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by 2013harryhair

by 2013harryhair

I stared at Ashton, speechless, while he smirked at my reaction. This boy was good.

“So you think this’ll be fun?” he asks, already knowing from my reaction that he definitely did good. I can only nod in response, still a bit out of it because I am so excited. Ashton strides forward and I quickly jog to catch up to him, walking towards the entrance as I take everything in.

“Back home, I loved coming to the zoo. It was, like, my favorite place ever. When I was little, I thought I wanted to work as a zookeeper so I would get to play with all the animals” Ashton laughs to himself at the thought.

“I’ve never been to a zoo before. This will be my first time,” I nearly whisper. I’m a bit embarrassed that at 18 years old I’ve never been to a place like this. I always wanted to go, I guess I just never got around to it. But this is like a childhood dream come true.

“Wait, you’re serious, you’ve never been to a zoo before? What, did you live under a rock?” Ashton stares at me in astonishment and I laugh.

“Nope, never been before.”

“Wow, that’s weird. I thought that going to the zoo was like a rite of passage during childhood. No wonder you turned out so weird.” He winks at me and I can’t help but giggle, stepping through the entrance and into the park.

“Look at this one!” I exclaim, pointing to the monkeys climbing on their makeshift playground. All afternoon, I’ve been pulling Ashton around the zoo to visit each and every exhibit. They’re all so interesting and the animals are adorable! Being here is fulfilling my childhood dreams, and I’m having the time of my life. The cute boy trailing behind me isn’t hurting either.

“Whoa, Ashton, did you see that one? It just landed a perfect flip to the ground!” He just smiles at me, as if he’s trying to hold in a laugh. He seems amused at how excited I am, watching my reactions to all the animals throughout the day.

“Hey, Fi, wanna grab something to eat?” That nickname again. I think my heart just melted. I nod and Ashton and I head off towards the food court in search of food.

We wait in line for our orders, teasing each other on which animal we resemble most. Ashton Is quite upset that I insist he is related to the monkeys, and he swears that one of my ancestors was a mouse because I am small and squeaky. I choose to take it as a compliment.

After receiving overpriced sandwiches and sitting down to eat, I can’t help but think how strange my current predicament is. Here I am, sat with some guy I’ve only just met two days ago, having a sandwich in the middle of a zoo. Right. Our entire relationship so far has been completely sporadic and unplanned…and I’m loving it.

“What’s your favorite color?” I blurt out. I think that as amazing as our brief time together has been, if we are going to make this a common occurrence, then I should probably know a little more about him.

“Green,” he says, not missing a beat. “How about you, love?”

“Yellow, and why?” I shoot back. I think that everyone has a reason for their favorite color, it’s just a question that isn’t asked that often.

“Erm, probably because it reminds me of home. Why do you like yellow then?”

“Because it’s a happy color. Even when I’m not.” That simple confession actually takes a lot more for me to say than it would seem. Ashton seems to sense that, reaching over to place his hand on my, in turn causing a jolt to run up my body.

“What happened to you?” And in that moment, I know that he knows. Exactly what, he doesn’t. But he understands that something changed me. He can tell that I am only a shell of my former self, simply surviving but not living. He knows. And that terrifies me.

“Why do you wear so many bracelets?” I try to divert his attention. He sighs, giving me a mournful smile, and slowly pulls his hand back.

“I guess we’ve both got some secrets, yeah?”

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a/n: quick update because I love you guys! Happy Thanksgiving!

- evs xx