[ the milkshake bar by the theater is his favorite place to go with his mom. every time she suggests it it means that she's in a good mood, which puts ashe in a good mood, and the promise of chocolate makes the night even better. seated in a booth with the light reflecting from his mother's brown eyes allows him to pretend, at least for a moment, that their life is normal. that this is how it can always be.
his mother gets a strawberry milkshake while ashe opts for cookies and cream. they order fries to share, and ashe kicks her foot under the table when she pulls out a rum shooter to pour into her milkshake. then another, and another. ashe accepts the fourth one just so she doesn't down it herself.
still, it's a good night. they laugh and they talk and ashe tells her about his chemistry project that he's doing on his own because his partner showed up for two days and then dipped for the rest of the week. it's friday evening and though they exchanged numbers on monday before the end of the period, ashe is too proud to call because that means that he needs help and he most certainly does not need that, ever.
why haven't you reached out and asked if he's okay? his mother asks, and ashe just looks at her for a moment, because the thought never even crossed his mind. is he okay? who cares? delta is the last person he wanted to be paired up with anyway, a perpetual flake and chronic absentee with mediocre grades. typical fucking meathead jock.
he gets pushed from his mind for the rest of the evening, until he and his mother exit the shop and run straight into three members of the hockey team, delta included. ( he looks fine. fucking asshole. ) ashe wants to push straight through them, but one of them sneers and makes a comment about the freak and the crackhead, and before he can stop her, his mother spits in his face.
the boy lunges forward and ashe dives between them, throwing the rest of his spiked milkshake in his face and shoving him back. ]
Don't fucking touch her.
[ it never occurs to him, even when he tastes blood in his mouth from how hard he gets punched, that he should have tried deescalating the situation first. all he thinks about is how in this moment he hates that he knows his mom has his back, because she's going to get her idiot ass arrested if she assaults a minor — even if he's a fucking asshole who deserves it. ]
hs babie things.
his mother gets a strawberry milkshake while ashe opts for cookies and cream. they order fries to share, and ashe kicks her foot under the table when she pulls out a rum shooter to pour into her milkshake. then another, and another. ashe accepts the fourth one just so she doesn't down it herself.
still, it's a good night. they laugh and they talk and ashe tells her about his chemistry project that he's doing on his own because his partner showed up for two days and then dipped for the rest of the week. it's friday evening and though they exchanged numbers on monday before the end of the period, ashe is too proud to call because that means that he needs help and he most certainly does not need that, ever.
why haven't you reached out and asked if he's okay? his mother asks, and ashe just looks at her for a moment, because the thought never even crossed his mind. is he okay? who cares? delta is the last person he wanted to be paired up with anyway, a perpetual flake and chronic absentee with mediocre grades. typical fucking meathead jock.
he gets pushed from his mind for the rest of the evening, until he and his mother exit the shop and run straight into three members of the hockey team, delta included. ( he looks fine. fucking asshole. ) ashe wants to push straight through them, but one of them sneers and makes a comment about the freak and the crackhead, and before he can stop her, his mother spits in his face.
the boy lunges forward and ashe dives between them, throwing the rest of his spiked milkshake in his face and shoving him back. ]
Don't fucking touch her.
[ it never occurs to him, even when he tastes blood in his mouth from how hard he gets punched, that he should have tried deescalating the situation first. all he thinks about is how in this moment he hates that he knows his mom has his back, because she's going to get her idiot ass arrested if she assaults a minor — even if he's a fucking asshole who deserves it. ]