Take me back to the basics and the simple life
Tell me all of things that make you feel at ease.
-Troye Sivan ft. Broods; Ease

Wynter's P.O.V.

I walk into therapy with a little smile on my face. I search the waiting room for familiar faces and find Spencer, sitting by himself.

"Hey there!" He says when I walk over to him.

I give him a small wave and sit beside him.

I whip out my phone, ready to begin typing.

"Before you ask, Nina isn't here." Spencer frowns.

I put my hands out, palms up, asking why and Spencer immediately looks down at my wrists and I hide my scars with my hoodie sleeves.

"She was really sick last night, throwing up and everything. She spent the night at Mercies, she's on bedrest." Spencer says and I nod.

"Hey, Red."

My heart pounds in my chest so hard I feel like it's about burst, with those two simple words.

Hey, Red.

I feel my cheeks heat up and I give him a nod.

Spencer looks between us suspiciously and we just sit in silence.

"What're you looking at?" Asher scoffs at Spencer before crossing his arms.

"Nothing, nothing at all." Spencer says, not very convincing.

"You're a horrible liar, therefore, I will turn my attention to Red." Asher says dryly and I roll my eyes.

"You think you can distract her?" Asher asks as Dr. Primson walks in, sitting behind the secretary's desk.

I give him a wide eyed look.

I begin to type on my phone.

'Distract?! What are you talking about?'

"We had a deal, Red. I need that key." Asher replies lowly and I silently sigh.

I show him my phone.

'Fine.'

"I knew you couldn't say no." He winks and I get up. I hear Spencer whisper 'stop staring at her ass' and I blush pulling my hoodie down.

I walk to the desk where Dr. Primson's head was buried in paper work, and I ring the bell on her desk.

"Hi, Wynter!" She chirps and puts her pen down.

I wave to her and she hands me a piece of paper and her pen.

"What can I help you with today?"

I begin to write my reply.

'Can you tell me some tips about self love?'

I almost want to gag.

"Of course! I suggest you make a list of things you love about yourself and another with things you hate about yourself. With the ones you hate, rip it up. Then with the ones you love, set a reminder on your phone or put the list on your mirror with the things you love about yourself and reflect on them!" Dr. Primson explains happily as Asher sneaked into the office, digging through her drawers.

I nod and Asher scurries out of her office, tucking the key into his back pocket.

"Good afternoon, Dr. Primson." Asher grins innocently, standing in front of the therapy room.

"Why are you so happy?" She says suspiciously with a small smile.

"Anger management, it pays off." Asher shrugs and the therapists lets out a 'pfft'.

"Well it's time for your therapy session." She smiles and leads us into the room.

"I'll see you both at four." Dr. Primson says and closes the door.

"Nice job, Red." Asher grabs my waist pulling me into him, with a smirk and I look to the side, embarrassed.

I remove his hands from my waist and fixed my hoodie.

"Wanna do the honors?" Asher twirls the key between his fingers. I shake my head, shyly.

He shrugs and makes his way over to the window. He inserts the key into the keyhole, twisting it until he hears a satisfied click.

"We're home free, baby!" Asher lets out a hoot and I put a finger to my lips, signaling him to be quiet.

"Lets get out of here." Asher genuinely smiles and I smile back at him momentarily, until I realized what he said.

I grab a paper and pencil.

'No! Absolutely not. We had a deal, you're getting out, I can be lookout.'

"Come on, Wynter. I'm not leaving without you." Asher gives me a lopsided smile.

We still haven't talked about that kiss.

I should avoid him, honestly.

"Come on, Red." He pleads and I chew the inside of my cheek nervously.

I give him a reluctant nod, and he grins.

Asher lifts up the window and climbs through. He beckons me from outside and I climb out carefully, only to fall onto the grass face first.

"Oh my god, you alright, Red?" Asher stifles his laughter and fails tremendously.

I glare at him and stand up.

"Now, knowing you, and your curious head, you may be wondering where we are going." Asher teases and I follow him to his truck reluctantly.

I shrug in response.

"We are going to an amazing place." Asher says magically and I give him a look.

"Have you ever been to a lake, Red?"

