77Lol I forgot to post this. Only a day late. but yep this is it. Also I lied about posting chapter nine separately, everything is just going in this upload. Here's a little table of contents:
1. Chapter Summaries
2. Chapter Nine
3. Incomplete Chapter Ten
4. Random snippets of scenes
5. Summarized Ending
6. Final A/N (feel free to skip)
Chapter Summaries
(There are dates at the end of each because I was and still am an ocd mess and need things to line up even though it really doesn't matter. The number before the dates are what day it is in Asher's school schedule so I knew what classes he had for the chapter.)
Chapter One: Asher overhears Derek, Colton, and Raymond make the bet. 4. THURSDAY. AUG 14.
Chapter Two: Colton ambushes Asher in math and then Asher bumps into Ray and Derek. On the way to work, Derek stalks Asher via car. 4. THURSDAY. AUG 14.
Chapter Three: Asher is at work at Midnight. He goes off at Rebecca and Jayson. Asher goes home and then to work at Underground. He gets longer shifts at Underground. 4. THURSDAY. AUG 14.
Chapter Four: Asher's starving and gets ambushed by Colton again but in English. He then gets injured during PE by Derek. Joseph's in a bad mood at Midnight. Rebecca makes a customer cry and Asher ends up getting fired/quitting. At Underground he runs into one of the girls from the afternoon and she tells him she could probably get him a job at the place she works at. 5. FRIDAY. AUG 15.
Chapter Five: Asher is unsuccessful at finding a job but Lysa calls him and he heads over to Stitch. He gets a trial period and as he's leaving he runs into Colton and Raymond but he manages to slip away. Jessamine wants to try out a new uniform for a neon party themed night she's thinking about. Asher sees Lysa again and she finds out he's gay. Asher reveals his low opinion of himself so Lysa goes to find a boy to tell Asher he's adorable. She ends up bringing someone Asher did not want to see. SATURDAY. AUG 16.
Chapter Six: The person Lysa brought was Derek. Asher is rude to him and Lysa calls him out on it and he accidentally reveals the bet he had overheard. Asher spends the shift avoiding Derek but he still manages to piss Asher off during the few times they run into each other. Derek eventually confronts Asher and Asher simply tells him to piss off. Derek then kisses him and Asher punches him in the face. SATURDAY. AUG 16.
Chapter Seven: Asher's been freaking out the whole of Sunday – though it doesn't affect his work at Stitches and he gets the job – about punching Derek and is a total wreck on Monday. Everyone's talking about Derek's black eye but no one knows how he got it even though there're plenty of rumors. Derek only told Raymond that Asher was involved and Raymond corners Asher after chem, before Asher could run off, and Asher reveals the reason Derek has a black eye. Raymond then leaves Asher alone and Asher isn't sure how to feel about the lack of, well, anything and Asher pretends to be homophobic. When he goes home, he sees that his father has returned and his mother is demanding to know where he's been. Asher leaves them to argue and tries to make his escape to his room. 6. MONDAY. AUG 18.
Chapter Eight: Asher is at Stitches after having an uneventful two days. It seemed as if the three were regrouping and forming a plan of attack so they hadn't bothered Asher. An hour into his shift, Colton enters the store and Asher hides, Lysa then questions him and as Asher is midway between telling her that he's one of the idiots, Colton spots him. Asher discovers that Colton works at Stitch too (He wasn't there on Asher's trial shift because he was called to an emergency shift at Joe's). 8. WEDNESDAY. AUG 20.
Chapter Nine: After worrying needlessly about Colton and the fact that they work in the same place, Asher is relieved that Colton does not hound him. Colton is exhausted and Mr. Miller is constantly trying to get his attention. Asher overhears Raymond asking Colton if he's alright and Colton brushes him off. Mr. Miller assigns a project (Research and present some aspect of Scottish life in the time of Macbeth (c. 1400) or the time of Shakespeare) that's due in three weeks on the 11th and Asher ends up partnered with Colton. They talk but can't seem to coordinate their schedules since Asher's only free on Mondays and Wednesdays from seven but Colton's only free until four on Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays and they want to start as soon as possible. Monday from seven is the only other time they're both free. Colton doesn't tell Asher why he's so busy and gets really defensive. After school, Colton finds Asher and they settle on Friday night with Colton coming to his work and sleeping over. 1. THURSDAY. AUG 21.
