When He Grew Even Older

"Where is she?"

Amber woke up the next day hearing more voices below. She can tell that there are quite a few visitors.

Checking the time it was already close to lunch but she was still too sleepy to get up.

Covering her ears with her pillow she returned to her deep slumber.

"Will you keep it down," Ashton frowned as he reprimanded Ashley.

She was now a teen but still acts like a child.

"I wanna see her, she was scarred right? Plus I wanna know how she so easily got the Barbers."

"Easy?" Ashton looked at her seriously.

Kyle and Liana both looked back at their son with curiosity in their face.

Gideon was the only one who was already sitting and was just watching them.

"She deprived herself of sleep for a whole month just to make sure that her plan would go without much of a hinch."

Ashley blinked a few times, a whole month? She who loves sleeping so much, to be deprive of such for a whole month was pure torture.

"Now keep it down and remember I'll get you back for this, you have to go and inform her," Ashton turned around and entered the kitchen.

He was not fond of having so many people in the house. Other than those who were paid hourly for cleaning, there are no more servant in his home.

"Am I in trouble?" Ashley asked her parents and grandfather.

"I suppose? He looks serious," Gideon replied.

Ashley could only scratch her head, she called her because of the fact that her brother was suffering so much.

But now her brother will get back at her for what she had done.

"That's so unfair," she complained.

"Well for him to let her stay in his home where even we can't, I think it's quite obvious where she stands. Though I am curious as to how it happened," Liana patted her head as she followed her son in the kitchen.

Gideon and Kyle could only shrug.

Gideon have an inkling of the reason behind the change in his heart, just how many times have this girl pulled her out of his own darkness?

While Kyle was just happy if his son was happy, so how it happened and when it happened, it doesn't matter to him at all.

*****

"Amber wake up, you can return to sleep once you finished eating. It is almost sundown."

Amber opened her eyes while still being disoriented. She frowned for she still wanted to sleep.

"Get up now, no wonder you became so thin. You overwork yourself and sleep rather than eat," Ashton rolled his eyes.

Amber covered herself with the blanket wanting to return to sleep.

Seeing this and knowing that Amber was a very stubborn girl. He could only resign and go down.

His family left after an hour of speaking with him and asking for the details of how she had done everything.

Amber once again fell asleep but it fell short because the blanket was suddenly pulled away from her.

"Get up now."

After hearing that she caught a whiff of a very delicious food.

She abruptly sat up and saw him holding a tray of food.

"You didn't have to bring that here," she exclaimed as she felt embarrassed somehow.

Her thickskin somehow flew somewhere, it was already too much that he was waking her up.

Ashton didn't reply and placed the tray on the bed side table before placing the back of his hand on her forehead.

"You don't seem to be sick, you must be just really tired. Eat now before getting a bath and returning to sleep."

He then said before walking out of the door, not waiting for her to utter another word of rejection.

Amber could only resign before she started eating, it was a simple meal but it was made for her to be energized.

She then brought everything down as she was craving for coffee. The sky outside was already dark, to which she just shrugged.

"I thought you still want to sleep?" Ashton asked upon coming out of the study room.

"You made me eat so I am now awake and currently craving for some coffee," she glared at him before going ahead.

"We have no pastries today."

She gave him another sharp look, "I am not that much of a glutton."

Ashton followed her into the kitchen, just as she reached for the coffee maker she stopped.

"Have you cried?"

She asked when Ashton continued what she was about to do, taking over on creating the coffee.

She stepped to the side and stood beside him as he worked, so he gave her a side glance before pouring coffee on the coffee maker.

After a few seconds of silence he replied, "I have."

After putting two scoops he poured water and turned it on. Before he turned around to lean on the counter. While Amber was still facing it.

"The day after he was buried, I locked myself up in the office and cried. I don't feel shy about admitting that."

He looked at her, while her head was bowed down.

"If I didn't cry then surely Carl was nothing to me, he was not important to me at all."

The two of them remained silent Amber still had her head down.

"Have you?" Ashton then asked.

Amber shook her head, "I couldn't, I focused all my strength in taking Mario down."

After regaining her strength physically, her emotions became completely clear. Her emotional tiredness that she had ignored while being busy.

"How many times have I tried to make coffee for myself only to end up making instant or just buying outside?"

"How many times have I reached my hand to the coffee maker only to stop before touching it because I was used to having someone else reaching it before me?"

The most memory she had about Carl was when he makes coffee for them. A very warm memory.

"I was too young when we got separated from my brothers and just as I have lost my parents he became a brother figure to me."

Just as tears were about to fall in her eyes, she felt a warm palm on top of her head, gently stroking her hair.

As if on cue, the tears she didn't want to fall, started falling non stop. She didn't get the chance to cry for Carl. Even when she visited him, she could only stay for a bit.

Ashton didn't stop her nor did he tell her that everything's fine, it was after all, Amber herself, who found justice for Carl.

He understood full well, that when she finally reach her limit. She'd rather those around her, just stay by her side letting her cry without saying anything.

Her tears started stopping when the coffee was made but as soon as she took a sip, they started falling again.

The night became deeper as all that could be heard in the house was her sobs, Ashton could only place facial tissue in front of her.

After who knows how long, when her eyes are already so red, she finally stopped crying.

"What are your plans now?"

He asked after sitting silent for so long.

"I'll stay here and double check SNN for about three months before I'd go to Kuiper Country to join aunt Jacqueline and the others."

They have informed her that the company was doing great, a lot of people were being curious as to what company Alissa was under.

Alissa, on the other hand, became a B grade model after more than five years of the start of her career, she also graduated and became an Electronics Engineer.

Hayley's brand started spreading little by little all over Kuiper Country and they are planning to start trying to penetrate the other countries as well.

"Then I'll support you while you are here, as for when you leave, we'll know when we get there."

Amber looked at him, "You really were serious?"

"Serious about what?"

"About me? About the marriage?"

"I already told you I am."

Amber just looked at him, she couldn't comprehend it. She became important to him after spending so little time with her?

"I already told you as well, I know my feelings aren't that deep yet but I understand that I would want to nurture these emotions instead of ignoring them."

"What I need was just protection from them, you do remember that right? The reason why we started all these engagement."

"I know but that doesn't change the fact that you caught my attention."

"Did you woo Madison back then with this kind of attitude?"

Ashton raised a brow, "Are you jealous?"

"Wow, you really are narcissistic."

"Birds of the same feather flock together."

Amber knew that if she still continue this conversation she will just lose in the end, so she chose to remain silent and finish her drink.

It seems that when he grew older he became more talkative as compared to back when he was just 18 years old.

He was already narcissistic then but he became even more now. He was cold then but somehow that lessened, well in the premise that Carl's death finally found justice.

'I wonder what will happen when he grew even older?'