Dust and Ash

6: Boys and bad behaviour [ash]

"Seriously, Ash, be there. It won't be the same without you. You've been a part of Preston since the start. I can barely wrap my head around the thought that I won't be able to graduate with my girlfriend. At least be there for some of the other fun stuff."

"Well...I really do miss everyone."

"Rachel is going insane. You have to come home every so often. It's barely been a week since you left and she's losing hair from all the stress. It's not even her hair. It's mine." Austen dipped his head to showcase his thick mop of hair. "She's making me rip my own hair out. Babe, I'm going to go bald."

I ruffled his hair. "You are not not going bald. But I'll see what I can do about the Rachel situation."

I didn't have any siblings growing up, but Rachel had been my best friend for so long that we considered ourselves sisters.

Austen wasn't exactly her biggest fan though. It was mostly due to the fact that they were practically the same person; headstrong, driven, confident, loud. They had a habit of butting heads quite often, but for the sake of my benefit, they agreed to remain relatively civil in my presence.

"Thank you," he groaned, relieved.

I laughed, watching him straighten in his seat. "Other than that, how were classes today?"

"Study periods aren't nearly as fun without you. I actually studied."

"No way."

"Yes way." He ran his fingers through his hair. "I was productive."

"Maybe me moving schools had some perks after all," I teased.

"No." Austen dramatically tipped his head back. "Come back to Preston. Be my distraction."

"Austen," I said, unable to hold back my laugh, "you get distracted by practically everything. Just the other week, you got distracted by a bit of fluff floating in the classroom. You don't need me present for you to procrastinate."

He considered. "Come back to Preston and be my favourite distraction."

"Tempting, but I'll pass." I gave him a mischievous grin.

He dipped his head and looked at me, frowning. "Why the sudden change of mood? I thought you hated the situation you're in."

"I do, but I had an epiphany in Biology, thanks to Sam."

"Sam?"

I waved my hand dismissively.

"Harmless," I said, but Austen raised an eyebrow, unconvinced. "The point is, my mother is incredibly dependent on everyone surrounding her because of the divorce. If I keep showing signs of restraint against her authority, she'll only want to limit my freedom even more. She's clingy right now. I have to prove that I'm responsible and mature about this whole thing."

"And what will that do?"

"Hopefully it'll aid as some sort of comfort to her. She'll get back on her feet again. We'll move out of her friend's house and find a flat, hopefully close to Preston so I can transfer back again."

Austen took my hand from across the table. "Do you really think it will work?"

I hoped so.

"It's worth a shot," I said instead.

With one last kiss goodbye, I left Austen's car and walked up the driveway to to the Reeds' house. My mother was the only one with a key so I raised my knuckles to knock on the door. But before I could even do that, it was flung open.

"Oh God," I said, jumping back.

Dust gave me a quick look over before he stepped past me and watched as my boyfriend pulled away from the curb and back onto the road. He narrowed his eyes at the car, his jaw tight.

"Are you okay?" I asked.

He directed his attention back to me once Austen was out of sight. "Fine. You?"

"Fine," I answered skeptically, pushing past to get inside.

Dust closed the door and followed me into the kitchen. I could feel him watching as I grabbed myself a glass of water.

"Did you want something?" I asked.

"Are you okay?" he asked instead.

I nearly choked on my drink from laughing. "You asked that already," I pointed out. "I'm fine. Why do you look so stressed?"

He rubbed the back of his neck, red slowly creeping its way into his cheeks.

"Oh my God, did my mum completely freak out? I'm so sorry you got the wrong end of the stick, I'll sort it out with her. Usually she's fine with me seeing my boyfriend, but maybe the divorce is making her a little more protective than usual."

"It's not that... It's just-"Dust scrunched his face up, his gaze unable to meet mine. "Nothing. Since you're back I'm going to shower."

He abruptly left, gaze still glued to the floor. I placed my glass of water onto the table, my mind wandering. Eventually I left it there, forgotten.