Part 5: Homecoming
A/N: CRASHETBURN! GIVE IT A REST! (BY THE WAY, IT'S MRS. MARCO'S BISEXUAL NOW). BUT IT WILL CHANGE IN THE...PART THAT I'M STILL WORKING ON...PART SEVEN, I BELIEVE...) Oh, yeah. Bet you can't wait for part six, called Party Up, and it's about Sean's party and such...so...yeah.
Craig had finally gotten to see Angie, and when he got home to Joey's, he couldn't remember feeling better anytime in his entire life. He sighed as he walked in the front door. Caitlin was there, and she had cooked dinner.
Angie was happy that Craig was home. Craig was happy that Sean was back, and Sean had called about two hours ago, telling Craig that he was having a party at him and Ellie's apartment in about two weeks. Why he would wait so long, Craig would never know, but it was probably so that Sean could get his stuff back to the apartment and get situated.
"…Yeah, I'll be there…" Craig said quietly, leaning back on his bed. He was talking to Sean about the party. "…'Kay, later…" Craig hung up the phone and closed his eyes. He finally felt relaxed now that he was back with Joey, Angie, and… well, it didn't really matter that Caitlin was there. But she was kind of cool. He was happy when Caitlin had come back and made up with Joey. Hopefully, this time she wouldn't leave.
Craig sat up and took the phone back downstairs, putting it on its base, then went to watch TV with Angie. Tomorrow he was going back to school. School… where he'd see everyone that saw what happened. He tried not to think about it now, but maybe think about it before he got to school the next day.
There was a knock on the door, and Joey rushed downstairs to answer it. Craig heard some mumbling and then two police officers came inside. One officer held a piece of paper, which Craig guessed was a warrant, and then he said, "You're under the arrest for the murder of Albert Manning…"
Craig couldn't believe what was happening. He was handcuffed and put into the police car. He looked up at Joey, who was watching from the door. Joey returned the look, and felt bad for allowing him to be taken without an explanation.
Craig was silent the entire way to wherever the police were taking him. One of the officers said, "You're his son, aren't you?" Craig nodded silently, staring out the window. The officer nodded to himself in understanding. They were all quiet.
When they got to the police station, Craig was placed in a holding cell. The bed was yellow and had a dark brown stain in the middle. It smelled horrible, disgusting compared to what he was used to. He sighed and sat against the wall. He coughed as he breathed in the fumes of the cell. He wondered how something used for such short amounts of time could smell and look this bad.
About ten minutes later, Craig was taken to the office, where he was given one phone call. He immediately called Joey. "Hello?" Joey said quickly.
"Joey, you've gotta get me out of here!" Craig cried.
"Craig, calm down! Calm down!" Joey said. "I'm going to help you!"
"I don't know what to do! This place sucks! Help me…"
"Don't worry, Craig. I'll get you out of there."
"Joey, I didn't mean to shoot him…"
"I know, I know. Tell them that… tell them everything. It's okay. It was acting on impulse."
"Promise you'll help me get out," Craig whispered.
"I promise."
"Okay." Craig hung up the phone. Joey felt bad for leaving Craig in jail, but it was only for a little while… he hoped.
Craig was put back in the cell, and crawled into the corner and died. (Don't worry. I'm just kidding.)
He sighed as he buried his head in his hands.
He sat in silence for hours. He was awake, but thinking. It was dark in this cell. He saw the other cells; they were clean and had light. Oh, no. Not this one. Dark, smelly. So, he was left in a dark corner. He heard the door open, and looked up. A man holding a flashlight shined it on him. "You alive?" the man asked.
Craig rubbed his neck and stood up slowly. He could barely see from the man shining the light in his eyes. "Come on." The man motioned for Craig to follow him, and they went into a room. He was probably in there for questioning.
There were two men there, an attorney and a police officer.
"Let's make this simple," said the attorney. "Did you kill Albert Manning?"
Craig was silent.
The attorney sighed and repeated, "Did you kill Albert Manning?" He said this about four more times before Craig shouted, "I didn't kill anyone! I acted on impulse! He shot me first!"
