(in)visible

eight

Monday morning. Great. She didn’t have classes today, but first period exams were coming up, so she had planned an early morning in the library. But apparently, everyone else had had the same idea. It was impossible to find a place to sit. But she refused to sit on the floor, like some people did. That way, she would spend more time thinking about how uncomfortable she was then she would actually be studying.

She had walked all around the library, finding herself in a far off corner on the top floor, where it was a bit less crowded. However, she still couldn’t find a place to sit. When she walked  by a bookcase she finally spotted a free spot, and she rushed over. But another girl was faster. Just as the girl made to pull out the chair, Lyanna saw who was sitting in the spot next to it. Ashton.

Of course.

He noticed the girl, and looked up at her. She gave him a watery smile, and Lyanna could hear her quietly asking if the spot was occupied. Ashton just glared at her. It obviously made the girl very uncomfortable, and Lyanna didn’t blame her. Ashton looked incredibly intimidating, more so than usual. He was wearing a torn Metallica shirt, and a black beanie that let a few of his curls slip out. He had dark circles under his eyes. Lyanna found herself wondering if he had slept, but she shook her head, dismissing the thought.

After a moment of Ashton staring her down, the girl mumbled an apology and turned on her heel. She rushed past Lyanna with a pale face. Sighing, Lyanna walked over to Ashton, knowing that she had to apologise to him. The sooner she did it, the better.

He looked up again with the same scowl on his face when he heard her coming. But when he saw her face, the scowl disappeared.

“Hey,” she whispered, “can I sit down?”

“Uhm, yeah, sure.”

She dumped her book bag on the floor next to the chair, and hung her coat over the back before sitting down. She noticed that Ashton was watching her every move. It made her self-conscious.

“So, I wanted to apologise for the other day.”

“What? No, no, don’t.” He shook his head at her. “If anything, I'm the one who should be apologising.”

“Why? You barely even said three sentences, and  I yelled at you to go fuck yourself.”

She frowned at him, trying to understand what he meant. He was frowning a  bit himself, but his hazel eyes were unreadable. He gave her a sad half smile.

“Yeah, but that was only the other day. I’ve been thinking about it lately, and I realised I’ve been pretty awful to you. And you didn’t deserve it. You said it yourself, when have you ever started it? I was always the one coming up to you, but I guess I was just blind to how much I was hurting you.”

He looked down at his hands, as if he couldn’t look her in the eyes anymore.

“You have nothing to apologise for. You didn’t do anything. But I’ve been a real asshole, and… And I'm sorry. I promise I won’t bother you again.”

He looked up at her, his eyes pleading. She could only stare at him, mouth open. She sure as Hell hadn’t seen this coming. If only Sparrow could see this.

The longer she stayed silent, the deeper Ashton’s frown became.

“I know a simple sorry won’t make this right. But I want you to know that I really mean it, and I’ll prove it to you. I will never make you cry again, I promise.”

When she still didn’t say anything, he cleared his throat.

“So… will you forgive me?”

He said it so quietly she almost didn’t hear it, but it made her snap out of her confused thoughts.

“Yeah… Uhm, yes. If you keep your promises, that is. I like this Ashton a lot more than I like the Asshole Ashton.”

He let out a shaky breath and smiled at her. It was the first genuine smile she had seen on him. Suddenly, she realised how handsome he really was.

“Thank you. I will. Keep my promises, I mean.”

She smiled back at him.

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It was about four in the afternoon when she finally left the library. She and Ashton had been studying the entire time, sitting next to each other. At a certain point, he had left for a bit to get coffee, and when he came back, he had gotten them both coffee and sandwiches. It was nice of him, but he would have to try a lot harder if he truly wanted her to forget about all the times he had been such a jerk to her.

She was walking down the last flight of stairs when she tripped over her feet. She was only three steps away from the floor, but she could feel herself falling over in slow-motion, and she knew she was going to smack face first onto the floor. She could only flail her arms and close her eyes.

But she was met by two warm arms that encircled her, keeping her safe from the pain and embarrassment of falling down in front of a full library. Luckily she hadn’t screamed, or else she would have attracted a lot of attention.

She looked up to see who had caught her, and was met by a pair of beautiful green eyes.

“Careful,” the boy whispered, “you might hurt yourself.”

“Thank you,” she breathed.

Slowly, he let his arms slip from her waist, making sure she wouldn’t fall again.

He was tall and very handsome. But most importantly, he had artificially bright red hair. This was the boy she had seen walking away from the cabin, she was sure of it.

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah, yeah, I’m fine, thanks. I was with my head in the clouds I guess.”

“Long day of studying?”

“Something like that.”

He smiled broadly at her, and she could feel herself blushing.

“Were you leaving?”

She nodded, and they walked to the exit together. He held open the door for her, which made her blush even more. As she walked past his outstretched arm, she noticed a black woven bracelet around his wrist. Exactly like the one Sparrow wore.

He continued walking with her until they got to the street.

“Uhm, I gotta go that way.”

He pointed over his shoulder, in the opposite direction that she had to go.

“Okay, I'm going the other way. Thanks again for catching me back there, uhmm…”

“Michael.”

“Lyanna.”

She smiled at him and extended her hand for him to shake. Instead, he raised it and softly pressed his lips to her knuckles.

“Nice to meet you, Lyanna. I’ll see you around.”

He winked at her, and then he was gone. She just stood there, watching him walk away, blushing a deep red.

A/N: Ashton apologised! Hooray! And Michael is one flirty bastard. Is he Sparrow? What do you think? As always, please vote and comment! Lots of love! xx