Because of You

Two

When Asher woke up, he was met with the sound of a backpack zipping and the abrasive smell of fresh black coffee. He sat up and rubbed a hand over his eyes. He almost forgot where he was but as soon as he saw Maddie walk out of the kitchen with her bag and a cup of coffee, he remembered.

He knew he should've charged his phone. He wanted to be out before Maddie even woke up. Now he would have to go through the awkwardness of leaving.

"Morning sunshine. I gotta go like- now," Maddie said, slipping her shoes on at the door, "but uh, as long as you don't ruin anything or like do anything stupid you can stay for a few days if you need to."

Asher, who's mind was still foggy from just waking up, blinked his eyes and nodded. "Yeah, um thanks but I'll leave. I can..." He didn't know where he'd go. "I'll figure something out."

Maddie looked at Asher with a sincere expression. "Ash, just stay okay? At least until I get back? I want to talk to you."

He was taken aback by Maddie's words. Why would she want to talk to him? Why would she want him to stay is the more obvious question. How could she even trust him?

"It's fine, really," Asher said.

"Look, I gotta go. I want you to stay until tonight, but if you can't or just won't that's fine," Maddie said, wrapping a hand around the door knob. "See ya."

"Bye, thank you."

She didn't say anything back, she just nodded and left. Asher wasn't sure what to do next. Did he stay? Maddie said she wanted him to so he should, right?

It's not like he had anywhere else to be. He did need to charge his phone though, so he decided maybe he'd look to see if Maddie had an extra charger lying around anywhere.

Asher got up and put his clothes back on. He was crashing with a friend for awhile but the guy had been arrested about a week prior, so he was left on his own, jumping from place to  place. He had money for the most part so he stayed in some motels and at a few other friends houses but the night before, Asher had no cash on him.

Once he had folded the blankets that Maddie gave him and piled the pillows on top of them at the end of the couch, Asher headed towards the stairs to try and find a charger.

He wasn't going to snoop at all, just go into Maddie's room and look at the outlets. If there wasn't one, he would just have to wait.

On his way up the stairs, Asher noticed that there was more art hanging on the walls. It was nice and even if it was minimal, it added a lot of detail to the home. The stairs were carpeted and very soft.

Once he got to the top, he was met with two rooms and a bathroom. One room was clearly Maddie's and from what Asher could see, the other was an office.

He slowly made his way into Maddie's room. He felt weird. Like he wasn't supposed to be doing this. He tried to remind himself that it was just to find a charger but it still left an uneasy feeling.

Asher looked on one side of the full-sized bed, layered with a comforter and a few pillows. Of course it was made too. Maddie was always so organized.

Anyway, Asher didn't find a charger on the side of the bed closest to him so he walked over to the other side. A night stand stood on both ends, a lamp on one and a stack of books on the other. The outlet was behind the second stand and he was grateful to see an apple charger plugged into it.

He bent down and gently pulled it out from the wall. Standing back up, he gave Maddie's room a once over. Just trying to take it in. It was a cute room and very cozy. It had a pretty pale light blue color painted onto the walls, and more art. Maddie had plants too. A lot of plants. Asher could tell some were fake, but others that were closer to the window were definitely real.