College Love ~ HSMTMTS AU

Chapter 11

"Oh. Hey." Ashlyn said, bumping into Big Red outside.

"Hey." He smiled. It took a second for them to separate and regain their balance.

"Uh, I— how are you?" She asked, flustered.

"I'm good, um, you?" He asked her.

"Good, I was just going to grab some dinner."

"Cool."

"You should come." She suggested. She almost regretted it the second she said it. It would feel like a date, and he was asking someone out— possibly her, but it didn't seem likely.

"Oh, yeah, sure."

"Great." She forced a smile. When he smiled, her smile came much more naturally. "Hey, er..."

"Yeah?"

"No, never mind." She shook her head. "Um... yeah, let's go." They started walking away from the campus and to eat.

After eating (both of them had now completely forgot about their crushes, purely having fun), Big Red and Ashlyn continued their night doing whatever they could. Both were putting off homework and having too good of a time to stop.

"Come on, sit down." She said, sitting on the grass. He sat beside her. After the hours it had been, the sun was down. "The stars are really pretty." She laid down. He laid down as well.

"Yeah, they are." He nodded. A few moments passed. He was bored of the stars soon enough, but Ashlyn seemed completely enthralled. He looked at her with a small smile. She didn't even notice.

"I love the sky."

"Yeah, uh, it's cool..." he trailed off, still looking at her. He sat upright.

"Where are you going?" She asked, sounding disappointed. She sat up.

"Nowhere, I just... got an idea for, uh, something." He told her.

"Um... okay?" She laughed lightly. "But you're staying?"

"Yeah." He nodded.

"Okay." She smiled and laid back down. She took his hand and pulled him down with her. She let go the second they were comfortable, knowing she would only blush more the longer she held it.

"Hey, um... you're, er, interested in stars, it looks like?"

"Yeah, I am." She confirmed, looking over at him. He smiled lightly.

"Cool."

"Yeah, I— yeah..." she scooted a little closer. He closed his eyes. There was a quick moment of silence, before they heard someone walk by.

"Oh, I— I should get back to my homework and stuff." Big Red stood up, brushing stray grass off his pants. She stood too.

"Uh, yeah." She nodded. "Come on, let's... yeah, uh, I'll see you later."

"No, I mean, I can walk you back. It's kinda dark, no one likes to walk in the dark."

"I mean... yeah, sure, uh... thanks." She forced a smile.

"I don't have to—"

"No, come." She nodded.

"Bye!" Kourtney laughed, almost pushing a laughing Howie out of her dorm. "You're distracting me, I've gotta work."

"Fine!" He exclaimed, walking out the door. "I'll see you tomorrow Kourt."

"Bye." She waved, closing the door. She sat at her desk, starting to work on her homework again.

"So it looks like you spend all your time with Howie." Ashlyn said, having just arrived.

"Everyone else is busy with their partners."

"Okay, I just spend time with Big Red—"

"Same difference." Kourtney interrupted.

"Okay. But you really don't like Howie?" Ashlyn asked.

"I don't. He's my friend, Ash."

"I know." She nodded. "I'll stop then."

"Great. What were you up to? I thought you were just eating?" Kourtney asked.

"I met up with Big Red, we hung out for awhile." She shrugged.

"Sounds fun."

"Have you seen Seb or Carlos since they got together?"

"Not out of class." Ashlyn shrugged.

"We should all get together again this Friday or something."

"Yeah, that sounds fun."

"Great. Can you text them? I'm busy." Kourtney said.

"Yeah, sure." Ashlyn got out her phone.