Chapter Ten: Asher's paranoid about tonight. Colton has taken to sitting next to him in math and is barely managing to stay awake after coming in late. They quickly get to the library and get to work. Colton questions Asher on his homophobia that he heard from Raymond and Asher continues to lie. When it's time for Asher to go to work, Colton walks with Asher to the mall since he's got one hour till his shift. When Asher's shift at Stitches ends, he gives Colton the address of Underground. Colton had known of it but he never had time to go there. Derek had invited him last week as well, the day Asher had punched him in the face. Colton gets a kick out of knowing that. Colton works on their project as Asher works. 2. FRIDAY. AUG 22.
Chapter Eleven: They wake up tangled in each other's limbs and Asher questions why Colton's got to go so early. Colton makes some feeble lie and Asher goes back to sleep. While at work, Derek shows up again with Colton and Raymond. Colton ends up falling asleep and Asher brings him into the staff area to sleep on the couch after getting bitten because Colton bites people who try to wake him up. Colton murmurs stuff about making ends meet and other stuff about his financial problems and his mother along with biting Asher some more. SATURDAY. AUG 23.
Chapter Twelve: Asher and Colton decide to work on the English project again in the evening after Colton does whatever it is he does. During free, Raymond catches Asher and drags him to the school's production room. He wanted Asher's help with picking some songs for a playlist for lunch on Friday for some fundraising event. Asher learns that Raymond is a fan of FyreBird and gets embarrassed when Raymond gushes about him. They pick the songs and Raymond asks Asher if he wants to come to a party this Friday. Asher shoots him down immediately because he has work and doesn't want to go and Raymond says that's a shame and then gives Asher a kiss before leaving him alone. 3. MONDAY. AUG 25.
Chapter Thirteen: Colton comes over after work to Asher's and is just in time to see Asher's mother go on a drunken/drugged rampage. Asher refuses to talk about it when they find safety in Asher's room but Colton is persistent and Asher ends up raging before breaking down. Colton comforts him to sleep. 3. MONDAY. AUG 25.
Chapter Fourteen: Asher is super embarrassed about what happened Monday night and hasn't seen Colton since (Colton left early in the morning without waking Asher). He has math after lunch and is really hoping Colton doesn't say anything. Math comes around and Colton just flops on his desk beside Asher and sleeps. Mr. Rowe asks Asher to wake Colton up in the middle of class but Colton turns and bites Asher's hand, not letting go as he goes back to sleep. When he does wake up, eventually, he stays awake and asks Asher if he's alright, broaching the subject of the previous night. Colton gets sent out of class for being disruptive. 4. TUESDAY. AUG 26.
Chapter Fifteen: Asher gets a call from Jessamine after chem and she says that an emergency came up so he wouldn't have to come to work tonight. Raymond overhears and then forces Asher to come to the party. Asher says no but Colton shows up and says that he knows where Asher lives and will drag him to the party so Asher has no choice but to go. After lunch, Asher hears a lot of people wondering what some of the songs that played during lunch were and was proud to know that FyreBird got some new fans. When he's home, he debates on not going but a text from Colton puts thoughts of ditching away. At the party, he stays out of the way and when he goes out for fresh air is confronted by Derek. They get interrupted by a girl who is Derek's new stepsister. Asher uses the fact that Derek is busy with Angela to make his escape and go back home. 7. FRIDAY. AUG 29.
