FRIENDS

14

I watched a couple of movies with Ashton and Luke, laughing and having a good time. It felt good to just hang out with them and have fun, not really worrying about anything. I had been kind of upset when I'd woken up, but I felt better now, being with Luke and Ash.

We were watching School of Rock and Ashton had his arm around my waist and I had my head on his shoulder and I knew it was wrong and that I should have pushed him away, but I couldn't bring myself to. I liked the comfort he was giving me, no matter how selfish that may be.

Luke went to bed before Ashton did, claiming that he was crashing from all the caffeine he'd had that day. I wasn't surprised; Luke drank iced coffee like water. He left Ashton and I alone, both of us comfortable in the silence, focused on the movie.

There was a part of me that really believed that everything would be so much easier if I could just find a way to love Ash. He loved me, and everything was simple with him. Things weren't simple with Michael. Things had never been simple with anyone else. But Ashton was effortless and simple and would never do anything to hurt me, not if his life depended on it.

Unfortunately, life didn't work that way. I couldn't make myself feel something for someone when my heart just wasn't in it. Maybe one day, but not when there was still the possibility of Michael and I.

I was a big believer in fate and I believed that everything would play out the way it was supposed to.

 

My anger with Michael had completely faded and now I just wanted him to come home so we could watch that stupid anime show, or we could play video games, or do anything. I wanted him to be here, not at some stupid party where he could meet a girl, or sleep with a girl. I wanted him to be with me.

I had texted him once, but he hadn't responded. Mikey wasn't good at responding to texts when he was drinking; he was so damn busy trying to get as drunk as he could to remember that he even had a phone half the time. He'd be home eventually, and when he was home he'd crawl into my bed and we'd move on like nothing had ever happened. That's what I did, I forgave him and moved on. Most people wouldn't approve of that, but it was how I was. I loved him too much to let things ruin our friendship.

"Ivy." Ashton sighed from beside me. He was half asleep and I knew he was trying to stay awake for me, but he wasn't doing so well anymore. "I have to go to bed. I'm going to pass out sitting here." I giggled.

"It's alright, go to bed. I'll be okay by myself. I'll go watch something on Netflix in my room." He nodded his head and stood, pulling me up with him and into a big hug. When he pulled away he mumbled a sleepy goodnight and trailed down the hallway, leaving me to turn off the TV and all of the lights.

 

I flopped onto my bed and checked the time on my phone, sighing when I saw that it was already two thirty and Michael hadn't come home yet. I knew him well enough to know that he most likely wouldn't come home until closer to four, if that.

I put on the first season of Grey's Anatomy and crawled into bed, hoping that I'd get lost in the show and Michael would be home before I knew it.

I hoped Alex was okay. He had been upset when he'd been leaving, not that I blamed him. Michael had been an absolute dick and I hadn't done much to make things better, but things were complicated. It was for the best that we hadn't let things go anywhere. I had liked him and the few days we'd hung out had been amazing, but it wasn't going to work in the long run. I was too hung up on Michael and in a week, I was going home. There was no point in trying to start something with someone who lived thousands of miles away. And in the end, he'd never compare to Mike.