CURSED│open to all rp levels discussion

Tired both mentally and emotionally from the day, Ash found himself wandering almost instinctively through the seemly never ending bookshelves of the library. He had no memory of walking down the halls after school to get to the bookish wonderland and yet here he was. He loved it in the library and spent every spare second of his day exploring the nooks and crannies of the library. The air smelled of old pages and he could disappear for hours into the labyrinth of stories. Fortunately the library was open almost two hours after school finished and one hour before so he had plenty of time to relax. He would have much preferred the library stayed open 24/7 but he wasn't about to run for student body and petition for that. In fact he hated talking in front of people so much that he was too nervous to go up to the librarian and ask her where to find a certain book he had been looking for for ages. He knew that it was in the books somewhere as he had seen a student reading it a while back but no matter how hard he tried he couldn't seem to find it. Instead of just doing the normal thing and asking the librarian he settled into a steady routine of coming to the library and searching for it carefully until the library closed or he had to get to classes. Currently he was too tired to even look for his book and instead perused the shelves absentmindedly, fingers deftly picking up and flipping through the occasional book that caught his eye. He had probably read half the library books by now but he often reread books anyways if he was in the mood.

The gentle chatter of students talking at the study tables reached his ears and he glanced over at the group that had come into the library. It was a group of about 7 kids, loudly laughing and shoving each other playfully. It might have been a nice scene to watch, showing the friendships formed at school but for Ash it only served for him to feel even more emotionally drained. He had no friends at this school, not that he minded most often. His only friends were the characters in the books he read and the stories in his mind. The characters in his mind were much more perfect than the ones in real life, but they couldn't always stop Ash from feeling lonely. Turning away with a sigh he pulled his earphones on to block out the sounds of laughter. It was a library and Ash was annoyed that the librarian didn't see it fit to get them to shut up.

Eric arrived here after a long day of running in the gym and often came here to read after his shower. He felt much comfort in sitting between the endless bookshelves, despite having established a reputation as a flirt. He didn't mind it, he just simply desired some downtime away from the bumbling buzz off the rest of the school. He arrived here just to find a group of around seven kids laughing loudly and he couldn't help but think of Jonathan, his best friend. Smiling wistfully, he walked past the librarian, who he naturally assumed was sleeping or gaming on her phone under the table. He rolled his eyes. Some people were just so irresponsible. He thought about his grandmother again, but shook the thoughts off, browsing for books. He wandered his way until he bumped into someone whilst walking backward. Instinctively, he leaped away from the person, turning around to face a boy, around his own age.

Hands laden with about five different books he wanted to take home with him, Ash was about to turn back to the library checkout system to checkout all the books when he suddenly lurched forwards as someone bumped into him and the books went flying out of his hands. They landed with a huge racket, which caused all the kids nearby to look up at him. Ash's worst fear was probably public humiliation and while most kids quickly went back to what they were doing, his face was already flaming red with embarrassment. There was no reason to why he felt so ashamed of being run into by another person but he just did. His shy personality wasn't rational.
"S-sorry." He mumbled, stumbling painfully over the beginning of the word sorry. His stutter had diminished slightly over the years but not by that much. He still had trouble with quite a lot of words and it got even worse when he was nervous or excited. Right now he was definitely nervous. His bright wide eyes flickered up to meet the boy's who had run into him before shifting away just as fast. He knew this kid, he saw him running sometimes. It was Eric, he was handsome. Dropping to his knees, Ash began to pick up all the books he had dropped along with his student card and a bookmark. He didn't even dare look up at Eric as he scrambled to pick them all up. Meeting people's eyes was not something he did often and this time was no different. If he didn't meet Eric's eyes, he wouldn't have to talk to him. Not that he didn't want to talk to him, Eric was cute, it was more that he couldn't talk to him. He didn't know how and he would just make a fool of himself.

