We're All Stories In The End by Megan Rees (book club reads txt) 📕

Leon gave a snort from the other side of the room, which made Luna remember that he was Carlos’s son and therefore a relative of Ash.

“True parents wouldn’t have given their son up in the first place, no matter how young they were,” Ash snapped furiously, releasing his hand from Cassie’s gentle grip and rising to his feet. “You may love me, but I will never love you. Especially as you left me with those monsters that were supposedly fit for parenting!”

Before anyone else could reply, he stormed out of the room and stomped upstairs. Cassie blinked in hurt and sighed softly, shaking her head. “I didn’t think he would act like that.”

“Robert and Matilda abused him,” Luna explained quietly, feeling a pang of sympathy for the young woman. “He’s always been like this. He doesn’t make friends too easily and thus gets into trouble quite a fair bit.”

“Are you his girlfriend?” Will asked, narrowing his dark blue eyes.

Luna snorted. “You wish. I’m just a friend. We’re trying to retrieve the Phoenix’s Treasure because it was stolen in a Demon raid.”

Cassie’s eyes lit up slightly. “If you’re a friend of Ashley’s, could you calm him down?”

“Just a word of warning, he prefers to be called Ash,” Luna replied, a stern tone slipping in her voice. “And yes, I probably could. I sort-of owe him for the amount of times he’s saved my life this week, anyway.”

“He has saved lives?” Will looked rather proud.

“He distracted a Demon from killing me, he got me back to Nighthollow when I was unconscious from poison, he threw a knife at a Demon that was strangling me and claims to have saved me from freezing to death,” Luna answered. “I’ve only saved him from drowning, so I guess I should really help him forgive you. He doesn’t forgive others easily, so he might be hard to crack.”

Cassie nodded. “Thanks, whoever you are.”

“Luna Wilde.” the blonde girl responded simply.

“Wilde? Mia’s daughter?” Cassie smiled warmly at that. “Mia was a lovely young girl. She was same age as Will.”

Luna nodded. “She was the best mother I could hope for.”

“My mother knew Mia too,” Celeste added. “They were good friends in training. My great-uncle liked her a lot.”

“Who was your great-uncle?” Luna inquired, remembering that Celeste was a Ravener.

The werewolf shrugged. “Some guy called Rosco, I think. He didn’t like me that much. I think he’s dead now.”

“I know Rosco. He’s still alive and had a son who is one of my best friends,” Luna explained. “If Rosco is your great-uncle, then my friend is technically your cousin.”

Celeste laughed lightly. “I’ve never had a cousin or a sibling. It just sounds weird thinking about this long lost cousin of mine. What’s he like?”

“We haven’t got time for idle chatter,” Will reminded her sternly. “Luna, Cassie and I will be forever grateful if you could talk to Ash.”

“I will.” Luna promised, jumping up to her feet and leaving the room.

~

“Ash?”

“Go away!”

Luna sighed, pressing her forehead to the white wooden door. “It’s just me. I’m alone.”

“I don’t want to talk to you! You’re just here to make me feel sympathy for my pathetic excuse of parents!”

“Ash, for goodness sake, this is ridiculous. Just let me come and talk to you, or I’ll yell it at you so everyone can hear downstairs.” Luna groaned, hitting her head against the door.

She heard an irritated sigh. “Door’s open.”

Luna carefully turned the handle and opened the door, closing it behind her. There were no lights on, but she could see Ash standing next to the window with the moon reflecting onto his face. He was angry, but his eyes looked lost, which made him feel a pang of sympathy for her best friend. “It’s understandable to be acting like this,” she began gently. “I’d probably be like this if I had this thrown at me suddenly.”

“No you wouldn’t,” Ash grumbled. “I know you. You’re too soft to throw a toddler tantrum like me.”

Luna stepped forward a few steps so she was standing in front of him, leaning against the other wall next to the window. “For 7 years I have grieved for my parents. I’d do anything to have them back. You’ve just learnt you’ve got real parents who love you, but you’re refusing to forgive them because they couldn’t keep you. They were heartbroken to give you up, Ash; even you can’t deny that.”

“They have been strangers to me. I will never love them, especially as they gave me up to people who tortured me for nearly half my life.” Ash replied tartly, folding his muscular arms. He was wearing a plain black t-shirt, which exposed a few scars from his childhood up his arms.

“Cassie and Will are good and honest people. They didn’t want to give you up, but they had to because Cassie was so young,” Luna explained, still stringing her words out carefully but gently. “How would you feel if you were in Cassie’s position? What would you have done if you were her?”

“I would have checked that my brother-in-law wasn’t an abusive drunken monster before entrusting him with the care of my son,” Ash snapped. “They hurt me physically and mentally, Luna. You don’t understand because you’ve come from a family who loved you and you learnt how to love. I’m the living shadow of my uncle – uncaring and unloving.”

