the man, still feel his hands marking her body.

During that month, she rarely got a good night's sleep. She'd end up going to bed early, then tossing and turning from the nightmares that plagued her. Sometimes the dreams were so bad she woke up screaming, waking the whole bus and making them worry about her even more than they already did. Those were the nights Ashton pulled her into his bed with him. For the rest of the night, she'd sleep well.

So there she sat one night, alone on the bus, waiting for the guys to get back from partying. They had a kick ass concert and everyone sounded great. She was sure they were going to make it a late night since they always partied extra hard after a great show. She missed being there with them. She missed riding their high, feeling the same jubilation that they felt after a night like that. She missed meetingnew people.

But he had ruined that for her. In one night, someone turned her world upside down.

A loud banging on the door woke Kaylee from her daydream, and her heart raced. She didn't know whether to curl into a ball, answer the door, or call for help. Her emotions and her imagination ran wild.

"Kaylee? It's Brandon. Open up," he yelled through the door.

Kaylee went to thewindowand moved the curtain ever so slightly to look out and see if it was actually Brandon standing there. Satisfied that it was in fact him, Kaylee unlocked the door. "Hey," she said, her nerves still on edge. "Why aren't you at the party?"

"I didn't feel like it tonight. I was hoping that we could hang out for a little while, spend a little quality time together." Brandon sat on the couch. Over the past month, he had worked hard to try to get back into Kaylee's good graces. He was making progress, but he could tell that she still didn't completely trust him.

"That's fine, but I don't know if I'm good company tonight," she said sadly, and sank back into the couch.

Brandon wanted to yell at her and shake her. He wished she would snap out of her funk and go back to being the woman that he had first met. He understood that she was hurting, but she couldn't let what happened take over the rest of her life. "I'm not asking you to entertain me. We can watch a movie."

"That's fine. Whatever works for you." She walked slowly to the back of the bus and got comfortable on the couch there. Brandon followed, and picked out a DVD. He got the equipment all set up, then went to cuddle next to Kaylee.

"Nemo!" she said, a touch of joy in her voice. It was the most excitement Brandon had heard from her since the assault. But it still lacked something.

Halfway through the movie, Kaylee fell asleep. Brandon grabbed a blanket from Kaylee's bed and covered her up. He sat next to her and watched her draw one peaceful breath after another. It pained him to think about that night, but it hurt even more to see her now. She was getting so thin, her long, curly brown hair was no longer shiny, and she had deep, dark circles under her eyes.

He ran a hand through his hair, wishing there was something he could do to help her. He had to talk to someone. Someone had to want to help Kaylee as much as he did. They needed to do something before the old Kaylee was lost to them forever.

The next day, Brandon was able to get Noah and Ashton alone, without Kaylee noticing. He didn't want to talk to them the night before; they were both pretty drunk by the time they had gotten back to the bus. He wanted them completely sober so that they could formulate a plan, one that would work.

"What do you want, Brandon?" Ashton shook his wet blond hair, sending a spray of water flying all around him. He had just gotten out of the shower, and wasn't really in the mood to deal with Brandon. He still hadn't forgiven him for that night.

"Yeah, let's get to the point, and do it quick. We have an appearance soon." Noah still didn't fully trust Brandon, but he was more accepting of him than Ashton was.

"I'm worried about Kaylee," Brandon started, only to be cut off by Ashton.

"There's a first," he said sardonically.

Brandon clenched his fists. He was never going to live down that he hadn't helped Kaylee that night. "I think we've all noticed that she's been different since the assault. We need to find a way to get her back to the person she was before."

"Well, at least there's something we can agree on," Ashton sighed. He had tried to help Kaylee get over what happened, but he just couldn't break through the barrier that she had put up.

"What do you have in mind?" Noah asked. He was willing to do anything to get his sister back.

"Well, I was hoping you guys had some ideas. I haven't known her nearly as long as you." His mind drew a blank, not able to think of a single thing that would help.

"You're just full of all kinds of help lately, aren't you?" Ashton challenged.

Brandon just looked at him. What could he say? It seemed as though Ashton was trying to bait him into a fight just so he could kick his ass. Ashton stared at him, waiting, until Brandon looked away.

