《Casey Aesthetic Above》

"Oh my god." Ashley said in a small voice, shutting her eyes briefly and taking a breath.

"Yeah."

"Can I ask you something?" Ashley asked, as they slowed their paces, letting Casey, Jason and Blake be ahead of them.

"Sure." Ally answered with a shrug.

"What happened to Hailey and your mother?"

"How do you know about them?"

Ashley shrugged, "He has Hailey's name tattooed, and I've never heard you talk about your mother at all."

Ally licked her lips and looked ahead, taking a moment before she answered her, "They both died in a car accident. Hailey was, my twin." She then pursed her lips and kicked a pebble, her gaze diverted at the trees surrounding them.

"Oh, I—had no idea."

"Yeah. He was there you know. In the accident," she paused, nibbling her lower lip, "I could have lost all three of them."

"How'd he manage to..." Ashley trailed off, not really knowing how to ask.

Ally frowned, "I—actually don't know. He was a mess after that. Barely spoke; never did, and kept to himself. He became distant and cold enough to say he was traumatized. He's never told me or anyone what happened. Not even the cops when they tried to talk to him. Shit, you should have seen him; all he did was stare back at them blankly then look away as if couldn't hear you. We tried getting him to see a psychologist too but he wouldn't open up. Eventually though, he started talking again, but never about what really happened. It makes me wonder what he saw to this day."

"Did you ever try asking him? You know, face to face?" Ashley asked, feeling an overwhelming amount of sympathy for her roommate and seeing him in a new light.

Understanding him better.

"Yeah, numerous times, but he always kept quiet and went all stoic; as if he was seeing it happening all over again."

"What about recently?" Ashley asked, not really because she wanted to know what he saw, but because she wanted to know if their relationship is any better. They need each other.

"No, I...we aren't exactly as close as we were before." Ally remarked with a shrug, "I know I might come off as a bitch to him but—I just want him to let me in so I can help him. If forcing answers out of him is the best way to get them then so be it." she continued.

Ashley frowned, remembering the times she's witnessed Ally forcing answers out of him. Like that time in the hallway when he was emphasizing for her to stay away from Gregor.

She remembered how, when she looked back, she saw the longing look Eros had in his eyes as they walked away; almost as if he wanted to say something else but thought against it.

"I think you should try and talk to him again. He might actually prefer that."

"I don't know. He can be so fucking difficult." was Ally's answer.

Ashley parted her lips to say something else but stopped short, hearing the footsteps that seemed to be getting closer and closer. Eventually, they could finally make out three figures approaching them. Out of the corner of her eyes, Ashley saw Blake reach for something from his back pocket. She frowned,

Him too?

There was a deep chuckle before a familiar voice spoke up,

"Easy there, Blakey."

It was obviously Brock.

Blake huffed and crossed his arms. It was dark out so who could blame him for being careful and not taking any chances.

"Why are you guys here?" Casey asked, once she was able to make out the other two figures as Seb and Eros.

"We came looking for your sorry asses. Honestly, what were you thinking; sneaking off past the old gatekeeper. I've never seen him so worried." Brock scolded, though he was chuckling.

Ashley squinted her eyes at the figure she assumed to be Eros, not sure if he was looking right at her or behind her. He turned away before she could adjust her eyes to his face. She scowled,

"Eros?" She called and everyone's voices died down to pin-drop silence.

His answer was a single deep grunt, so she still wasn't able to tell where he was at. She crossed her arms and scowled, not giving up,

"Hi." She greeted.

The figure in front of her—well Casey—lowered his head then looked to the right at the trees. After a couple of beats she heard him,

"Hello."

She grinned. Found you ass, she thought, now sure he was the figure in front of her.

"We should head back." Seb said, speaking up for the first time since they found them.

"Ally?" he asked snapping up yet another string of tensed silence.

Ashley felt her stiffen beside her, "Hm?"

"I'd like to talk to you." he said, his hands buried in his pockets.

Ally held her breath and made her way over to him with eyes following her silhouette as she stood by Seb and they both walked ahead of the others. Blake followed, then Brock and Casey, but Ashley stayed put, noticing how Eros stayed where he was and let everyone go ahead.

She blinked when he begun to approach her; her heart hammered in her chest and jumped to her throat. He gripped her forearm and tugged her to him, smashing her body to his and placing his head on her shoulder; wrapping his arms around her. Ashley let out an unfathomable sound from the back of her throat; as if she wanted to say something but the words got lost somewhere along the way.

Not knowing what else to do, she wrapped her arms around him and took in his strong, manly cologne; that she was now definitely going to steal someday. This is the first time he's ever held her this way and her him, but she wasn't complaining, she actually liked it.