Eric bent down to pick up one of the books that Ash had dropped, handing it back to him. "No, no, don't apologize, it wasn't your fault." He replied, smiling. "Ash, right?" He had seen this kid around, though not much because Ash always seemed to be disappearing from rooms faster than a vampire away from light. He always felt like there were some kids at this school that, if they were any less visible and active, that the school wouldn't even notice them. He felt quite bad for knocking Ash's books over, as the seven kids looked at them. "Hey," He exclaimed to the other students. "Mind your own business, all right?" He looked at them with a warning look, that basically said hey, i know where you live and i'm not afraid to go there. He didn't like people who laughed at others, especially when he was the one who caused it. It was what made others lack confidence in themselves when they deserved much more.

Taking the book from Eric's outstretched hand, Ash quickly drew his hand away as though the other boy might bite him if he kept his hand out for too long. Keeping his eyes fixed firmly on the books he only began to really look at Eric when he heard his name. no one knew his name. He was yet to meet a single person in his math class who actually knew who he was. He didn't mind, all the kids in his math class were idiots and he wouldn't have wanted to be friends with them anyways, but it made it surprising that this popular kid knew his name. He looked up in surprise, eyes round like saucers as he stared at Eric as though her were some kind of alien life form. Considering all the strange half human creatures in Warwick, it wouldn't be surprising if he was.
"Yeah... a-and you're E-ric." He blinked and then offered a hesitant smile. He looked as though he didn't quite remember which muscles to move in order to get his lips to turn up into a happy expression. He didn't smile that often, he had no one to smile for. He wasn't necessarily an unhappy person, he just wasn't expressive when he was feeling joyful. Clutching the books to his chest, Ash let his gaze flick quickly over Eric, committing every detail about the boy to his memory. It was something he did when he met new people, he took a mental photo of him to keep for later. It never hurt to know about people, the little details that made them who they were. He knew that Eric liked track, and that his hair tended to fall over his eyes sometimes, and that he had a birthmark on his wrist. He wasn't stalking the other boy or anything, he just knew that kind of stuff about everyone. He noticed little details and then committed them to memory.
"C-could you help m-me?" He asked suddenly, steeling himself up to be rejected.
"I c-can't reach t-the b-book I want." His cheeks flushed with embarrassment and he looked away, biting the inside of his cheek almost hard enough to draw blood. He was definitely on the short side and in order to fit all the books into the library, some of the shelves were way too tall for him. He had been eyeing a book on Greek philosophers for some time but he didn't have the courage to ask anyone to help him get it or to ask the librarian for a stool.

Eric smiled when Ash knew his name. Sure, basically everyone knew his name, but the way that Ash said it really struck him, it was quaint, but also delicate, and somehow cute. "Sure I can help you, which one?" He asks, looking up at the shelf of non-fiction books. He didn't know how he could've possibly wandered into this sort of section, but it was cool, bumping into Ash. He looked at the shelves above Ash's height, filled with books on Greek philosophers, Greek mythology, and Greek language. Ash was smart, from what he noticed in class and also what he just noticed with his choice of fiction, and Eric appreciated that. He liked people who were interested in learning, and not just for extra credit. He was a good head taller than Ash, so he hoped that he could help out by reaching for the book he wanted. After all, helping people was good for others, was it not. Especially someone who said his name like a melody, which he'd never heard before.

