#defendingtheice

"Oh Ash." Aggie had left the very second it was light enough to see without her headlights, five am rolling around as her wheels had hit the road. Maybe going a little faster than she should, the high way was quiet, the roads mostly empty as the entire country seemed to be sleeping off the holiday. In record time she'd made it to his door, using her own key to let herself without so much as knocking. It hadn't taken long for her to find him wrapped in a blanket and looking for all the world worse for the wear.

"Hey... hey," Lowering down Agnes wrapped her best friend up her arms and hugged him for all she was worth. "I got you."

today was the day that good frequency was finally opening, and asher’s restless energy had gone from normal restless to borderline unbearable. he had been moving since sunrise, checking the same things over and over like the shelves might rearrange themselves the second he looked away. the records were organized. the register worked. the mural was finished. finally.

ruth had said she and davin would come by early to help get everything ready, so when asher heard movement near the front door, he expected to see them. instead, he looked up and saw ashton standing outside with pastries and coffee. asher blinked, then hurried over to unlock the door, his surprise breaking into an immediate grin. “hey, dude!” he said, pulling the door open. “what’s going on?”

"What do we think about this spot?" Aggie asked, looking at the still open space that would put them right at the front and had enough room for their blanket and chairs. "I mean this way we're close enough to Cup Cake's if we need the bathroom, and we're like right smack in the middle of all the food places and their samples and stuff. The new barbecue place even has a little patio out, did you see?" Aggie was just absolutely glowing with excitement for the parade. She had little rainbow streaks on her cheeks, a rainbow bow around her signature ponytail. Her white t-shirt beneath her Carroll Cavalier's cardigan had a rainbow heart, and she had rainbow socks in her shoes. All to show her support for the cause and now, also, for Ashton directly after everything. "What do you think?"

winnie was waiting in the usual spot, the same place she had met ashton for their walk-and-talks for as long as she could remember. when they were kids, it had been a game seeing how far they could make it from one side of carroll to the other before one of them got tired, hungry, distracted, or all three. now, as adults, the route had shortened into something more civilized: a walk to cupcake’s, coffee in hand, catching up on everything they pretended was casual until it wasn’t.

she spotted him before he reached her, and her whole face lit up. “ashton!” winnie called, rising onto her tiptoes as she waved, her curls bouncing with the movement. “hello!” she met him halfway, wrapping him in a hug before he could decide whether he wanted one. that was the thing about winnie. she was very good at giving people affection before they had the chance to be brave about needing it.

pulling back, she looked up at him with a grin. “how are you?” then she paused. the smile softened first, then faded at the edges as she really looked at him. not the public version. not the athlete version. not the version everyone else had been discussing like he was a headline instead of a person.

just ashton.

Now that he knew Davin had asked Ruth to the party as friends, Vince had wanted to find out what Ruth's take on things were. But maybe not exactly directly from her. How obvious would that be? And he couldn't help but wonder how upset Dav might get if Vinny was poking around, trying to seal the deal for his brother.

So he went in search of the next best way. Her best friend brother. Ashton.

"I've heard the Edmonton Oilers have been looking at him, and honestly I think Ashton Ryder would be humbled by being schooled by someone like Conor McDavid. The true kicker for me is that Ashton is 100% boring enough to actually fit in in Canada."