Ashton had been acting quite off the past week, and Esten was beginning to worry. Though, he didn't fret, and he still acted like his normal self.
In the morning, Esten joined everyone at the table. They had been lightly discussing letting Louise move in with them. The group had been mostly positive—their only worry was that they were out of rooms, and Louise would have to take part of the basement—Luke already had half of it.
Janae smiled to herself, having no worry about Louise's sleeping arrangements. She'd had a crush on Luke since she first laid eyes on him, and Janae was determined to get the two together.
Now the conversation had ceased, and they had decided that they were okay with Louise moving in. The offer hadn't even been brought up to Louise, but they figured that she would say yes, since she spent nearly every weekend at the house anyway.
Esten stayed silent until Ashton left to go have some quiet time in his room, and he spoke of his worry about how Ashton was acting. Kirsten, sitting on Michael's lap across the table, reassured him that Ashton was probably just having one of those days, and patted Esten's hand before returning to flirting with Michael.
Though his friends' support was a big help, Esten couldn't swallow his worry.
Later in the evening, when Esten had made crumpets for the third time this week, he had requested that Sadie bring some to Ashton's room. He made sure to tell Sadie to be quiet, in case Ashton was asleep, and Sadie agreed politely, taking the plate and making her way to Ashton's bedroom. The door had been left a small crack open, and the television inside was playing some
old movie. She knocked lightly before pushing the door open.
"Sadie, get out!" Ashton immediately yanked his pants up, but Sadie had already seen it. As she placed her hand in front of her eyes, she caught an image from the screen on Ashton's screen monitor, and she tried to block it out. She jutted the plate out in front of her, explaining as quickly as she could how she'd brought him some crumpets. She left them on his bed and turned on her heel, her face burning red.
She'd immediately taken the girls of the house into her bedroom to tell them what had just occurred.
Janae covered her face and tried to hold in her laughter. "Ew, oh my god." She laughed. "What kind of porn was he watching, anyway? Was it anal?" She squeezed her eyes shut and stuck her tongue out.
"No, I bet it was one of those live camera shoes." Kirsten said, before leaning in close to whisper. "Was it big?"
"What the actual fuck? Yes—no—ugh, I don't know, I didn't pay attention. And, Janae, you disgusting shit head, he was watching straight porn."
The room fell silent. "Isn't he gay?" Asked Kirsten.
"Well, duh." Janae told her. "Just 'cause he was watching straight porn doesn't mean he's straight."
"I watch gay porn all the time," Sadie said. The room was dead silent once again.
"Anyway, after all this talk of sex, I'm gonna go fuck Michael. See you, assholes." Kirsten leapt up and hurried off to the other side of the house, dragging the lovestruck boy behind her.
Although her point had made plenty of sense, Janae was a bit worried about Ashton's sexuality. She brushed it off, deciding that if she felt she needed to, she'd talk to Esten.
Later in the night, the group sat on the couch once again, some on the ground in front of it with blankets and popcorn. They were watching a horror movie, and all the couples were cuddling together—Sadie and Calum, Esten and Ashton, Kirsten and Michael, and even Luke and Louise—and Janae laid sprawled across the legs of the lot of them. Louise had brought over a few bags, as she was beginning the process of moving in. Janae thought it had been a bit quick, but it hadn't mattered. The sooner, the better.
They fell asleep all together soon, the movie playing with the volume to the highest setting, and they slept peacefully together until the next morning.