Chapter Sixteen: Asher is at work at Underground and Raymond shows up. He asks Asher out on a date whenever the boy is free but Asher declines, or tries to. Evan, Landon, and Carol reveal to Raymond that Asher is gay and make him accept the date with the sweetheart Raymond and Asher is given no choice but to accept having dinner at Raymond's on Monday night. Asher overhears the rumor mills talking about a new girl who seems desperate for Derek. She turns out to be the same girl from the party and is now in Asher's math class. Colton asks if they are going to meet up again but Asher says he isn't free just in time for Raymond to remind Asher about their dinner date which takes Colton by surprise. Asher says they can meet up next Monday to finish things off. At Raymond's Asher learns of all of the expectations Raymond has upon his shoulders. 8. SUNDAY/MONDAY. AUG 31/SEPT 1.
Chapter Seventeen: Asher sleeps in since he has free. During PE, Angela is constantly with Derek who is super annoyed and when they have to pick partners for practicing for an upcoming fitness test, Derek immediately goes to Asher. He complains about Angela the entire time and grills Asher on his date with Raymond. He asks Asher out and Asher immediately denies. When questioned, Asher grumbles about not having five people forcing him into the date. In English, they get time to work on their project since the teacher is out sick. Colton takes his turn to grill Asher on his date. 1. TUESDAY. SEPT 2.
Chapter Eighteen: Asher's been working at Stitches for a little over a week now and as a celebration/initiation his iPod is to be played on shuffle in the store. He was only slightly worried by the anime music he had and hoped no one recognized the ones from the yaoi anime that were his guilty pleasure. Colton recognizes a track from Sekai and they both agree to keep their guilty pleasure a secret. 2. WEDNESDAY. SEPT 3.
Chapter Nineteen: Now that they've finished with Macbeth, Miller assigns their final project which is a reenactment of a scene or part of a scene so long as it is at least three minutes. Derek grabs Asher to be his partner before Colton or Raymond could and Asher has no time to decline as Derek announced it pretty loudly when he declined other offers. Derek straight away wants to know when Asher is free and they come to a decision for Asher to go over to Derek's that day after work. At Derek's Asher learns that Angela is his new stepsister and they run into a really awkward situation where Angela is trying to make-out with Derek and Asher stumbles upon them. Derek is quick to reassure that he is not interested in Angela in that way and Asher tells him he doesn't need to defend himself, it's not like he and Asher are interested in each other. They plan to meet up again same time on Wednesday to continue working and practicing. 7. MONDAY. SEPT 22.
chapter twenty to twenty-three were unplanned
Unknown Chapter: Asher left the house when he couldn't stand his parents arguing again and wandered town as he hadn't really gotten to know the place much. He gets hungry and enters Jillian's Diner and is surprised to see Colton working there. When Colton gets on his break he begs Asher not to tell anyone and Asher agrees. They sit about and talk, Asher accidentally revealing that his parents had a row and that was why he was out so early on a Saturday. Trying to change the subject, Asher asks if Colton's always so tired because he works two jobs, and Colton reveals that he actually works three. Asher doesn't question him and Colton later thanks Asher for being so understanding about everything when Asher leaves to get ready for Stitches. SATURDAY. OCT _.
Chapter Nine
I may have spent my time worrying needlessly after I got home from work the other day. But, I figured there was no need to fear Colton sharing the details of my workplace when he himself didn't want anyone to know he worked there either, whatever his reasons may have been.
When I got to school ten minutes before second period started – I had first period free so I decided to sleep in – I ran into Colton, who once again looked dead on his feet.
He didn't even acknowledge me as he headed to his class that I learned was right next door to my bio class. I was not complaining.
Raymond and Derek didn't talk or seem to notice me at all during bio even though they were still sitting right behind me and quiet boy. They were definitely planning something but I still let my guard down a bit just to relax for once. I've been so tense lately, no thanks to the three idiots. At least I didn't have to deal with Rebecca and Jayson anymore.
I went through bio, lunch, and then PE without any incident and my paranoia levels were at an all-time high. I now had to face English with the three idiots.
I ignored Mr. Miller who was reading a book at his desk as he waited for us to fill his class and took my seat at the end of the U closest to the door. There were a few others already in class and the rest were just coming in.
