mornings were the worst. it meant that another day was starting. not that she was tired of living or anything of the sort. of course not. but it meant that she was waking up beside minjun and honestly, she didn’t even know why she did anymore. their marriage was a mess. on most nights, she slipped into bed before he even came home, not wanting to know what hour of the night he stumbled into the apartment at. they were no longer that couple that everyone wanted to be. they were the couple no one wanted to be.
she turned in her spot on the bed, wondering if he came home last night. she was almost certain that he had other women on the side, so it wouldn’t even surprise her if he didn’t. however, as she turned, she noticed the familiar figure, sleeping soundly. she wanted to reach out, trace his features with her fingers like she used to to wake him up, but she didn’t want to wake him, so she pretended to sleep as well. just maybe they could get through today without a fight.
Felix texted Zach to come over, because he wanted to see him and apologize in person. At the same time, though, he was still kind of angry and he wanted to vent his emotions. He wanted to yell at Zach and be frustrated with him, because he was. That wanker. It wasn't all his fault that they were fighting. Felix felt like he was partially to blame, as well. He thought about what Santana had said, and he could feel his heart beating fast and adrenaline pumping through his veins. It was a strange and new feeling, but he brushed it off. He wasn't going to resort to that, especially not if Zach was going to be an arse.
The moment the announcement was posted on their common room board, Georgia smiled and shook her head. Out of all people, she would be paired with Drew. The girl would admit that the room assignment was going to be a breeze seeing as the two got along quite well since her arrival at the prestigious school. Even though their differences outweigh their similarities, Georgia couldn't help but enjoy the company of the rebel boy. Packing whatever she needed for the week ahead, the brunette made sure she brought the essentials--especially her make-up bag, toiletries and beddings. She wasn't much of an obsessive-compulsive when it came to these things but the girl didn't trust Drew's roommate and just had to make sure her weeklong stay wasn't going to be uncomfortable in the slightest way.
It's been a few days into the week and so far, Georgia has spent most of her time out of her new dorm and taking after-school classes to make up for a few missed credits that are requirements for graduation. The brunette would occasionally catch her new roommate in their dorm room but for the most part, they haven't properly hung out seeing as she would always be exhausted at the end of the day and would end up crashing before Drew could even say a word. But today was going to be different. As Georgia was heading out to another after-school class, she received a text from another student saying that it was cancelled due to their teacher not being available. Dropping her bag on the desk, Georgia was just going to send a text to Drew wondering where he was when she heard the door knob turn and saw the boy entering the room. "Hey, I was just about to text you.." she said, looking up at him.
TAGGING -Ash Duval and Eli Anderson
TWS -Drug Use
TIME-FRAME- May 17th - during Hailgrove's All night spectacular - 11pm onwards
STATUS- Complete
NOTES - Worth a read, I really like the symbolism in the analogy about love, we may foreshadow it.
LOCATION - On Campus
When he hears soft footsteps padding distantly across the floorboards, he puts out his pipe quickly against the tray; he could only assume somebody was coming his way, and although he most definitely could've been hearing things, it was better safe than being caught by a professor and having his scholarship revoked. With a quick wave of his hand the smoke airrates just in time to see a familiar dark-haired boy peering from around the corner. "We've got to stop meeting like this, love." He smiles softly towards Eli's subtly shaky hands, patting the empty space next to him.
Eli: Movie night really had seemed like a good idea. He'd really thought he'd be able to do it. But when it came down to actually being out in a crowd of people, mosts of whom he didn't know, late in the evening he just couldn't. He'd managed to stay through the first movie and half of the second before it got too much, before he was jumping every time anyone came anywhere close to where he'd been sitting.
Making his escape, Eli heads back to the dorms. Thankfully almost the entire student population that's still on campus is out watching the movie, so there's no one to notice him. Or so he thought until he rounded a corner hesitantly and found Ash leaning against the side of (which building). "H-hi." He takes a couple of steps back, he'd been avoiding Ash for almost two weeks and had actually been pretty successful until now.
Ash: Ash darted a quick smile towards Eli's hesitant figure, "Hello, Love." he smiled genuinely, running a hand through his own disheveled hair as he slid gracefully down the wall, "How's it going?"
