The Piano || 𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘣𝘺 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘤𝘬

|69|

Author's note-
> This is the chapter I reached 100k words with, which is crazy to me (I've only written 10-30k fics before)

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As she should've expected, those preparations were for nothing because the second she stepped into the house, he was already waiting for her and... hugged her. A little hesitantly at first, but when she didn't push him away, he gave her a quick squeeze and then let go again. Okay, that was new.

"Didn't take you for a hugger," she chuckled.

"I'm not," he said, burying his hands in his pockets. "Just wanted to say thank you."

"For what?"

"You know, being patient. Giving good advice. Putting up with me."

She glanced at him pointedly while getting rid of her biking gear. "You're not someone I just put up with."

"Yeah?" He chuckled slightly. "Then who is?"

She grimaced. "Well. She's the reason I'm here in the first place."

Colby's eyes narrowed. "I think I know who you're talking about."

"Probably," she sighed. "I'm not exactly good at keeping my feelings a secret. I'm just glad I could get out finally."

"Of course. It's your turn to run away to my place now, after last time," he said with a smile. "Come on, let's not spend the afternoon standing in the entrance."

He took a few steps down the hallway before he hesitated. "Sam's in his room," he said, "if you want to... You know. Talk to him. Make him apologise."

Ashley chuckled at the offer. "I think I'm good for the moment," she denied.

"Okay, cool. Well, uh, wanna play some video games?" he asked, motioning at the consoles and screens set up in the living room. "Or if you'd rather watch a series, I don't mind..."

"I'm literally a gamer," she scoffed, "how could I refuse to play a game?"

He gave her a crooked smile. "Alright, good point. Rocket League?"

"Hell yeah."

The relief of getting out of the apartment and finally spending time with Colby again was soon obliterated by an insatiable ambition. And that paid off. Though he managed to snatch a win every once in a while, most of the rounds went to her, eventually leaving her with a shit-eating grin while he was playfully muttering insults.

It was just after Ashley had scored another win, and he chucked a pillow at her when Sam came out of his room. He hesitated to make himself known at first, but she saw him anyway and smiled, trying to convey that she wasn't angry at him. She'd actually never been angry at him and wouldn't be, either, unless his reasons to act the way he had would turn out to be worse than she imagined. Then she'd have to rethink her attitude, but for now, she didn't want him to think she was annoyed.

The sounds from the gaming console indicated that another round was starting, and she whipped her head around to be ready, holding the controller tightly.

"Sam, you have to help me," complained Colby. "She's too good at this."

"Seventeen points to eight," she declared proudly.

"What am I supposed to do?" Sam asked, laughing along.

"Sabotage her, I don't know, man, this is my honour we're talking about!"

"Hey, no, you got your ass into trouble, you gotta get yourself out of hit," Ashley insisted. "Those are the rules."

"Whose rules?"

"Mine! Now focus, or you'll complain about being distracted and tell me my win doesn't count." Her eyes were glued to the screen as she focused on winning again. Sam sat down on the other end of the couch, crossing his feet and watching them play. When Ashley won again, he clapped politely.

"Thank you, thank you," she laughed. "Eighteen points to eight. You want to try to win your honour back again, Colby?"

He mumbled something indistinguishable before shaking his head. "My ego is broken enough already. Sam can try if he dares to." He threw the controller over to his best friend, who caught it effortlessly.

"You wanna take on the champion? Are you sure?" Ashley asked teasingly.

A grin tugged at Sam's lips. "I'm going to give it a try," he said nonchalantly.

Ashley quickly found out that Sam was a better player than Colby. Way better. But he was predictable, and though it took her a while, Ashley started figuring out patterns. Still, she didn't win half as often as against Colby. When they finally decided to take a break, she was only winning by a difference of two points.

"Not half bad," she muttered, crossing her arms nonchalantly.

He chuckled but didn't reply, didn't even look at her as he put the controller down. Colby didn't seem to notice the tension, seeing as he got up, stretched, and then excused himself and walked toward the bathroom. Admittedly, Ashley was glad about that, despite the silence that immediately filled the living room. Oookay.

"I take it you and Colby talked," she said after a second.

Sam hesitated. "He made me realise I've been a dick to him – and you, obviously."

"He said that?" Her eyes widened unironically. That was not what-

"Not directly," he quickly denied. "He just asked whether I'm okay and all that stuff."

"So, are you?"

He glanced at her before leaning back against the couch. "I am, now," he said slowly. "There was some... stuff... with, uh, a girl..."

"Alright, I won't pry," she said, recognising the hesitant tone. "I get it. Complicated stuff."

"Yeah," he chuckled, his expression unreadable. "Guess you could say that. I'm just glad you told Colby to ask."

"I shouldn't have had to," she grumbled. "What is it with you men and not talking about your feelings? Did you have to make some kind of vow or what?"

Sam simply shrugged before getting up from the couch. Ashley immediately took the sign, shut up about the topic, and grabbed her phone. No feelings conversation with Sam. Fair enough, they didn't know each other well enough. She was more than fine with that – except that she hadn't even had the chance to address what had happened at the hotel. Another time, then.

When Ashley returned to her apartment, she narrowly managed to avoid Sadie by complimenting her dress so that the girl didn't have a chance to voice a comment of her own before Ashly disappeared into her room. That, at least, was still somewhat a safe space Jerry's sister hadn't dared to invade yet. What used to be the entire apartment had shrunk to just her own square metres.

She turned up her music and opened her calendar app to check for something to do. A date marked bright red caught her attention, and Ashley's eyebrow quirked up as she realised something. Her birthday was in less than three weeks. Well... at least that was something to do.

She wasn't much of a planner, usually letting others organise most of the things and meetings and whatnot, but this time, she had the creeping feeling it would be better to take matters into her own hands. Just to be completely sure.