#ashden

Timeskip.

Part 1 ig

Also, how have you been? How have you been feeling? Have you had any water? Have you slept well? :3

Them skating home together (ps I totally made up those usernames for them, sorry if they’re real lmao)

And to answer your question I’ve been alright actually, busy and stressed but it’s been like that for a long while now so no difference really, I’m gonna go drink a glass of water and take a nap :)

You don’t have to ship it. You can see them as purely platonic friends. I like that interpretation, actually. But they have so much love and care for each other and you can’t dismiss it because you like another ship better.

The point of their relationship is Ashlyn growing to trust him and to care about him. The point is Aiden learning to understand her boundaries and feelings and respecting them. The point is that platonic or romantic, these two grew a lot from each other and learned a lot from each other. They learned to understand each other and to respect each other.

I don't know WHAT THE FUCK I'M DOING

Ashlyn fell slowly but surely. It takes a lot to build trust with her. Her anti-social brain wires her away from people. That is how it was always supposed to be. She could control solidarity living. It was something easy, something that left simple room for other things. It was how it was meant to be. Until it wasn’t.

Aiden came into her life suddenly and quickly. He pushed and pushed, and as much as she tried to push him away, he stayed. He couldn’t see her initial discomfort, and his persistence led to trust, then friendship, then eventually love. He filled the silent spaces, showed genuine interest, and while he kept up a mask for some time, he eventually let it slip around her, allowing himself to let her love him. Them holding hands at the hospital, her holding him tightly after the ceiling incident.

Taylor snuck up on her. Taylor silently watched her from afar. Noticed her for years. Silently desired to know her. On the trip, she tried to speak to her, and when it was proved that she didn’t want to talk, she decided to just be. As time went on, their occasional interactions led to something bigger. Taylor had the emotional intelligence to know what to say and when to say it. Ashlyn didn’t have that, but she did have the practical thinking and strategy to know what to do. Mutual trust built until they slowly glided into love, with Ashlyn protecting Taylor with her body while drugged and passing out, Taylor holding Ashlyn up by the waist while cheering in happiness, her smile being contagious to Ashlyn.

Taylor was always considered the heart. She knew what to say and how to say it. She trusted easily, loved deeply. Still, she couldn’t have dreamed of love outside of her brother Tyler. Her friend circle not close enough, her parents either gone or unavailable. She always put the burden on herself to be the lover, until she found them.

Aiden came quickly. She felt connected to him from the beginning. Something about his energy, it made her want to know more. Want to know everything. She clicked with him fast, borrowing fidgets, exchanging flirty lines, fitting together like pieces of a puzzle. While they were usually playful, unserious, silly, when it mattered, they let themselves fall onto each other. Aiden comforting her, her reassuring him. Them nudging each other’s feet after what happened to Tyler, them teaming up to play video games. Mutual love and affection, Taylor doesn’t have to hold it all up for it to work.

Taylor always saw Ashlyn. Noticed her hair growing longer, noticed when she started wearing pigtail braids, noticed when she didn’t wear earbuds. She was always curious about her. She took it slow, trying to understand her without pushing too hard. And eventually, she did. She understood how she always tried, how she was always determined and stubborn, how she was once content by herself because it was unchanging. It was a constant she could control. She slowly falls for her, and while she knows it the entire time, Ashlyn is taken fully by surprise. Taylor holding her while they sleep, not letting go. Ashlyn taking her wrist and leading them both out of danger.

Aiden didn’t really know love, didn’t understand it much before. His parents never gave it to him, his friendships being no more than small, forgettable interactions. Apart from Ben, he didn’t really have anyone. He didn’t feel like love could exist outside of this, but boy was he wrong.

He saw Ashlyn, and something felt different. When moving from town to town, he did have some friends, but they didn’t matter much, and neither party cared about the other much. With Ashlyn, it was different. It seemed like she would only interact with people who she truly cared about, and he didn’t know how to go about it. That doesn’t mean he didn’t try, and as he learned to understand her, he learned what real, unconditional love meant. Holding each other for comfort, having slow conversations with real meaning.