Eli: "F-fine...I'm fine." Eli stammered, shoving his hands in the pockets of his hoodie. He was fine. As long as he kept telling himself and other people that, it had to be true. Right?
Nervously, Eli took half a step forward before freezing. "I-uh...I'm sorry about ya'know..." Three people knew what had happened and Eli regretted that any of them had to know. "I...." Shaking his head, Eli trailed off. "Nevermind
Ash: "Really, Love?” Ash smirked knowingly, placing his blueing hands into the deep, warm pockets of his hoodie to keep them from falling off. “'Cause you kinda sound like shit"
Eli: "I...Why doesn't anyone believe me when I say I'm fine?" His eyes widened in surprise, he hadn't meant to say that. "Uh...sorry."
Ash: “Well, it’s probably because you’re a bad liar.” Ash offered, lazily waving his hands in gesture, his marijuana-soaked mind, and teary-eyed expression not helping explain with anything more complex than a few simply-stated words, “It’s a good thing, Love; It means your honest, trustworthy.”
Eli: Shaking his head, Eli slumped against the wall beside Ash. “It’s a bad thing. It means I can’t hide anything. Ever. Even when I want to.” Eli sighed, annoyed with himself, but knowing there wasn’t anything he could do about his own seeming open-bookness (that’s a terrible phrase).
Eli pulled a hand out of his pocket and ran it over his face. “Uh... how’ve you been?”
Ash: Ash’s head tilted downwards, with curiously raised eyebrows, he had to hold back a laugh; Nothing was necessarily funny, he just didn’t exactly have a handle on his emotions in his current -well hidden- state. “Same as I always am, Love. How about you? No offence but considering everything that’s happening lately, you weren’t exactly the first person I expected to see walking around campus alone after dark.”
Eli: Eli dropped his head back against the wall, letting it bounce a couple of times. “There were um...a lot of people a-at the movie thing. I-I couldn’t stay.” At the time, in his barely contained panic, walking back to his dorm alone in the dark had seemed like a better plan than staying there, feeling as if anybody would come out of the shadows. “I’m fine. Really.”
Ash: “Understandable; people are fucking annoying. They have filters, yet they don’t use them, and they know where to stop but they choose to keep going” Ash simpered, head tilted casually down at the boy as he crossed his arms tightly over his chest for warmth.
Eli: “People aren’t...I-I’m just having trouble with crowds.” Eli admitted sheepishly, looking everywhere but at Ash. Wishing he was better, wishing that he could keep pretending there wasn’t anything wrong and actually have people believe him.
Ash: “People are.” Ash corrected with a friendly smile, concentrating hard on the details over Eli’s face, taking note in his barely visible, otherwise unnoticed features, almost engrossed with them in his current - head-in-the-clouds - state. “I sort of figured, Love.”
Eli: “I...yeah it’s pretty obvious, huh?” Eli asked, glancing at Ash. Clenching his hand into a fist, Eli bites his lip. “I-I’m sorry about that, um...before. For getting you involved.”
Ash: “Not for anyone who isn’t looking.” Ash said easily, his eyes tired and on the verge of being bloodshot from all the pot he’d smoked in the last half an hour, “Could you just stop with the sorries, Sweetheart?” He uttered, with a creased brow, the last part coming out much softer than the first: “You don’t need ‘em.”
Eli: “Sor-” Eli cut himself off, shrugging slightly. Apologizing for everything was something he’d started doing while with Mason because he was never sure when something he’d done was something that would make him angry.
“Do you...do you want to go inside?” Eli offered timidly.
Ash: “Sure thing, Love.” Ash said with a small smile and nod, dropping the put-out joint he had held behind his back and making sure that he squashed it firmly into the pavement as he made his way passed Eli towards the front entrance of the old brick building.
Eli: Eli tensed slightly and rolled his eyes when he saw what Ash dropped. He’d thought the air smelled familiar, but he hadn’t been sure what he was smelling. He wasn’t a fan of drug use, in his experience it meant a loss of control, but he could try to trust Ash. He’d trusted him before. Once Ash had passed in front of him, Eli pushed himself off the wall and followed him into the building.
Ash: The dimly lit halls of inside the Campbell building lit the way to Ash’s dorm, the heating turned up high so that they were met with a inviting brush of warm air when Ash pushed open the glass door; a welcomed escape from the noticeably dropped temperature of it’s exterior.