His shoulders sagged and he slowly pulled away. It was at that moment that Ashley wished she could see the look in his eyes. She slid her hands form his neck but kept them on his pecks, feeling his heart pumping through his shirt.

He let out a breath and his breathing seemed to quicken. She hesitantly attempted to pull away completely only for him to grip her wrist gently, at the same time stopping her,

"Are you hurt?" he asked, giving her wrist a feathery squeeze that had her questioning if it was even there to begin with.

"No. I'm—perfectly fine." she said before she smirked, "—were you worried about me?" She asked, her hands back on his pecks, wanting to lighten up the mood.

He was quiet for a few lingering seconds before he spoke up,

"I am." He said; holding her wrists tighter, but not tight enough to hurt her.

God, his heart is racing!

"It's okay, Eros. Casey just had this idea of sneaking out and exploring these woods. We were all bored so we stupidly agreed to do it without thinking of how we'd find our way back."

He let her go and stepped back, causing her hands to fall in front of her; slapping her own thighs. She tried her best not to flinch.

He stuffed his hands in his pockets and wordlessly walked after the others, with her following beside him. They barely spoke on their way back to school but the silence was oddly comforting, if not even calming.

She began to understand why he bathed in it so much.

🔱🔱🔱

He sat on his bed just as she got up the courage to ask him. She'd give the question a lot of thought while they were on their way back from the forest. She was concerned for him worried even, which was weird because its been barely two months since they've known each other, but that was that. She sat up straighter on her seat and took a deep breath. She parted her lips,

"Eros—?"

"Not tonight." His voice was raspy and slightly slurred, but Ashley didn't seem to notice.

She squinted her eyes, trying to see him in the darkened room but to no avail.

"Just one question. Then I'll let you sleep." She pushed on.

He let out a sigh before he shuffled and didn't give her an answer. However, Ashley was smart enough to tell that the silence was a definite no.

"You don't even know what I want to ask, I mean, you could not answer me because of how personal it is and...I get that but I just want to say that I'm worried about Al—."

"Quiet." He ordered, this time, his voice coming from a different direction.

She frowned, seeing a figure—which was most likely Eros—moving past her bed.

"What—?" She cut herself off this time when she saw another figure suddenly jumped at Eros, who stepped to the side in time to avoid the tackle, "—the hell!" Ashley exclaimed and immediately regretted it.

The figure turned in her direction momentarily seeming to be caught off-guard. It was moderately dark in the room, so she could somewhat make out the difference between Eros and the intruder. He was male, guiding by the broad shoulders, his build and of course, his deep grunts he occasionally let slip from his mouth.

What she couldn't see, however, was whether or not he had a weapon with him. Fear for her roommate immediately struck her, like a strong cold breeze from the top of a mountain. Her eyes widened and she pulled herself to her feet, sprinted towards the lights by the glass door and flicked them on with shaky hands.

She turned around and saw the knife in the attacker's hand, only; his attention wasn't on Eros anymore, but on her. He darted towards her, his knife held tightly in his left hand. She paled, her feet frozen; refusing to listen to her and move out of his path. She let out a scream inaudible to herself and shut her eyes, anticipating the pain she was bound to feel; but it never came.

Eros hooked his forearm around his neck and pulled him back, his other hand on the arm with the knife. The shuddering sound of a bone breaking was heard as he twisted the guy's hand, making him howl in pain, drop the knife and sink to the ground, holding his arm. His left wrist was bent in an unnatural manner.

Ashley felt bile rise to her throat at the sound and sunk to the ground, her heart drumming in her chest and the back of her throat.

Eros gripped the intruder's collar and pulled him on his feet, pushing his back to the wall beside them. His eyes were filled with rage and a look that promised the man in front of him a terrible fate indeed. He held him by his neck and used his other hand to rip the cheap, blue mask off his head.

Scared, hazel eyes stared back at him, but immediately darted away in fear. The guy let out strangled sounds from the back of his throat when Eros tightened his grip on his neck. He begun to claw at Eros' hand in a desperate attempt to pull them off. His attempts however, bore no fruit even when he drawled blood from his forearm.

He brought his knee up and smashed it hard on the guy's stomach, causing him to wheeze and lose breath that he desperately needed.

"Why are you here?" Eros growled out.

"G—Gregor." The guy stuttered.

Eros sub–consciously tightened his grip on his neck upon hearing that name.

The guy gaped, unable to let a word out or breath. Eros loosened his grip,

"Gre—gor. He sent after your room—"

But he didn't finish his confession. Ashley screamed and brought her hands over her ears, shaking uncontrollably and Eros stiffened as blood spluttered on his face and the guy's limp body fell on his chest. A gush of blood oozed out of from the sudden hole on the intruder's head and dripped onto Eros' shirt as his body gave out. He stepped back and let his body drop to the ground, his nose scrunched in discomfort.

