mr. hemmings // l.h.

34 • madeline

I had work the next day, and luckily it was just me and Cameron at the arcade counter. That meant we got paid to goof off together.

It was a Saturday afternoon but surprisingly was not very busy. Cameron and I even played a couple rounds of ultimate Pac-Man when the arcade was empty.
Georgina worked on the other side at the pizza place, and when she was on break she came to join us.
When more people started to show up, however, we had to get back to work.

I was not expecting such a familiar face to walk in.

"Madeline?" I heard the relaxed Aussie accent. "Can we talk for a second?"

I turned around to see Ashton. His messy curls and denim jacket almost made me cry. I was really happy to see him and honestly wasn't sure if I ever would again.

"Hey." I said, "What are you doing here?"

"Trust me, we really need to talk."

I looked at Cameron. "Is it okay if I take my break, now?"

"Depends." Cameron said, sternly, stepping in front of me. "Is this the asshole that broke your heart?"

"No, no, no," I hushed him, pushing his protective body out of the way, "this isn't him."

"I'm just his best friend." Ashton cringed. "But I'm on team Mads."

Cameron chuckled a bit, and then smiled.
"Good, then. Yeah, go ahead."

I made my way out of the counter and Ashton put a hand on my shoulder.

"I'll get us a pizza." He said.

About ten minutes later, we were sat at the farthest booth away from everyone else sharing a large extra cheese pizza.

"I'm sorry about Cameron." I said. "He's really protective."

She shook his head. "He has the right to be. Is he like, a new boyfriend, or?"

I cut him off, "No! Not at all. I've known him since I was like nine, he's like a brother."

He nodded, "What about Logan?"

I gave him a strange look, "How do you know about Logan?"

He smiled sheepishly, "I've heard quite a mouthful about him."

I rolled my eyes.
"Luke doesn't even care. And I'm not seeing anyone. But don't worry, I'm still not getting him into any trouble. My friends know I was kind of dating a guy from Seattle university, but they didn't know who it was. Except Celia and Trish, but he told me I could tell them-"

"I don't care about that," he shook his head, "I know Luke isn't in any trouble. That's not why I'm here."

I titled my head, "So why are you here, then?"

He sighed.
"Because my best friend is absolutely miserable, and for the first time since I've known him, I don't know how to fix it. He's always come to me, I've always been the one to clean his messes for him. But now, I can't. I know he needs to be the one to fix it. But, I just need you to know that he is just as heart broken as you."

"I find that hard to believe." I shook my head.
"Ashton, you didn't hear the way he talked to me. He promised me he'd never hurt me. After he took me to meet you guys he told me he saw a future with me. He told me all of the time that he didn't want to lose what we had. And then he threw it away."

"He doesn't know what he's doing." Ashton replied. "He's not the best at relationships, I'll admit. Nora really screwed that up for him."

"But I'm not Nora." I argued. "He can't punish me for her mistakes."