Asher King's life has revolved around putting up an involuntary mask to hide his true self. With successful parents boasting about his 'pretend' success, Asher feels as though the life he is living was never his to begin with, and a home of happines...
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"Ash, please just tell me what's going on." I hear his voice from the other side of the door.
I sob in relief and scramble to get up. I shakily stand on my legs and slowly slide the lock off the door. I swing open the door, and it wasn't all just a bad dream. He truly is standing there in his stupid football sweatshirt with the same disheveled hair.
I crash into his body and the intensity of my hug makes him stumble back a few steps before he grounds himself. He still seems shocked by my reaction but eventually wraps his arms around me, too. One hand rubs soothing circles on my back while the other just rests on my head, cradling it to his chest as I weep into his body.
"I-I missed y-you so fucking mu-much, Leo," I blubber, barely able to form the proper words over my bawling.
"Sweetie, don't cry," he says, pulling back from the hug to cradle my face in his hands. His thumbs glide across my skin to wipe my tears and I break out in a tearful smile. His smile follows. "I missed you too, Ash. More than you'll ever know." I close my eyes at his light touch and I feel him leave a little kiss on each one of my eyelids.
"Leo...I-I just...I," I stutter, but I can't seem to get the words out.
"Shhh, it's okay now. I'm here," he whispers soothingly in my ear.
I tuck my head back into his chest and he slowly starts swaying our bodies back and forth, gently shushing me and giving me small pecks on my head.
I calm down a little bit by just being near him, but I still can't get over the shock of him actually being here.
He gently shuffles his feet and moves us over to the sink, and I follow without question.
When we are standing right in front of the countertop, he tries to let me go, but I just cling harder to his body, scared that he is going to leave me.
He chuckles, "Baby, I'm not going anywhere. I just want to know what happened."
I nod my head into his chest and slowly release his body from my desperate grasp. He smiles before putting his hands on my hips and lifting me onto the sink top.
I watch as Leo steps back and takes off his black football sweatshirt. He gives me a soft smile before gesturing to raise my arms. I obediently follow and he slips it over my head, struggling a little to drop it over the massive brace around my neck.
"I missed this so much," I whisper and wrap my arms around myself in the comfort of his sweatshirt. Just him being next to me and always making sure I'm protected means so much.
"I know you said you didn't want to talk to me, but I—"
I forcefully shake my head and sniffle, "I never said that. My parents did."
Realization dawns on his face and he steps close to me again, setting one hand on my knee and the other gently on my arm.
"Ash, why didn't you just tell me?" Leo whispers, his eyes wide and vulnerable.
