Born To Die Part Two - The Charm Of A Conflict

Over

Kristoffer, Alexis, and Ashton all sit together, an uncomfortable silence mugging over them. Alexis shoots daggers at Kristoffer over her phone. Ashton seems to be obsessively biting his nails. Kristoffer has his face resting in his hands, surrounded by thoughts that hurt his head. He had tried to talk to Ashton but had only been met with bitter silence.

'Uhm, excuse me? Are you Alexis, Ashton, and Kristoffer?' A woman asks. She has nurse scrubs on and has a very kind face.

'Yeah, we are. Is she okay?' Alexis stands up, placing her jacket over her shoulders.

'Yes, Ms. Chevalier is fine. She's asking for you,' She tells Alexis, 'I can make time for you two later.'

Alexis bustles into Cheri's room with a quick nod, leaving the smell of sweet perfume behind her. Ashton and Kristoffer are left in awkward silence. They face each other, knees almost touching.

'Is there any reason you haven't been talking to me today?' The words leave Kristoffer's mouth before he can stop them. He feels his cheeks burn red as Ashton lifts his eyes to Kristoffer's. But not of admiration and... well, what do you think? This time, his cheeks turn crimson of embarrassment and shame. He has heavy purple eyebags and his eyes look bloodshot. He looks as if he had been crying the previous night.

'Well, I...' He grasps for words, tucking his feet under the chair. He seems a bit uncomfortable with the question. He opens and closes his mouth, before finally saying, 'I'm not saying it was you, but you were the only person who was with Cheri when she was hurt.'

'What? No, I saw what happened. Denzell, someone from the AMI touched her injured hand,' Kristoffer justifies, keeping a straight face.

'...Do you expect me to believe you anymore?'

Kristoffer blinks twice in shock, hatred, confusion, rage. Ashton sighs, closing his eyes and explaining, 'Look, ever since you took us to the AMI, I've been wondering if we were right for each other. I feel like we both lie to each other too much. We're too rude and violent and hateful and double-crossing and indecisive that it's better if we don't cause ourselves the pain.'

'I...' Kristoffer wants to be kind, sensible, polite, and agree. But nothing goes the way he wants, 'What do you mean by that? We were anything but that? You didn't seem opposed to kissing me during that fight!'

Ashton mutters something about distraction tactics. He stares down at his legs, not making eye contact with Kristoffer.

'Look, you can't hate me for the fact that you invited me to your house. You've always been a skeptical little bitch, why wouldn't you be of me? You told me not to trust anyone, so follow your advice. Also, after I "betrayed you",' As he says "betrayed you", he does air quotations, 'You invited me back just because you wanted someone in your bed!'

'That's not what I...'

'It is! I've never shown anyone more love than that night, and you can just throw it away because you feel like making a case against me in your court case of a brain? I do nothing but show how much you matter to me, but the second you want to be angry, you throw away how gentle and caring and loving I was to you. Who was there for a year of your life in school? Who was there in your home, doing my part of making things and cleaning up? Nothing I do is ever good enough for anyone, so if you could just look at the good parts of me which is most, maybe you'd-'

He pauses hearing a sob from Ashton's chair. He'd been so taken away in rage that he hadn't even noticed.

'I don't,' His voice is trembling, interjected by hiccoughed breaths, 'I try my best to always look at the good parts of you. You're a generally kind person, Kristoffer. I just wish you showed it more.

'What I was saying isn't anything to do with... with that night, okay? I agree, you were kind and gentle and I appreciate that, but you can't just show it with sexual acts. Show it generally. Just ask someone how their day's going or if you can do anything to help. Then maybe I'll think about it,' Ashton's voice returns to normal by his last words. He looks up at Kristoffer, stony-faced and serious.

'Go. I never want to see you again.'

'But...'

'Go.'

Kristoffer nods solemnly. He has no choice. As he makes his way to the staircase, he hears the soft sound of a door opening and closing. A large breath escapes his chest, decompressing his frame. It seems clear that Ashton won't be forgetting soon. The image of his stunning icy blue eyes burns into his eyeballs, simmering his brain and chilling his heart. Everything feels cold. Numb and cool. Suddenly, nothing is real and Kristoffer is a bystander watching from above him. His eyebrows begin to tighten together. He exits the towering, glimmering white building. Everything is too bright for a mid-March afternoon. Other people are too joyful for him.

I guess that's just the way things go.