Unnatural blue II A. KNIGHT

024

░▒▓█▓▒░ With Jawn long gone, Awsten is left alone with his thoughts. He has the TV on but isn't paying any attention to what's on. He wants to be asleep, and he should be considering how late it is, but he can't find it in him to sleep. When he tried, he dreamed of the kiss he tried so hard to remember. Now, he wants nothing more than to forget the way her lips fit so perfectly against his. He wants to forget all of it, her laugh and her smile and their days at the park with Ryan and the lazy days spent at each other's apartments and— Knock, knock, knock. Awsten frowns in confusion, knowing that no one would randomly show up at this time of night. He tries to reason that maybe it's Jawn returning, having realized that Awsten wants just about anything other than being alone right now. Knock, knock, knock. Hesitantly, he gets up to answer the door. He peaks out the little peephole and is quick to open the door after that to reveal Ryan on the other side. "Ryan," Awsten exclaims with wide, shocked eyes, "what're you doing here? You—" "Mommy was crying in her sleep," Ryan tells him, frowning as he pushes his way in passed Awsten. "And in the morning she said you broke up and it wasn't anybody's fault but if that's true why's she so sad? If there was no reason to break up, just get back together and we can all be happy! Why's it gotta be hard?" "Wait, hold on, does your mom even—you...oh my god, Ryan, you can't sneak out like this," Awsten tries to stay calm, keeping himself from saying the curse words running through his head. "I'm gonna call your mom—" "No! You gotta tell me what happened," Ryan insists stubbornly, "mommy doesn't cry! She never does but she's crying 'cause you broke up and if there's no reason for it you gotta get back together and we'll all be happy!" Awsten thinks it over, trying to figure out how to get Ryan to let this go and let him call Skylar so he can go home. He doesn't know what to do, he doubts Ryan would understand that leaving is going to help make things better for him in the long run. Not to mention, he can't explain that because he's starting to have trouble believing it himself. How could something so painful help anyone? So, he makes a decision he'll probably regret. He decides to lie. "There was a reason," he starts off hesitantly, "I, uh..." he pauses briefly, blinking back tears and building up the nerve to actually go through with this. He clears his throat before starting again. "I lied. I told your mom I love her and that wasn't true and she realized that so I left. She didn't tell you 'cause she didn't wanna hurt you but that's what really happened." "That...no," Ryan denies, shaking his head and failing to hold back his tears now. "No! You didn't...heroes don't lie! Y—" "I'm not a hero," Awsten snaps, his voice shaky. He takes a deep breath before repeating it more steadily this time. "I'm not a hero. I lied about that too. I even lied about my hair. Look!" He goes off to the bathroom and returns with a bottle of hair dye left over from the last time he dyed his hair. "See, this is what makes it blue. It's not real." Ryan doesn't say anything, just looks at Awsten in shock. "I'm gonna call your mom now," he breaks the silence, "she'll take you back home. You can go wait on the couch if you want." ░▒▓█▓▒░