Chapter Forty

Lincoln

"How close were we Boston?" Aspen asks, turning her attention to Bos. She has this look on her face, one that can’t mean anything good is going to leave her mouth next. My suspicions are confirmed when she says, "Were we really close? Or did it just seem that way because you forced yourself onto me?"
"What!" Ashlynn screeches, "You did *what* to my daughter?” she asks seething.
I glance over at Raleigh, a look of *what the hell* clear on my face. She just gives me a shrug and shakes her head.
I turn my attention to Aspen, wondering where the hell that came from when Bos shouts, “It wasn't like that! Tell her!” He begs, his attention on our dad.
"Ashlynn, honey," Dad says, trying to calm her down. "I think you should hear Boston out," he says, nodding at my brother.
"You knew?" She says accusingly, removing her glare from Bos and aiming at it Dad instead.
"Yes." He says, causing her eyes to widen. He must realize how it sounds, because he’s quick to try to correct his words by saying, "No! Fuck!" he growls, burying his hands in his hair.
"How long have you known?" She asks, her voice scarily calm.
*What all the fuck have I missed?* I wonder as my attention ping pongs back and forth between Ashlynn, Aspen, Dad, and Bos.
With a sigh and a shake of his head, Dad says, "He came to me the other day and told me that the baby was his." At Ashlynn’s gasp, Dad quickly interrupts, saying "Just fucking listen to him." before standing up from his seat and moving to stand behind Bos, showing his support for his son.
My gut clenches as I realize that while my brother and one of my closest confidants, there are apparently still a few things that he hasn’t told me, which makes me wonder if the other guys knew.
A glance at the other two lets me know that they are just as confused as I am.
"I never forced anything on you, Aspen," Bos tells Aspen, his tone of voice and the look in his eyes begging her to understand, to remember. "I wouldn't do that to you."
"But you are admitting to screwing my daughter?" Ashlynn says, her own tone dripping with condemnation.
"Yes." Bos says, looking from Aspen, to her mother, and then back, "We were in a relationship. I love you. We loved each other."
"I don't believe you," Aspen says, shaking her head back and forth. I can see tears building in her eyes, her whole body beginning to shake from her place across the table as she stands up and walks over towards the kitchen.
I may not be the one facing a rape accusation, but I find myself hurting and frustrated *for* my brother, I can’t even begin to fathom how much this is killing him.
"I don't remember much,” Aspen says, breaking me from my thoughts. “but from the glimpses that I've gotten, there's no way that's true. From what I remember, you—" She stops speaking as a sob breaks free from her. "Y-you r-raped m-me.” She cries the words then abruptly takes off running through the kitchen.
"Oh, God! Aspen!" Ashlynn shouts, taking off after her daughter as the table breaks out in chaos.
Dal stands up, shaking his head as he shouts, "No!" Knowing, just like the rest of us, how wrong her accusations are.
Banging his fist against the table, Jax growls, "Are you fucking kidding me?". He looks at where Aspen was just standing and then turns his attention to Bos, shaking his head in frustration.
"That's not what happened!" I shout as I stand up, racing after Ashlynn. "Boston would never force Aspen to do anything! He loves her!" I say, pleading for them both to hear and believe the words.
Aspen races up the stairs, Ashlynn hot on her heels, with me right behind them. “Pack a bag, we’re leaving,” Ashlynn orders as they race down the hallway toward Aspens' room.
“Please,” I beg as Aspen opens her bedroom door, slamming it shut as soon as she’s made it through.
Not giving up, I push past Ashlynn and begin banging on her door, “Aspen, let me in. You need to know the truth of what happened between you and Bos.”
“Your side of the story, at least!” Ashlynn growls at my back. “Of course, you’re going to take *his* side.”
“Side? There are no sides. Just the fucking truth!” I shout at her as I turn my attention back to the door, leaning my face and palm against the hard wood. “Aspen, please. Bos loves you, he would never do anything to hurt you.”
I hear Ashlynn mutter, “I can’t freaking believe this,” from behind me before I hear her footsteps leading away as she makes her way down the hall.
*Bos’s room!* I think, realizing that as long as she didn’t lock the door, I can still get to her, try to reason with her, from their joined bathroom.
Without wasting another second, I barge into his room and through the joined bathroom, finding the door to her room unlocked.
