Ash

Day 4 - Part 3

“Did you hear me?” asked AJ as he loomed over Ash. “Stop following me. I heard from Jayden that you hung around outside the bar before we even opened."

Unable to deny those claims, Ash slowly nodded his head in agreement, his eyes still glued to the pavement. 

AJ raised his voice and threatened, "I'll call the fucking police if I ever see you harassing my employees again." 

Afraid of the consequences, Ash nodded again and stammered, “I-I’m sorry….” 

Ash wasn’t sure what he was sorry for, but those were the only words he knew right now. His shoulder tensed up, and his breathing quickened as he waited for AJ to leave. 

He was scared. 

Though his coworkers yelled at him daily, he knew they meant him no harm. The kitchen was so bright. There were a lot of lights and not many places for shadows to hide.

But where he was now, it was so dark.  

Before he knew it, his eyes were brimming with tears, and he struggled for air.

When AJ raised his hand, Ash immediately dropped his bag and raised his arms to shield himself. He cowered and slid down the wall until he couldn’t go any lower.

The growing shadow buried the shrinking boy into the seam where the building met the pavement.

The boy slid down the bricks until he couldn't go any lower and shrank back to sink into the wall itself. 

Taken aback by Ash’s extreme reaction, AJ dropped his hands to his side and stood in silence, watching the trembling boy pant for air.

"Why are you…haaa…." AJ kneeled in front of Ash and slowly pushed his wobbly arms away. 

“Slow down, come on, lemme look at you.” He moved his head to look at the crouching boy from a few different angles, but Ash turned away every time. 

"Are you...crying?" he asked as he grabbed Ash's face and pulled him close, close enough for the two to share a single breath.

Ash felt a thickness forming in the back of his throat at AJ’s intoxicating scent, at his slightly minty, warm breath. AJ’s usual cold, freezing eyes softened when their eyes met.

Carefully, AJ inspected him for what felt like hours before letting go of his face to catch the tear that rolled down Ash's cheeks. Ash's face reddened, and his chest felt like it would explode at any moment, but he was able to breathe.

Goosebumps formed all over Ash's body at AJ's touch. So many questions flooded Ash’s mind.

Why is he doing this? Isn’t he mad at me? Why didn’t he hit me? 

After pulling back, AJ crossed his arms and gave him a stern look. "Hey. Dishie.” 

Ash blinked. He was sitting on his knees, but AJ knelt so that they were looking eye to eye. The tall man no longer towered over Ash.

What did you just call me?

“How old are you?" asked AJ, his eyes furrowed in a way that Ash hoped was from annoyance rather than anger.

"Um, Twenty…two," muttered a stupefied Ash. The pressure from his rapid heartbeat thumped its way up to his throat as he stared at AJ's lips. AJ’s eyes pinned him down, and he couldn’t move even if he wanted to.

Why won't you smile at me the way that you smile for everyone else?

“Huh? For someone only six years younger,you behave like a child,” muttered AJ.

Ash began to speak, “Oh—“ 

AJ slammed his hand into the wall, “behave your age, will you? You piss me off with your pathetic…face." 

Behave my age?

Pathetic?

Ash must be a sad, pitiful thing in AJ’s eyes.

It became apparent that AJ held only sympathy for him, nothing more. That thought bore down on him like a ton of bricks, cementing him to the pavement.

AJ was inches away, yet they couldn’t be further apart.

Love born from pity is not love.