Craig lifted his sleeve to show where the doctors had taken the bullet out. There was still supposed to be a bandage on it, but Craig took it off the day before.
The guard that had taken Craig there took him back to the cell, no one else asking any questions. Craig kicked the wall, disregarding all pain that came from it. He collapsed on the wall. He sat in the dark for a long time. He fell asleep and woke up when someone came in and shook him awake. It was the guard. "You hungry?" he asked.
Craig said no, that he wasn't going to eat the garbage that he knew he would be given. The guard laughed and left. He came back a short time later, handing Craig a paper bag. "That's my lunch," he said. "Be thankful."
Craig opened it. There was a thermos of soup, a water bottle, and a sandwich. Craig thanked the guard, and ate in peace. He handed him the bag, and thanked him again. Then, the guard said, "Name's Gamble."
Craig smiled sadly and said, "Hi, Gamble."
"You're tired," Gamble stated.
"You can tell?" Craig said. It was barely a question.
"You don't want to sleep on the cot because it looks sick, right?"
Craig nodded.
Again, Gamble left and got him a blanket. "Here. You can sleep on the floor. I wouldn't want to sleep on that cot, either."
Craig grinned and pulled the blanket up to his shoulders, sitting in the corner. He'd gotten used to the smell by now. The blanket didn't keep him very warm, but it made him feel…secure.
He fell asleep with thoughts of Ashley, who had been slowly drifting from his mind as the days passed.
The Next Morning
Craig woke to the sound of someone in the cell nearby yelling at someone else. He sat still and shouted, "SHUT UP!" There was a short silence before someone else shouted it right back. They yelled at each other for a while. Finally, one of the guards came and sprayed the one in the other cell with water. Craig was a little disappointed that the other one didn't get the hose. That would've made him laugh, even considering the circumstances.
He cackled maniacally to himself as he heard the person next to him getting soaked with water. He didn't even know that they did that here, just a holding cell.
Still, he awaited the day that he would go back home to Joey.
He'd started to miss him already; the way he talked with him, how he was always nice to him, always…there.
The day passed, and Craig had refused to leave the cell, even when promised another phone call home. "I'm not even supposed to be here," he argued.
He stood up and buried his face in the corner. He stood there for hours, his legs getting tired, so he slouched back down. He laid the blanket back on the floor and sat on it.
He was in the dark for so long, he had no idea when the days passed. Gamble came back. "What day is it?" Craig asked.
"Sunday," Gamble answered. He again gave Craig his lunch, and Craig was grateful because his rebellion against the police had also caused him a starvation that lasted for three days.
He sighed heavily as he finished the rest of his lunch.
"When am I getting out of here?" Craig asked weakly, handing him the bag.
"When the attorneys get everything sorted."
"How long will that be?"
"A few days maybe."
"I want to go home."
"I know you do."
"I want to see my step dad."
"You will."
Craig was quiet, and returned to his usual activity of sitting in the dark.
Gamble left without another word.
So, more days passed with Craig getting lunches from Gamble, whom, he assumed, brought two: one for himself, and one for Craig.
Craig had never met a nicer guard. The other guards were just quiet all the time and spent no time talking to anyone.
Craig developed a sense of numbness in his legs, as he had barely moved.
About six days after he'd first been in the cell, Craig was awoken by someone saying his name. He told them to go away; that he had no place in this cell and that there was no way he was leaving unless it was to go home. He finally opened his eyes and looked over to the dim lighting. There, like seeing a lake in a desert, was Joey.
"Joey!" he cried. He ran over to him and grasped the bars. "Joey, I want to get out… Get me out, Joey. Please, please…"
The attorney came and stood next to Joey. "Craig, we got everything sorted out. You're free to go."
Gamble came and opened the cell. Craig ran out and hugged Joey, who hugged back.
Craig's eyes still burned from the bright light outside when they left.
