"No, she'll love it," Jake waves it off, proudly. "She's my girlfriend, man," he scoffs, still wearing a smile, "I've got this. Thanks for the advice, though."
"Wasn't really fucking advice," Awsten mutters under his breath, his jaw clenched, just as he hears Ashley and Gracie making their way downstairs.
Awsten stands up a little straighter when Ashley comes around the corner; she's wearing a blue mini dress that reaches her mid-thigh, paired with tights due to the cold weather, black boots, and a denim jacket, with a warmer lining underneath.
Her hair is down, but Awsten knows she'll want to tie it up when she eats, she always does, yet her doesn't see a hair tie around her wrist; he scans the kitchen briefly, knowing he'll find one of her hair clips lying around, and quickly grabs it for her.
"Ready to go?" Jake asks, as soon as he lays eyes on her, and Ashley nods in return.
Awsten looks at him as if he's stupid; not only is he only just taking his girlfriend on a first date after almost four months, but he doesn't have the decency to tell her how beautiful she looks.
"Shelly," Awsten calls, quietly, just before she heads down the hall, and Ashley whips around to face him. "Uh, you might want this," he offers the hair clip out to her, "you know, in case your hair gets like... annoying," he shrugs, mumbling through his words.
"Oh, thank you," Ashley looks up at him with a bright smile, her hand resting gently on his arm.
"Call me if you need anything, okay?" Awsten adds, only between the two of them, glancing up at Jake who's now waiting by the door.
"Got it," she nods, she squeezes his arm subtly, before dropping her hand and walking away from him, to join her boyfriend.
Awsten lets out a sigh as he watches them leave out of the front door.
"What have you got puppy dog eyes for?" Gracie laughs as she joins him.
He brushes it off at first, before allowing a moment of quiet.
"Did he tell you where's he's taking her?" Awsten turns to his sister.
"No," Gracie shrugs. "Did he tell you?"
"A fucking burger joint," he scoffs.
"Oh," she grimaces.
"Yeah, oh," Awsten mutters, with an eye roll.
Gracie wanders off upstairs, just before Mrs Knight enters the kitchen.
Awsten is stood with his arms crossed, leaning against the counter, with a frown etched onto his features as he stares at the ground; he doesn't notice his mother's presence at first, so he doesn't look up.
"Awsten, honey?" She says, gently, finally catching his attention, causing his head to shoot up. "Are you okay?"
"Huh? Oh— yeah, I'm fine," he nods, quickly, earning a disbelieving look. "Just kind of worried about Ash," Awsten mumbles, letting his guard down slightly.
"She'll be okay," Ginny assures him. "You might want to tone it down on the...protectiveness," she adds. "Makes it seem like you hate Jake."
"Well, I'm not exactly his biggest fan—"
"But, we have to let Ashley make her own decisions," Mrs Knight reasons, before a short pause.
"He didn't even tell her she looked nice, Mom," Awsten sighs, heavily, earning a sympathetic look.
Instead of saying anything, Ginny makes her way over to her son and rubs his back soothingly.
"Wanna come watch a movie?" She offers. "Might take your mind off of things."
"No, it's okay," Awsten shakes his head. "I'm gonna go work on some things," he nods towards the stairs, before offering his mother a small smile, and heading up to his room.
Ginny returns to the living room, where her husband is choosing a film to watch.
"Everything okay?" Roscoe asks, as she sits on the couch beside him.
"Either I have been reading every signal wrong for years, or those two are going to end up together one day," she says, outright.
"Well, let's just say, you're never wrong about anything," he comments in return, earning a smile.
•••
