When the fear of isolation pulls Ashton and Ria together, nothing can prepare them for the collision. An anomaly shatters the repetitive fabric of their lives, sending them on a journey of discovering themselves and one another.
Beneath Ashton's gen...
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THE MOMENT SHE ENTERS THE STUDIO, azure eyes pierce hers.
No smiles. No greeting.
A pointed stare in an icy room. Goosebumps rise up her arms and stones weigh down her legs. She hesitates to step further into the space that's suddenly too small.
Ashton wipes his hands together. Light dust flies from his fingers. She glances over to see he was drawing something, using some sort of chalk to fill in the colors.
"Are you going to come in?" His voice is low and carefully calculating. Icy gaze continues to peer into hers, waiting for her to come inside. He watches her lips, waiting for her to speak.
Ria steps in further and holds her hands in front of her. She clears her throat and speaks with as much steadiness as her shaky heart. "What are we doing today?"
"Are we done?" His voice is hard and hollow.
She opens her mouth but nothing comes out. Ashton folds his arms over his exposed chest and waits.
Why is he acting like I'm the bad guy?
"What exactly are we done doing? We were just sleeping together."
"And spending hours talking. Going on dates-"
"One date."
He narrows his eyes. "Opening up to each other."
"The only thing I know about you is that you're an artist and that you can't have-" She bites her tongue. "And that's it."
"You know that I like you."
"But not enough to take me seriously."
"Just because I don't believe in the same things as you, you're going to stop seeing me?"
"I can see you right now," she argues. "I can see a man who used our common interests to get close to me. I was starting to think you were worth getting emotionally attached to. That maybe you're not like my douchebag boyfriend."
Ashton blinks and opens his mouth but Ria carries on, throwing her hands up in frustration.
"But when I finally decide to open up to you, you tell me that you don't have long-term relationships. That I'm not going to last long."
He steps forward and wraps his hands around her wrists. "You have a boyfriend?" His voice comes out shaky and he narrows his eyes. "Was I just a-"
"Ex. I meant ex-boyfriend," she mumbles and wriggles her wrists from him. Even still, her skin tingles where he touched as if he's never done it before.
"I never said we can't have a long-term relationship, Ria. I just said I don't believe in love."
She rubs her temples and groans. "That's the whole point of having a relationship."