However, there was much more to the next day, when he would finally be able to go back to school. Sean called, and said that a lot of people at school were more worried about him than they were thinking he was a psycho… like Rick. He tried not to dwell on the thought of bringing a gun to school and shooting someone, then having someone shoot him. He also tried not to blame Sean, and say that he shot Rick. But something inside him told him that Sean had accidentally pulled the trigger…trying to save Emma.
"Hey, Joey, uh… what's for dinner?" asked Craig randomly, coming downstairs to hang up the phone.
"I don't know, we haven't decided. Why?" Joey said, confused.
"Oh, well… I was kind of hoping we could have pizza. I haven't had it in a while, and…"
"Sure, Craig. I'll call in the order."
"Thanks, Joey," Craig said before running upstairs, almost running into the wall when he stopped. "Joey!" he shouted back down the stairs. "You know how I like pizza."
"Yes, Master!" Joey shouted jokingly back up to him. Craig laughed and then thought about calling Ashley. He went back downstairs and got the phone. He sat at the table and dialed the number. Ring…ring…ring…answer. "Hello?" said Kate.
"Uh…is Ashley there?" Craig asked coolly.
"No, she's not," Kate said coldly. "And I would recommend that you don't call back. She's made it quite clear that she doesn't want to speak to you again. Don't call again." Craig listened in horror.
"GOOD!" Craig shouted into the phone. "I DON'T WANT TO CALL BACK AGAIN! I WOULD HATE TO GO AGAINST ASHLEY'S WISHES!" He shut the phone off and threw it against the wall.
"Whoa! Craig! What's wrong? Is everything okay?" Joey asked quickly, rushing to Craig.
Craig was quiet for a moment before saying, "Ash's mom hates me."
"Craig, it's not Ashley. It's her mom. Her mom can hate who she wants. It's Ashley you have to worry about."
"I know, Joey. She said Ashley doesn't want to talk to me ever again. I'm not sure whether I should believe her or ignore her."
"Why don't you try talking to her at school tomorrow?" Joey suggested. Craig shrugged.
"I kind of wanted to talk to her before I went to school."
"Well, you can talk to her before school starts."
"Joey, I try to respect her and her parents and… her horny aunt. But they all seem to be against me. All of them. Except the horny aunt. I shudder at the thought of her."
The two laughed and Craig went back upstairs. He silently wished that he had his guitar back. He vowed to find the guitar, wherever it may be.
He thought about everything, and then went downstairs to play video games on the X-Box. He got bored. The pizza arrived, and everyone sat down to eat. Angie and Caitlin, who arrived a few minutes after the pizza, were happy to see Craig. "Craig!" Angie said happily, jumping on his lap. Craig hugged her.
"Hey, Craig," Caitlin said casually, sitting down by Joey.
"Hey," Craig answered.
They all ate, and Caitlin and Joey talked and joked around. Craig just listened.
There was not much notice of Craig's silence. When everyone was finished, Joey said, "Craig, I want you to come to the garage."
"Okay…" Craig said suspiciously.
Craig followed Joey to the garage, with Caitlin and Angie following him. Joey turned the light on. On the old couch, there was a blanket covering something…
"Take it off," said Joey. Craig pulled the blanket off slowly. Underneath the blanket was…
"OH MY GOD. Joey, where did you find it?" Craig asked happily. "I was thinking about this earlier! I missed it!" Craig held up his Hendrix-replica guitar. He plugged it into the amp he had sitting in the corner. He played E9. He shuddered. "Ah," he said. "Needs tuning. A little bit scratched, but not bad."
"I saw it in a pawn shop. The guy there only wanted $1000."
"You paid that much for this stupid guitar? Joey, you didn't have to…"
"I know what music means to you, Craig. I wanted you to have the guitar."
"Thanks, Joey," Craig said, hugging him with one arm.
Craig took the guitar up to his room and put it on a pile of pillows he had on the floor. "Ah," he said. "Perfect."
Going back downstairs, Craig said, "Joey, what'd you do with those Adidas bags that you picked up from Jimmy's?"
"They're in your closet somewhere."
