The Great Escape

AN. Thank you to HappySmiler, xHalosandwings, Chain Gang Princess, Boo, RKO.I.F, Kellia Girl, xTwistedxImperfectionx, Cena-Wilson-Crazy, Nessa, TJ Sparkles & rory21 for reviewing the last chapter.

Thanks very muchly :)

Chapter Twenty-One – My Discovery, Your Downfall

ASHLEY

Closing her eyes against the river of shampoo that trickled down from her locks to the bridge of her nose, Ashley breathed in its familiar floral scent and allowed herself a rare smile. In a way this shower reminded her of taking one back home; with only a black depth to stare into, the imagination was no longer starved, and she could almost see herself back in her own bedroom on a casual weekday evening.

Except, of course, she always held the reality that that was just a memory and the present was much more significant to her now.

Opening her eyes again and looking up to the ceiling, her smile widened into a slight grin. Here, she wouldn't pad back into her bedroom and have her mood dragged down by the ever-lasting row between her parents. She wouldn't feel desperate to leave her surroundings every evening and get herself into trouble just so she could be given some attention, whether it was good or bad.

"Ash, get your ass out of the shower – you're going to use all the hot water!"

But then again, college life wasn't all it was cracked up to be either, even if it was a damn sight better than home.

After pretending not to hear her friend, or the several slams on the door, she emerged into the bedroom freshly clean and fully dressed twenty minutes later. Even the blue turban-style towel holding up her hair couldn't distract from the cruel smirk on her face.

"Don't look at me like that, Massaro." Mickie attempted to insert authority into the matter, but ended up pouting instead. "You took longer in there on purpose, didn't you?"

"Would I do such a thing?" She asked innocently, perching on the edge of her bed and shaking her hair free from its hold.

"Of course you would. I bet you heard me complaining as well. I was knocking because you had a visitor while you were in there."

"Was it Brian? I've been meaning to text him back—"

"No, and it wasn't Paul either."

"So who was it?"

"Your one and only main man."

At the smile on the brunette's face she grimaced, and, as if her feelings weren't clear enough the first time, gave a look of utter disgust a few seconds later. Why did she have to be plagued with thoughts of Adam whenever she was having a relatively good time? It simply wasn't fair to be provided with the knowledge of his presence...or the fact that he'd been into the room for a second, unwanted time.

"Really, Ash, calm down." A giggle spilled through Mickie's lips before she pointed to her laptop. There was now a yellow folder on top of it, something that hadn't been there when she had gone to bathe. "He just dropped off some sociology work. Apparently you didn't pick up one of the papers in your last class."

"Oh..."

"Isn't that nice?" The girl prompted as Ashley, trying hard to find a reason to dislike the courteous gesture, began to comb through her tangled hair. "Oh and he said to return the notes when you're ready – he doesn't expect them back tonight."

Of course he doesn't.

She rolled her eyes at the thought of him sitting smugly in his room back in the guys' dorm, thinking that he'd pissed her off enough for her to care. He doesn't expect them back tonight. Did he know her that well?

"I think it's sweet that he knows all of your habits. He almost knows you as well as I do; we both expect you to be stubborn enough that you won't accept his help until the last minute and then—"

"You're pushing it, Mickie."

A silly giggle nearly made her roll her eyes again. "Oh please. Ash, I know you. And you know he knows you."

"Of course he knows me. We're in the same class."

"You know what I mean," said the student, shaking her head playfully as she stood to her feet and rummaged around for a clean towel. "I reckon you have a little bit of a crush on him – you're just too hard-headed to admit it."

"We've been on one date, we're stuck with each other in the same class because I can't do anything about it, he tries to have conversations with me but I ignore him." She scoffed a moment later. "Yeah, sure."

"Sooner or later, you're going to have to give in to his charm."

What charm? What is everyone else seeing that I'm not? And why does everyone like him?

"You know what?" Suddenly determined, the blonde stood to her feet, pulling her hair back into an untidy bun and heading for the door. "If he thinks I'm going to do what he thinks then he clearly doesn't know me well enough. I'm going to return his notes to him right now."

"But what are you going to do without the papers?"

She hadn't thought that part through, but shrugged anyway. "I don't know. I'll borrow from someone else. But one thing is for sure: I won't have Adam Copeland so cocky about himself. He doesn't know me...He never will," she finished quietly.

Her friend merely raised an eyebrow, recognizing this mood one too many times to question it anymore. "Well okay..."

In a defiant mood, she snatched the folder and closed the door behind her, intent on getting to the other dorm as soon as possible. This mood of hers was something she couldn't control; it made her itch to know he was—or should be, in her opinion—acting so smugly about this.

Even if the issue was small.