Right before the bell went off to signal the start of classes, the three idiots entered but they were quiet. Derek was in the lead with Raymond close behind but they were both turned to face the back, watching Colton as he trudged in like a zombie.
None of them spared me a glance as they took the only available seats that were once again right next to, Raymond sitting next to me then Colton then Derek. Colton immediately folds his hands on the table and rests his head in them.
Mr. Miller tells us to read our independent reading books for the next twenty minutes and Colton sleeps through the allotted time. When Mr. Miller went on to teaching, he continuously tried to get Colton to wake up. The blond would blink blearily and attempt to keep his eyes opened for a few minutes before they'd droop or he'd go into an open-eyed sleep-like daze.
What the hell was wrong with him?
Raymond asked him in a hushed whisper during one of the moments he was somewhat awake, but Colton just brushed him off looking slightly irritated and cranky.
Eventually, Mr. Miller gave up and just taught the class. In the last twenty five minutes he told us of a project we were going to be doing in which we had to research and present some aspect of Scottish life in the time of Macbeth at around 1400AD or the time of Shakespeare which would be due in three weeks on the 11th. He pulled up a screen on the whiteboard that showed some website that paired random words together however you wished and he had all our names put into the text box.
"This is how you'll be paired up for projects in this class so get used to it," he said as the majority of the class started to complain and groan about not being able to pick their project partners.
Mr. Miller clicked the OK button and a new page loaded where all our names were paired up with another.
"Find who you're paired up with and you have the rest of the period to start planning. This project will be done entirely on your own time or if we have extra time in class."
Eyes locked onto the screen, people praying that they got partnered with their friends. Some did, other didn't, you could tell by the sounds they made. I looked up my name and just barely refrained from smashing my head into my table. Of course. Of fucking course. Ain't this just fantastic.
By this time, everyone had moved to go sit with their partner and start planning or goofing. Colton was still lying face down on his desk.
Seeing as I didn't want to fail and just to get this over with as soon as possible, I shifted into Raymond's seat and prodded Colton's shoulder with my finger.
'Hey, dude, wake up," I said halfheartedly.
Colton mumbled and lifted a hand to swat my finger away before turning away from me.
I closed my eyes and pinched the bridge of my nose. Gotta stay calm. He's tired. That's it. He's just really tired because he's been out drinking and partying and smoking and whatever else people like him do until the wee hours of the morning.
Oh fuck this.
"Colton, wake the fuck up right now," I growled before kicking his shin under the table.
Colton yelped and shot up, crashing his knee into the table as he tried to jump up. He groaned in pain and collapsed onto the table clutching his abused leg.
It was kind of really funny. But I was still pissed.
"What was that for?" he whined, his voice still hoarse from sleeping.
"Are you two alright?" Mr. Miller asked. Colton had attracted everyone's attention with his clumsiness.
"He just hit himself against the desk," I answered for him and people resumed talking with their partners after some curious gazes.
"What's going on?" Colton asked, looking around the room in confusion.
"We've been paired up for a project," I explained. "And you weren't waking up."
Colton sat up and rubbed his eyes, trying to blink out the remnants of sleep.
I wasted no time in explaining what the project was to him and he seemed to have comprehended what I was saying.
"So, when are you free? I want to get this done and over with as soon as possible."
"I'm free until four from Wednesday to Friday. Can't do weekends at all though and I'm really busy next week so I doubt I'll have any free time."
I took a moment to think about my work schedule before saying, "I'm good until only three on those same days. And I'm also free after seven on Mondays and Wednesdays. Why're you so busy?"
Colton's gaze grew guarded, "No reason. I could ask you the same thing."
I shrugged, "I've got work. So if you're so busy next week, we should probably start today or tomorrow."
"I can't do today," Colton said and I barely managed to not groan aloud. I was not going to do this stupid project alone.
"Tomorrow after school then? We can go work in the library until I have to go to Stitches."
"Yeah, but an hour isn't going to be enough. When are you free tomorrow night?"
