indication of su!c!de; very small; no details it's at the end of the chapter!
"what's up guys, it's ashton!" ashton cheerily greets their camera, "today we're teaching nick a few things. one, how to say something in greek. two, how to play one of the instruments in my room. and three, how to skate." ashton informs
"dearest nicholas, are you ready?" he directs towards the boy next to him
"yes, but also no" nick responds, before the video cuts to a wider angle that showcases part of ashtons room
"which are we starting with?" they ask
"uh, which is the easiest?" nick says skeptical
"personally, i think it's skating. the instruments i'm going to have to give you a crash course on, and with the greek; no offense but i don't think you'll get it on your first try." ashton says, looking at nick
"skating it is then"
parking lot
"ashton, when i agreed to this, i didn't know the details" nick says to ashton who was next to him, whilst miles was filming
"you got this, put your dominant foot on the board first, up by the screws. yep like that" ashton coaches, "then lightly push with the foot that's still on the ground, good. put the foot you pushed of with on the board, and lean to turn" ashton says as he walks beside nick, in case he falls
they did it like that a few times before ashton suggested for nick to try it by himself, "nick, you got this. do it just like i showed you"
"ohmygodohmygodohmygod" nick was muttering as he pushed off the ground with his non-dominant foot
"you're doing great sweetie" miles shouted, making ashton laugh
"nick turn right so you can come back toward us" ashton shouted towards the boy, who was a few feet away
"so i lean left?" he shouted back, getting a 'no' from ashton and miles, before putting his weight on his right leg and slowly straightening the board out again. stopping in front of ashton
"that was amazing, you're a natural" ashton said for only nick to hear
"you really think so? i was really nervous about falling. i like these pants" nick joked, his face slightly pink
"i would've bought you new pants, nicky. but yes, you're a natural. practice more and you'll become more confident in it" ashton confirms, before bending down to grab his board anf nicks hand. "c'mon, instrument time"
inside ashton's room (at his drum set)
"okay, first and foremost, do you know anything about how to play the drums or which drum is which?" ashton asks, from where he has their tripod set up, since miles had something to do.
"uhm, the gold things are cymbals, the one with a foot petal is a bass drum i think, and the other ones are snare drums?"
"okay so the cymbals are right, there's the crash cymbals, hi-hat, and the ride cymbal" ashton says, pointing to each part as he goes along, "then there's the snare drum, high tom, mid tom, and floor tom" they inform, again pointing to each drum, "and finally the bass drum"
"cool cool, what song am i going to play?" nick asks, getting excited
"uhm, you're not, not yet at least" ashton says, walking over to his shelf and grabbing his old rhythm books
"oh" nick says, sounding defeated
"trust me, this'll be easier" they tell the boy whose sat at the drum set, opening the first book for beginners and picking an easy rhythm for nick to start out with, "starting with rhythms will help you get a feel for how the drums work and it'll make the 4 counts easier as well"
"okay, can you show me. like what you mean" nick shyly asks
"sure, get up and i will" ashton says, grabbing the drumsticks from nick and sitting where he was previously sat. "okay so, the bass drum, is going to be the one that does the four counts" ashton exclaims, doing two sets of four on the bass drum, before continuing to talk, "the snare keeps the tempo" he then starts keeping the tempo with the bass drum, doing four hits on the snare to every one beat on the bass, "and finally, this particular rhythm is played on the tom drums" they finish explaining whilst they play the actual rhythm on the tom drums
"oh okay, you're really good at this" nick says in awe, before flushing a light pink color
"thank you, years of practice. do you wanna try? if you want, we can break it down like how i explained." ashton asks, handing the drum sticks to nick and standing behind the drummers "throne"
"yeah okay. will you count out loud? until i can get the hang of it" he asks, looking up at ashton
"of course, ready?" ashton asks, receiving a nod from nick before starting the four counts, and tapping the tempo on the arm that nick is supposed to use to create it, "you're doing really good nick, now to play the rhythm, they're all one counts so just follow them, if they're connected in a line; play it faster." ashton says, only stopping the outloud counting, but not the tapping on nick's shoulder
"okay, i got this" he whispers under his breathe before doing what ashton had said to do, effectively shocking himself when it sounds close to how ashton had played it
