"So, how did you like it?"
"Like what?" I asked, dropping my bag down at my feet.
Ashton pulled out a new cigarette from his pack and lit it before stepping forward and placing it in my mouth himself, something that I'd noticed he had a habit of doing. "Did you like the song Jesus of Suburbia?"
"Yeah." I nodded, taking a drag. "It was kind of long, though. I got a little bored."
"Murphy, it's impossible to get bored during a song that great." Ashton scoffed.
"It was too long! I spent half of it checking how much time was left!" I laughed, flicking a piece of my blonde hair off of my shoulder.
"Did you listen to The Killers?" Ashton moved on. He scratched behind his neck as he blew out a long string of smoke.
"They're surprisingly good." I nodded.
I actually spent the whole weekend listening to all the music Ashton made me buy, and I actually enjoyed all of it. I felt pathetic wasting my time listening to these albums for a boy that didn't like me like I liked him, but having this conversation with him was worth it. It surprised me, but I really did have a shitty taste in music before this.
"What, you think I wouldn't recommend good music for you?" Ashton asked, looking offended.
"To be honest I thought it was going to be screamo." I gave him a small shrug.
"What was your favorite song?" He asked, the cigarette hanging from his lips.
"Oh," I sighed. "I wouldn't be able to pick."
"Top three." Ashton ordered.
"Change my Mind, Battle Born, and Everything Will Be Alright."
"All These Things That I've Done, The Way It Was, Miss Atomic Bomb." Ashton replied with his own top three.
"I liked Runaways, too." I added, remembering yet another song that I had enjoyed. Ashton told me this wasn't allowed to become my favorite band, but I was afraid that if I listened to it anymore it would be.
"That one's good."Ashton nodded. "Did you like Smile Like You Mean It?"
"Yeah, it wasn't my favorite though." I shrugged.
"Did you listen to Vampire Weekend?" Ashton changed subject yet again, licking his lips slowly as I prepared my answer.
"I think Step may just be my new favorite song." I answered. I had liked Vampire Weekend, but not as much as I had enjoyed The Killers.
"Ah, I prefer Hudson." Ashton nodded.
"That song was creepy! It scared me." I shivered, from either the cool breeze blowing by or the thought of the song or both.
"That's why I like it so much." Ashton smiled mischievously.
"So for the past month I've been trying to get you to open up and all I had to do was start talking about music?" I giggled.
"I guess. I'm kind of a music geek." Ashton looked down at the ground. Like he was ashamed of his little hobby.
"Yeah, you're telling me." I snorted.
"Why did you want me to open up to you?" He asked after a moment of us standing there in silence. I put my cigarette between my lips and breathed in before answering him.
"You seemed interesting, I don't know. I wanted to be your friend." I shrugged.
"I thought I said we weren't going to be friends." Ashton said, rolling his eyes at me.
"You did. But I don't care. I want to be friends and I'm used to getting what I want." I crossed my arms over my chest, smiling smugly back at Ashton like he had done to be so many times before.
"This is going to be a very forced friendship, then." Ashton chuckled softly, taking another drag of his cigarette and inhaling the smoke.
"That's fine." I answered, "It's still a friendship."
"Okay, fine. I guess being friends with you won't be that awful. I only really have one friend, and he doesn't even talk to me anymore." Ashton shrugged.
"Your 'um, friend'? Doesn't he live with you." I asked, laughing softly at my little nickname for him. Until I met this "um, friend", I would continue to call him that.
Ashton nodded.
"Then why doesn't he talk to you?" I finished my cigarette and dropped it on the ground, where Ashton then stepped forward and crushed it under his foot.
"He doesn't talk." Ashton stated simply. He didn't seem very phased by all of my questions, like I had imagined him to be. I liked that, that he didn't look annoyed or scared. I was glad that he was willing to answer all of them.
"What? Why?" I asked. I could understand someone not talking very much, but not talking at all was a completely different story. I wouldn't know how to do it.
"Christ, I know you talk a lot but it's not some amazing phenomenon for people to not enjoy talking." "He just doesn't anymore, since earlier this summer. He's mute, I guess? He can talk he just prefers not to." Ashton explained, but I still didn't really understand.
"Do you know why he decided to stop talking?" I questioned, raising an eyebrow.
"Yeah, I have a pretty good idea. Let's not get into it, though. I was having fun talking about music." Ashton said, his lips forming into a small pout.
"Can I meet him one day?" I asked.
"Who?"
"Your um, friend."
"He won't say much."
"That's fine."
"Yeah, sure. You can meet him." Ashton shrugged again, running his large hands through his hair.
I nodded.
Ashton laughed, and put out his cigarette. "Alright, Murphy. Now you have to tell me why your top three Killers songs were in your top three."
-
kind of a boring update, but Ashton is opening up to Dani more!! Yay!!
