Camera {Malum}

Epilogue

March 20th

It was hard to get out of bed still, my movements as slow as ever as I got dressed.

I had to, because Ashton was coming over and he would go all father-like about not being dressed and blahblah.

I do had to admit, that I had been doing slightly better.

Ever since the talk with Luke -which definitely wasn't easy- I had been a bit more... well, I guess one could say normal.

Not only because Luke had told me that Michael would've wanted us to go on, because as he used to say: "Life goes on".

And I guess I realised that indeed, life does go on. And indeed, Michael seemed like the kind of guy that would want you to go on with your life like you've always done.

And maybe (maybe) it kind of helped I hadn't known Michael for real. Because if we would have met, like he said in his letter, it would have hurt more.

So, that's why I had decided to try and go on. I had been going to the introduction days of my new school and I had hung out with Ashton a lot more because he was a big source of happiness. And I really needed that.

Mostly because, like I said, it was still hard to try and get back to normal.

I tried, though. And I guess that was enough for Ashton, because yeah, it was really all I could do. But I was doing pretty well, if I said so myself.

"Heeeeeey," Ashton greeted me happily once I had opened my front door, after the doorbell had rung.

"Hi," I greeted back simply, managing a small smile as I did so.

"How are you today?" Ashton asked, as he stepped inside and immediately got rid of his jacket.

"A little better than yesterday, I suppose," I answered truthfully, feeling a little difference with yesterday like I did every day. Because every day I felt the slightest bit better about the whole happening.

"That's good," Ashton smiled, his eyes showing his worry though. I simply gave him the biggest smile I could manage (which really wasn't even near big).

"How about we go and watch a movie though?" Ashton then suggested, walking into my living room before turning back to look at me.

I shrugged, following him to the living room, "sure, how about you choose and I'll go look for snacks?"

"Oh, please gimme popcorn," Ashton gave me big pleading eyes immediately, making me roll my eyes, but leave to the kitchen with a small smile.

Once in the kitchen, I looked through some of the cupboards that would usually (keyword usually) house the popcorn. But unfortunately, we were out of anything popcorn-related.

"Eh, Ash?" I spoke loudly, making sure Ashton heard me.

"Yeah?"

"We're out of popcorn, is anything else okay too?" I bit my lower lip, hoping he would say something like 'yeah sure', because otherwise I would have to go to the supermarket to get some popcorn.

"Noooo," he whined, coming to the kitchen with a pout. "I want popcorn, please?"

"But then I'll have to get it from the supermarket," I groaned, giving him a pleading look that asked him to change his mind. But he wouldn't have it.

"So? You have your drivers license now so you can easily go out for it real quick, right?" His hopeful look made me sigh. I couldn't protest, really.

"Fine," I muttered, already walking into the hallway to put on some shoes. Ashton followed with a small cheer, smiling widely as I was putting on my shoes.

"I'll be back soon then," I told him, as he was already back on the couch and about to start with a movie.

"Hey, wait with that," Ashton groaned and then pouted at me. I simply shook my head and grabbed the car keys, telling him, right before I shut the front door, "wait for me to come home!"

The End.