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 LOW RUMBLE of her friend's chatter and laughter reaches around her compact apartment. Daniel and Ashton reside in the dining area drinking wine and chatting about frivolous things. Sophia and Dea fill the living room with their laughter and teasing while Jared plays the third wheel trying to jump into the conversation.
Ria rests in the center, eyes low and emotions dangling between vacancy and eruption.
Today is her twenty-third birthday. Brandon is gone and she's finally back in her apartment. All her friendships are going well. Ashton promised to tell her the truth.
Yet that void still lingers and threads doubts through her thoughts made of glass.
Breathing becomes a laborious task. Lead fills her limbs. The urge to escape becomes overwhelming.
Escape. Escape. Escape.
She needs freedom. Though as her gaze grazes along her friends, she realizes she can't. She's trapped. She has to smile and pretend that her emotions aren't going insane.
Just when she thought it was gone, her darkness returned without warning.
Going out with Chris has changed everything for Ria. She no longer feels betrayed by him, but hurt. Hurt that her own shortcomings pushed him away. What if the same happens to her and Ashton? After he meets her parents tomorrow, they'll be leaving on a two week trip to Florida. Who knows what could possibly unfold in that amount of time.
"Hey, Ria?" Ashton grabs her attention. "You okay? You've been standing there for a couple of minutes now."
"I-I'm fine," she stammers and entangles her fingers. "I just need to use the restroom."
Dumb excuse. But she stalks away from them anyways.
"Are you sure?" Concern etches across the surface of his face and he shifts from his seat.
Ria hates when he looks at her like this. As if she's made of glass. As if she'll burst from the gentlest touch. He shouldn't be worried about her. If anything, she needs to be worried about him.
It doesn't help when his sudden attention drags everyone else away from their conversation, and suddenly she has five pair of eyes boring into her like a test subject. "Don't worry about me," she mutters and tucks hair behind her ears.
Before anyone has a chance to speak up, she ducks her head and slips into her bedroom. Her solitude only lasts a moment because Ashton is right behind her and sealing the door shut to give them privacy.
"What's going on?" He closes the space between them and attempts to stroke her cheek but she shifts back and turns her head.
"You didn't need to follow me," she mutters. "I just need a moment to breathe."