Craig shrugged and went back upstairs to his closet, where he found the two black bags. He went through one of them, with his CDs. He took them out of the cases and threw half of them against the wall. Joey came in, and after almost being hit by a flying CD, asked what he was doing.
"It's everything. Everything he tried to buy me with. It's all wrong. All of it. He couldn't love me, so he tried to buy me with all this stuff. The CDs, and the camera, and the MP3 player, and the clothes… it's disgusting…"
"Craig, keep it. All of this stuff… it drove your father crazy that he couldn't love you the way he wanted to. He loved you, Craig. He just had problems showing it."
"Joey, do you know why Mom left him?" Craig asked.
"I try not to think of reasons," Joey said simply.
"He hit her. And me. And one day she just said, 'I think I'll go find someone else.' I could've died living there, Joey. And she didn't care. She was selfish, and she wanted to get away from it all. She left me there to die in that house with my father."
"Craig, your mom loved you."
"That's what everyone says. But why did she leave me, then? She told me that she wanted to take me with her, but then again, she wanted a new life, and you two wanted your own kid, and I couldn't be part of what she wanted."
"You are what she wanted."
"I didn't know I was a perfect life. That's all she wanted. She left me behind because she knew she couldn't handle it anymore. She knew what was happening."
"Your mom… she was probably scared, Craig."
"Scared of what? My dad? What was he gonna do, Joey? Come and kill her if she didn't save me? I'm sorry, but to tell you the truth, I didn't want to be part of her new life. I didn't want this 'new life'. It was what she wanted. And it wasn't fair of her to leave me alone. Not knowing what he was doing."
"I agree, Craig. She was scared. She didn't want to hurt you anymore than your father had."
"I miss her."
"It's okay."
"No, it's not okay. I barely got to see her. Ever. And you… you didn't act like the world's nicest step dad around me while she was still alive."
"I was…tense back then. With Angie being born, and… it was tense."
"'Tense'. What does this mean, Joey? That being tense gives you an excuse to act like a jerk? I should tell that one to Ashley one of these days…"
"Craig, I'm sorry I acted like that. I'm sorry, really."
"You know what's stupid? First we were talking about my dad and now we're arguing about Mom."
Joey laughed.
"I'm tired," Craig complained.
"Well, I'll leave you alone so you can go to bed then."
"It's not like I can go to bed right now. I have to go take a shower." Craig stood up and went into the bathroom. Letting the hot water run over him, he felt clean and refreshed. He dried off, got dressed, told everyone goodnight and went to bed.
The Next Morning
Craig woke up early, about a half-hour before he normally would. He put on an outfit made up of what his father had bought him weeks ago. He walked downstairs, where Joey and Caitlin were sipping coffee and Angie was drinking orange juice.
"Hey, Craig," Joey said happily. "How'd you sleep?"
"Fine," Craig said, going to the kitchen and getting some water for himself. He took the orange pill bottle off the top of the fridge, and swallowed two tiny, white pills with the water.
"Ready to go to school today?" Caitlin asked, standing up and getting a fresh cup of coffee.
"Yeah," Craig answered. "Ready as I'll ever be."
"Craig, are you going away again?" asked Angie.
"Nah," said Craig. "I think I'll stay here this time."
"Good," Angie said firmly.
Craig had some breakfast and waited for Joey to finish his. "C'mon, Craig," said Joey. "I'll give you a ride to school."
Craig got into the passenger seat of Joey's convertible, and Joey drove him to the front of the school. "Thanks, Joey," Craig muttered as he opened the door and got out of the car. He walked up the steps, and went straight to his locker.
Mission number two: find Ash. He looked over at her locker, and she wasn't there. He saw Ellie in the hall and said, "Ellie, have you seen Ash?"
"Uh…no, but she should be here later," Ellie said casually.
"Okay, thanks. Uh…later," Craig said quickly, running to Mr. Simpson's class. He took a seat in the back of the room. "Craig, it's nice to see you again," Mr. Simpson said, seeing him sit down.
"Nice to see you too, Mr. Simpson," Craig mumbled.