“Aspen?” I say gently, as I stick my head into her room, sweeping my gaze around until I find her throwing stuff into a bag. Slipping through the opened space, I quietly close the door behind me and slowly close the distance between her and me.
“Aspen,” I repeat her name again, my voice barely above a whisper, as if I say it too loud, I will spook her. Reaching out, I place my hand on her shoulder and when she turns to face me, I find tears streaming down her cheeks. “Please believe me when I tell you that you two love each other and that he would never hurt you.”
“But, I don’t remember,” she utters the words between sniffles.
“I know but—” I begin but she cuts me off, tears no longer streaming down her face.
She shrugs off my hand, glaring at me as she snaps, “No! You don’t know. All I keep seeing is Boston holding me against a tree, fucking me, hurting me!”
The sound of people screaming pulls her attention. Zipping up her bag, she shoves past me and out her door. When I get to the hallway behind her I hear Ashlynn as she comes out of her and Dad’s bedroom, "No! She doesn't feel safe here, Collin. And I can't blame her." Ashlynn yells at Dad, slamming the door in his face.
"Real mature, Ashlynn," Dad yells as soon as he pulls the door open, rushing after her. "Boston didn't do what she is accusing him of doing, damnit!"
"Of course, you would take his side!" Ashlynn shrieks, "But my daughter is the one who is scared and doesn't feel safe sleeping in the room RIGHT. FUCKING. NEXT. TO. HIM!" She shouts, enunciating each word.
"So, you're just going to leave?" Dad says, his voice softening as if all of the fight has left him.
"Yes, we're leaving!" Ashlynn hisses, "Do you really think that I would make her stay here when she doesn't feel safe?!" She asks, sounding exasperated, "She's my daughter, Collin. You do what you need to do for *your* son, but I am going to do what I need to for *mine*."
We’re both still standing in the hallway, having stopped as the scene unfolded between our parents but as Ashlynn rounds the top of the stairs, making her way down them with Dad following right after her, Aspen moves to follow suit.
"Aspen, please,” I beg, needing her to just fucking listen to me! I want to fucking throttle her, as if it would make a difference, but I know that it would only make matters worse. “I'm telling you that he loves you and he would never, and I mean *never* do anything like what you are accusing him of doing."
"Shut up, Lincoln!" Aspen spits, turning around to glare at me. With a huff of frustration, she turns back around and then stops suddenly when she notices Bos at the top of the stairs.
"Please, just don't do anything rash." He begs her, "Maybe your memories will return, and you will realize that you misread what you remembered. But, please, Baby—"
"Don't fucking call me that!" Aspen shouts, "I'm not your baby. I'm not your girlfriend. I'm *your* nothing!"
"Don't say that..." he pleads but I see the moment that he realizes that his words are useless, that he’s lost her.
He reaches out, as if to pull her into his embrace but stops himself short when she flinches. "Just please, try to remember," he says softly before turning around and making his way back down the stairs and out the front door.
"Aspen, please..." I beg, stopping in front of her and halting her from continuing her way down the stairs. "I know that we've fucked up in the past, but I'm telling you the truth. I wouldn't lie to you about this."
Sighing, she looks up at me, her face a mixture of loss and confusion as she quietly says, "I just need time to figure everything out."
"And that requires you to leave?" I ask, feeling way too many emotions at once.
"Lincoln, look," she says, refusing to look at me as she talks, "I don't expect you, any of you, to understand because you’re not in my shoes, but I can't sleep in the room next to him and feel safe when I don't *know* what happened. All I have are glimpses of..." she cuts herself off as if she can't make herself finish the sentence this time. But I understand. It's all just too much. "I just can't," I whisper, tears filling her eyes once more.
Unable to stand seeing the girl who I've thought of as a sister since the moment we were introduced by our parents as such, I wrap my arms around her shaking frame, pulling her into my chest. "Please try to remember," I plead, whispering against the top of her head.
"I'm trying," she replies, sniffling. "I don't like being in the dark about everything, trying to guess about the glimpses that I do get."
"I know it can't be easy," I say as I pull back to look at her, knowing that if I were in her position, I would likely be just as lost. "Just please, don't do anything rash. He would never hurt you. I know you don't remember, but he loves you."