2 kids

Stripped naked.

Ashley.

Every time I look at him, I can't help but smile.

Thankfully, he doesn't notice me.

The more I'm looking at him, the more I'm thinking about what I did wrong. Where did I go wrong that he never fully opened up to me.

It wasn't you, Mae told me once. Trust me, Ashley. He opened up to you more than he has opened up to anyone in his life, and ever will. You did nothing wrong.

I spent days thinking about her words. Days trying to convince myself they were true. But I gave up. Instead I listened to Channel's words. He's an asshole, you know. He might be a good musician, intelligent and handsome as hell, but he's an idiot. Her words didn't have a real deeper meaning to them, but at that moment it seemed so. I found it strange she could so easily and openly criticise him when they're so close.

"This is what you want?" Alex practically shoves the menu card in my face. There's no way for me to read the letters, or see if he's pointing at something. When he realises I don't answer him, he places the menu on the table with a rather loud bang that makes the heads of the two old ladies sitting by the next table turn our way.

"Yeah, that's what I want."

He nods, takes his phone from the table and leaves to order. A strange thought suddenly occurs to me – I don't know his current background. Instantly I remind myself I don't need to know anymore.

He comes back two minutes later, carrying both our drinks. He gently hands me mine.

"You want to stay here or go?" He asks.

"Do you want to go?"

He thinks about it for a second, then nods. Smiling at me, he gently pushes me forward. His hands on my lower back distracts me from walking for a while. I almost stumble on my way out of the café, but I somehow keep myself on my feet.

The cold air blows some loose strands of my hair in my face, two or three get in my mouth.

"Why did you call me?" I ask him while casually walking down the streets of New York. It's not very late yet, but the sun is preparing to set itself down. The sky is getting darker, yet coloured in its significant reddish and pinkish shades.

He doesn't even look at me, his eyes are fixed ahead of him. "Did you have other plans?" His voice is as casual as possible.

"No, that's not it."

He doesn't answer me straight away. We reach the entrance to the park. Quietly we walk for a while, and I wonder if the atmosphere between us is awkward now.

"Then what is it?"

It's my turn to be quiet. The words go through a complicated process of formation in my head, yet they never reach the final state. They just float in no particular order in my mind.

I try to capture what I'm feeling at this moment in words, but with no luck. What I want to say is at the tip of my tongue.

I look at Alex the exact second he looks at me. Anticipation is clear in his eyes. It makes them flicker under the sunlight. But he's patiently waiting for an explanation.

"I just wasn't expecting you to call me," I manage to whisper. My lips almost don't even move. They don't touch each other, and for a moment I question whether I said it aloud or just in my head.

"And why is that angel?" His sparkle with that never ending divine cunningness, making them look ethereal. "Can't friends hang out?"

Not friends like us, I almost tell him. There are too many things wrong in our relationship, and we're only adding to them. Friends aren't like us.