"So, Ashland."
"So, Chris."
"How are you on this wonderful day?"
"I'm pretty good. May I ask why the boys left you here with me?"
"They didn't. I'm here of my own will."
"I see. Where'd they go, again?"
"To get some food and stuff, I think. I wasn't really paying attention."
"That's what I figured."
"So, Ashland. What are you thinking about at this very moment?"
"My friends back home.." I trailed off. I didn't speak of them very often, but I missed them like hell. We talked when we could, but our conversations seemed to be getting less and less frequent. "I miss them," I whispered.
"Moving's hard," he nodded. "I moved here a few years ago, and I still get homesick sometimes."
"It gets easier, though, right?"
"Eventually. Yeah."
"I feel like I'm drifting apart from my best friends. I don't know what to do." Why I was talking to a boy I barely knew about this, I don't know. Somehow it seemed easier talking to him than it would be talking to Mikey.
"It's hard," he repeated. His fingers moved a pen back and forth between them and he seemed to get lost in his thoughts for a minute. "If you can get through it, though, friendships intact? You know they're worth fighting for."
"Thanks, Chris."
"We are back!" Mikey announced as he stepped through the front door with his arms raised above his head.
"No one cares," Gerard snickered as he passed by his younger sibling.
"Ashland cares," Mikey pouted. "Right, Ashy?"
"Sure," I muttered distractedly from where I sat at the kitchen table finishing my psychology homework.
"See, she loves me!"
"Aw, do you love me too, Ashy?"
"Sure," I repeated, scribbling down the last bit of the last paragraph I had to write.
"So much love.."
"Oh, Matt, this is Ashland. Ash, Matt."
He nodded at me in greeting.
"Nice to meet you," he smiled, taking a seat across from me at the table.
"You, too."
"He was such an asshole for the longest time," I laughed from where I sat next to Matt on Gerard's bed. Gerard, Mikey, and Chris were playing a never ending game of Mario. Ray lay sprawled out at the foot of the bed with his eyes trained steadily on the TV screen.
"Who, Gerard?" Matt inquired.
"Yeah. Fucking hated me."
"No way. He can be antisocial, but-"
"No, seriously. He couldn't stand being in the same room as me."
"I find that hard to believe about anyone."
"So, what, they meet and it's love at first sight or some shit like that?" Gerard exclaimed from across the room. Matt and I lay side by side with our eyes closed.
"Gerard," Mikey hissed. "Shut up!"
"No! Seriously, she barely knows the guy! Why would she-"
"Gerard! Just because you took how long to decide that she was a decent person doesn't mean other people don't recognize it right away. Back off."
"..right. Sorry," he let a breath out. "Just .. can you ask them to tone down the flirting?"
"I'm curious as to why it's bothering you so much, actually."
"Wake up," a voice echoed somewhere above me. My eyes slowly opened, allowing me to see Gerard standing above me. The room was dark, and he appeared to be the only one in the room.
"Wha' time izit?" spilled out of my mouth as my arms stretched above my head, bringing my shirt up a few inches.
"Around eleven. The guys already went home."
"'kay," I muttered before turning onto my side.
"You're on my bed."
"Thanks for pointing that out for me."
"Get off."
"No," I groaned, latching onto the first pillow I could reach.
"Ashland.."
I remained silent, knowing he would give in.
He sighed. "Are you going to freak if we wake up in the same bed?"
"Jus' go ta bed, Ger."
"Gerard."
"Whateverr."
"Right back atcha," I heard him snarl; then the sound of fabric sliding against skin was the only audible sound in the room.
"You're going to regret sleeping in jeans," he informed me.
"Are you trying to get me out of my pants, Gerard?"
"I was just saying!" he exclaimed.
"Well, thanks. I guess." I unbuttoned and unzipped my pants and slid them off under the covers and dropped them beside the bed. "We good?"
"I am."
A moment of silence later, we both burst into laughter and that quickly dissolved into a more permanent silence.
"Are you going to freak out if you wake up and I'm holding you?"
".. just wait until I'm asleep."
i'd give you my hand if you'd reach out and grab it.
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