𝐈𝐓 𝐆𝐄𝐓𝐒 𝐄𝐀𝐒𝐈𝐄𝐑 ; daniel seavey

T H I R T E E N

Dinner was out of this world amazing.

Ashley had no idea Daniel's culinary skills were this advanced. She made a mental note to add that to her ongoing list of why Daniel is the greatest human being on the planet.

He made everything from scratch (except for the pasta itself). Everything tasted so incredible that Ashley had to stop herself from licking the plate like a barbarian.

Daniel was pleased that she was enjoying the meal so much. He was practically beaming with pride. Her heart swelled at how giant his smile was. She would do anything to keep that on his face forever.

The two teens heard Logan come in just as they were finishing up. Annabeth had seen Mr. Paul in passing before, but she had yet to meet him personally. From what she heard at school, he was an amazing teacher who was extremely kind and always looked out for his students (Daniel especially).

"Hello," Logan greeted politely, shaking her hand. "So you must be the famous Ashley I'm constantly hearing about."

Daniel groaned. "Logan stop!"

She laughed. "Yes, that's me. It's nice to meet you Mr. Paul."

"Please, call me Logan. I'm only Mr. Paul at work." He scanned the table, which was overrun with empty plates. "Did you two leave me anything at all?"

"I set a plate aside for you in the kitchen," Daniel offered.

Logan ruffled his hair, making the raven haired boy cringe away. "By the way," Logan whispered, even though she could clearly hear what he was saying, "she's even prettier than you said she was."

Daniel's face was so red it looked like he might die of mortification. "Oh my God. Please leave. I'm begging you."

"What?" Logan laughed. "It's not like I told her you still drool in your sleep."

"Jesus Christ!" Daniel exclaimed, horrified. "I'm never bringing her here again."

Ashley and Logan laughed at his discomfort. The poor boy looked like he wanted to crawl into a whole and never come out.

"Alright, alright. I'm going. Just make sure you get her home at a reasonable hour, keep your doors open, and don't do anything I wouldn't do."

Daniel grabbed her hand and dragged her behind him, practically bolting out of the room. "Come on, Ashley . Before Logan says something else to embarrass me."

"Nice to meet you, Ashley!" Logan called after her.

"You too!"

Once they were in the safety of Daniel's room (with the door opened of course), Ashley realized that she had never actually been in his bedroom before since they always stuck to the living room. It was small, only fitting a double bed, a dresser, a television, and a little closet in the corner. The walls were a warm grey and blue, but she could still spot a darker colour along the edges where the walls met.

"It used to be black," Daniel explained, indicating to the spot. "The entire room, I mean."

"You sure used a lot of black before," she noted.

"It was a dark time," he said grimly. "Still is."

She took his hand in hers. "But it's getting better, right?"

His eyes held this far off look to them before they focused on her. "Yeah, it is."

She walked over to his bed and sat on the edge, smoothing the covers underneath her fingers. That's when she saw something peeking out from underneath the bed. She crouched down and picked it up, removing the few pieces of dust that was sprinkled across the brown leather front.