playing daddy ||a.i.||

[7] ROSES

There are a lot of things that Ashton doesn't like. 

Ashton doesn't like nosy people; the kind that will do just about anything to get in on the latest gossip. There was this girl in high school—never minded her business, always smirked whenever she held a secret over Ashton's head. She did very little to help his tolerance of the painfully intrusive. He does not, and probably never will, tolerate overly invasive people.

He also doesn't like rude people, but that's a given. No one likes rude people. Except other rude people, but Ashton doesn't consider himself to be rude, based on the opinions of all of the people he's met and his own self awareness.

Perverts, all things pumpkin spice flavored that should not be pumpkin spice flavored, jerks who honk their horns while sitting in traffic; those a few more more things he dislikes. Recently added to the list is a certain person named Michael, but even more recently added is the way Mellony treats him when she's upset with him.

She barely looks at him, only really does it when Neo's around, and even then she only does it when he says something to her. He and Mellony used to constantly sneak glances at each other, ducking their heads to try and hide their smiles when they're caught, and now Ashton gets her eyes on his for two seconds, max.

He sees her beautiful brown eyes all the time, but he misses being able to get lost in them. Ashton's only been getting the cold shoulder for a couple of days now, but his and Mellony's relationship was jerked to such a grinding halt that it feels like it's been longer. The way they went from flirting to one sided acknowledgement shouldn't have taken the few minutes it did. Ashton feels dizzy with how fast everything shifted.

It's quieter now in the apartment. Though Ashton's tried to ease up on palling around with Neo, he still plays with him, because, he's a kid. He doesn't know about anything that's going on, and Ashton wouldn't dream of ignoring him just because he and Mellony were going through a rough patch. 

While he and Neo make the standard amount of noise that an excited child and amused adult make, there's no more late night giggling from Ashton and Mellony. That never made much noise in the first place, but compared to the low voices from the living room TV that replaced it, the apartment seems to have been plunged into silence.

He's thought about talking to her—too many times—but could never bring himself to knock on her bedroom door. Ashton wants to give her some space and let her come to him when she's ready. For all he knows—which isn't a lot, because the only thing he's learned from growing up with his mom and sister, is that women are very complex—talking to her could make things worse. He doesn't want to find out what worse would be like.

So, he's just been dealing with it. He's been dealing with the way she puts Neo straight to bed after dinner and doesn't give him a second look. He's been dealing with the stiff atmosphere when she breezes through the living room to clean up—and with the way she declines any kind of help when it comes to cleaning.

He's just been dealing, because, really, what else can he do? He's already decided on leaving the ball in her court, so all he can really do is wait for her.

At the moment though, Ashton's heading to Calum's house to wait. His friend had called him up and asked if he was busy, which Ashton most certainly was not. He'd been laying back on the couch and frustrating himself with the thought of how bored he was without Mellony to kid around with.

Ashton sits up and grabs his shoes from beside the sofa. He sees Mellony emerge from the hallway, heading for the fridge, and though his legs itch to go to her, he forces them to remain on the cushion as he laces up his sneakers.

He makes sure to act as if he didn't notice her as he stands and starts for the bathroom. (As if he could ever not notice her.)

"Ashton?"