leave him // a.i {au}

01

present day

Ashton was working at the local coffee shop in the same small town he grew up in. He had a black apron tied around my waist as he wiped down some tables. His work consisted of mostly older ladies. His mom told me it was good for him, that they could teach him something or instill some wisdom or some shit like that. Honestly, they were gossipy and annoying.

"Ashton, help me at the counter?" Marge, one of the old ladies called to him from behind the cash register. She was a frail looking woman, barely any skin on her bones but she was pretty back in her day. There was beginning to be a line and Edith couldn't handle it alone.

On his way behind the counter, Ashton threw his wash rag in the sink and began making a white chocolate mocha. He was always surprised by how many hot drinks they made when it was boiling hot outside.

"How do you make this again?" Edith asked, holding a cup in his face. She also practically ran into the boy which almost made him lose my balance. Edith was younger than Marge, maybe in her early fifties. She was a larger woman and she had no boundaries for personal space.

Ashton groaned as he explained how to make a chai tea latte. He really didn't understand how she could work here when she didn't know how to make anything. Ashton literally had to help her with almost everything.

When the line died down, Marge turned to Edith. "Did you hear about Mrs. Ellington?"

"Yes!" Edith gasped as she finished putting ice in a coffee for a customer. She placed it on the counter, calling out their name.

"I just can't believe that she cheated on her husband with another teacher! Good thing they both got fired," she shook her head disapprovingly.

He rolled his eyes at their gossiping. They always did this when there was no line or anything to do, which was a lot of the time. Ashton was stuck listening to it all day while he worked. He thought of it as a good way to know what was going on in town. These ladies practically knew everything about everyone.

"Ash, did you hear about Stevie?" Marge asked, wiggling her eyebrows up and down.

He froze at the mention of her name. "Stevie, as in Stevie Pierce?" Ashton didn't hide my jaw from dropping.

"Yeah," Marge continued. "I heard that's she's coming back in to town. Got offered Mrs. Ellington's position."

"S-she's moving b-back?" he stuttered.

"Boy, that's what she just said," Edith told me, shaking her head.

"I'm gonna go clean more tables," Ashton quickly said, grabbing his wash rag and walking away.

Stevie Pierce, the love of his life, was moving back home. They hadn't seen or talked to each other in four years. They had decided to break-up, or rather she decided, when she went off to university and Ash stayed here. They were together all through high school and he just couldn't believe that we weren't going to try long distance. She said she wanted to start over, go off to school with no attachments. Ashton was sure that we were meant for each other, meant to get married one day.

***

After work, Ashton peeled his apron off and walked outside to be greeted with fresh air and the warm sun. On his fifteen minute walk home, he pulled a cigarette out of my pocket. He inhaled and exhaled, a trail of smoke exiting his lips. It was a habit that the twenty-something boy had picked up in his dark time right after Stevie left. The whole way he thought about her and wondered if she had changed at all in the past four years.

"Ash!" Ashton's brother greeted him as he walked through the door. Harry was practically bouncing up and down. "Wanna play FIFA or something?"

"You know I don't like FIFA," he groaned, sliding out of his black worn out vans. "Plus I just got home and I'm starving." He walked into the kitchen with his brother following close behind him.

"Guess who mom and I saw in the supermarket?" the smaller boy grinned mischievously at Ashton as he opened cupboard after cupboard looking for something to eat.

"I don't know, who?" he asked, absentmindedly. Ashton pulled out a jar of peanut butter and walked to the counter where the bread was sitting.

"Stevie! Mom wouldn't let me go talk to her because she was with someone we didn't recognize, but she's back Ash!"

He dropped the butter knife I had just pulled out of the drawer, causing it to clang against the counter. He turned to look at his brother, finding him grinning like a fool. Harry had always been fond of Stevie when they were together, she was so good with him, but the part Ashton was focused on was that she was with someone.

"Who was it, Harry?" he demanded, hoping it was just a friend from college.

"I don't know," he shrugged. "Some guy." He then walked out of the kitchen, leaving Ashton dumbfounded. Was Stevie with someone else?

hi, so new story yay(: please vote and comment what you think of it - i'd love feedback. xx zoe

I picture stevie as kaya scodelario, her picture is attached.