youngblood | a.i.

forty four || track eleven to sixteen

Friday, October 30th- 10:05 p.m.

Ash drove me back quietly, track 11 quietly playing in the background.

Track Eleven Drunk Face
Machine Gun Kelly

I'd smiled when it had originally come on, knowing exactly where it was from. It was moments like that I had completely treasured with Ashton. He remembered every little detail about us, and I adored that he did.

I sat with the walkman in my lap, playing around with it but not opening it to reveal the note he had explained to me. I was more than excited to finally get to read it, but I just continued waiting like he'd asked.

The song slowly died out, another one I recognized starting next.

Track Twelve When We Were Young
Lost Kings

I smiled as I thought back to homecoming, how exciting it was to finally enjoy being alive. That night was one of the most exciting things that had happened to me, and his being there was the reason why.

I remembered how that was the first time he'd ever squeezed my hand three times, the start to another thing that only we knew had.

There were so many things only we had-

The pinky promises.

The "I don't hate you like I need to".

The three squeezes.

The records.

The cassettes.

The classic Jeep.

The slow dancing in his bedroom.

The duck-taped roof Jeep panels.

The swimming under the stars.

Satellite by Nickelback.

The broken pieces.

The "Shatter it. It's only yours anyway".

The spark that lights between us.

The AUX cassette.

The light we created in our individual darkness.

The drinking to stop the thoughts and pain.

The not drinking now that we had each other.

The classical conditioning.

The not believing in love.

So many little things you wouldn't know unless you were us, and I loved that about us.

"You remember this one, huh?" he asked, smiling over to me as I looked out the window. I lolled my glance over to him, my hand delicately covering my smile behind it.

"Of course I remember it," I laughed back, confused how he would ever think I would forget it.

"Just making sure," he whispered back, looking back to the road as he turned towards the house.

When we finally reached it, Ashton put the car in park. He got out first as I collected my stuff, looking down to the empty walkman.

I bit the inside of my cheek as I tried to decide if I should take the cassette or not, hearing Ashton open the trunk behind me. I turned to look at him, watching him pull stuff out before I decided on a whim to take it with me.

I was only on track 12? I still had four more to listen to.

I pushed the eject button, pulling out the pink and white tape before sliding out of the car. Ash came around the corner, a bag in hand, as I closed my door behind me.