Dear Brother.

Chapter Four: Coffee Shop

My left arm was stinging. I tried to move it, but it felt like dead weight. I hissed as I dragged it out from under the slender grasp it was trapped in. Ashe is a skinny twig, how the heck can she be so damn strong!

"Ashe, wake up," I mumbled, rubbing my eyes.

She grumbled back to me, pulling the sheets from the corner of the bed over her head. Go figure, she was the one who wanted to talk when we woke up. What time is it anyway?

"I can literally hear you thinking from here, Sam."

I chuckled softly and gave her a soft pat on the butt, which earned me a swift kick that I only managed to dodge by hopping off the end of the bed.

"Just cause we slept in the same bed doesn't give you exclusive rights to the butt, pal."

"What, did you already sign those rights away to someone else?"

She finally sat up, her red curly hair sticking up everywhere. It was freaking adorable.

"No, but that's not the point," she yawned and got up to cross the room towards the bathroom.

"Shower?"

I grinned as she glared back at me and shook her head.

"You're on thin ice."

I shrugged. I was always on thin ice with everyone, though almost exclusively Ashe. I guess things didn't change just because I've been away for a while. She was more than likely angry at me for being so preoccupied the last few months or so. I know I should have returned her texts, but I was honestly trying to figure out things in my head before I passed my issues off to her.

I sat back on the bed as the shower came to life on the other side of the room. I missed being here, possibly even more so than when I had arrived at Grandma's place. It smelled the same like she never changed whatever type of crap she sprayed on herself profusely before leaving the house. I remember the times I'd wake up in the morning, choking through the fog of perfume she said improved my smell as well.

Ashe and I had a weird kind of relationship. By relationship, I mean we don't have a specific one at all. We drift through people like ghost's drift through the fingers of ghost-catchers on those fake TV shows. We tried to be exclusive, but it ended up with the both of us realizing how stupidly adverse we were to each other. Our personalities clashed too much, both of us too hard headed.

I rolled over towards the window that was next to her bed. I remember taking a ladder and climbing up to it once, though her parents ended up seeing me from the first floor and questioned us immediately after. Let's just say they weren't amused at first, though didn't give me much flack after that.

The sun was shining, and the red leaves covering the trees outside were blowing in the, what I am assuming by the slight frost on the windows, crisp air. Autumn was my favorite season, especially since it meant I could stay inside and wrap myself in a blanket with some hot chocolate. It may sound a bit girly, but I loved when it started getting colder for just that reason.

I heard the shower cut off behind me, signaling the end to my reverie. Ashe walked out cloaked in a towel, her red curls damp on her shoulders. I gave her a lecherous grin, which she responded to with a roll of her eyes before searching her closet.

"So, since you're awake now, care to tell me why you randomly showed up at one in the morning and stole my bed?"

Shit, I guess I should have figured she'd want the answers right away. I wasn't sure I wanted to revel in my slowly slipping sanity quite yet, but I didn't have much choice.