Rain 》a.i. au [SLOW UPDATES]

Chapter Two

I was grateful that it didn't rain on my drive to the diner because I was not in the mood to get in trouble for my windshield wiper. It was far busier than the day before. We didn't work in sections because we were such a small diner, so I just roamed around the dining area, taking orders. After about an hour, it began to get boring, just like any job. Then the big, glass door opened, and I was not shocked about who walked in.

"Long time, no see," I said sarcastically as Ashton approached the counter. He ruffled his hair, which was much cleaner than the night before. It was floppy and a bit wavy, and a nice walnut color. I noticed the bridge of his nose was still bruised, and that he had a busted lip.

"Well, uh, I think I left my wallet here last night," he laughed. I gave him a finger, telling him to wait, and I pulled out the 'lost items' bin from under the cash register. I shuffled through many coats and sweaters, along with some sunglasses, but no wallet. As I opened my mouth to tell him that I could not find any wallets, a familiar hand slid a brown, leather wallet across the counter in front of Ashton.

"This was on the bathroom floor this morning," My boss, Allison said. Ashton flipped the wallet open, making sure it was his.

"Thank you," Ashton smiled, and I became jealous of how nice his teeth were, something I have never experienced. He stood up from the bar seat, and shoved the wallet into the back pocket of his jeans. As he walked out the door, a small piece of paper fluttered out of his back pocket. I crouched down to pick it up, and found it was a picture.

It was picture of four boys, and one was unmistakably Ashton. He sat behind a drum kit, while the other three held guitars of some sort. A drummer, I let out out a small laugh before chasing him out. He was halfway down the street when I caught up to him.

"Hey you, " he turned around, obviously surprised to see me, "you dropped this." I handed him the picture and he stuffed it in his back pocket.

"Don't you have have a car or something?" I asked.

"Nope," he said simply, like it was no big deal.

"It's pouring and you're walking home? That's brave."

"None of my friends like me enough to drive me places so I walk. I walked here and I'll walk back, " He shrugged and rock on his heels.

"What about those guys in the picture? They must like you because you all play in in a band together." I raised my eyebrows, waiting for an answer.

"We aren't on the best of terms right now," He said carefully, like he was afraid of saying too much.

"How far away do you live?" I wondered.

"Um, maybe 15 miles that way," He stated, pointing to his left. My jaw literally dropped. We just stood there, in the rain, while I pondered my options. I could let him walk home, or I could give him a ride.

"I should probably go," Ashton turned before I stopped him again.

"Wait, if you could just wait until we close, I could drive you home," I suggested.

"You don't even know me!" He yelled because of the wind picking up.

"Exactly! You could be a freaking serial killer for all I know, but I'm still offering to give you a ride," I crossed my arms to help me keep a little bit of warmth.

"Fine, whatever," He threw his hands up, probably knowing not to argue with me because of what I did last night, and followed me inside.

-

"I'll lock up, since you obviously have something better to do," Allison told me, motioning to Ashton sitting in the corner playing on his phone.

"I'm just being a nice person, okay?" She laughed at my reply, muttering something about me not being a nice person. I took off my apron and hung it on the rack in the kitchen, before grabbing my coat. Ashton met me at the door, seeing that I was gathering my things. Her held the door open for me, which really surprised me that he was that kind of person, but I shook it off.

"So, which one's yours?" He asked, throwing up his hood in fear of getting rained on, despite the fact that it was only sprinkling. I pointed to my small, old, and extremely broken silver car. I unlocked it from the drivers seat before stepping in, while simultaneously throwing my bag in the backseat.

"I hope you know how to get home from here."

The car ride was awkward and quite, expect when Ashton steered me in the right direction. I noticed on that car ride, that he had a thing of pulling on his fingers. Every few minutes or so, he would tug on his left pinkie, and work his way to his thumb, then repeating this on his right hand. It was as if he was trying to make his already very long fingers even longer.

After a while, Ashton turned to me and said, "You know, I don't think you've told me your name yet."

I laughed, because if my mother heard that, should would have scolded me for being rude and not introducing myself sooner. "Erin Rogers. I'm a senior over at Goldbridge." He nodded his head, but with a puzzled look on his face.

"Rogers. Where have I heard the name before?" I waited for the light bulb to go off in his head. "Oh! Were you related to Ethan Rogers? The kid that, you know, died in that fire a few years back?" He bit his lip, as if it would have offended me.

"He was my half brother," I responded.

"I'm sorry."

"No need for an apology. He 'died a hero,' or, at least that's what the newspapers made him out to be." We sat in silence once again, before Ashton spoke up.

"This one's mine," He pointed to one of the first houses on the street I pulled into. He unbuckled his seat belt, and flipped up his hood.

"Thank you, let me know if I can repay you at all," I waved him off, before pulling out of the long drive way.

a/n: hola everyone! early update I guess? i don't know. anyways, so now we have a first and a last name for our main character, erin. i'm not super sure how like this chapter, but whatever. i just know that i like that its longer than the other two. anyways, dedication goes to roselaurakennedy because she left a nice comment on chapter one. please remember to give me feedback! thanks :)))))