Eros turned to the now broken window behind him that once stood between their beds and narrowed his eyes at the building facing their room. A tall, familiar figure stood up from the rooftop, a sniper in hand, nodded once at him and walked away as if he wasn't responsible for the now deceased body laying between him and a bloodstained wall.

He gritted his teeth and looked down on the ground at Ashley, who was mumbling something. To herself, or to him, he wasn't sure, so he stepped closer.

"Blondie." He called, but she didn't respond or seem to have heard him.

He called again but she rocked on the floor, now hugging her knees and her eyes staring unblinkingly at the dead body behind him. Eros crouched down in front of her, using his shirt to wipe the blood off his face.

"Look at me." he said, his face neutral and calm despite what just happened.

She was muttering incoherently to herself, but her eyes briefly flickered to meet his then quickly darted away, back to the body.

"I didn't do it." She said, tears glistering in her eyes.

"I know."

"He jumped on his own."

Eros frowned. Jumped? He wondered, realising now that she wasn't talking about what just happened. He stayed quiet and listened.

"I was trying to help him, but–I was too late. I—I scared him. I didn't mean to, I didn't mean to make him scared and—I—I just happened to be there. With him. Glaze led me there, I was walking him and then—I saw him and wanted to help him, but I scared him. I killed him! I didn't mean to! I'm sorry! Please don't lock me away! It was stupid of me! Stupid! Stupid! St—!"

Eros gripped her hands, stopping her from hitting herself in the head again and clenched his jaw. Dammit, he thought, remembering, dammit blondie.

"You did not kill him." He said, his own voice sounding foreign to him; hoarse. He didn't like it. He didn't like what he was feeling for her; dammit, his heart was hurting for her.

"How would you know!"

He lifted her chin and made her look at him; meet his piercing gaze
A few seconds passed before he answered her,

"Because I was there," he paused, wiping the tears from her eyes that kept flowing, "—you did not kill him. Alexander did not die." he continued.

She held his gaze, her eyebrows scrunched up, with a scared expression in her eyes. The name 'Alexander' seemed to have finally pushed through and reached her. Eros found himself wanting to hold her in his arms until she came back to her senses, but that wasn't what she needed.

She needed the truth, she needed to know that he was okay, that he's still out there somewhere; that he was and still is, safe.

"Swear." She said, her eyes focusing. He leaned in and pressed his lips to her forehead, lingering before he pulled away slightly,

"On my life." He said, placing his hands on her shoulders, needing to.

"Why were you there? In the abandoned building. What were you doing?" She asked, the tension in her shoulders sagging.

Eros hesitated, his hands now on either sides of her check as his eyes searched hers. He simply looked at her, knowing something but not really sure if he should tell her or not.

It wouldn't make a difference, nor would it be worth it, he concluded, Curse you, Alexander.

He gritted his teeth and looked away,

"You cannot stay here." He said instead, helping her get on her feet.

His words seemed to bring her back from her shaken state completely because she suddenly stepped back, "No, I'm fine." She said, swaying a bit, but Eros wasn't all for it.

"I disagree."

"I am, Eros. I can survive the night. Just because I saw someone—."

"I am not talking about tonight." He said, his voice deeper than usual, as if to show that she had no choice.

"Are you—kicking me out?" She asked in disbelief, actually hurt.

Eros frowned at the ground, "Yes." Was his short, uncorroborated answer.

"But I don't want to leave." she said, crossing her arms and looking up at him with confused, yet challenging eyes.

He held her gaze, "You have no choice." he said, his face revealing nothing.

She narrowed her eyes and decided to try something else, "Why was that guy after you?" she asked.

He clenched his jaw, snapping his gaze to the dead man. Eros let out a breath and looked back at her, eyes narrowed, "It was not me he was after. I need you gone by tomorrow."

She frowned, "What?" She paused, then shook her head, "—Eros, I've paid for this room. You can't just kick me out."

He gave her one long, hard look before walked to his bedside table and reached for his phone, tapping something, and then looked up at her,

"I can." He said, then pressed the phone to his ear and walked out of the room.

Ashley glared at his retreating back then realised she was alone with a dead body. She squealed and dashed out of the room, not wanting to be alone with it.

"—my dorm room." She heard him say when she stepped out of their shared bedroom and sat on the couch.

Ashley stared at the blank screen of the TV, glaring at it with her arms crossed. If he was expecting her to leave because he said so, then he had another thing coming, and besides, everyone already has a roommate. She shook her head, where would she go? She scoffed, knowing that she's already won this battle.

"Can I at least ask you something?"

She got no answer, but she didn't care, she let the anger and disappointment she was feeling fuel her on.

"What happened in the accident. When you lost your mother and Hailey."

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