Several students were staring over at Craig and whispering to each other. A few minutes after class had started, Craig got an email. It was from Marco. The email said, "Craig – I really need to talk to you. –Marco". Craig glared over in Marco's direction.
He wrote back, "We have nothing to talk about."
Marco rolled his eyes and wrote, "I think we do. Please. I need to talk to you."
Craig wrote, "Fine. Two minutes. After school." There was no way he was going to talk to Marco about anything. Marco smiled in relief.
He got another email. It was from Jimmy, and it said, "Craig-what's up? Everyone's worried about you; quit acting all secretive."
Craig scoffed. "I'm not acting secretive," he whispered to Jimmy.
"Yeah, that's what you're being."
"No it's not!"
"Yes, it is. Everyone's worried about you, man. Talk to someone."
"Who? Marco? No. I'm never talking to him again. He can go screw himself."
"Craig!" Mr. Simpson said loudly. "There will be no talk of people…ahem…screwing themselves. Return to your work."
Craig sighed heavily and said, "But Mr. Simpson, I'm not talking of people screwing themselves. I'm talking to Jimmy about what happened two weeks ago. Is that so wrong?"
"No, Craig, but this is my class and I don't want you talking about that in the middle ofmy class."
"You know what, Mr. Simpson?" Craig said boldly. "Your class can go screw itself." And then, he stood up and walked out of the room. "Everyone, please continue with your work. I'll be right back," Mr. Simpson said, following Craig down the halls.
Craig stopped at his locker. He pressed the side of his face against it, feeling the cold metal against his skin. He pounded the locker next to him with his hand. Mr. Simpson watched as Craig broke down on the locker. He fell to the floor and pulled his knees to his chest. Mr. Simpson sat down next to him. "Craig…" he said quietly.
"Don't talk to me. You're as bad as Marco," Craig said harshly.
"Craig, what's going on between you and Marco?" Mr. Simpson asked curiously.
"It's nothing."
"Craig, I know it's not nothing. Tell me. Or tell somebody. You don't get to act like this in my class."
"It's always about your class, isn't it?" said Craig coldly.
"No, a lot of the times, it's about my family and my friends."
"You know, if Jimmy had left your class and said it could screw itself, you'd leave him alone and be like, 'Oh, well, it must be stressful being in a wheelchair.' What about Emma? What if she did it? You'd do the same thing. Or with Sean, or Marco, or Paige…but no, I'm just the insane student that everyone needs to follow around because he's a psycho and he might accidentally shoot himself. Well, Mr. Simpson, if I was to shoot myself, it wouldn't be an accident." The two stared at each other for a while.
Finally, Mr. Simpson stood up and said, "I have to get back to teaching. I'm not making you come back to class, but you can if you want, which you probably don't." And then he went back to the Media Immersions room. Craig sat there and said, "Good! Because I don't want to come back to your stupid class!" Mr. Simpson glanced back at Craig and turned into the room, shutting the door behind him. Craig sat at his locker, staring at Mr. Simpson, who turned around to make sure that Craig wasn't going anywhere, and Craig glared at him. He stood up and trotted down the hall. He looked in all of the classroom windows.
He saw Sean and waved at him. Sean waved back, and then continued to his work. In some odd way, Craig was proud of Sean and Ellie. Ellie, especially, who had to support herself with money she had to get from her mom, all up until she made it herself.
Taking a small step back, he waved at Emma and Manny, who were two rows in front of Sean. The two girls waved back, and also continued with their work.
He walked the empty halls for about twenty-five more minutes, and finally, the bell rang. He went back to his locker and took out an English book. He slammed his locker shut. Glancing to his left, he saw her. "Ash," he whispered. She was about fifty feet away, on the other side of the doors. They stared at each other for a minute, before Ashley came running to him. She hugged him, and Craig dropped his book on the floor and hugged her back. He kissed her, and she kissed back. Ashley pulled away. "Okay, okay," she said. "Not in front of everyone."
Craig laughed. "I called yesterday, but your mom…" he began.
"What did she say?" Ashley demanded, her demeanor changing rapidly.
"She said that you never wanted to see me again. I don't think I should see your mom anymore."