"I only get off of work at one in the morning. I'm usually alright for a few hours so I guess we could work on it at one of our houses and you could come to my work place and I could work behind the bar so we could work on it together or something. My boss wouldn't mind so long as I didn't slack off completely."
"I'll come by to your work and then we'll head to yours to work on it a bit. And I'll be sleeping over."
I grimaced, "Right." As much as I'd love to tell him he couldn't sleep over, I wasn't that much of a bitch. And I did not want to sleep over at his place. At least my house was my territory and I wouldn't have to worry about anything other than my mom being intoxicated out of her mind or my dad returning home looking ravaged with some girl waiting in his car.
Just then the bell rang and everyone rushed out after finalizing plans with their project partners. I didn't spare Colton a glance as I packed my bag and rushed out of the classroom, heading straight home to get ready for work. Unfortunately, I'd be seeing the blond again in just a couple hours.
Incomplete Chapter Ten
Oh boy.
Since the moment I woke up, I'd been dreading the end of the day. Colton was coming over. Not only was he going to find out where I worked at night – that is if Derek hadn't already told him – but he was sleeping over. I was so screwed.
I heaved a sigh going into math, sitting down and pulling out my homework for Mr. Rowe to check as he did at the beginning of every class. People filled the classroom, but the desk next to me was avoided. Colton had made sure to make it clear that that was his new seat a couple classes ago, even if he didn't stay awake most of the time.
The bell rang and as expected, five or so minutes later, Colton trudged in yawning. There have been some days where he's been somewhat okay but none so far where he has been as awake as he was during the first week of school.
Today was one of the days where he managed to keep his eyes opened, although he once again hadn't done the homework nor did he pay much attention to Mr. Rowe's teaching. I really wondered about his grades and if he'd even graduate this year as well as how he managed to pass the previous years without being held back. I was pretty sure he was the same age as me.
Halfway through class, Colton stretched and yawned, making Mr. Rowe scowl at him but otherwise continue teaching us about derivatives.
"Hey."
I ignore Colton's attempt at whispering, pointedly keeping my eyes on Mr. Rowe and copying down the practice problems that he was going over and showing us how to solve.
"Ash."
I gripped my pencil tighter.
"Psst, Ash."
I closed my eyes and breathed deeply through my nose.
"Dude, Ash, you deaf?"
"Colt, if you would please stop disrupting my class I would much appreciate it as would…uh, your classmates," Mr. Rowe stated, faltering at my name again. You'd think with all the unwanted attention I was garnering from Colton and his friends, my name wouldn't have been as forgettable as I wanted. It was great that the teachers at least were unaware of my presence, but I'd really rather it be the students.
"Sorry, Mr. Rowe," Colton replied not sounding the least bit apologetic.
Mr. Rowe sighed wearily and resumed teaching. Colton wasted no time in scooting his chair and desk closer to mine.
"Ash," he tried again.
I clenched my jaw briefly before turning my head slightly to glare at him, "What?"
"The reason you don't like me, is it 'cause I fuck dudes?" he asked.
My eyes widened in surprise and my pencil slipped in my hands. I barely stopped it from rolling onto the floor.
"So?" Colton asked, completely unfazed.
I blinked and wasn't sure how to respond. Why did he even ask me that?"
"What?" I managed.
Colton shrugged, "Ray was talking about you and said you were homophobic."
It finally clicked in my mind and I recalled my encounter with Raymond.
I schooled my expression and shrugged, "So long as you don't hit on me or anything else faggy, I can be civil while we work on this stupid project."
I almost cringed at the word but managed to keep my façade up. It was such a juvenile word and originally meant a cigarette but languages devolve as much as they evolve so there was nothing I could do about it.
Colton frowned but I ignored it and returned my attention to Mr. Rowe and his repetitive teaching. You really only had to listen to the first half of his lessons. Everything else was just him repeating everything over and over in different words with different numbers.
Class ended and I left before Colton could talk to me. We'd be seeing each other later today anyway, plus he was sleeping over. Fantastic.
