When I wake up, Ashton is sitting at the edge of my bed, making me let out a small squeak.
"Relax, it's me." Ashton laughs.
"What are you doing?" I groan, throwing a pillow at him.
"Honestly, I'm just bored. Nina isn't home and Kyle is asleep."
"I was also asleep!" I weakly exclaim, still half asleep.
"But I can't cuddle with Kyle." He frowns, pouting at me.
I sigh, holding my arms out to get him to come join me.
"Is Luke gonna be okay with this?" Ashton laughs, looking down at me as I curl up in his arms.
"Yeah, he gets it. Don't worry." I chuckle, since Luke and I have actually talked about this before.
"He seems like he's doing really well. You guys are doing well."
"Yeah. I'm really happy, Ashton. If you told me a couple years ago I'd be back together with him and that it would be amazing, I honestly probably would've strangled you."
He laughs, "I truly believe you would've. I wouldn't believe it either. It's crazy how much has changed."
"Right? I have no idea how we got here. It's crazy." I reply, quietly laughing. "I'm happy though. It's weird, I haven't been this happy in so long."
"And to think it's all because of the man that ruined your life a few years ago."
"Hey!"
"I'm kidding!"
"I'm not just happier because of him. My whole situation is so different now. I'm just doing better for myself. I still have the anxiety attacks like I used to, they just don't come as often and don't seem to be as bad. I haven't even thought about relapse since the last time it happened. I feel so much better now than I did then. Yeah, working things out with him definitely helped too, but I worked on myself as well. Especially in the months leading up to Luke moving here."
"That's true. I'm really proud of you. You did really well. I know it was hard but you're doing it. You're still going, right? To therapy?"
I sigh, nodding. I hate talking about it, just the mention of the word bugs me. It's still so new. It's not that I'm ashamed, I'm so glad I'm going. It's just not something I like to talk much about.
"Yeah. It's so expensive though, so I'm not going weekly like I did at first. But I'm starting at my job soon. So I can pay my own rent and keep going to therapy. God, is this what being an adult feels like?"
Ashton laughs, "I get it. I'm really proud of you, though! You've grown just as much as you say Luke has."
-
Once Ashton and I finally got up, I went to eat lunch, and now watching tv on the sofa.
There's a knock at the door, and as I get up to go answer it.
"Oh, hey, Luke. What are you doing here?" I ask.
"I just wanted to see you." He smiles.
Shaking my head at him, I laugh as he steps into the house, closing the door behind him.
"Come here." I tell him, grabbing his hand so we could go sit on the couch together.
Luke softly chuckles as sits down, pulling me close to him. "I'm so happy. I missed you."
"We had your party literally last night." I giggle, cuddling into him.
"Okay, whatever. I just wanted to see you. Is that so awful?" He laughs as he runs a hand through my hair.
"I mean, I guess that's fine." I smile at him before resting my head on his chest.
"So are we going to watch a movie?" He asks.
We finally agree on one, curling up together. As Luke and I are cuddled on the couch watching the film, there's a knock at the front door before it opens.
"Oh fuck." I mutter to myself, completely forgetting what Ashton had told me last night.
"Ashton!" Michael yells, the second he enters the house.
Since Michael could see us from the couch, I quickly get up to greet him.
"Kelsey, hey." Michael weakly smiles, giving me a small wave.
"Hey. Ashton's just upstairs, you can head up."
"Thanks." He replies, before stepping further into the house to see Luke on the couch, staring at the two of us.
I sigh, looking over at Michael.
"Oh, uh, hey." Michael says, slowly walking in.
"Michael, you remember Luke?"
"How could I forget." He sarcastically smiles, before waving at Luke.
Anybody could tell Luke had no idea what to do. Luke awkwardly waves back, which is strange, because I had honestly thought he'd be more of an asshole.
"Look, man, I'm sorry, I-"
"Yeah, no. It's fine. I'm over it." Michael says to Luke before looking over to me, "It's still a little weird. But I'm happy for you, Kels."
Smiling, I nod in acknowledgment, "Thanks, Michael."
"Well, I'll go see Ashton." Michael says, excusing himself and heading upstairs.
"Well that was fun." Luke mutters when I sit back down next to him.
"Be nice."
"I'm not being mean. But I also don't think it's fun to talk to the guy who thinks I stole his girlfriend."
"He's not upset anymore. I really do think he's getting over it. Also, you didn't steal me. I am my own person."
"Yes, of course! You know what I mean!" Luke defends.
I chuckle, "I know, yeah. Please just let go of any negative feelings you have about him. It would be so great if nothing was awkward around here."
We go back to watching our movie. We don't have much of it left, and since I had seen it already, I head to the kitchen to figure out what we're gonna have for lunch.
As I'm looking through the fridge, I hear somebody come downstairs, though it didn't really click until I hear talking.
"I- uh, I do want to apologize to you." I hear Luke say, making my eyes go wide.
Quickly, I make my way to the door of the kitchen to the living room so I can hear them better, but making sure they won't be able to see me.
"I already said it's fine-"
"No, dude, I- I didn't have to act like that in Seattle. I was obviously just making everything worse for everybody, and I'm sorry. It could've been dealt with better than that. I just- I'm sorry."
"I appreciate that. I understand we were all going through something tough."
"I was still being an ass. I just hope we'll be able to get along, for Kelsey's sake."
"Of course, it might take a little bit, but, yeah."
I decide to stop eavesdropping, and walk out of the kitchen. I know they're both too awkward to continue a conversation after something like that.
"Oh, hey." I smile at Michael, acting like I had no idea he was there with Luke.
"Ashton and I are about to head out, he said he was going to be down right after me but clearly not." He chuckles, sounding a bit nervous.
Right after he says that, Ashton comes rushing down the stairs, looking up at us all talking, "Oh, hey. Uh, ready to go, Michael?"
Michael nods, awkwardly waving and Luke and I, as he heads to the door.
Ashton mouths 'I'm so sorry' and he heads to the door, and I just shake my head letting him know it's fine.
The second they're gone, I turn to Luke with a smile on my face.
"What?"
"Thank you. It's nice knowing you care. You genuinely wanted to apologize, you weren't just saying it because I was there."
"Were you listening?" Luke exclaims, quietly laughing.
"Sorry, I just heard him come downstairs and I got a bit nervous. I had to see if you guys were going to talk or not."
"You thought I wasn't serious when I first tried to apologize to him earlier?"
I shrug, "Not that I didn't believe you, because I know you're really trying to make everything right. You've really grown over the past few months."
"I try." He weakly smiles, nervously running a hand through his hair.
"Be proud of yourself, Luke."
"But it's all you. I do it for you."
I shake my head, "They're your choices, Luke. You do it yourself. You have to start giving yourself credit."
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I rlly hope this was okay lol idk about it