"I'll talk to her," said Ashley. "But right now I want to talk to you."
"Okay," said Craig, sliding down the locker. Ashley sat down next to him. "What do you want me to tell you?"
"Everything you feel like telling me," Ashley answered quietly.
"Well, it starts two years ago. My dad dies, right? The cops come to Joey's, say my dad's dead, I go to my dad's and get what I wanted, which was really nothing…two years later, I'm at home, watching the news with Joey, Caitlin, and Angie, and the lady on the news says my dad's been released from jail. I went insane right there."
"So…Joey lied to you about it?" asked Ashley clearly.
"Yeah," said Craig. "And so I left. I told him I had to go to school, and then I just went behind the Dot, where Jay followed me. I sat there trying to figure out ways to find my dad. And then I figured, there were the nurses and doctors at the funeral, so they were in on it too. I went to the hospital, and the nurse there told me where he was living. I went to my dad's, and he let me stay there. My dad went and bought me a ton of stuff… like an MP3 player, a digital camera, all these clothes, CDs, and DVDs. It was crazy. I've never had someone buy me that much stuff at one time. I saw Ellie. She was on her way to Marco's. What she was doing downtown that late at night was beyond me."
"Ellie never told me she saw you," Ashley said accusingly. "Oh, well. You're here now." Craig hugged her. He heard the bell ring and started to get up. "Hey," Ashley said. "English can wait. I want to hear this." Craig shrugged and sat down.
"Okay, so… oh, yeah. Like, the day after I saw Ellie, my dad went to work. He came back like, three hours later and said I stole his money. I had no reason to even have money; he bought me everything I needed. And then he did it again."
"He beat you." Craig ran a hand through his hair and sighed, nodding to Ashley's statement.
"Yeah. And then he made me stay in my room for nine days. I got water every four days. I guess he had to make sure I didn't die or something. And one day, I was looking out the window, and I saw Spinner. He was the one that saved me from my dad. Spinner was on his way there, and then my dad got there first, so he beat me again. I don't really remember much, but he threw me against the wall. I remember waking up and Spinner was there. I told Spinner something, and then I grabbed my cell and I went into my dad's room and that's when I took the gun." Ashley sighed, and leaned her head on Craig's shoulder, and putting a hand on his arm.
"I left Spinner when we got off the bus, and I spent the night in the park. Then I fell asleep behind the café, and I woke up. Spinner, Jimmy, Emma and Manny were there. They wanted to see if Spinner was telling the truth this time. I have no idea how they found me, but they did. And then they gave me some money so I could go get some medications, and I spent a day at Jimmy's. I went to the school at the end of the dance to get something from my locker. And that's when it happened. My dad…Joey…" His throat started burning, as did his eyes. He wiped at his eyes. There was no way he was going to do this in front of Ashley. Unfortunately for Craig, he did. He broke down. A painful memory, no doubt. You'd have painful memories like that too if you had shot your father on impulse.
"Craig, shhh…it's okay. It's okay," she said, rubbing his back with one hand. She hugged him tightly. "We can talk about it later." Craig nodded.
"I love you, Ash," he whispered.
"I love you, too, Craig," Ashley said quietly. She sat with Craig until he was calm enough to go to class. When they got to class, they sat down at an empty table. They only had about ten minutes left of class, because they were at the locker the entire time, but that was okay. They had the rest of their lives to be happy together. They didn't need a stupid English class.
After School
"Ash, you wanna come over?" asked Craig.
"Sure," she said.
"Cool. I want to show you the guitar."
"Craig, I've seen the guitar."
"Yeah, but I can play it again. It needs tuning, but…"
"Yes, Craig. I think it's the player that needs tuning," Ashley said playfully.
"I think the player does need tuning," Craig answered, kissing Ashley.
"Craig!" Marco said quickly. Craig turned around and glared at him.
"We were going to talk after school, remember?" he said.
"Marco, I'm hanging out with Ashley right now. Reschedule."
"No, Craig!" Marco cried. "We have to talk about it. And you made plans with me first."
