-----------------------------------------------------------

In the end, I didn’t cry myself to sleep. Unfortunately, sleep didn’t seem to want my company. I just sat up sniffling. I really hated crying. My eyes were puffy, my head hurt and I felt drained. I couldn’t even think of this as a breakup because we weren’t even together.

Melissa and Callie sat with me in the darkness. They didn’t ask any questions. They were just comforting me with their presence. I was so glad that they were here with me.

A soft knock came from the other side of the door and they jumped up, cracking their knuckles. Melissa took out her earrings.

“Guys, don’t,” I said, or rather, tried to say but my voice was playing hide and seek.

I sighed and sniffled. How could I feel so heartbroken over Ashton? It didn’t seem to make sense and it didn’t seem fair, but yet here I was. I sniffled again as Melissa and Callie opened the door, ready to pounce.

Melissa was extremely rational and rarely got angry, but tonight I could tell she wasn’t playing. The door opened to reveal Kevin standing there. They cooled down a little.

“Can I talk to Liz?” he asked, peering into the dark room. His eyes found me in a second.

They looked back at me to see if I was up for it and I nodded. They let him into the room and slipped out quietly.

He sat down on the ground beside me. I groaned and covered my face with my hands.

“I probably look like a zombie right now.”

“Zombies ain’t got nothing on you,” he smiled and I smacked his arm.

“What Ashton said to you was totally awful.”

I grimaced at his name. “He told you what he said?”

“Yeah, after I punched him.”

My eyes widened. “You punched him?”

“Of course I did. He made you cry. Punch first, ask questions later,” he grinned and I managed to smile at that.

“Well, I think he let me hit him,” Kevin mused. “He didn’t block it or fight back. He was feeling pretty bad.”

“As he should,” I sniffed

He chuckled. “Yes, as he should.”

“I can’t believe I cried today and it was because of him,” I sighed. “I never thought in a million years that he could make me cry.”

“He is your soulmate,” Kevin said softly. “You do have a connection to him whether you realize it or not. That’s why it hurts.”

I rested my head on his shoulder. “The king isn’t completely innocent in this too. He made him do it. But that still doesn’t mean he should listen and do things that will hurt others.”

Kevin sighed. “Ah yes. The king.” He seemed lost in thought for a moment.

“He put us through hell this weekend” he remarked. “Although it was much worse for Ashton.”

“You mean after he took me home last night?”

“Not just after that. All of Saturday and the entire Sunday morning. Him visiting you was a short break for him.”

I looked up at him. “What happened?”

“He was angry that Ashton didn’t officially accept you and he was being even more controlling than usual. You see, he has this thing that he does with Ashton, where he gets into his head and tries to get him to do what he wants.”

I looked up at Kevin in shock. I was beyond speechless. My mind flashed back to the day before the date when he told his father to get out of his head. I didn’t think that much of it back then, but now I guess it was more serious than I thought.

“How is that even possible?” I asked. “Is it because of the mind link? Can’t he just block him from his thoughts, then?” I asked.

Kevin shook his head with a grimace. “He can’t block the king. Besides, the king doesn’t do it through the mind link. He has his own… methods. But that was just a part of it. I don’t think Ashton got more than ten minutes of sleep over the past two days. He went through some extremely harsh training.” He scowled.

“We didn’t want him to do it alone so we joined in. The king took that as the okay to press us even more,”

“Kevin that’s horrible,” I gasped. “That’s why he looked so tired today,” I said, putting the pieces together.

Kevin nodded. “He got some sleep during the drive here, but whatever the king said to him during his mind control exercise is still affecting him.”

“How can he do that to his own son?” I thought aloud in irritation.

Kevin ruffled my hair to calm me down, but I could tell that he was upset too.

“Don’t let the king trick you. Even if he says it’s your choice, and allows you to do whatever you want, he’s still going to find some way to manipulate you into doing what he wants. He doesn’t like to lose. He did it to CaVaughn and now he’s doing it to Ashton. That’s why Ashton’s trying to save Brooke from going through that.

“I’m not defending him… definitely not. But whatever he said to you tonight was partly due to the condition he’s in mentally.”

I nodded as I thought about this. “Kev, you’re a really good friend you know. Whether it’s me or Mel or Callie or Ashton, you always know just what to do.” I paused. “I think I rely on you too much sometimes. You always come in when I’m feeling down and you save the day. I’m grateful to you and I hope I can be just as important to you as you are to me.”

Kevin ruffled my hair in the dark. “Stop it, you’re gonna make me blush” he chuckled. “And Liz, you’re already important to me. You don’t know just how much you mean to me.”

I smiled and yawned as I felt sleep finally taking over.

-----------------------------------------------------------

!