Unnatural blue II A. KNIGHT

021

░▒▓█▓▒░ "Are you staying the night?" Skylar asks Awsten once Ryan is asleep in bed. "I'd love to," Awsten replies, somehow sheepish despite the fact that he's already slept over multiple times before, "if that's cool with you." "Of course it is," Skylar answers, giving him a quick kiss on the cheek. "I'll be right back; I gotta check the mail." Awsten flops down onto the couch tiredly as Skylar heads out of the apartment, smiling to himself. Life seems almost too good right now. It all feels pleasantly domestic like he's always had a place here in Skylar and Ryan's little family. Picking up Ryan from Christy and Josh's after date night and staying the night here all feels so normal, like this is exactly where he should be right now. He can't call the feeling anything other than reminiscent of home. It's like settling into his bed for the first time after a long tour. Awsten looks over his shoulder when he hears the door open and gives Skylar a lazy smile as she comes in. He slowly gets up off the couch and meets Skylar at the kitchen counter, wrapping his arms around her waist from behind and resting his chin on her shoulder after gently sweeping her hair off it to her back. "Missed you," he mumbles, shifting slightly to press a little kiss where her neck and shoulder meet. "I was gone for, like, two minutes," Skylar points out with a quiet laugh. "Still missed you," he replies with a little grin. "Call me clingy." "I'm clingy too," Skylar jokes, turning her head to the side to kiss Awsten, "but I gotta go through all of this." "Mind if I just stand here hugging you while you do that?" "I'd very much appreciate if you stood there hugging me while I do this." It's quiet for a bit as Skylar looks through the bills and sorts out the junk mail. Skylar suddenly goes stiff, which gets Awsten's attention. "What's wrong?" Awsten asks with a frown, looking over her shoulder at what she's looking at. "I just...fucking six months later, holy fuck," Skylar is talking mostly to herself. "Sky, hey, talk to me," Awsten removes his arms from around her waist so they can stand face to face, "what's going on?" "I, uh...I applied to NYU, before we met and...holy hell, Awsten, I got in—I got a fucking scholarship and financial aid—holy fuck! Oh my god," Skylar's shock fully setting in. Awsten goes through a rapid series of emotions, first he's proud of her. Beyond proud. Then he's happy for her because, if anyone deserves this, it's her. After that is painful realization because NYU is definitely not in Houston and that means Skylar and Ryan won't be in Houston and that means all this is going away. The sadness hits then because he's losing this. There's guilt then for being sad because he wants to be happy for her and he should be happy for her but he's finding himself hating this amazing thing that's happening for her. Among all the thoughts running through his head, one sticks out in particular. He's going to lose it all. ░▒▓█▓▒░