It didn't take more than five minutes to find the room he was staying in—her long, determined strides made sure of that. The looks she received, some of amusement at the look on her face and some of confusion, didn't bother her one little bit, and she moved forwards until she came across what would have been familiar if she'd seen his door before.

Adam + The Miz, read the note in a red squiggly line on the whiteboard attached to the door of their room. Knock if you dare...'cept chicks. You can come right in.

"For God's sake," she muttered to herself over the immaturity of the guys, but counted herself as one of these chicks and pushed the door open with a stronger force than she'd intended to use. "Adam, do you really think—"

Her breath caught in her throat almost immediately as her eyes slid over to his bed, following her brief glance at Mike's empty single. She froze in her step, unable to do anything about her body's functions, and simply stared at the sight she was unwillingly presented with.

There was nothing surprising about seeing the Canadian in his bed, shirt off and the cover half-wrapped around his frame; it was the pretty girl beneath him that had her at a loss for words. Her eyes swept over the long nails, dug into the skin of his back...the pouted lips as he'd bent down to kiss her neck just a short moment before she had interrupted.

Now, Adam turned, finally alerted of another presence in the room.

For the first time in her life, Ashley couldn't find the words, words that would usually come so naturally to her, to address him with. She simply stared at him for what seemed like a long time, and tried to work out her feelings in the meantime. There were so many things she felt, she didn't know where to start.

The silence soon became too much, but it wasn't them who interrupted. The raven-haired beauty cursed loudly, half-moving and half-falling out of the bed whilst trying to wrap the sheet around her naked frame. "Ashley, oh my..."

Her stuttering words, the guilty undertone in her voice, didn't mean a thing. They were blocked out entirely as she continued to stare at Adam, who now seemed to have the decency to look around for his clothes.

Swallowing lightly, she rounded on the girl, her eyes narrowing into angry slits. One emotion gripped her, held her so tightly that she simply couldn't contain it any longer. "You whore." She spat out.

Biting down on her swollen bottom lip, Candice Michelle fumbled awkwardly for her own clothes, fighting desperately to keep the sheet from falling down and holding it closely to her chest. Her eyes closed for a moment and she sighed; when she opened them again, she looked truly caught-out, as though she'd half-expected the interruption to have been a figment of the imagination.

"How could you do this to Jeff?" She demanded. The glare she gave wasn't one she'd given before; it was full of hatred and disgust, a look that Adam shied away from as he slipped on his pants and a shirt. "He loves you."

"And I love him—"

"Evidently, not enough." She shook her head. "And you," she turned to Adam, clutching the folder he'd given her even tighter in her free hand; the other was still placed on the doorknob. "I just..."

But then she was forced to trail off.

What was it that she wanted to say to him? She had every reason in the world to be angry at Candice, who was awkwardly changing back into her clothes now—the girl had cheated on her boyfriend, and not even for a meaningful reason, just for a casual sex get-together. But him...

What was there to say?

She fought down the strange lump in her throat as he opened his mouth, running a hand through his messy hair, and then closed it again. It seemed that he was at a loss for words, too.

"Please, please..." Candice licked her lips as she hurried towards Ashley, now fully-dressed and looking sincerely apologetic. "Don't tell Jeff."

A scoff choked down anything else she may have been feeling in the moment, and she turned, flinging the folder over to Mike's bed so she could prod a finger harshly into her friend's chest. "I swear to you, I will tell him. I won't have him not knowing what's been going on between you two."

"Oh God, but...but..."

"Hey, maybe you should have locked the door or something." Sarcasm came easily to her as she stepped away, eyeing her up and down in disgust. She felt bitter towards both of them and couldn't, try as she might, seem to hide her complete reaction. "If you don't tell him, I will. That's not a threat, it's a promise."

There was a heavy glisten in Candice's eyes as she turned away, ready to scamper out of her way and head back to her own room—or at least somewhere far away from this atmosphere, at least.

Ashley watched her go, and continued staring down the hallway for a long while afterwards. She couldn't bring herself to think any coherent thoughts; her mind just kept giving her all these things and images to contend with. How was she supposed to feel? Because what she felt right now was angry and disappointed...and something else. Another emotion she couldn't quite identify in the moment.

"Ashley..." Adam's soft voice whispered, closer to her than she expected. "I—"

Her thoughts were still on Candice, and so she didn't dare turn to meet his gaze. She didn't think she would be able to stand it. "You're a dick," she hissed, unable to keep the venom from oozing out of her tone.

He nodded. "I know."

"How long has this been going on?"

"Ash—"

"No, don't you dare try and talk me out of finding out. Jeff has a right to know how long his girlfriend and his friend have been fucking behind his back."

"It's happened..." He trailed off for a moment, a weak sigh spilling through his lips as he angled his head to look at her. "Maybe a few times. It's kind of...a casual thing."