"And Ashley has more sentimental value to me than…you do. And she doesn't make me look like a lame-ass in front of the whole school. So no. We have nothing to talk about."
"Craig, why don't you just talk to Marco?" Ashley suggested.
"No," Craig argued. "I'm not talking to Marco."
"Please, Craig?" Ashley begged. "I don't want to have to lose time with you later." Craig groaned.
"FINE!" he shouted. "What do you want, Marco?" he demanded.
"Craig, I want to talk to you about what happened," Marco muttered. He sat down on the steps, allowing Craig to do the same.
"Make this quick," Craig said angrily.
"When we got in the fight…" he began slowly. "…I didn't mean to make it look like it did."
"Marco, you say a lot of things."
"Craig, would you just listen?" Marco almost shouted, standing up to face him, as Craig hadn't taken the offer of sitting next to him.
"I'm sorry I made you look like that! I didn't mean to make you look 'weak' in front of everyone! And I'm sorry you had to get stitches, and…I'm sorry! It's not like me to even fight at all! I don't know what came over me, but I'm sorry." Marco said, loud enough for everyone to hear. Craig didn't say anything.
"I have to go," Marco said quickly, turning to leave.
"Marco, come on, man," said Craig, holding Marco's shoulder to stop him from leaving. "I'm almost okay now, and… now everyone's just worried about me. It's cool. Don't worry about it." This received a smile of praise from Ashley, who was sitting a few feet away from them watching the scene.
"Thanks, Craig," said Marco, about to go home.
"Marco," Craig said immediately, again grabbing his shoulder. He leaned down in his ear and said, "Ever wear a ring during a fist fight again and you'll get a beat-down." Marco smiled nervously and said, "Okay." Then, he finally left.
Ashley got up and stood next to Craig. "You did good," she said coolly. Craig put an arm around her waist and kissed her on the cheek. Finally, Craig got a chance to show Ashley his guitar and just about everything he had now.
"Wow, Craig," she said. "I can't believe Joey would pay that much for a guitar."
"I know," Craig answered. "It's unbelievable. I told him I didn't want it if he paid that much, but you know that good ol' Joey. He insists and insists, and finally… well, yeah. So…now I have all this stuff and I don't know what to do with it. But I do know what I'm going to do with this pair of shoes…" he said.
"What?" Ashley asked curiously.
"I'm gonna give them to Spinner. They're brand new, must've cost $100, and…I owe him. A lot. He deserves them. So are you going to Sean's party in a couple weeks?"
"I didn't know Sean was having a party," Ashley said calmly.
"Well he is. And he wants everyone to be there. So…"
"I'll go."
"Great. Okay, then…"
"So…" Ashley said, trying to find a subject. "Um…maybe I should head home."
"No, Ash, please. Don't go yet," Craig begged. "You've only been here for like, a half-hour. Please don't leave."
"Okay, Craig," said Ashley. "I won't leave. Yet. But find something for us to do." Craig smiled wickedly.
"Okay," he said. "Wanna go to the garage?" Ashley hesitated for a minute before smiling and following Craig down to the garage.
She walked through the door and looked around the empty garage. "Craig?" she said in a confused voice. "Craig!"
She almost had a heart attack when Craig came from behind her and grabbed her shoulders.
"Craig! Don't do that!" she cried out, even though she was glad he was there.
"Sorry, Ash," Craig said in a mock pout. He went over to the couch. "God, it's cold in here." He sat down on the side, and Ashley came over and sat next to him. Craig turned his head and kissed her, and she kissed him back. Craig laid down on the couch and stretched out, still kissing her.
They kissed slowly for about two minutes, and then it started going a little faster. Suddenly, the door opened and Craig stretched his arms over his head to make it look like they'd just been lying there. He opened his eyes and said, "Hey, Joey." Ashley rested her head on Craig's chest.
"Hey, Craig," Joey said quickly. "Ash, your mom's here." Ashley got off Craig, who followed her to the house. Kate was sitting at the table in the kitchen, drinking some water. She looked up when she saw Ashley, whose hair was a little messed up, her shirt wrinkled, and her face a little pinkish, but other than that, she looked like she normally did.
