The Three Of Us

Chapter Fifteen

  Asher didn’t hesitate. He sprinted towards me, and within a few seconds he was standing in my doorway. My eyes grew a little wide once I realized how filthy he was. His jacket and jeans were covered in mud, his hair looked jet black and it was matted against his forehead. There were dark circles under his green eyes, which made them look so sad, unlike they usually were. His nose was bright red, and his eyes were a little puffy as well.

  “Dude, what’s wrong?” I asked him immediately. I grabbed his wrist and dragged him into my house.

  He looked at the ground nervously, seeming at a loss for words. Then he looked back up at me and said, “Avery… would it be a problem if I came in for a minute?”

  “No!” I replied right away. “It wouldn’t be a problem at all!”

  He clasped his hands together and gave me a tiny smile. “You don’t know how much that means to me. Thank you so much.”

 I invited him into the living room, as long as he took off his shoes since I don’t think my “mom” would appreciate muddy footstep stains on the carpet. I then offered Asher a pair of jeans that were too big for me and a loose top, since they’d probably fit him perfectly. He gladly took my offer and got changed in the bathroom.

  As he changed, I sat down on my couch alone. What was wrong with him? I didn’t understand why he had such a pained expression on his face. Usually Asher was the happier one of my group of friends, which consisted Ronnie, him and I. Today he looked exhausted and like the complete opposite of the Asher Blame that I knew.

  My thoughts were interrupted by the bathroom door opening and Asher walking out of it, looking nice and new now. However, his horrible looking expression hadn’t left his face yet.

  He noticed me staring at him and he gave me a little smile and told me, “Thanks so much.”

  I invited him to sit down on the couch next to me. He did, and now that I was close up to him I could see even closer how horrible he looked.

  “Asher, what’s wrong?” I asked him, completely concerned with what was wrong with my best guy friend. “Is this about the lady that called you?”

I had really been meaning to call him and ask him what was up with this random elderly chick calling him today at the café, telling Asher that she was his grandmother. I mean, way to drop a bomb on someone.

  He placed his face in his hands depressingly and shook his head. “No man, it’s not that.”

  “What was it then?”

  He looked at me threw his fingers for a moment. It took a minute before he revealed his face once more and looked me in the eye once more. “Avery… my parents died around an hour ago…”

  I couldn’t help but let my jaw drop. That was not what I was expecting at all. And what Asher did next was not what I expected either. He placed his face in his hands once more and began crying. I had never seen one of my friends cry before, so I honestly didn’t exactly know what to do. By reflex, I placed a hand on his back and said to him, “There there… it’ll be alright.”

  He sniffled for a second, and then he wiped his tears. “I’m sorry… it’s just that I’m in a really horrible place right now. I got in a fight with Ronnie, and literally a minute after that I got the phone call about my parents…”

  I was slightly curious about this brand new news about him having a fight with Ronnie, but I knew that this wasn’t what was important at the moment. My friend was in a horrible dark place at the moment, and all he needed at the moment was a friend. I was sure of it.

  “Well, Asher, I’m telling you that I’m here for you. I promise.” I placed a hand on his shoulder and gave it a squeeze. “I honestly can’t say that I’ve been a place similar to this, but if I can do anything for you, I will.”

  He looked at his feet, which were now covered in just black socks, for a moment. “Uh… w-well, there is something that you can do for me. It’s real big to ask for though…”

  “What is it? I’m sure it’ll be alright!”

 He looked up at me and said, “Well… until I know what the big deal is with… where I’ll be living from now on… I was just wondering, could we room together for like a month or so? I know it’s big to ask for, but-”

  I put a hand on his shoulder and replied with, “Asher, it wouldn’t be a problem at all. Stay as long as you want.” 

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Hey there everyone! See things are starting to look up for Asher.... sorta!

I'm warning you right now: I may not be updating for awhile because my Christmas break is almost over and I' actually trying to learn a new talent: I'm trying to teach myself acoustic guitar. Let's just say it's really hard! So if they're any guitar players reading right now, any pointers? Heheh

And the song of this chapter is Stop This Train by John Mayer! I thought it reflected how Asher's life is going right now pretty perfectly! And if you like the song, check out Cameron Mitchell's (my celebrity boyfriend I wish)  cover!

Thanks so much for reading! Please comment and vote to make me smile!

-830freckles