Ash’s cheeks - along with the sharp tip of his nose - were tinted a subtle shade of pink from standing out in the harsh cold for so long. Though, it was hardly something noticeable to anyone besides himself, who could feel the icy sting hinting there as he strided in light steps, staring at his feet as he balanced out his walk with the balls of his feet, his tongue sticking determinedly out of his mouth as if concentrating on pushing the pressure of his soles from heel to toes with even timing was the most important thing in the world.
Eli: Eli chuckled softly at how hard Ash seemed to be concentrating on just the simple act of walking. He was sure that it wasn’t Ash’s intention, but watching him allowed Eli to let some of the tension drain out of his body.
Speeding up a little bit so he could walk beside Ash instead of slightly behind him, Eli hesitantly reached out placing his splinted hand on Ash’s arm. “You okay?” It was half concern and half actual curiosity.
Ash: Ash’s head tilted up at the hand on his arm. With raised eyebrows and wide eyes - as if he’d been caught out talking to himself, his tongue darted back into his mouth, sliding along his bottom lip before it did so, and his lips pulled towards the edge of his cheeks into a easy and unfocused grin as he replied with a quiet hum, “Hmm, Love? Yeah, I’m great,” He said, -his eyes wide and guilty as if he’d been caught-out talking to himself - while he sounded out an enthusiastically placed emphasis on the final word.
Eli: “Um...okay.” Eli nodded his head. Dropping his hand from Ash’s arm, Eli slowed down so he was walking just slightly behind Ash again. He sighed to himself in frustration. Why was this so hard for him? Talking to people was something that everyone had to do. Why hadn’t he been able to grow out of his inability to talk? It was stupid, he was stupid.
Ash: “Okay,” Ash whispered in reply, his gaze - previously focused at his feet - flicked up to stare around the halls, taking note of the cracks in the wall to his left as the lingering silence began to eat away at their almost conversation. Ash let out a confused huff, staring back at Eli with uncharacteristically curious eyes, his hands positioned strangely in his pockets as he queried “Do you think, if we could choose who we loved - like really choose, that the world would be an easy place?”
Eli: “What?” Eli stopped and started at the back of Ash’s head, confused for a minute by what he’d said, what he meant. “You uh...you don’t think we choose who we love?” Sure, there are some people you don’t really choose, people that you’re stuck with - your family for example. But Eli was sure that he’d always chosen who to love. He chose to love Abby; he chose to love Mason, even if that had been a terrible choice.
Ash: “You do?” Ash said, tilting his towards Eli to show off a subtly sad smile as they continued on in the direction of the rusted gold numbers, and creaking half broken door handle he knew were awaiting them. “I don’t choose, why do you think it’s called falling? You can’t stop yourself; you’ll hit the ground eventually.” He always did.
Eli: “But don’t you think you chose to fall?” Eli glanced at Ash’s profile trying to gauge his reaction. “I mean even if sometimes the landing hurts?” And man did it really hurt sometimes. Nervously, Eli popped the knuckles of his right hand as they walked; he knew it annoyed people sometimes, but he couldn’t stop himself.
Ash: “Love, if you were standing on the edge of a cliff, you wouldn’t choose to fall off of it; that’s called jumping. It’s suicide.” Ash’s lips curved into a bitter smile, as if it was some kind of private joke, taking it’s toll on him as they continue to close the distance between them and his doorway.
Eli: Even after all the hurt he’d been through with Mason, even now with it all still so fresh, Eli believed in love. In finding your the one person you’d be with forever. In the very beginning of their relationship, he thought that person would be Mason. “It’s not the same thing. Not if they’re the right one.” Eli denied vehemently, lips pulled down in a deep from. “Do you really think it’s the same?”
Ash: In lieu of answer, Ash chuckled, patting his pockets easily for his room key; he didn’t really know what he believed anymore; his faith in love was tarnished, and he was almost too far gone to care. The bruise on his hip was stinging a little as he used his side to push open the heavy door. “I think love is a stupid idea, and whoever thought of it was sadistic and an asshole.” He admitted, a lazy grin hovering over his seemingly distant line of vision as he leant sheepishly onto the door, in some form of invitation.
