Stuck At Default

HOW ARE YOU?

"Mia."

"Ashton."

''Um..hi.'' I don't know why the fuck was I nervous.

''You came.'' He stated.

''Yeah. Kinda had to. I wasn't given a choice. Blaine dragged me here.'' I left out the part where she emotionally blackmailed me.

''Yeah. I forgot how Blaine was. But I did not expect you would actually come,'' he said.

''Why? Do you think I'm a cold-hearted bitch?'' I couldn't help but ask.

''No. I would never think that. I just never expected you would willingly put yourself in the position where would have to face me.''

He was not entirely wrong.

Before I could utter another word, he decided to change the topic.

"Take a seat, Mia. I don't bite." He laughed, teasing.

I tried to ignore his chiming laugh, and took a seat on a padded winged chair next to his bed.

"So. What brings you and Blaine to my humble abode?" he was back to teasing.

"I don't know. She dragged me here, and now she's off to Roland. I think she didn't want you to be alone.'' I said truthfully.

Ashton was actually not in a very good shape. His arm was still in a cast, and bruises hadn't completely faded from his face. I actually felt a pang of sadness wash over me. Whatever happened between us, I still wouldn't wish this on him.

I think I saw silver in his eyes when I looked up, but he quickly bent over to retrieve something from his nightstand. I didn't want to ask him, so I went off-topic.

''The house is really nice. Did you move recently? '' I asked.

''It's been almost 3 months since I moved here. I bought this house last year, but it was under renovation so I only moved in in January.''

''Well the interior designer did a really good job. Its impressive.''

''Had to hire one. I don't have a streak for these kind of things.'' He laughed again.

''Haha, don't I know. You couldn't tell a carpet from a rug.'' I referred to an old joke from when we were in high school.

''That was one time.''

I chuckled and changed the topic.

''So, how are you?'' I asked.

''As good as it seems,'' he tried to joke his way around it.

''Seriously Ashton. How are you?''

He took a deep breath and sighed.

''I don't know. Everything seems complicated. Everything's been complicated from the day we broke up. When I was in that accident, before I passed out. I thought this was how it was going to end. The same way it started. Emil hasn't talked to me since our father died. I moved here to get away from everything, and I ran into you. As soon as I started accepting everything, I got in an accident.''

I sat there, stunned into silence. He was ranting, like he used to when we were friends.

''I don't know why but I don't seem to catch a break. These past five years had been very difficult for me. I just wanna move forward and forget everything that happened in the past.''

Without looking at me, he got up and walked out of his room.

He seemed sad, miserable. He could have easily lied about everything he said just now, but his eyes didn't. There was genuine sadness there.