//ext. poppy court road - night, after fireworks. @angstfactory (fitz)
The festivities only served as a mockery for the rest of the night. Fireworks sounded like it was tearing his chest apart. March gave them both some space after that. Ashton was stuck in the dilemma of trying to fix this or rip off the band aid in one go. After a long time by himself replaying the whole thing over and over again in his head, the hurt look on March's face stung, because deep down Ashton knew he wasn't happy anymore. And so he chose the latter. He still had the keys to March's house, and so he started packing, picking up whatever he could see through his tears that was his, it was too hard to tell, the lines had long blurred between what was his and what was March's, but he did his best, pulling stuff into boxes and bags haphazardly, he didn't want to be in that house longer than he needed to be.
Ash looked at the polaroids and photos that hung on the fridge, he was always a sentimental person, he selfishly took a few - certainly an item that was theirs, not his. He wasn't really thinking when he packed and got out of the house as quickly as he could, boxes and bags now on the ground of the sidewalk as he stood there alone at night. He walked over without a car, even though his home wasn't far, it was still hard to carry everything. "Fuck.." he cursed under his breath as the reality started to really sink in, he sunk down and sat by the curb, letting out a shaky exhale, dropping his head. He suddenly glanced to the a book in his hand that he realized he shouldn't have taken. The present from last Christmas. Their tickets to the planetarium to stuck in between the pages.
Ashton heard footsteps down the pavement but he didn't look up, most people should've been down by the beach, or watching the fireworks, no one should've been by the neighborhood. Or it meant that he had taken too long and people were coming back and he was going to take a nice public walk of shame from March's house. Or worst yet, it was March himself coming back home. Ash simply tried to ignore it, maybe if he didn't look up, they'll leave him alone.