“You’re nothing like Robert,” Luna murmured, her pale eyes locking gaze with Ash’s dark green eyes. “You have learnt to care for your friends. I understand why you can’t love, but we all learn from our mistakes and amend them. If you could just go and talk to Will and Cassie and forgive them, you’ll do a great thing not only for them, but for me too. I just want you to be happy, which you aren’t right now.”

“You still don’t understand, Luna,” Ash replied, his tone softening and taking Luna by surprise. “I was in the dark for 7 years until I began training and met you. You showed me the brighter side of life and I crawled out from my hole and saw the world in a different prospective. I was going to kill myself, but I learnt that I still had something to live for. You saved me from the evil clutches of death, and I’ll always be grateful for that.”

Luna felt tears pricking at her eyes. “Ash, I didn’t realise…”

The brown haired boy nodded solemnly. “You were my salvation and my guardian angel. I understand I’m a hard person to be with, but you still persisted with caring for me. I’ve always seen you as brave and caring – so much like your mother. You both have touched lives with your friendship and have saved people. Mia sacrificed herself for you, while you’ve technically saved my life. If you hadn’t showed up in my life, I would be long gone and dead. I know I never say this sort of stuff, but I just feel so lost and broken that I’m too upset to bother coming up with some sarcastic comment.”

“That’s a first,” Luna sniffed, wiping away a few tears. “Yet I didn’t think I meant that much to anyone. My world fell apart after my parents died and it’s been difficult to rebuild myself. You helped me overcome the worst of my grief.”

Ash gave her a pitying look before stepping forward to stand next to the window. He held out one hand. “Come here before you break down. I don’t think you’ll be able to face anyone if you’re crying.”

“I thought you didn’t like people crying. It annoys you.”

“This is an exception.”

Sniffing, Luna took a cautious step forward and Ash drew her into a hug, resting his chin on the top of her head. “There, there,” he murmured gently. “It’s going to be okay.”

“You’re like the brother I never had.” Luna answered quietly.

Ash didn’t say anything for a little while, just held her tightly and allowed her to cry as much as she needed. Luna felt her heart beat rapidly increase as she stood in his arms, feeling safe and warm. I’ve never seen Ash like this. Have I changed him?

Her best friend pulled away from her, holding her face in his hands. “It’s late now, so I’ll go down tomorrow morning and apologise to Will and Cassie, if that’s what you really want.”

“Thank you, Ash.” Luna responded in relief.

“We ought to get some sleep now if we’re actually going to stay in a good mood in the morning,” Ash replied. “Your stuff is over by the radiator, so you can stay over there. I’ll be over by the cupboard.”

Nodding, Luna headed over to one side of the room and fished out her blanket and pillow, while Ash went to the other side and put away his sketchbook. Luna curled up in her blanket and rested her head on her soft pillow, staring over at her friend. “Good night, Ash.”

Ash looked over at her, smiling gently. “Night, Luna.”

Luna lifted her head sluggishly when she heard someone cough loudly and then shuffle around near the window. Flitting her gaze around the room, Luna saw Ash sitting on the windowsill, concentrating intently on the sunrise beginning outside as it gave off beautiful reds and oranges in the sky. It looked like an oil painting.

Crawling out from underneath her blanket, she slowly got to her feet and walked over to the window, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. Ash closed his sketchbook gently and nodded in acknowledgement at her. “Good morning.”

“You’re up a bit early considering the time you fell asleep,” Luna remarked with a yawn. “What’s the time?”

“Probably about 7am or so. I’ve been up for an hour,” Ash responded. “Oh, before I neglect to mention, I thought you stopped breathing in your sleep. You just went deadly still after squirming about.”

Luna felt colour going to her cheeks. “Sorry. I had a nightmare.”

“Was it about Mia again?” Ash questioned, hugging his sketchbook to his chest.

“Not this time. It was a memory, but I would rather forget about it.” Luna sighed.

“Is it about the scar on your hand?” Ash went on. “You never told me how you got it.”

Luna gave a tiny nod, staring out of the window. “A Demon did it to me when I was 5.”

“Oh. I’m sorry for harassing you about it,” the teenager answered bluntly, not meeting her gaze. “I didn’t realise.”

The two were silent for a while, watching the sunrise bringing light and warmth to the sleepy town. Luna could see a few strange animals scuttling about, retreating to their homes as the sun came up. “Normals live among such weird creatures.” she remarked rudely.

Ash chuckled mildly, but then he winced and screwed up his face in pain. Luna turned her worried pale gaze on him. “What’s wrong? Are you injured?”

“It’s just a few cuts, I’m fine.” Ash insisted.

Luna wasn’t convinced. “You’re clearly not. Is this something that happened in Raven’s Run?”

The brown haired boy remained silent, which Luna presumed meant she was correct. “Was it Robert and Matilda?”

“You haven’t seen the extent of what they’ve done to me, Luna,” Ash replied bitterly. “The only thing that healed was