love you to death // lashton

one

"have a lovely day, mr sizzler!"

the old man turned, a smile stretched on his face as he wiped at his eyes. "thank you again, my boy."

ashton grinned, waving at the old man as he walked slowly towards his car.

turning and locking his door, his eyes casted to mrs sizzler. "damn, he's gotten old," the woman said, a fond smile threatening to take over her face.

ashton laughed. "well you two were like, what, 25 when it happened?" mrs sizzler nodded, rubbing her ring finger. "i wish they didn't take my ring."

ashton sighed. "your hair's looking better today."

the pale woman giggled, rushing her ghostly fingers through her blonde curls. "thank you! the curlers you bought me are godly."

ashton smiled at the giggling ghost, his eyes rolling when the half-cut cat pawed at his foot. "hey, skip," he cooed, attempting to pet the little animal but his hand pushed right through.

"sometimes i forget that i can't actually pet you," he chuckles, standing back up and running his hand through his shaggy hair.

a sudden tune rang through the room and ashton jumped, feeling his heart pound. "jesus christ-" he muttered, taking his phone out and accepting the call. "hello?" he called out.

a raspy voice replied, a voice that sounded as if it had been crying for days. "hey, um," there was a pause and some shuffling noises before the voice started speaking again. "this is probably going to sound stupid but uh, i heard that you could speak to the dead? do i even have the right number?"

ashton cleared his throat, eyes casting to the blonde ghost sitting on his couch and knitting. "yeah, that's me. how can i help you?" the voice wavered slightly as it spoke. "i lost my older brother about two months ago and i just," he sighed. "i really need to say goodbye."

ashton sat down, his heart feeling heavy. when he hears the voices of those calling him for help, his gift starts to seem more like a curse. "oh, i'm so sorry for your loss. what was his name?" "jack hemmings," the voice cracked. "he was uh, a great brother. i didn't appreciate him enough while he was still here."

ashton took out a sticky-note and a pen, writing the name down. "well, if it's alright with you, i would like to come over to your place on saturday and we can talk to him. would that be okay or do you need some more time?"

the voice sniffled before answering, "no, saturday is perfect. i'll text you my address. i'm sorry if i bothered you." ashton smiled softly at the small voice. "you didn't bother me at all. i'll be at your place at 6pm sharp on saturday. thank you for contacting me." "no. thank you."

then the voice hung up.

ashton sighed, rubbing his eyes. "so," said mrs sizzler, already half way done with a rainbow coloured scarf. "got a man in your life yet?"

ashton's face turned bright red. "i'm not going to have this conversation with you again," he whined. mrs sizzler rolled her eyes. "you know, back in my day, before mr sizzler, i had a lovely girlfriend," she hummed. ashton's jaw dropped. "wait, weren't you like very homophobic before and then you found me and started accepting it?"

mrs sizzler let out a laugh. "oh heavens, no. back in my day, it was considered a sin. my old daddy decided enough was enough and sent me to a hospital. that's where i met catherine. we dated for about 3 years, got illegally married at the age of 18. unfortunately, her older brother found out, tracked us down and killed her with her own gun," she casually mentioned.

mrs sizzler, looked up at ashton. "things are different now. if only i was still alive. i would've gone down to the parades every year if i was still here." ashton raised an eyebrow, "what about mr sizzler?" mrs sizzler smiled, "he knew. he supported it a hundred percent. he loved me for me and i couldn't have asked for anyone better."

ashton sighed. "i'm scared," he muttered. "you know what happened last time i opened up to someone. i don't want that happening again." mrs sizzler placed her scarf to the side and placed her hand (or at least, attempted to) over ashton's. "calum is in the past. he's not here anymore."

"he fucked my best friend," ashton's voice cracked. "he fucked michael and even after i found out, he still kept on doing it. i would walk in on him doing it and he'd just stare me right in the eyes. that's so fucked up."

mrs sizzler nodded sadly. "i know, baby. but it's going to be okay. don't forget that you're only 20. you have plenty of time to find your love. it just takes a bit longer for some people, and that's okay."

ashton nodded, wiping his eyes. "thanks. i'm okay though. i've got you and skip and kaykay. i'm fine."

mrs sizzler nodded in agreement and then looked at her half-finished scarf. "damn it. i knew i should've done the trans flag instead."

•
•
•

whenever ashton went on one of his thinking walks, barely any thinking would take place. his heart would beat faster as soon as he shut the door and his eyes would cast among the supernatural beings that seemed to always be out and about.

they were a little terrifying, he admits it. there's a surprising amount of dead people in this town.

as he was walking, ashton felt his shoulder nudge another. he looked up and caught the sight of deep blue eyes, like the sea after a storm.

"i'm so sorry i-" ashton looked behind him, catching sight of a man almost identical to the curly haired boy.

"hello to you too." the boy turned back in confusion then back at ashton, eyes red and teary. "there's no one there."

ashton made an O shape with his mouth and nodded. "right- sorry. uh, sorry." he quickly shuffled away awkwardly.

"damn he was cute."