"good nick, your a little behind on the four counts, that's what's throwing you off" ashton informs, "speed up a little" he whispers, before outwardly counting the four counts again
"someone add me their band!!" nick says excitedly, once ashton stops tapping and saying the counts
"again i say, natural" ashton laughs, placing both his hands on nick's shoulders and lightly squeezing, "this was meant to be difficult for you. i think you're good at everything i had planned for this video" they laugh
"maybe, i don't think i'll be any good at speaking greek though" nick admits, running his hand through his hair
"nah, have some faith. you got this" ashton reassures
ashton's floor
"okay, i promise it's easy phrases. just repeat them back to me after i say them" ashton says with a small giggle at nicks scared face, "you look like your going to shit yourself" they laugh harder at the connection they made
"haha, your so funny" nick says, trying to not smile
"okay okay moving on" ashton says once they've calmed down, "Γειά σου; it means hello" ashton says, laughing slightly at nicks face as he concentrates to try to say it
"Γειά σου" he says, getting it sort of right, just over enunciating the vowles
"okay, uhm it's not horrible; you're just over-enunciating the vowles, try again but just less" ashton tries to explain, clapping once nick gets it right after a few more tries, "good, you're better than miles; he sounds to british when he speaks greek." ashton laughs.
"can i have a harder one? maybe" nick asks, after practicing saying hello a few more times
"sure, it's still easy; just a bit longer." ashton informs, "Χάρηκα πολύ" (nice to meet you)
"Χάρηκα πολύ" nick tries but it doesn't sound like ashtons
"nick, you keep over pronouncing the vowels, try saying it fast. it might help" ashton suggests, and it does, it gets nick to stop over pronouncing the vowels
"okay good, last one are you ready?" ashton asks the boy sat in front of him, receiving a nod in return, "these ones are similar but it's good evening and good night okay"
"got it" nick repies
"Καλησπέρα; good evening, Καληνύχτα; good night" ashton says, repeating them, "they sound similar and non-native speakers get them confused but it's understandable. ready to try?" ashton says
"yep, i got this." nick says, before saying them both correctly after a few tries
"again i say, a natural." ashton says again, causing nick to roll his eyes
"haha, i'm just good at everything" nick says, 'flipping' his hair over his shoulder
"keep telling yourself that, pretty boy. maybe it'll come true one day" ashton says, standing up and stretching his arms above their head, causing their shirt to ride up slightly; and if nick looked, well there's no proof
"alright guys, i think we're gonna end it there. thanks for watching, and thank you to nick for joining me! until next time losers" ashton says, after pulling nick off the ground to stand in front of the camera for the outro
"is this where we laugh?" nick asks, confused; before ashton shakes his head and shuts off the camera
irl; after the video cuts
"ash wait, you didn't laugh. i thought you laughed at the end of your videos" nick questions
"sometimes, other times it's just raw audio, doesn't get edited. it's always the last thing that's filmed. in this case, its you asking about us laughing. c'mere i'll show you" ashton says, walking over to his desk and opening his editing software
"this is from a while ago, unreleased video because we never finished it." ashton says, scrolling through the clips before stopping on a 0:15 second clip, where it shows a slightly younger ashton, miles and a boy nick doesn't recognize, wanting to ask but not wanting to intrude, he watches the clip
'ash you bitch! that was cold!' the unidentified boy shouts, before it's followed by ashton's laugh and miles shaking his head before the clip ends
"it's just the last thing i filmed, it always gets added as like a bonus clip; or overlayed on the outro screen that plugs my other socials" ashton explains, closing out of the old video
"i think it's cool, it's like your own special touch to your videos" nick says, still wondering who the third boy was
"that was my host brother, elias. that was our first winter here, i shoved snow down his coat; that's why he screamed" ashton explained, laughing softly at the memory, "he uh, he passed a couple years ago"
"ash, i'm sorry. he seems like a great person from that 15 second clip i saw" nick says, rubbing his hand up and down ashton's arm
"it's alright, host mom says he's happier now anyway." ashton says, shrugging, "he would've like you and the boys. you have the same humor"
"i would've loved to have met him" nick says, pulling ashton into a hug
end chapter notes:
lolol, have a chapter because i didn't post over christmas