Paradox • afi

back to december

Back To December - Taylor Swift

The first time you ever saw me cry
Maybe this is wishful thinkin'
Probably mindless dreamin'
But if we loved again, I swear I'd love you right

~

Ashton was woken up suddenly, his younger roommate shaking him aggressively. As he sat up and shoved Calum away, he rubbed his face before giving the boy an annoyed look. "What the fuck do you want?"

He hadn't even realized he had fallen back asleep after Jade told him about Valerie. He was upset, sure. But probably not as much as he should have been. The girl cheated on him, so why was his only thought the way such a simple nickname fell off a different girl's lips.

"Where's Jade?" Calum raised his eyebrows, standing up straight and stepping away from the bed. "My bed was perfectly made and the blankets on the couch were folded. She's not here."

"I don't know, she was your guest." Ashton shrugged, pushing himself out of bed as he pulled his shirt over his head. After tossing it in a hamper he grabbed a clean shirt from his closet, and looked back at his roommate. "Why'd you leave at like five in the morning anyway?"

"Amilia asked me to come over." The dark haired boy shrugged lightly, glancing at Ashton. "If my girlfriend asks me to come over at five in the morning I'm not passing up on that."

"Well either way Jade wasn't my problem." The older of the two pushed past his roommate, then walked out to the kitchen. "She was throwing up all night, it was annoying."

"Can you drop the asshole act for one minute and just be a decent person?" Calum followed him. "She was locked out of her apartment, piss drunk, in soaking wet clothes. You really would have just left her out there all night?"

Ashton continued to get himself some breakfast, ignoring the small feeling of guilt he had circling that entire conversation. Maybe he shouldn't have left Jade in the bathroom by herself. He was just upset, he didn't know how to react to finding out. "I probably would have made her go back to her boyfriends or something."

"Her and Michael are fighting about something." Calum rolled his eyes, unaware of the fact that his roommate and the girl across the hall did share some conversation hours earlier. "Not that you'd know that because you don't give a shit about her, but whatever it was- it pushed her to get piss drunk and walk out in the rain." He walked away towards the bathroom, and started his shower.

Meanwhile, Jade was half asleep in her other neighbors apartment. Right after Ashton had left her in the bathroom, she sent a quick text to Luke in some sort of hope that he'd be awake, or at least be waking up soon. The two didn't talk often, but they had been friendly that first month of school, and exchanged numbers early on. She stayed in the bathroom, waiting for some sort of answer from the boy.

JADE
Hi, I know it's early- but I was wondering if you were home/awake.

JADE
I'm locked out of my apartment and possibly still a little drunk from last night.

She was surprised when she got an answer less than a half hour later, expecting him not to wake up for at least another hour. But there was always the possibility that he had an 8AM on Thursdays, or he was always an early riser. Either way, Jade Carmichael wasn't complaining.

LUKE
Alexis is at her parents isn't she?

LUKE
Is everything okay? You can stay at my place if you need to.