Fifteen Days ~ afi | au

Prologue.

cw: disease; bodily fluids

* * *

He walked down the sidewalk with a skip in his step. It was half past noon on a Friday. His golden curls became disheveled as the wind blew through his hair. He had a black bandana wrapped around his head. His flannel shirt draped to his mid-thigh which met his black, ripped skinny jeans that had holes on the knees. His white dirty converse were not even in good enough shape to wear, and his backpack was half open full of art supplies.

He had a carton with five drinks in it: two pure black cups of coffee that he was going to add to; a coffee with two creams and some sugar in it; a tropical fruit smoothie; and a mango smoothie; both freshly squeezed.

He walked up the front steps to his best friend's house and knocked on the door. His manner was rather peppy that day. The door opened and he met his best friend's mother with a bright smile. The Puerto Rican mother had long, dark, natural waves for her hair and if he didn't know her he would've gone for her for sure. She looked half her age. Her husband was lucky.

"Good morning, Mrs. Caballero!" he chirped. "Can I come in? I was hoping to see Carmen. Oh! And I bought coffee for you. Just how you like it." He smiled eagerly as he handed her the coffee with two creams and a sugar.

"Why, thank you, Ashton," she said as she graciously received the coffee he bought for her. "Come in, Carmen's right up stairs. She's been in the study all day. I encourage her to go out, but she never listens. Says she'd rather be cooped up in her room all day without any fresh air."

"Don't worry. I'll convince her to go out and do something. She needs a break anyway," Ashton said as he placed the carton of drinks on the counter by the fridge. He took out caramel creamer from the fridge and poured a little bit into one cup of coffee, and way too much into the other cup. He smiled, because that's just how Carmen liked it.

He turned to Mrs. Caballero. "Where's the bailey's?" he asked. She rolled her eyes and with a smile she got the bailey's from a hidden corner in the fridge.

"Just one shot," she said before handing the drink to him, along with a shot glass.

"Of course," Ashton smiled, but when she wasn't looking, he put an extra shot in Carmen's drink. He knew how she liked it, and if it wasn't just right, she would combust.

"You have a good day, Mrs. Caballero," he said as he hurried up the stairs to the study.

"Make sure Carmen gets out of the house today!" she called up.

"I will!"

As he arrived upstairs he stood right outside the door which was cracked open a smudge. He heard Bob Marley playing in the background. He knocked on the door and walked in, not surprised at the colourful sight he saw.

There were paintings everywhere—mostly watercolour—and some of them were even his contribution. Most of them were Carmen's though. There was everything; from nature, to portraits, to fantasy, to even a weird that didn't seem real but looked as real as the person he saw on the floor painting watercolour on a canvas. He was dumbfounded by her extraordinary talent to make things seem real with only the stroke of a brush. He painted too, but he wasn't as good as her.

"Carmen, I have your favourite!" he said smiling as he approached her, careful not to step on any of the paintings and canvases on the ground. She paused her work and turned around and her face lit up as she saw Ashton standing with a carton of drinks. Her dark curls were pulled up into a messy bun with strands falling out, but Ashton thought it made her look pretty. She was wearing a white apron that had paint all over it, and underneath she wore a cropped, pink tank with blue mom jeans. She wore nothing on her feet.