The Piano || 𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘣𝘺 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘤𝘬

|30| You've been thinking about this for a while, haven't you?

The ride back was over quickly, they departed as the sun started going down. Colby, whose trust in Ashley's bike had grown, convinced her to ride a little faster... and even a bit faster. Maybe a bit faster than that, even. It was fun, but Ashley couldn't fully relax anymore.

It only took her four more weeks to realize that she couldn't go on like this. With Colby. They were lying to their fans, and it would be only a matter of time until the truth came out. She didn't want to know how they would react but couldn't help but imagine the disappointment and the anger because she had been lying to everyone. Jerry would... he wouldn't hate her, but he wouldn't be happy about it either.

Not just that, though.

They were lying to themselves, convincing themselves that this was real. And she hated not being able to enjoy it because she knew it wasn't. It wasn't real, their "feelings" weren't real, they were just two friends joking around... right?

Sometimes, she let herself wonder what it would be like if it were real. Would it be a lot different from now? The dates they went on? The kisses they shared? The pictures they posted? No, probably not. But she knew that it would feel different. It would feel real.

Ashley craved that feeling. She wanted to hold onto their "relationship", she wanted to really give into it, she wanted to let it consume her. But it was just a distraction for their fans. It. Was. Not. Real. And she needed to accept that.

Colby did it because he felt guilty. He had (in his opinion – she was convinced that it had been both their fault, not just his) brought her into the situation where all his and her fans judged her for kissing him. And he was helping her out, easing the hate she would get otherwise.

He was a good guy. A good friend.

She was at Sam and Colby's place, sitting in their living room with the brunet. It was another one of those "dates" to convince Sam and Jerry that they were dating and to take a picture to post. They still hadn't done the collab on her channel, and Ashley wasn't sure they would ever get to that, with so much going on around them despite the time they'd been "dating" by now. People didn't openly hate on the relationship anymore, but the disproval was more than obvious. Apparently, the two of them were too different.

"Hey, Colby?" she asked. He hummed in response, letting her know that he was listening. "I was just thinking, how long do we want to keep this going?" For some reason, she had difficulties speaking the words. They didn't feel good rolling off her tongue and she wished they didn't have to talk about this.

He replied with a fake hurt gasp. "Are you breaking up with me?"

Ashley didn't laugh. "I'm being serious. People might find out. No offence, but you're not the best actor, and we're not used to a public relationship. It would be only natural that someone realized what's going on here."

Colby put his phone away. "You've been thinking about this a while, haven't you?"

Sighing, she leaned back on the couch. It was uncanny how quickly he had started to learn how to read her body language and tone when she spoke. "Yeah," she muttered. "It's nothing personal. The easiest thing would be to just say our relationship didn't stand the publicity. That would work especially well because it was leaked. Another thing would be to give in to the fans who have determinedly been saying we were just too different. It kind of makes sense. Like, my deal is that I read, I write, I do gaming streams, that kind of introverted stuff. I stay inside while you go out, you do investigations, you search for the adrenaline. If you look at it from the outside, that just doesn't-"

"Ashley," Colby said to shut her up. It worked, she turned her head to look at him, a glimpse of desperation in her eyes. "Don't overthink it. You're right, maybe they'll find out. Maybe they won't. If you're sure about this, we should do it. But we have to take care that it happens slowly. Not too abruptly, yeah? Just give it a few more weeks of slowly drifting apart, posting less about or with each other. That makes it less suspicious."

She sighed deeply, raising her hand to brush strands of red out of her face. "Yeah, you're right. Two more weeks." She promised herself to be able to let go by that time. That she would stop enjoying this so much until then.

An awkward silence came up between them. It was only interrupted by keys dangling in the door, signalling that Sam was coming back. Ashley rushed to stand up and get to the door; before the blonde had even fully entered, she was already pulling her boots on and grabbing the jacket she always wore when riding her bike.

"Oh, hey Ashley," he said, and she shot him a quick smile.

"Hi! Sorry, I was just about to leave." She walked out of the door, completely forgetting to even say goodbye to any of them. Sam watched her walk over to the motorbike parked in their driveway, grab the helmet, and speed out to the street.

He turned to his best friend who was still sitting on the couch, staring at the empty screen of their TV.

"Everything alright?" Sam asked. "Did something happen?"

The strain in Colby's voice was real as he answered, "Yeah, I'm fine. I'll just... go to my room."

"Sure," Sam said slowly, suspiciously watching the brunet ascend the stairs. "Sure," he repeated, quieter this time. Something was definitely up.

Colby didn't know why he felt like this. He should've seen it coming. His and Ashley's relationship wasn't made to be kept up forever. It was something short-term from the beginning, both of them knowing that it would have to end sooner rather than later. He had just never thought of it. He had gone out with her, had fun with her, laughed with her, completely ignoring the fact that it wasn't even real. But this had felt like a punch to the gut. It would be over, in only two months' time. Just like that.

He didn't want it to end. The thought alone made him miserable. But it was what Ashley wanted, and she was right that they couldn't keep lying to their fans. Saying that a slower drifting apart was more realistic had been his only chance to gain more time. Time that would be inevitably awkward from now on.

But he had dragged her into this, and it was only fair that she could say when it was to end. He had convinced her to put up this charade.

Little did he know how thinking of ending it made Ashley feel. Only an hour after she arrived home from Sam and Colby's – she had only been sitting on her bed and staring at the empty wall for the entire time – she grabbed her purse again and left Jerry with a quick nod, walking out of the apartment. He looked confused and slightly worried but let her go anyway.

The tattoo and piercing shop was empty as she entered. A bored man who seemed to be a few years younger than herself was standing behind the desk, scrolling on his phone. He had several piercings himself, especially in his ears. Ashley cleared her throat, and he looked up.

"What can I do for you?" he asked, looking her up and down quickly. She didn't have any tattoos nor did her style make her seem like someone who did, but she didn't care.

"I don't have an appointment, but I would like to get a piercing," she stated, taking out her phone. The guy nodded as she showed him the old picture, saying, "Like this. This was about a year ago, right before I took it out and it grew closed."

He nodded, comparing her face to the one in the picture with a swift glance. "Alright," he said. "Let's get to work then."