savior

fifty four

13 HOURS TO GO 

Eventually, I did get some sleep, and when I did finally doze off, the voices in my head had disappeared. Everything was peaceful from then on. Well, until Ashton finally woke up at eleven in the morning and woke me up also. A giant smile formed on his face when he noticed that my eyes had fluttered open. He placed a small kiss on my lips and pulled me off the couch. 

Ashton dragged me into the kitchen, made me a bowl of the famous Fruity Pebbles—he actually had, like, a giant collection of them in his pantry—without saying a word about anything. He set my bowl on the table after pouring milk into it, the smile never leaving his face. 

"You look really pretty this morning," Ashton complimented me, as he dumped some cereal into his own bowl. He took a seat next to me and started digging into his breakfast. I didn't know what was up with him, why he was acting so happy, when earlier this morning he had been so moody. I mean, yeah, maybe it was three o'clock in the morning then, but it was still weird to see him this smiley. 

And I didn't know what he was thinking when he called me pretty, because there was no way I looked good that morning. Earlier that morning, I was too stressed out to get any sleep, and I knew there were bags under my eyes because of it. Not to mention the fact that my hair was sticking out in random places from messing with it so much last night.

The two of us ate our breakfast without saying another word. Ashton kept looking at me and giggling, and then he'd shush himself and look down at his own cereal with a blush deepening on his cheeks. I'll admit, he was seriously one of the most adorable people I had ever met. But I still wanted to know why he was so giggly this morning. 

When we were finished eating, Ashton dragged me to his room and that's where we sat for a few minutes, neither of us saying a word to each other. Eventually I broke the silence, because Ashton was still looking at me and smiling really big and I had gotten so confused that I had to know what was going on. "Why do you keep looking at me like that? And what's with that giant smile? You didn't, like, do anything to prank me or anything, did you?" I asked, and he poked me in the nose and giggled, again. 

"I'm just happy, I guess," he said, pulling his shirt over his head. I could see his scars more visibly then, and I couldn't believe I didn't notice them before. "Oh, wait a second. I'll be right back. I've got to brush my teeth." He took a new outfit into the bathroom with him.

And so for a few minutes I was left alone in Ashton's room. I sat on his bed unti he came back, and when he did, his hair was combed, he was dressed, and his breath smelled minty fresh. And I knew that last part because he decided to catch me off guard when he placed his lips on mine, but it only lasted for a few seconds. 

"What's with the sudden mood-swing?" I asked, still sitting on Ashton's bed. He started opening and closing his drawers, looking for something. He pulled out a pair of socks. "Like, earlier this morning you were all—" I didn't get to finish my sentence because he had kissed me again and walked away, leaving me all alone once again. 

Then he stepped back into my view in the doorway, holding a pair of shoes in his hand. "It's Halloween, Armel. Let's go, like, walk around, or—I don't know—scare the shit out of little kids or something. Put some shoes on and let's go." And then he disappeared again, walking into the living room where I guessed he was going to be putting on his shoes. 

I stood up and followed him, but I didn't allow us to go anywhere. Ashton may have cleaned himself up but I sure didn't. My hair was still a mess and I smelled really bad. When I mentioned this to Ashton, he groaned and rolled his eyes, but he eventually let me borrow some clothes and showed me how the shower worked—even though I already knew because his apartment layout was the same as mine.