The Piano || 𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘣𝘺 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘤𝘬

|66|

Ashley didn't know how, but Sadie had connected the dots immediately. After meeting up with Colby for a second time, a few days later, Jerry's sister was waiting in the entrance with a grin. It felt slightly too devious to be the conspiring best-friend-ish smile she was probably aiming for.

"Soo?" she asked, tilting her head. "I'm guessing you've got him back on the hook."

Ashley suppressed a sigh. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Come on," Sadie said in a teasing tone. "Don't be coy."

"Sadie-"

"What, can't I be curious?" She chuckled lightly. "I mean, be so for real, you can't blame me. I literally saw your smile just now, when you walked in."

"- I'm really not in the mood to discuss this with you," she sighed.

Sadie frowned. "Wow. Way to be rude. I was just trying to hype you up, but whatever."

"Sorry," the redhead said, shaking her head lightly, regretting her harsh words. What was it with her and getting bothered by Sadie's words? She was getting annoyed by nothing. "I didn't mean it like that."

"It's alright, I get it," the girl replied, not dropping her smile for a second. "I just thought we'd be a little closer than this. We've been living together for a while now, after all."

"Yes, of course," Ashley quickly said, "this is just not something I talk about with a lot of people. Ask Jerry, he knows best how much he's got to pry sometimes."

"It's all good, no worries!" Sadie playfully patted Ashley's shoulder. "But just know I love talking. About anything."

Yep, Ashley thought to herself as Sadie returned to the room, I've noticed.

But Sadie's words got her thinking anyway. Got him back on the hook. Obviously, the girl couldn't know Ashley had never "had him on the hook," as she'd put it. They'd kissed, yes, but that had only been because of Derek. They'd technically dated, yes, but that was only because of the fans.

This, though? Meeting Colby twice in the span of three days for no reason, just fun? This wasn't because of someone or something. He, watching her streams? Just for fun. Just because they liked being around each other – as friends do.

Ashley didn't want to start overthinking it, she really didn't. It was simple and good the way it was.

Maybe a little better than that, even.

She and Colby eating lunch together became almost like a small ritual. Most of the times, it was due to him happening to be around her neighbourhood. Once Ashley had to have her bike fixed, and the garage she'd chosen was coincidentally near Sam and Colby's place. That meant she had two hours to waste all alone. Alone? Until she texted Colby about it, of course.

Excuses over excuses over excuses.

Both knew they were playing a game, carefully trying to get as close as possible without making it obvious. Assessing the situation, analysing the other while they weren't looking. And they both knew why.

In the time they'd spent as a "couple", she'd grown scarily used to him being around, to texting him on a daily basis, to laughing and joking with him. And when they'd grown apart, she knew she missed it. But back then, Ashley had thought it was for the best and suppressed it all.

And now that she had a taste of it again, she knew she wanted it back. More than that, even. She wanted the lingering looks she'd never noticed, the touches she'd brushed off.

But how could she possibly approach that? She could hardly just say, "yeah sorry about the shit I pulled earlier, can we just forget about that?" and hope everything would end up perfect.