Clean Slate » a.i. au

Two

        As I walk through the door, I can't help smiling at the familiar place; I've only lived in this apartment for a little over a year, but I've never felt more at home anywhere else. Not even the house I lived in for 18 years a few miles from here. Of course, I can only wish that the person next to me felt as joyous as I do.

        "H- hi, little guy," I mumble and bend over, with slight difficulty due to my leg being in a cast, surprised to see our westie Kai running toward me. I pet his fluffy head, and I find it weird that he actually enjoys it; he's always liked Ashton more than me, so he spent more time with him. Even though getting a puppy was my idea – some people have a baby when their relationship is falling apart, and the two of us went to a shelter and got a puppy.

        "Uh, that's... that's our dog, Ty." I frown for a split second at his words, but smile when I look up at him.

        "Ty, huh?" I repeat, and Ashton nods curtly. He's either messing with me or he's got some sort of amnesia too. "Hi, Ty," I smile, offering the dog a hand, and he puts his soft paw on my palm. Wow, I never gave him credit for it, but Ashton really did a good job training him.

        "Wow," Ashton stretches the word out, making me look up at him again, as he takes his jacket off. "You really don't remember anything."

        I blink a couple of times at that, "Huh?"

        "The... the dog's name is actually Kai. I was expecting you to correct me."

        I frown at Ashton's words, smirking a bit while Kai cuddles against my ankles. "Were you testing me?"

        "...Kind of."

        Smiling at how embarrassed he actually looks while admitting that, I can't help but gulp at the thought of him testing me; if he continues doing that, I need to train myself for it.

        "Alright, well," Ashton starts, with a small sigh as he kicks my bag to one of the corners of the hallway, looking around indifferently as Kai runs off to another room. "This is where... we live. Bedroom's there, guest room there, living room slash dining room slash kitchen over there, and that's the bathroom." He finishes by pointing at the room next to the front door, while I nod to each word he says. Even though I know all of it like the back of my hand. "You can have the bedroom, I'll sleep on the couch."

        "Okay," I respond quietly, not particularly happy about that last bit, but I'm not going to push him into anything. I've done enough of that as it is.

        "And you'll only be here until you go back to uni, we'll get you a dorm in October and you can move out."

        An even bigger lump forms in my throat at his words, but I'm able to swallow it and nod in his direction. I have a little over two and a half months to change his mind about that. "Okay," I repeat, taking my crutches from against the beige painted wall.

        My footsteps are a little hesitant as I make my way to the 'living room slash dining room slash kitchen', looking around as if it's my first time here. He hadn't changed anything while I was at the hospital, there are still video game keep-cases piled up on the coffee table and little drum kit figurines on almost every flat surface.

        "Right," I hear his voice and look over my shoulder, to see him standing at the door. "I know the doctor said I should keep an eye on you the first few days, but... you can stay here by yourself, right? You have the TV and your laptop to keep you occupied, I'm... I have to work."

        I blink at him, not knowing how to respond to that since it really caught me off guard. "Wait, Ashton?" I call, a little panicked as he turns around to leave, and he reluctantly turns back to me, trying to look like he's not annoyed but I know him better than that. This time last year he was all smiles and giggles around me; is it even possible for a person to mess up another person this much in such a short period of time?