The end of the day came too quickly yet also not quickly enough. On one had, it was finally Friday, on the other, I'd be spending pretty much all night with Colton. Oh the people who would love to be in my position. I'd trade with them in half a heartbeat.
I was in chem, Raymond sitting behind me, and we had a substitute teacher who looked like she was about to fall over dead at any second. A majority of the class had taken advantage of the fact that her hearing wasn't quite all there and that she dozed off pretty much every ten or so minutes.
"And…you can work on the, the, the, uh, homework," she croaked before promptly sagging in the chair behind the teacher's desk. I was slightly concerned that we had just witnessed a death, but she was snoring so my worries were quickly discarded.
We had thirty minutes of class left so I got straight to work on my homework for the day. Most of my math homework was already done as I had worked on it in class when Mr. Rowe was on his third repetition of the lesson. Econ was just some reading which I could easily do over the weekend, and history was just editing and reworking the surprise in-class practice essay we had done. I had already finished all my work for my odd day classes with the exception of English.
I spent the next thirty minutes finishing off my math work and then moving onto the chem work, which was just to continue working on our lab report that was due the next class. All I had to do was write up the conclusion and evaluation, which was basically BS-ing and repeating some stuff from the results table and graph.
It was in the last five or so minutes, when pretty much everyone had packed up and were itching to leave, that someone sat down in the empty seat next to me.
"Hey."
I looked up from my computer screen and held back a grimace at seeing Raymond. Instead, I raised a brow in silent questioning.
"Have you started on the English project yet?" he asked.
I shook my head, "Colton and I were going to work on it after school today."
Raymond's eyebrows rose, "Really? He's not busy?"
I furrowed my brows in confusion. So he wasn't just making up excuses to get out of doing some work when he said he was busy?
I shrugged, "I'm not doing the stupid project on my own."
The bell rang, signaling the end of the day and the beginning of the weekend. People shot up out of their seats and left while I quickly packed up even though I wanted to get away from Raymond, I was pretty much running to Colton. Raymond was probably the lesser of the two evils but I had a project to do and a job to get to.
"Asher," Raymond called before I could leave the classroom. The substitute was still asleep and I wouldn't have been surprised if she had gone comatose.
I turned slightly to face him, tapping my foot impatiently.
"I was wondering if you were busy this weekend?" he asked.
I frowned in confusion for a second before nodding, "I am. Look, I gotta go. Bye, Raymond." I ran out before he could get another word in.
Colton and I had decided to meet up out in the front of the school. Where everyone would see us. I stood leaning against wall of the main gate, arms crossed over my chest and scowling at the floor as I waited for the blond. We decided against going to the library as we'd not get much done before I had to walk to the mall.
People passed by me, a few glancing over and whispering to their friends. What, had they never seen a person waiting for someone before?
I checked my phone and grumbled under my breath. Colton was almost fifteen minutes late. Fuck him, I'll see him at Stitches.
Pushing off the wall, I hiked my bag higher up my shoulder and followed the thin crowd of people leaving the school. Just as I had crossed the street and was turning to the right to head towards the mall.
"Ash!"
I halted, one foot half off the floor, and heaved a sigh as I stood in place and waited for Colton. I was too annoyed to correct him. Next time, I was not going to respond unless he called me by my name. It's two syllables! Two!
"Hey," he huffed, slightly out of breath. "Sorry, a teacher wanted to talk to be and wouldn't shut up. You have Ms. Collins for anything?"
"No," I replied shortly as I resumed walking. Colton was matching my pace.
We trudged on in silence, one far from being anywhere near comfortable and I ended up plugging one of my ears with an earphone, the strumming of electric guitar strings and thrashing beat of drums soothing my nerves.
"So, what was your old school like?"
I froze for a fraction of a second but quickly pulled myself together and glanced over to Colton who was staring at me. I shrugged as I looked away, staring forward.
"That's not an answer," he pressed.
I sighed, "It was just another school."
"Were you as antisocial there as you are here," he questioned.
No.
I shrugged, "I don't like unnecessary socializing."
"When is socializing unnecessary?" Colton argued. "People are social creatures."