A shocking amount of rage grabbed Ashley, coursing through her body at quick speed, and she soon saw red. He anticipated her reaction and dangerously placed his hands on her waist to calm her, only to be overpowered as she swung round, out of his light hold, and clenched both hands into fists.

"You should be ashamed of yourself." She muttered, her anger at its peak, and smashed her right hand into his cheek for a hard punch.

She took little satisfaction in the way he stumbled back from the blow, and turned, her wet locks falling out of the loose bun as she stalked away. Before she knew it, her legs had picked up a quicker pace...and then she suddenly broke out into a run.

She didn't know where she was going, or in which direction she would end up, but she needed to get the hell away from that room.

She sat, an hour later, in the cafeteria. She was perfectly still as she sat at an unnoticeable table in the far corner and scratched absentmindedly at the green plastic of her tray. She had little to show for her meal, merely a bottle of water and an apple, but she didn't care to eat right now. Instead, she just stared out of the window nearest to her and took in the view of the students walking around outside.

What was it that she was feeling?

Ashley tried desperately to grasp onto the emotion and figure out the weakness she had for it, but it was too hard. Right now all she could focus on was what she'd seen a while ago, and how badly it had had an effect on her.

"Hey Ash, mind if I talk to you about something?"

She minded very much but looked up anyway, surprised to see Randy's face staring back at her. She lazily invited him to take a seat opposite to hers and he awkwardly accepted, sliding in a moment later.

"So?" She raised an eyebrow, not caring in that moment to be polite for the company. "What is it you wanted to talk about?"

"Hey, are you alright? You look...upset."

This caught her by surprise. She sat a little more upright, taking in the concerned expression on his face, and then scratched at the back of her neck uncomfortably. She hadn't bothered to look at herself recently in the mirror but she could imagine that she looked the worse for wear.

Finally, she shook her head. "Whatever. What do you want?"

"Oh right." He began, but she was paying him little attention. Adam's face was clouding her thoughts, taking up all her time. "I've been thinking a lot about Maria and I wanted to know...well, do you think she's serious about me?"

--

"I know."

"How long has this been going on?"

"Ash—"

"No, don't you dare try and talk me out of finding out. Jeff has a right to know how long his girlfriend and his friend have been fucking behind his back."

--

"...She seems to be ignoring me and when I do want to talk to her, I'm always with Michelle and it seems wrong to leave her and go to talk to her."

--

"It's happened..." He trailed off for a moment, a weak sigh spilling through his lips as he angled his head to look at her. "Maybe a few times. It's kind of...a casual thing."

--

The blonde could feel it happening again. It. There was a first time for everything, she realized, as the emotions she was trying too hard to push away slipped out of her control. She felt absolutely everything as she listened to the guy talk about her friend.

"I mean, should I—"

"What you need to do is grow a set of balls and just talk to her. It's not that difficult," she told him and stood to her feet, leaving the apple behind but grabbing the bottle. "You like her. She likes you. It's as simple as that. Now have you got that or do you need it spelt out for you?"

She didn't look for a reaction to her comment and quickly moved out of the cafeteria, only slowing when she reached the familiar safety of her dorm. Her pace slowed as she found her room—something was slowing her down, preventing her from entering the room and pretending that she was okay to Mickie.

She stopped, breathed in deeply, and soon decided not to revert back into her familiar character. Instead she leaned against the wall beside the door and closed her eyes firmly; it was a moment later that she found herself sliding down until she reached the floor.

Damn it. What is going on with me? Why do I feel like this?

With nothing to show for her mood, or nothing she could quite understand, Ashley felt her frustration build up again. What the hell was with this life, throwing everything towards her and expecting her to just take it?

She was overwhelmed at the prospect of everything and nothing would give her a break to just...relax. To forget about everything. To forget about the past. Why did she have to keep moving, working herself half to death, just so she could move on from her past experiences?

"Ash," said Maria's soft voice at the wrong moment. The redhead looked to soothe her friend as she slowly approached her, taking in the unfamiliar pose. "Is everything okay?"

She couldn't handle holding everything in any longer—at least not right now.

With a firm grip, she launched the bottle out of her hand in a fit of rage, and watched as it smashed against the opposite wall. Water splattered everywhere but she didn't care for the mess as she pulled her knees closer to her chest and leant her head against them, closing her eyes a minute later.

"It's okay." Two arms wrapped around her shaking shoulders a short moment later as Maria came to sit beside her. "I don't know what's going on with you...but whatever it is, it's okay."

No, it's fucking not.

But Ashley kept this to herself as she leaned into the support she was being offered and allowed the first tear to fall from her tired eyes.

So there's the next chapter. Please review :)

Up next is Eve's chapter.