Ashton Enchanted » [cashton] √

Epilogue

three years later

"This is homophobic," Ashton declared, pointing at the empty pizza box in the middle of the floor. 

"Oh, go fuck yourself," Luke laughed in response from his spot on the couch.

Even after all this time, Ashton still flinched as the words had stung him. It was rare anyone noticed, and sometimes he didn't even feel it himself, but it was always there. The same way people who were in car accidents break when someone else is driving, a reminder. 

But the words didn't do anything anymore, and Ashton would take flinches and a little bit of anxiety over the curse any day. He often laughed to himself that if he hadn't been such an anxious mess, so determined he was going to break Calum's heart, he never would have broken the curse. Who would have thought that something as simple as denying a kiss would be the end to his obedience? 

It had taken longer than he'd care to admit to realise he wasn't obedient; he'd been so wrapped up in Calum. They'd slept side by side that night, and he'd wrapped his arms tight around Ashton, then the next day, they'd been the first to wake. Made pancakes for everyone, giggling and laughing, enjoying themselves so much that when Calum told him to 'grab the butter', he didn't even realise the tug in his stomach was gone. 

It was days later that he went to Crystal. They ran some experiments; she'd been ecstatic, so excited she'd started planning their future right away, telling Ashton what universities to apply to and all about the apartment they'd have together. Ashton, on the other hand, had been cautiously optimistic. Until an entire month had gone by without having to be obedient, he hadn't let himself completely believe he could have the life she was talking about. 

Then there was the why, which they'd speculated about for weeks, calling one another in the middle of the night with a new theory or with a rationale for why a pervious one couldn't be true. 

They'd come to the conclusion;

True Love's Kiss? Most likely not. 

Grown out of it? Doubtful. 

The theory that had stuck was probably one of the bleaker ones, if he were honest, but it was the only one that they couldn't poke holes in. 

They decided that it was just that for once, Ashton had actually known what he wanted, with complete certainty. The embarrassing things he was made to do, much to his embarrassment now, part of him felt he deserved to be treated like that. And he'd never really had friendships before; he never knew where he stood or what he wanted with them, so even the things he was sure he didn't want to say or do to them, a part of him wasn't sure. And the day he'd nearly killed himself? Part of him had wondered whether he'd be better off dead; it wasn't until he listed off all the things he loved, the people he wanted to protect, that he became more firm in his 'staying alive' stance. 

Hours and hours of conversation between the two of them decided that it was a self-feeding cycle; if you didn't think you had control, you would give in, give up and not have any real hard and fast wants for your life. They agreed teenagers were probably the best people to curse with this because what teenager really knew what they wanted? Half the time between breakfast and first-period, they'd already changed their mind about something, and they were used to being limited by rules imposed on them. 

Ashton hadn't had any dreams or desires for after high school, he hadn't let himself, and if their theory was accurate, that had only made things worse. But Calum was the one thing Ashton had been sure about in the end, it took time, but he knew what he wanted, even if just for the thirty seconds it took to say 'no'.

He'd made lots of decisions now; he'd decided to go to the University of Tasmania, Hobart was smaller than Sydney, but the weather was much nicer. He was still only a flight away from his mother, who had started dating again. Crystal had gotten in everywhere she'd applied, so she went with Ashton into this new, untainted world. The year after Michael had followed Crystal, he'd gone a non-scholastic path, starting a streaming channel. He wasn't very popular, but he had fun and worked at a coffee shop three days a week to support himself.