"Then maybe I'm not people," I retorted, picking up the pace.
To my irritation, Colton kept up with me easily, "I'm dumb and even I know that doesn't make sense."
I didn't respond.
"…" he frowned. "You know, this is usually the part where you say 'No, Colt, you're not dumb,' and then I disagree but you insist and then we agree to disagree."
My only reaction was to pull out my earphones and iPod from my pocket, plug my ears and scroll through my music to pick a nice, loud song with a strong beat.
Colton huffed at me, but for some reason, there was a small smile on his lips. The rest of the walk was done in silence, which I didn't think was possible with the blond. He just walked alongside me, not saying a word, not trying to get my attention. It was nice.
I only spoke to him once we were in the employee room of Stitches. "Don't you still have time until your shift?"
He shrugged, "Yeah, but I'm here already so why not." He then pulled off his shirt, dropping it in one of the small lockers Darwin had for us to store our stuff while working. I looked away but was hesitant to remove my own shirt to wear the uniform. I could feel Colton's gaze on me. Could I change shirts in those few seconds where his sight would be impaired by the shirt he was going to tug on?
I mentally shook my head and played as aloof as I could, tugging my shirt over my head and grabbing my uniform, pulling it on. As I wrapped the tie around my neck to knot it, I snuck a peek at Colton who was just finishing tugging his own shirt on.
When we stepped out into the store, Darwin put us to work immediately and neither of us talked until my shift was over and I had an hour before I was due at Underground.
"Do you know where the club Underground is?" I asked Colton after I changed back into my regular clothes.
"No shit, you work there?" he exclaimed. "I've heard of it but never had time to check the place out. Derek invited me with him last week too but I had stuff to do. Wish I could have gone though, I'd kill to have seen him get clocked."
"It wasn't anything special," I muttered under my breath.
"Oh, you saw? Do you know who punched him?" Colton asked eagerly.
I rubbed the back of my neck and looked away.
Colton seemed able to read me much too clearly for my comfort.
"Holy shit! It was you? Dude, you are my new favorite person," he grinned, slinging his arm around my shoulders and pulling me in for a side huge. I was too shocked to do anything about it until he started to ruffle my hair.
"Quit that," I scowled, pulling away and patting my hair down. For people who liked to style their hair, mine was perfect. But I was not one of those people and I hated how my hair easily moved and shaped itself into a tornado when someone ruffled it. "And aren't you two best friends or whatever?"
Colton shrugged, "Eh, doesn't mean we don't like the other get their ass handed to them." He scanned my body, head to toe and back again, cocking his head to the side, "You don't look like you could cause much damage though." I rolled my eyes and he continued with a smirk, "Makes me wonder what else you're hiding in that body of yours."
"I'll see you later," I said, completely ignoring his comment, and leaving before he could say more.
—
I spotted Colton before he saw me. I wasn't even surprised to see that he was already being flocked to. Jessamine already gave me the okay to stay at the bar and do some work with Colton. Originally, she just told me to take the night off but I was determined to work. As long as I didn't cause angry customers, I was still getting paid for the night.
Random Scene Snippets
"Nice place," Colton said as we walked up the driveway. There were enough lights from the streetlamps and porch light to give a decent idea of what the place looked like.
"Thanks," I replied though my mind was in a panic. Would mom be passed out in the living room again or in her room? How many bottles would litter the floor? I just knew I had to get Colton to my room as fast as possible. He was not to walk around the house.
"My room's in the basement," I said as I opened the door, praying that mom was not in the living room when I flicked on the lights.
I barely held back a sigh of relief when the yellow lights above did not shine down on her unconscious body. I just had to explain the beer bottles all over the floor.
"My dad had a couple friends around last night," I lied. "No one had time to clean up."
Colton nodded so it seemed I managed to pass that hurdle.
"You're like Harry Potter," he said as I led him to the door under the staircase that led to my room.
I turned around and frowned at him in confusion.
His grin seemed to falter, "You know, living under the staircase? Except your place is much bigger."
