eight; "need a hand?"

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Three days. It had been three days since my break up and little – well, not really little, since it ended with a major argument – encounter with Ashton.

“You know you can’t hide in my house forever, right?” a naked Sara said as she came out of her bathroom, a towel hanging loosely over her shoulder. Not that it mattered. We had practically showered with each other when we were younger. I shrugged.

Need I mention? It had also been three days since I last went out. In other cases, ‘went out’ probably referred to stepping out of the indoors into the snow-covered streets which whiff of hot chocolate and toasted croissants. In my dictionary, however, it was defined as putting a foot out onto the hallway outside Sara’s studio apartment and actually walking around. I spent the past two days trying to summon enough courage to be able to walk through her main door and out of the building. It would only be a step or two until I turned back. I couldn’t go to the lobby - or anywhere, for that matter.

I didn’t want to risk seeing Ashton. I didn’t want to face him after everything I said. Neither did I want to know or hear of what he has to say about me; I would rather avoid him for the rest of my days than have him slap me back to reality, thus resulting in me having to face the hard truth of me jeopardizing the friendship I had with him.

“Hey, you know the doorman downstairs? He was asking for you,” she plopped down onto the bed I was on and gave me an odd look, “I didn’t even know you guys met. Since when do you befriend doormen, K?”

Slightly taken aback by her question – although rhetorical, I’m sure – and even more taken aback by what she just told me, I raised my eyebrow. “What do you mean? The fact that he’s a doorman doesn’t make him any less good a person than us.”

“Calm down, I was kidding. Befriend whoever you want to befriend. Just make sure that he’ll have enough money to bring you out for drinks and stuff,” she laughed a bit.

“Your sense of humor is revolting, Sara. How condescending was that?” I pushed myself off the bed and grabbed my gym bag. Slamming her front door, I couldn’t help but notice how my hands were shaking and heartbeat accelerating.

As I entered the gym and dumped my bag on one of the benches, the sound of my heartbeat was literally echoing through my body. Three things to blame for that: firstly, I was actually out of Sara’s place -  that was risky as fuck and i feared a lot of things; secondly, it was really low of her to easily insult Ashton like that and that made me rage. And thirdly, Ashton was looking for me.

Oh god, Ashton Irwin was looking for me. Well, unless there was another doorman whom I had unknowingly associated myself with. My grasp on the treadmill’s handle loosened due to beads of perspiration forming at the surface of my palm. This could either lead to something really good or really bad – good if he wanted to reconcile, bad if he was looking for me only to shout at me. It was terrifying enough that he last spoke to me with an expression that portrayed disappointment, anger and disbelief all at once, what more-

I panicked as i lost my grip and footing, the belt moving at the same speed, causing me to fall backwards. I groaned as I landed face up on the ground. With all that I had been thinking about, I didn’t feel like getting up. All I wanted was to lie there until my issue with Ashton was miraculously solved and I could go back to living my life without fear and discomfort tugging at my nerves every single minute of the day.

However, a very familiar voice brought me up to my feet. It sounded like a melody to my ears, but probably only because it was what I had been longing to hear for the past few days. Like waking up to the sound of light rain hitting your roof after an unusually dry summer, it brought a smile to my face - one that fought its way back no matter how hard i tried to push it away.

“Need a hand?” he said. His lips were pursed, although the corners twitched after a few seconds. As i sat against the wall in an attempt to get my breathing steady, he offered his hand to me.

Wholeheartedly, i took it.

-

hi

ok i'm aware i suck at updating and i'm really sorry for that )): my schedule has been pretty screwed this week because it's not actually a school week bUT i know that's not an excuse hence i'll give you guys this until my next update which will include very happy things hehehe hint: ROLLER COASTER

but either way i hope you liked this!! and i hope you're having a great dayyyyyyyy :)

(dedicated to val because i love her and her writing and she has a rad personality she's amazing)

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