• ||| •

"Come on, the waters fine!" Asher says and I shake my head.

Asher was in the lake, shirt off, boxers on.

Don't get me wrong, it was a sight to see.

Lakes freak me out, like
what the heck is in there?

The scenery here was beautiful, there were wild flowers and long blades of grass that went on for miles. It was this long beautiful field, that ended with a small draw bridge that led you to the lake.

"Please?" He pleads and I shake my head.

"Suit yourself." Asher mutters and goes
underwater. He splashed and had a blast while I sat in the back of his truck watching him swim.

My phone went off, signaling a text message, so I reached in my pocket to grab it.

Nina: do u think u can stop by Mercies today?

I typed back almost immediately, missing my usual talks with Nina.

Me: ofc! Can't wait to see u :-)

Nina never responded back, and Asher was making his way over by the time I tucked my phone in my pocket.

"All done." He shakes his hair and I let out a gasp as water gets all over me.

"That was audible!" Asher points out and I roll my eyes.

"We have a deal." Asher teases.

And you won't let me forget it.

"Pass me a towel?" Asher asks and I hand him his towel.

"There's some blankets in the backseat if you want to lay them down so we're more comfortable." Asher offers and I nod, grabbing the blankets.

We both laid down on the blankets, side by side, in his truck. Our arms casually brushing, and Asher brushing my hair off my shoulder, felt like the picture perfect moment.

I never want to leave.

"You know, I just realized your hair is kind of red in the sun." Asher says with a little smirk.
I turn to face him and smile.

"The nickname suits ya, right?" Asher continues and grins smugly.

I shrug and his smile turns into a frown.

"Wynter.." He says seriously.

"When are you going to talk to me?" Asher asks and I look down at his hand, which was now inching closer to mine.

I shake my head and his frown deepens.

I take out my phone and type.

'Don't you think we should talk about a couple days ago..?'

"What about? Our kiss." Asher says casually and I blush.

"Wynter, I want you to trust me...I want us to work..and I just feel like you don't trust me." Asher says and I type a reply.

'I don't even know about you, Asher! How do you expect me to trust YOU?'

"Listen, if I tell you..you have to promise not to tell anyone." Asher says and I place my hands over his.

"Okay." Asher takes a deep breath and I quickly peck his cheek.

"Thanks, Red." Asher smiles slightly before frowning again.

"So, where do I start? Um, when I was fourteen, my father left my mother for a younger woman. He was an alcoholic and he was constantly cheating on my mother with so many different woman, hell, I lost count."

Asher sighs jaggedly and I tighten my hold on his hand.

"I told him when I was nine to leave my mom, to stop hurting her, he punched me, so hard I went into the wall. He told my mother I tried to hurt him so he was defending himself, and she believed him."

Asher let go of my hand and pulled his knees to his chest, I wrapped a towel around him and hugged him from behind as he continued his story.

"I decided to run away from home, my mother was broken hearted but I couldn't stand living in a home with someone who took their filthy scumbag of a husbands word and not their own sons. I lived on the streets for a long time, got involved with selling drugs, never took them, though. Alcohol was my drug. I stayed in a bar with a buddy of mine and he got me into hardcore liquor and I quickly became an alcoholic." Asher explained and I rubbed circles on his back.

"They never asked how I was, Wynter. They never did, child services had to take me home. They didn't give a fuck about me! They didn't care!" He raises his voice and the tears in my eyes welled up.

"I never understood. I thought it was my fault, that I was the one to blame..until Dr. Primson found me. She found me on the side of the road, I was fifteen and smoking, she asked me if I needed a place to stay and took me to Mercies." Asher grabs my arm gently and pulls me into his chest.

I lean against his chest and he buries his head in my hair.

"You make me feel safe, Red. You make me feel like I'm not a mistake." Asher says and I wrap my arms around his torso, tightly.

"So, tell me Red, what makes you feel safe?"

More emotional chapters to come, this happiness was just for a moment. 😶
I think they're maybe two chapters left! Maybe three idk! ACK
Thanks for reading!
-E♥️

QOTC
HAVE U EVER BEEN TO A LAKE?

SOTC
Ease - Troye Sivan ft. Broods

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