I nodded slowly, "Right."
Colton rolled his eyes, "Shut up and walk."
I felt the corners of my lips rise of their own accord at seeing Colton sulk. His cheeks were a light pink color.
I closed the door behind us and Colton quickly ran down the stairs as soon as I flicked on the lights, jumping onto my bed.
"No video games?" Colton frowned. "What kind of man cave is this?"
"It's my bedroom," I deadpanned.
"Still," he insisted. "Tell me you've at least got a hidden booze supply."
I sighed and rubbed my temple, already feeling a headache coming on.
"You really don't like people, do you?"
I grabbed my laptop and walked over to him, saying, "Shit happened."
"What kind of shit?"
"Shit that's none of your business. Now get your damn book."
Colton raised his hands in surrender and finally stopped talking. I didn't mean to be all pissy but I did not want to talk or think about what happened. Besides, who was he to start trying to be my shrink?
—
"Who was that?" Colton asked, looking down the street at Kaiden and his posse's retreating backs.
"No one. Just some guy from my old school," I said, attempting to play it off as nothing.
"What happened?" Colton pressed. He saw right through my flimsy lie.
"Nothing," I insisted. I didn't want to talk about it. He saw through my fib so couldn't he see that as well?
"Asher, I'm not going to leave you alone until you answer me."
I looked away from him. His green eyes were too striking, too deep, it was like he was staring right at my heart, my soul. I couldn't take it.
I made to walk past him but he grabbed onto my upper arm and held me in place.
"Let me go," I said and I cursed myself for sounding so meek. My throat was tight, my eyes burned. I just wanted to be alone. "Please, Colton."
His grip fell and I should have started running but my legs were frozen in place.
—
Derek approached me and I took a step back, watching him warily. Who knows what he was going to do? I mean he kissed me after I yelled at him. He better not try something like that again.
"I won't kiss you again," he said, as if reading my mind. "At least not without your permission."
I just narrowed my eyes in suspicion. I didn't trust a word he said. "Why'd you do it the first time anyway?" I did kind of want to know his reasoning, if he even had that. "And I'll never give you permission to kiss me."
Derek sighed and rubbed the back of his neck, "I was kind of hoping you'd melt in my arms and then we could talk properly without you yelling at me."
My jaw dropped in disbelief. Melt in his arms? What the fuck was this kid on? I mean seriously, he's the definition of an idiot.
Summarized Ending
Who was going to be Asher's other half? If you guessed Colton, you would be correct! I think it was kind of obvious or would have been. Colton's character type is my favorite so if you knew that, it was pretty predictable. Everything I write is for myself. I write what I want to read so it's all 100% self indulgence.
However. I was much later leaning towards all of them ending up together as a poly relationship. Why have a love triangle/square when they could all just end up together, you know?
To my memory, each of the boys had family or personal issues. Asher stumbles into all of them and they help each other out. Colton had money issues and maybe some issue with one of his parents? But the other parents he's very close with. Derek had issues with his new stepsister and his dad's(?) remarriage. And I think Raymond has parental issues as well, but idr. When I was writing this I was going through some shit so. If you've been around for a while, you might remember me talking about some of the aftermath. Lots of projecting, what up.
Final A/N
So that's it. I don't have much to say other than thanks again and I'm sorry if you were hoping this would get picked back up.
I'm still writing, got four (maybe down to three because I'm thinking of dropping one of them rip) stories going on: Strictly Business, Strictly Comfort, No Homo (snk fanfiction on ffnet and ao3), and A Hand to Hold (might be dropped idk man). I write fanfic too on my tumblr that gets crossposted to ao3 and most of those are drabble requests. I'm also trying nano again this year. There's a post about the fic on my blog about it. I don't know if I'll post it online or not yet. We'll see how I fair with nano first, lol.
And I think that's about it.
I'm on tumblr and twitter under nachtgraves so hit me up if you feel like it.
Thanks again. If you read my other shit, I hope you enjoy, if not, thanks for giving this one a shot way back when.
Laters.