The Labyrinth // Mashton au

0.1

Some days the world is sluggish. The planet feels slowed and everything is blurred. Gravity seems to be working twice as hard. Makes it harder to keep your eyes open, and causes your thoughts to lag.

Today seemed to be one of those days for Ashton. His eyes feel foggy and footsteps are heavy, like he's trudging through muddy depths. His thoughts cloud over and no matter how hard he tries he just can't seem to rid himself of the storm rumbling inside his head. He knows its because of his lack of sleep. If he had gotten just a few more hours of rest he would have been fine, but he had to stay up and help Lauren with her essay like the responsible adult he was (or was at least trying to be), so he presses forward through the humid air swirling around him.

Once he steps inside the small pet store the air conditioned atmosphere (filled with the overpowering scent of pet food) slaps him in the face. He musters up the biggest smile he can and flashes it towards his manager as the bell above the door chimes. He can feel his dimples dipping into his cheeks and kind of wants to punch himself. He's in no mood to be adorable and nice (but knows that he must because that is the joy of working retail).

"You're late," his manager states blandly as he flips to the next page in his magazine,"You know what that means."

Ashton groans inwardly and prays to god that he could be wrong, just this once.

"Litter box duty?"

"Yep" His manager, Roger, doesn't even bother to look up from the page.

The smile was wiped from Ashton's face and his shoulders slumped as he placed his bag on the break room table. This day could not get any worse. He considered begging and pleading to let Regina or Kori to do it, but knew by the bored expression on Roger's face that it would get him nowhere. So he simply mumbled a yes sir and made his way to the back.

As soon as he stepped into the back his senses went into overload. The smell of the animals attacked his nose while their crying, barking, tweeting, mewing, and squeaking filled his ears.

He loved the animals dearly and wanted nothing more than to play with them 24/7, but that's not what he's paid to do. Ashton is paid to feed, water, and occasionally bathe them. He does play with them as often as he possibly can, but Roger insists that he keeps it to a minimum. Something about not wanting the animals to get too attached. (Ashton thinks that's complete bullshit.)

A smile slips onto Ashton's face as he enters the cat pen. He can't help cooing at the furry little creatures as they come and rub against his leg. He feels a tingling in his nose and his smile falters as he feels his nose start to run.

"Why do I have to be allergic to you cuties?" he whines/grumbles under his breath. His feet carry him over to the corner where the litter box is placed and he makes quick work of cleaning it. He sneezes repeatedly though out the process. By the time the litter box is clean his eyes are watering so badly it looks like he's on the verge of crying. He's trying his best to walk out of the pen without stepping on any tails when he sees him.

Ashton is sure he is looking at the most attractive boy he's ever seen.

The sight of him shoves him out of the slump he woke up in. His thoughts go from downcast and dreary to holy shit, what a time to be alive. His heart is beating a bit too quickly and his lips may or may not part in complete awe.

The boy stood in the aquatic area of the store. His eyes were wide as he stared up into a large tank of neon fish and a wonder filled, lop sided smile was placed oh so cutely on his lips. A large sweater adorned his torso (the end of the sleeves were pulled over his knuckles creating sweater paws)(Ashton had to physically resist the urge to aw). Tight black skinny jeans clung to his legs and Asthon nearly fainted at how great they looked. It was strange though, because his hair looked purple (ashton simply blamed it on the strange light emananting from the tanks).

He wants to go over and speak to him, but can't manage to move his feet and his tongue is tied up in his throat. He feels ridiculous. The boy has put butterflies in his stomach and Ashton can't recall the last time he felt this nervous or giddy. He feels like he's back in fifth grade thinking about his first ever real crush (Luke)(but thats a totally hilarious and irrelevant story right now)(we'll get to that later)(maybe).

He continues to admire the boy from a distance (he may or may not have moved behind a shelf)(he doesn't mean to be creepy)(he's just not good with human interaction). Unfortunately for Ashton he managed to stand right next to the birds, and they weren't exactly all that welcoming (the damn things chirped so loudly Ashton might as well have set off a car alarm). The birds managed to completely capture the sweater paws boy's attention. Ashton quickly dropped his head and avoided eye contact and hoped and wished and prayed that the boy wouldn't notice him, but things never really turn out how he wants.

So when Ashton tries to sneak away he somehow manages to not only trip over his own feet and knock over 3 packages of bird seed, he also completely and totally lands right at the feet of the boy he had been desperately trying to avoid. He can feel the heat in his cheeks even more clearly than the ache in his shoulder from the fall. He's laying on the tiled floor, his eyes squeezed shut and nose squinched up in pain (and embarrassment), when he hears the small squeak of a sneaker next to his head.

"Are you alright?"

Fuck. That is all that comes to Ashton's mind when he hears the voice (whether its because of the embarrassment, pain, or the fact that the voice was extremely hot is unkown).

"Well, that's not a very good answer," this time the voice is fighting back a laugh, and Ashton opens his eyes to find that oh so cute crooked smile hovering above him (he was hoping that's what he would find)(Ashton could get used to the sight).

"I uh- I was just uh-" Ashton quickly sat up, taking Michael by surprise. It caused him to fall from his crouched position onto his butt and into the spilled bird seed. Ashton gasped and scrambled to his feet.

"Oh my gosh! I'm so sorry!" Ashton was more than nervous at this point, and his actions were frantic and a little panicked. He scrambled to his feet and turned back to help the other boy up. He had a firm grip on the boy's arm, unfortunately his sneakers grip on the tile was not as strong (due to the bird seeds), so when he went to pull him up he felt the cool tile slam against his back once again.

This time though his chest felt a bit heavier.

He understands why when he opens his eyes to find a fluff of lilac hair on his chest.

It takes a few seconds for him to register what had happened, and a few more to realize that a fit of giggles was escaping the boy on top of him. He was prepared to apologize profusely and offer him a discount on whatever he wanted, but no words left his mouth. He sat up, confused and a little worried, as the purple haired boy got up, laughing loudly, and offered him a hand.

Ashton took it carefully, his eyebrows still furrowed as the boys laughter died down. They stood about two feet apart and Ashton was glad that the boy wasn't angry about the incident. He was a few inches taller than Ashton and although he was fit and spent some time wrestling with his younger brother, he was sure the boy would beat him in a fight.

"Congrats dude, you just made my room mate's day," the boy was still gripping Ashton's forearm and his other came up to give Ashton a light pat on the other arm. He was smiling widely as he let his hand fall from Ashton's arm and he was smiling as he backed down the aisle.

Ashton watched, speechless, as the boy approached another boy around his age at the door and whacked him on the back of the head. The boy was bursting with laughter (He assumed he was laughing at his clumsiness)(He was).

The pair wasted no time in exiting the store, Ashton's manager wasted no time in commanding Ashton to clean up the mess he made, and Ashton wasted no time in rushing to the door and completely making a fool of himself.

But you'll have to wait until the next chapter to hear about that.