What If (A Mirror Amourshipping Story

Chapter 9

Ash has been feeling almost as lonely as he used to be ever since the night at the cabin. He hasn't made any attempts to talk to Brock and Holly about what happened and he's afraid to try to call or text Serena, figuring she still is upset with him. He wishes he knew what he could say to fix this uneasy tension that has been building up between them ever since the weekend. It emotionally hurts him more because things were looking up between them when they were in the hot tub. A part of him wants to smile whenever he thinks of the moment that he and Serena were snuggling with her head resting on his shoulder, but that memory feels tainted with the knowledge that it was followed with discovering Brock and Holly's plan and how he and Serena argued before reluctantly sharing the bed.

It is the Tuesday after the weekend at Holly's uncle's cabin and Ash decides to go for a walk in the park. He sees people playing frisbees with their dogs or having picnics with their families and loved ones, making him feel more lonely than before. As he walks, however, he finds Brock sadly sitting on a park bench with a six-pack of canned beers lying next to him. Ash frowns bitterly at his best friend for what he and his wife did, but he notices that Brock is looking down on the dumps. He hesitates before he walks over to the taller man who notices him coming.

"Hey, little buddy," Brock greets with a half-hearted smile. "How's it going."

"I could ask you the same question," Ash says.

Brock frowns and takes a sip of his beer before turning back to Ash.

"Holly's spending the night at Autumn's," he says sadly. "We had a fight. Our first fight as a married couple just like that."

Ash frowns and takes pity on his best friend before sitting down next to him. Brock robotically offers him a beer to which Ash's reluctantly accepts. The two of them sit down silently sipping their beers while they watch everyone else enjoy the sunny day. After a while, Brock sighs and turns to Ash.

"So...um...I'm sorry," he says. "I let Holly talk me into it even though I knew it was a bad idea."

Ash frowns as he turns to his best friend.

"I'm not like you, Brock," he says bluntly. "I can't just hook up with someone if they're already with someone else. It was wrong when my parents did it to each other, it was wrong when Miette did it to me, and it was wrong when you and Holly did it to her ex."

Brock lowers at his shorter friend.

"You don't think the fact that we got married kind of justifies that we did it?" he asks.

"No, I don't," Ash says. "Not unless you want to be married by someone who doesn't like cheating."

"Hey, that's my wife, Ash," Brock snaps. "Holly talks a good game, but she's been hurt like everybody else. Her ex was horrible to her. He treated her real bad. It's complicated. Honestly, all this love stuff is complicated."

Ash looks away from Brock who takes another sip of his beer before he speaks again.

"But you know what? It's actually good that love is complicated," he says. "Because if it's too simple, you've got no reason to try. And if you have no reason to try, you don't. In fact, I think I just described you with that last part now that I think about it."

Ash looks at Brock in disbelief before he glowers at him.

"You know what? Maybe you're right, but either way, you're a jackass, Brock," she says.

Without a word, Ash stands up, chugs the rest of his beer and storms away. Brock makes no attempt to call him back or apologize for what he said which suits Ash just fine. As Ash walks away, however, Brock's last words begin to hit him.