december 2015
houston tx
"Is Ashley coming over later?" Awsten asks, opening the fridge to grab his bottle of orange juice.
"Yeah, she just texted me saying she's gonna stop by," Gracie replies. "Why?"
Awsten only shrugs, as he screws the cap off the bottle and takes a drink, nudging the fridge door closed with his hip.
"Just, ask her to come up and see me at some point?" He asks, beginning to walk towards the stairs again.
"Sure," Gracie waves him off, returning her attention back to her phone.
Awsten returns to his room, and less than half an hour later, there's a gentle knock on his door.
"Shelly?" He calls, without turning around.
"Hi, yeah, it's me," Ashley offers a small smile as she enters his room, only to find his back to her. "What're you doing?" She questions, moving closer to him as she shuts the door behind them. "Gracie said you wanted me for something."
"Yeah, so, I was wondering if you wanted any of these before I sell them," Awsten gestures at the records he has out in front of him, some in boxes, some still neatly stacked, while others are laid out on his bed.
"Before you sell them?" Ashley repeats, her eyes wide. "Why are you selling half of your record collection?" She asks, skeptically.
"Need the money," Awsten shrugs it off, casually.
"But, you love these," Ashley frowns, runnings her fingers over the records in a box labelled sell.
Awsten lets out a quiet sigh, before finally stopping and turning to look at her. His face softens as their eyes meet, and he has to take a second to formulate a response.
"I need money for a flight," he replies, deciding against avoiding the truth.
"A flight?" Ashley questions. "To where?"
"Los Angeles," Awsten answers, now averting his eyes to continue scanning through his records.
There's a brief pause, where Ashley is clearly trying to piece together the information in her own mind, so Awsten decides to speak up again.
"Going to visit a friend," he tells her, still avoiding her eye contact.
"A friend?" She repeats, growing more confused with each response she receives. "You're selling your records— Collections of music that you love, for a flight, to visit a friend?" Ashley relays, slowly, noticing that Awsten is now growing more agitated with her questioning.
"Yes, that's exactly it," he nods, curtly. "Have you got some more interrogation in you, or d'you want to look through some of these?" Awsten raises an eyebrow, obviously trying to play it off nonchalantly, as he gestures towards the pile of vinyls he'd set aside for her.
Ashley lets out a sigh, before beginning to look through he pile, and Awsten's shoulders noticeably relax when he thinks she's dropped the topic.
"You know, I can read you better than you think I can," she murmurs, quietly— it's almost inaudible, and Awsten probably wouldn't have heard her if it wasn't for the quiet that was hanging in the air.
"I know you can," he replies, matching her volume. "But, that doesn't make me want to talk about it any more with you," Awsten says, earning a slow nod, as he glances towards her.
