Rooming With Ash

Rooming With Ash: Chapter 6

I woke up early the next morning with thoughts of the previous night still fresh on my mind. I looked over to Ash's bed and cracked a smile when I saw the sheets rumpled over themselves.

He had come back.

I yawned, checking my phone to see that it was only 6:40AM. Thank God for jetlag.

When I entered the bathroom to clean myself up, I found the room steamy and the mirror foggy, meaning it hadn't been too long since Ash had left. I could still smell his soap or cologne or whatever it was permeating my nostrils and filling me with a strange sense of nostalgia. He smelled the same as I remembered.

I liked it.

As I was brushing my teeth, my stomach began to growl and I remembered that I hadn't really eaten much the previous day. I'd been too preoccupied with my living situation. And so I hurried up, finishing as fast as I could and throwing on my swimsuit, some shorts, and a t-shirt.

I left my room, heading for the kitchen as I silently prayed for someone to already be up and have cooked enough to share. But alas, it seemed like Ash and I were the only ones up. There was no noise other than the cars honking in the distance, and the birds chirping up in the trees. And when I got to the kitchen and open the fridge, I realized that it was empty. Of course it was empty! This was an Airbnb, not somebody's parents' house. We were going to have to buy ourselves food and groceries, which – since we weren't all rolling in cash – was going to be a hard situation to figure out and allocate funds for.

I groaned, pouring myself a glass of water and grabbing two cold slices of cheese pizza from one of the boxes. I had never really been a big enough fan of pizza to eat it the day after, but food was food. And when I was hungry, none of my picky preferences ever seemed as important. I grabbed a plate and warmed the pizza up in the microwave before groaning once more as I headed outside with the food. It was too beautiful of a day for me to waste indoors.

Much to my surprise, when I got outside, I found Ash sitting on the steps of the wooden porch, staring out at the beach with an unsettling look on his face and a cigarette in his hands. It was already half gone and as I looked at the sight before me, a gust of wind caught the cigarette smoke and smacked me in the face with it.

I stepped backwards out of reflex and Ash turned around, looking at me from over his shoulder. His surprise quickly melted into calm as he greeted me.

"Morning," he said, turning his body so that his back was now leaning against the support beam. He had one leg up on his level, knee bent and cigarette arm resting on it while the other leg stayed planted on the steps below. His body language looked open – more so than I'd seen since meeting him on the plane, and I wondered if it was the cigarette's doing.

I didn't even know he smoked.

I met his eye and smiled tentatively. "Morning," I replied.

We stared at each other for a few seconds until his eyes dropped to the food and water I held in either hand. He raised a brow at me. "You gonna sit down? Your food's getting cold."

"Right..." I looked at the porch steps before me, trying to figure out how close I wanted to sit to him. Both because of the cigarette and because of the nerves. Finally, I stepped forward and found a spot about two feet away from him, placing my food between to two of us.

I knew I should've just eaten in the kitchen.

"You're up early," I commented, my eyes jumping from the ground to the pizza to my hands. Anything other than the boy beside me.

He chuckled. "I was going to say the same thing. I didn't peg you as a morning bird."

I cracked a small smile, picking up a slice of pizza and taking a bite. "I'm not," I said, using the pizza slice to cover my full mouth. "It's definitely the jetlag."