"Ashley," she said. "You were supposed to call."
"Mom, you never told me to call," Ashley said quietly.
"You should know to! Especially when coming here!" Kate shouted venomously.
"Why? It's not like we were going to do anything!"
"How do I know that?" Kate demanded. "You could've been doing anything!"
"How do you know that we were doing anything? He wanted to show me his guitar!"
"I'm sure he did!" Kate screamed. Joey and Caitlin watched this scene from the couch. They were monitoring the argument and also making sure that Angie didn't pop in and hear it. She was over at a friend's house playing right now.
"You want proof?" Ashley screamed right back in her mom's face.
"I don't care about proof! I don't need proof! I know what you two do when you're alone! I got a call from the school today saying that you skipped almost your entire English class!"
"What do we do when we're alone, MOM?" shouted Ashley, getting right up to her mom. "What?" Kate had no answer. "You really want to know what me and Craig do?"
"Yes, I would!" Kate said, repositioning herself, standing up. She watched in horror as Ashley put her arms around Craig's neck and kissed him. Craig was surprised at first, but he closed his eyes and kissed back.
"GET YOUR HANDS OFF MY DAUGHTER!" Kate pulled Ashley off of him, and Ashley turned around and slapped her mother. Kate slapped Ashley back. Ashley looked at Kate and said, "This is what happens to Craig when he does something wrong." She slapped Craig in the face. Craig looked at her in confusion. Kate turned and slapped Craig on the other side of the face.
"Oh, come on!" Craig said loudly. Caitlin put a hand on Joey's chest, forcing him to sit back down. She got up in Kate's face and glared at her.
"DON'T TOUCH HIM!" she screamed. "YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO SLAP HIM!"
"HE HAS NO RIGHT TO BE WITH MY DAUGHTER!"
"HE HAS EVERY RIGHT TO LOVE WHO HE WANTS! HE'S MY STEP SON AND IF YOU EVER SLAP HIM AGAIN, I'LL HAVE YOU ARRESTED! NOW GET OUT OF MY HOUSE!" Caitlin shouted. Ashley, Joey, and Craig all stood and watched, their mouths slightly open at Caitlin's sudden rage. Craig had no idea she could be like that.
"I'M NOT LEAVING WITHOUT MY DAUGHTER!" Kate yelled, grabbing Ashley by the arm.
"I'm not going with you," Ashley said coldly.
"You will come with me right now, Ashley Kerwin!" Kate said angrily.
"No! I'm not coming with you! You slapped my boyfriend and you made a scene in front of his family!"
"Come. Now."
"No. You're just going to try keeping us apart again! You can't tell me who I'm gonna love!" Ashley tore her arm from her mother's grasp and clung to Craig as though her life depended on it. Her mother glared at her, picked up her car keys, and slammed the door shut.
Craig stood there with Ashley still hanging on to his arm. "Uh…Joey, can Ashley stay here for tonight?" he asked. "I'm sure she just needs some time." Joey nodded. Craig took Ashley upstairs and laid her down in his bed. She sighed.
"Since you'll be spending the night here," he said. "I'm pretty sure that Caitlin has some pajama pants in the laundry, and you can wear one of my shirts. But, it's not nighttime yet, so… what do you wanna do?"
"I don't know," said Ashley. "But…maybe we can finish what we started?"
"Wow, Ashley, that's so unlike you," Craig said. "I like it."
He laid next to Ashley, and they continued what they'd been doing before Kate arrived. "I'm sorry I slapped you. It was just for show."
"It's okay. No more talking."
"I'll probably go home tomorrow. Okay, now no more talking."
"Thank you."
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Author's Note: That's a REALLY long chapter! It's like, 6700 words! YIKES! Anyway, I'll update when I get ten more reviews on THIS one. So…later. Suggestions? Questions? PUT THEM IN YOUR REVIEWS! (And always read the author's notes on my stories. They're usually important.) And in part 6, Craig gets WASTED!