When the fear of isolation pulls Ashton and Ria together, nothing can prepare them for the collision. An anomaly shatters the repetitive fabric of their lives, sending them on a journey of discovering themselves and one another.
Beneath Ashton's gen...
❝Going down the same path that destroyed your life.❞
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FOR THE FOURTH TIME in the past week, Ashton has shipped Ria off to her friend's apartment.
I'm handling business.
The same excuse he's given her each time. He never says what business, just reassures her that she has nothing to worry about. It's uncertain if she should be afraid for him or for Brandon because she's certain he's the business Ashton wants to take care of.
Ever since that night, he's become a wreck of himself. More of a wreck than her. She's never out of his sight. It's nearly impossible to sleep in the same bed with him constantly restless. His appearance is sickly and expressions are constantly repressed like he's on the verge of breaking down.
Things are getting worse. Every day that he leaves her, the void inside her soul expands. Nights grow longer and a part of her wishes that she could comfort him in some way, make him feel better despite her own despairing state.
Though that'll never happen with her voice trapped behind her fears. It's as if she's been cut off from the world like her soul has been torn from her body.
Nothing can bring about a sense of real emotion in her. Nothing can stop the nightmares of having to fight for her life. Of nearly — if not already — killing someone. Brandon is gone but continues to haunt her.
Ria lies curled up on Jared and Sophia's sofa, head comfortably propped against Sophia's lap as she runs gentle fingers through her hair and legs stretched across Jared's thighs. Dea sits on the ground below tapping furiously against the keyboard of her old laptop.
One of Jared's superhero movies play lowly on the TV, and Ria's mind gets lost in the mess of action and dialogue. She doesn't actually watch anything, but the colors and lights distract her vacant mind.
When the movie comes to an end, Dea offers to make everyone dinner, but Sophia declines and asks if they want take-out. Ria gives a soft noise of contempt and Jared agrees. He offers to stay home with her while the two of them go out to find all of them something to eat.
"How are you feeling?" he wonders and pulls her into him as she shifts into a sitting position.
She shrugs and listens to his heart beat in a steady rhythm. If she were to tell him she's feeling nothing he'd surely try to dig deeper than he needs to.
"Do you think you should see someone? Maybe a therapist or doctor?"
Ria stiffens and shakes her head profusely. The last thing she needs is someone questioning her about her condition. She hates the vacant or mock expressions of concern doctors wear. She knows she's just another subject out of many, and more times than not, they want to prescribe something to her. Something that'll surely change her mood in an even more unnatural way than it already does.
