While showering herself off, savoring every moment of the warm water, Ashley...reflects, a little.
Something about his comments really caught her off-guard. A sister? And an ex? Ashley's starting to pick up a few things about Percy, mostly from how he's started acting a little...different around her, compared to how he's been in a group setting. What she's noticing is that he's friendly, but he doesn't seem open. It's something else that she's sure she's only able to catch because of years of being friends with Josh. She's only been able to put it together by catching the way his smile pulls.
It's almost fitting. When she didn't have any friends as a kid, it was Josh who fixed that. Josh who wanted to pull the new kid into his little group. Someone who could be the life of the party and yet you'd never know how he was hurting inside. That's what she's putting together about Percy too, particularly since his admission after the meeting.
She's worried about it, she realizes, and that's not fair. Just because she notices some similarities doesn't mean he's going to turn out like Josh. She reassures herself of that, because... Really, the thought of being alone is too much to bare. She's always been afraid of the dark, the things that could lurk in it—but she's also been afraid of how isolating and lonely it felt. In this last week, in the emptiness of space, she's felt the loss of her friends quite strongly.
Dorothy's statement lodged itself in her brain, and no matter how she tries to tell herself otherwise—she has her parents, she has classmates, she has something—Ashley knows that too much of her life's been broken, and she's too afraid to see what it will look like, when pieced back together. How empty it would be. She needs to rebuild, but on that scorched earth, anything would feel wrong.
So instead, she stays. Instead, she tries to rebuild on new land entirely.
That's why she doesn't want to screw this up. It means holding in what she'd done on the mountain, because... Well, she doesn't think anyone would want to be her friend, if they knew that. But, she doesn't even know how she'd begin explaining it, to start with. It's no big loss. He- they don't have to know. She...won't let it become relevant. ]
1/2
[ And with that, let's get this thread a-moving!
While showering herself off, savoring every moment of the warm water, Ashley...reflects, a little.
Something about his comments really caught her off-guard. A sister? And an ex? Ashley's starting to pick up a few things about Percy, mostly from how he's started acting a little...different around her, compared to how he's been in a group setting. What she's noticing is that he's friendly, but he doesn't seem open. It's something else that she's sure she's only able to catch because of years of being friends with Josh. She's only been able to put it together by catching the way his smile pulls.
It's almost fitting. When she didn't have any friends as a kid, it was Josh who fixed that. Josh who wanted to pull the new kid into his little group. Someone who could be the life of the party and yet you'd never know how he was hurting inside. That's what she's putting together about Percy too, particularly since his admission after the meeting.
She's worried about it, she realizes, and that's not fair. Just because she notices some similarities doesn't mean he's going to turn out like Josh. She reassures herself of that, because... Really, the thought of being alone is too much to bare. She's always been afraid of the dark, the things that could lurk in it—but she's also been afraid of how isolating and lonely it felt. In this last week, in the emptiness of space, she's felt the loss of her friends quite strongly.
Dorothy's statement lodged itself in her brain, and no matter how she tries to tell herself otherwise—she has her parents, she has classmates, she has something—Ashley knows that too much of her life's been broken, and she's too afraid to see what it will look like, when pieced back together. How empty it would be. She needs to rebuild, but on that scorched earth, anything would feel wrong.
So instead, she stays. Instead, she tries to rebuild on new land entirely.
That's why she doesn't want to screw this up. It means holding in what she'd done on the mountain, because... Well, she doesn't think anyone would want to be her friend, if they knew that. But, she doesn't even know how she'd begin explaining it, to start with. It's no big loss. He- they don't have to know. She...won't let it become relevant. ]