The Worst Choice

Nash.

"Mother fucker," I cursed under my breath.

"What happened?" Levi asked, walking through the sliding glass door and sitting next to me, immediately lighting a cigarette.

"I've only got $900 here, Levi," I said.

"That's good, right?" he asked. "You only took $1000 from him."

"Yeah, but he politely informed me that he doubled it before his guys jumped me," I said, throwing the money back into the black book bag. "I'm short $1100."

"Damn," he said. "When do you need the money by?"

"No idea," I mumbled, lighting my own cigarette before taking a long drag. "They're being assholes about this."

"Well, you did take their money..." I shot him a glare. "Okay, okay. Look, you're going over Ashlyn's tonight, right? Don't think about it. Don't worry about the money, Russia, Eric or the starving kids in Kenya. Focus on you and Ashlyn tonight."

I sighed. "Yeah, I guess you're right," I said. "But I don't even fucking know when I need the money for them."

"Focus. You and Ashlyn. No one else," he said sternly.

"Okay, okay," I said. But I still couldn't shake away the thoughts.

Ashlyn.

I closed Alex's door quietly, glad that he finally went to sleep. I listened through Aurora's door, but all I heard was quiet talking and giggling. She must be on the phone. I quickly walked to my room and shut the door behind me.

"It's about time."

I jumped at the voice, turning around. I saw Nash laying on my bed, now in hysterics. "Ha ha," I said, sarcastically. "Do you enjoy scaring me?"

He smirked. "It's pretty funny, yeah," he said. I rolled my eyes, locking the door. "Whoa, are you planning on raping me tonight?"

"Huh?" I asked.

"You locked the door," he said. "But if you are, I thought you should know that I wouldn't mind at all."

I felt my face grow a little hot. "Shut up," I said, chuckling. "It's so nobody walks in and sees you here."

"Fair enough," he said, shrugging.

I walked to the end of the bed, scrunching my nose as I smacked his feet. "How many time do I need to tell you to not put your shoes on my bed?" I scolded.

He chuckled, sitting up to pull his shoes off and throwing them onto the floor. "Better?" he asked, grabbing my hand and gently pulling me forward, causing me to get on the bed. He laid back, bringing me with him.

I rested my head on his shoulder, letting my legs rest over his. "Yes," I murmured. "I've only mentioned it to you a hundred times. Your shoes are dirty."

"I'm terribly sorry, Ashlyn," he said dramatically, tightening his grip on me. "I hope one day you can find it in your heart to forgive me."

"We'll see," I said playfully. "So, can I ask you a question?"

"You can ask. No guarantees I'll answer."

I rolled my eyes, resting my chin on his chest so I could look at him. "Can you tell me what got you so worked up the other day?" I asked.

He was quiet a few seconds. "It's stupid," he finally answered.

I frowned, sitting up. He gave me a confused look. "Nash, it isn't stupid if it bothered you," I said. "I know you're not used to talking about your feelings and stuff, but you can tell me."

He sighed, sitting up as well. He chewed on his bottom lip, playing with his hands as he spoke. "I feel really stupid admitting this out loud," he started. "But... Eric's birthday is next week. Thursday, to be exact. And..." He paused. I could hear the struggle in his voice. I knew Nash definitely wasn't one for voicing his feelings, so this was pretty big. I grabbed his hand. He gave me a tight smile before continuing. "And ever since Eric was sent to live with Carrie, he's brought it up to me. Every year; asking if I'd come down. I'd tell him I'd try my hardest. The first two years I did try.

"After that, I gave up looking for rides. But regardless, Eric would always get his hopes up. And the day after his birthday, he'd call me crying." Nash chuckled dryly. "And not just his voice cracking and a little whining, Ash. He'd sob terribly. Like that was the worst thing that could ever be done to him. I guess in his eyes it was the worst."

I waited for him to continue but he didn't. His jaw was clenched and his lips were in a straight line. I was speechless- what could you really say to that? It clearly was really eating at Nash.

So, I just hugged him tightly.