"Leave it to me. I'll take care of it," Ashton said gruffly. The lightbulb had just flickered on in his head. He really did know how to help her! He didn't know why he hadn't thought of it before. "I know just what to do." He walked away from the other two to finish getting ready.

"I sure hope so," Noah said, more to himself than to Brandon.

Ashton was a handful at the appearance party. He hit on every single woman there, and made sure that his intentions were clear. He also talked on and on about himself and about how all the women wanted him. He was straight-up obnoxious.

Kaylee watched him from a distance, but every time she felt the urge to get mad at him, a little voice in the back of her head reminded her that Ashton had saved her. So instead of yelling at Ashton for making a fool of himself and the band like she would have before, she bit her tongue and accepted his behavior.

Ashton saw irritation in Kaylee's eyes, and knew that she was teetering on the edge of exploding at him. He figured that he'd have her where he wanted her by the end of the night. "Hey Kaylee!" he yelled across the crowded room. "Tell this woman here how good I look in nothing but my boxers."

Kaylee wished the floor would swallow her whole at that moment. She felt her cheeks get red, both from embarrassment and sheer anger. She was itching to yell at him, to really let him have it. The little voice in her head was getting quieter and quieter, while Ashton's was getting louder and louder.

Ashton nearly jumped for joy to see his plan working. He found Noah in the group of people and pulled him aside. "Hey, I'm about to do something to complete my plan, and Kaylee's really going to need you. Just a heads up."

Noah was confused, but trusted Ashton and whatever he was going to do. He nodded his head and clapped Ashton on the back. He stood pretty close to Kaylee, in a place where he could easily be found when needed.

Ashton knew that Kaylee needed to get her spark back, and the only way he could think for that to happen was to get her really pissed at him so that she went off on him. She needed the fire back in her life, she needed the passion. She needed the explosive anger to blast through the wall she had built around herself.

He searched the room for his pawn, and found her wearing a tight pink spandex dress. Her curly blonde hair was teased, and she looked like someone who was chewed up and spit out of the '80s. He puffed up his spiky hair, zoning in on his game. He chatted the blonde up for a few minutes, feeling like he was talking to a wall. He knew she'd work just fine; she was willing to do anything to be with him.

Ashton led the woman over to where Kaylee was sitting in the corner. He took a deep breath and did the only thing he could think of to help. "Hey Kaylee, this is..." He looked at the woman with him, realizing that he didn't know her name.

"I'm Prissy," she said excitedly, popping her gum.

"Prissy, right." Kaylee nodded her head slowly. She could totally see that being the woman's name.

"Anyway,
Prissy
is going to be in my bed with me tonight, so if you get the urge to crawl into my bed in the middle of the night, think twice." His voice had a harsh edge to it. "I know you like sleeping with me though. All the women do."

The look on Kaylee's face nearly killed him. He saw all the anger, and all the hurt. She was finally starting to show some emotions. He could see her hands shaking as she sat there looking at them. "What? What's wrong Kaylee? Got something to say?" he asked innocently.

"You ass," Kaylee whispered.

"What was that? I don't think I heard you."

"I said you're an ass! There, hear me that time? You are so full of yourself and that makes me sick!" she yelled. "And here I thought you were actually becoming a real human being. You are nothing but a sorry excuse for a man." Kaylee got off the stool she was sitting on. She hoped that her legs were strong enough to carry her away.

"I despise you." Her tone bit at him.

He watched as Kaylee ran into the arms of her brother. He hated that he had to hurt Kaylee, but it was the only way to get her to let her emotions out. They had been getting along so well, which was nice for a change, but he'd rather see Kaylee living her life again, even if it meant that she went back to hating him. He knew it was all for the best.

Noah met Ashton's eyes, giving him a silent thank you. His sister was no longer in her zombie-like state, and he knew she'd be back to herself in no time. "Come on, let's get out of here." Noah told his sister and led her back to the bus.

"I don't think I'll ever understand how you can be friends with that ass," she told him then, just as she had told him time and time again.

Noah looked over at his sister and gave her a look, the one he had given her so many times when they were growing up whenever she was upset. It was the look that said she was being silly, the look that said she had gone overboard...again.