Where We Belong

Chapter 2

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Ashley's POV—

"Ok. So what's the emotional state right now? You on top of the world—"

"Or on top of Evan," Sasha interrupts Isabella, nearing a nudge from Izzy for interrupting her.

"Or are you down in the glumps?" Izzy then finishes as she hands me a cup of coffee. I take the cup from her and take a sip, trying to wake myself up because it's barely even 10 in the morning.

That, and Evan and I were up late last night.

I had bought a pack of condoms on my way back to Evan's place from the house I shared with Eli yesterday. And they came in handy later that night.

And I'm still sore all over—since Evan took me in just about every position you can do it in.

"Kind of both," I mumble in response to Izzy's question. "On one hand, I'm happy that Evan and I are back together. She's the love of my life—always has been. So I'm glad that we're giving us another shot. But on the other hand...I just lost someone important to me," I explain, referring to Eli for the last bit.

"Have you seen him since the wedding?" Sasha asks me.

"Yeah. I went home—to the house yesterday. Eli made it very clear that he was moving out," I mumble out.

Is it weird that I feel like I can't call the house where I've been living for the past couple years home anymore?

The idea of it still being my home definitely still feels weird. It was where I lived with Eli. It was our home. And now it's not. But the memories of us are still there.

Maybe Eli was on to something. That house is full of memories of us. Moving out would be a way to avoid those memories and avoid thinking of what could have been.

Maybe I should move out.

"Well. That's good, isn't it? It means you don't necessarily have to move out. I kind of thought he would kick you out," Sasha tells me as she gets up from the kitchen table to walk towards the fridge.

"I hope you don't mind, Iz, but Imma rob you of food, ok? Ok," Sasha says over her shoulder as she starts rummaging through the fridge.

"Just don't touch my chinese leftovers," Izzy tells her.

"What?" Sasha ponders as she turns around, holding a chinese takeout box in her hand.

"I—nevermind," is all Izzy says before she ignores Sasha and her food robbing and faces me again. "Him moving out does make things easier, though, doesn't it?" she asks me, rephrasing what Sasha had asked before she decided to rob Izzy of her food.

Isabella and Ben both went to the same college. Sasha went to college but then dropped out halfway through—claiming that not everyone has to go to college. Right now, she's working on getting her cosmetology license.

Isabella and Ben are currently living in a two-bedroom apartment. Sasha lives in the same apartment complex as them, just on a different floor. But with how often she's here, all three of them may as well be sharing this apartment.

"Not really. Because what? Am I just supposed to live in a house that is literally filled with memories of us living there?" I tell Isabella.

"Yeah, that's a good point. But it beats going through the hassle of trying to find another place to live," Izzy suggests.

"You could always move in with Evan," Sasha states from the fridge. She finally pulls away from it with the chinese takeout box in her hand and a brisk ice tea.