The Revelation #3

Ash drove into the drive way like a mad man and almost crashed into the wall. He got into the house and banged the door behind him. The doors this time completely came off their hinges, falling on the floor inches away from Joe.
“We just had the doors fixed!” Joe lamented.
Ash ignored him and headed for the AA room. He headed straight for the back wall where the tequilas were, knocking the table over with Billy’s legs still on them.
“Ash, what the hell’s wrong!” Billy stood up from the couch and turned to Ash. Joe walked in, with his phone in his hand. “I called the repair guy, I asked him to bring steel doors this time. What’s with him?” He asked Billy pointing in Ash’s direction.
“If I was to guess, I’d say Lee.”
They stood there and watched Ash break the neck of another bottle before he downed it.
“Ease up Ash! Instead of getting drunk, tell us what happened?” Billy was behind him, he reached for the bottle in Ash’s hand.
“Touch it, and you’ll lose your hand!” Acid spewed out of his lips. Billy took a step back in reaction to the warning.
“Lee gave me an ultimatum,” he broke the neck of his third bottle, “it’s either I tell her the truth, or I never go near her again.” He tossed his head back and gulped down the tequila.
“You can’t do that.” Billy sounded scared.
“Why not?” Joe asked his face was somber as was his tone. They turned and looked at him. “She already saw that we weren’t normal at the diner, so why not just tell her?”
“Because it’s dangerous!” Billy called back, surprised at Joe’s suggestion. Ash stood there, he was thinking about it.
“It will be better if they know what they’ve gotten themselves into by being involved with us. That will at least lower the risk if they too are looking out for the danger.” Billy stayed quiet, taking in Joe’s reasoning. “Ash, Lee hasn’t said anything to anyone, and she’s been patient long enough. It’s time to tell her, to tell all of them.”
Ash took another swig of the tequila. “What if the truth scares them away, and then what? I can’t handle losing her for good, Joe, I can’t risk it.” He looked at Joe, waiting for his answer.
“We’ll deal with that, if it happens, which I highly doubt. And any way, you will lose her if you don’t.”
“But what about Lee and Dave? He’ll have to tell her first, before we say anything. If she sees her dead father walking around her wolf-boyfriend’s home, she won’t be able to take it.” Billy sounded worried; he knew it wouldn’t end well.
“I’ll talk to Dave,” Ash said before he finished the bottle. He reached for another one.
“Pass one over.” Billy reached out for the bottle.
“Pass me one too.” Joe was anxious, all of a sudden, he wasn’t quite sure of his solution.

****

Dave was on the rooftop opposite Lee’s building. He could see into her house. He had been at that spot since she moved into the building. Ash’s fight with Lee had him on night duty again. He sat there, contemplating Ash’s decision. He wasn’t ready to tell her, he was worried about her reaction. He was scared she would hate him for staying away, for letting her suffer foster care when he could have looked after her. How was he going to explain himself? There was no good excuse for abandoning her.
But he wanted to hold her again, talk to her, comfort her when she was sad, and laugh with her when she was happy. He wanted to be with her, he wanted to stop hiding. All he had to do was build up the courage to do it.

****

It had been a week since Ash left, since Lee’s visit from the mysterious woman. She felt embarrassed, angry. Ash had a girlfriend, that’s why he was never fully hers. The thought broke her heart all over again. She should have known. If Steve had a girl on the side why shouldn’t Ash. She was never enough, for either of them.
But what tormented her most was his girlfriend’s visit.
She had suffered her nightmares ever since. She woke up screaming and crying uncontrollably. Ann and Maria were always there to comfort her. Her nightmares had kept them all awake throughout the night, taking a toll on all of them. They were always exhausted; their studies were suffering because they now spent the day asleep and the nights awake with Lee’s nightmares. With their finals three days away, they needed to rest.
Lee felt guilty. She had even tried staying awake throughout the night to spare them, but she always ended nodding off, and woke up screaming a few hours after that.
It was in the afternoon. She made lunch for the girls to make up for the trouble she had put them through. They woke up and found the table set and full of food.
“What’s this?” Ann looked like a zombie. She had dark circles around her blood shot red eyes. Maria emerged from the hall way next. She was holding her head up with her hands. Her appearance mirrored that of Ann.
“It’s an apology lunch.” Lee smiled weakly, feeling guilty.
“You didn’t have too.” Maria was rubbing her temples with her fingers.
“Yes I did. I’ve put you through hell this last couple of weeks. So I’m making up for it. Look at the two of you, you look awful because of me.”
Ann and Maria turned and stared at each other, their faces drooped, and they didn’t like what they saw. Then they turned to face Lee.
“Honey, you don’t look so hot yourself. I’m just glad the guys aren’t here to see us like this.”
Lee looked down. It was a sure thing their guys would come, hers, there was a slim to no chance of that happening.*Nice job, Lee!*
“I’m so sorry!” Ann apologized and hugged her. “Don’t worry, we’ll get over him together, isn’t that right, Maria.”
“Yeah sure, once I get over this headache.” She turned and looked at the answering machine. “We have a message.” She moved to it and pressed play.
“Hey, honey, it’s Joe. We are getting a bit worried about you guys, so we’re coming over. Tell Lee, Ash is coming too. See you soon, love you.”
The girls stared at Lee. She got anxious. She longed to see Ash again, but she wasn’t so sure she should, especially after his girlfriend’s visit.
Just then, there was a knock on the door. They couldn’t be here already. Maria went to the door, and looked through the peephole. “It’s them!” She sounded alarmed.
Ann started to fix herself, but she needed a miracle and a few hours to get her ravishing-self back. She gave up and dropped her hands. “He should start getting used to seeing me like this. I won’t be my gorgeous-self all hours of the day. Maria, let them in.”
Maria let her hair down and combed through it with her fingers. They moved into the living room. They were looking pretty bad, in flannel shorts and vests; Maria however had a short T-shirt on. She opened the door and let them in.
“Hi guys. Come in and don’t say anything about how we look.”
They were wide eyed. They had never seen the girls look so terrible. Well there was a first time for everything.