Somewhere in the back of his mind, Ash knew that Eric would help him get the book, after all that was the polite thing to do, but consciously he was worried that the boy would just walk away and refuse to help. It wouldn’t be the end of the world, he would just have to find a chair or something to stand on in order to get it but it would be the embarrassment that would grate on Ash’s nerves for days. Even the slightest embarrassment like sneezing during a test or having his shoe laces untied made him go red at the cheeks and he would think about it for days after the event. He once tripped on the stairs and had spent three days avoiding anyone who had seen him trip. Most likely none of them had thought twice about it or even remembered it but he couldn’t stand the idea of being noticed for something stupid like that. When Eric did in fact decide to help him, Ash gave him a real smile. Still small and hesitant, but a smile none the less.
“T-the one on G-g...”He paused and forced himself to swallow. He struggled with a lot of words but G was the hardest for him. Cheeks tomato red with embarrassment he instead pointed to one of the books. It was thick, about 1000 pages with a beautiful cover. From what Ash has read from an online description of it, it was about the theories of Aristotle and his students. Not exactly a page turner but Ash loved books like that. He loved pretending that he was in a far away place with the people he learned about in history class. He loved to pretend that if he could go back in time, what he would change. It was just a bit above his reach and easy for someone Eric’s height to reach.
“T-thank you... E-Eric” He liked saying the other boy’s name. It made him blush even more, but in a good way. He had never actually spoken to him before but they were in a lot of classes together and Ash sometimes found himself staring at Eric from under his hood.

Eric reached for it. It was a rather thick book, around a thousand pages, but the red cover and binding were simply enchanting looking. He picked up the book and looked at the title. "Reading about Aristotle, now are we?" He smiled, handing the book to Ash. He had never been interested in reading non-fiction, he was more of a Harry Potter kind of boy, loving to read about worlds, made up for him to explore and indulge in at his own right, and away from harsh reality. He looked down at the boy, smiling. Ash seemed all stuttered up about talking to him, but he didn't know why. He was just a regular guy, sporty and slightly popular, perhaps. It hadn't been the best day so far, but Ash's small smile seemed to make everything better. It was small and shy, of course, but, he liked it.

Ash had to put down all the other books in order to take the one Eric had gotten from the bookshelf. He had forgotten to bring a book bag and getting all the books home was going to be an interesting struggle. The only reason he didn’t take out more than 5 library books out at a time was because he couldn’t carry them all home. Sometimes he brought a bag specifically for his extra books but he always slept in late and usually forgot it in his rush to get out the door. He was currently on his 5th book but two of them were over 1000 pages and he was going to have to perform some great feats of physics to get them all back to his house. Taking it from Eric, Ash felt his fingers brush against Eric’s and he quickly pulled away again, pressing the book tightly to his chest. Book were his protection and sometimes he wished he could just disappear into them forever. He would much prefer to live in Hogwarts or Narnia than the lonely world he lived in.
“T-thanks.” He mumbled again, eyes downcast. He knew that most kids didn’t even know he had a stutter because he simply didn’t speak enough for them to realize. The teachers had long since forgotten about the slight boy in the back of the class and those who hadn’t had learned not to call on him. Speaking to people for the first time was always interesting, he liked to see how long it took before they realized his was stuttering out of more than nerves. It seemed that Eric hadn’t noticed yet. Ash wasn’t judging (he hardly ever judged people so harshly) he was simply observing. Observing things was easier than feeling things. It was easier to just notice something and store it away, not think about it.
“W-we? I t-take it you’re n-not reading it.” He looked down at the book cover before smiling almost mischievously at Eric. From what he had observed, the books Eric preferred to read were fiction. Ash too preferred the fantastical worlds of fiction but he also hungered for information constantly. The more lonely he felt the deeper he dove into books, any book. It helped dull the ache of solitude.

Eric chuckles, raking his fingers through his hair with his left hand, his right hand still shocked after feeling Ash's soft hand. "Well, I wouldn't, unless I was taking a philosophy class, but if you're reading it, it seems pretty interesting, and I would read it if I had time between running and homework." He noticed that the books looked a little heavy, as he did have around 5 long and heavy books with him. Of course, it was probably too heavy for Ash to carry, so he offered a hand since he didn't want Ash to injure himself and possibly others and cause accidents if he dropped the books.
"Would you like some help with your heavy books?" He held out his two hands, like one of those tools you see around the nearby vicinity of people moving in. He wanted to help Ash, maybe get to know the guy. Ash was cute, he seemed nice. He also had a stutter, but Eric wasn't sure if he was worried or just nervous. But after that cheeky smile, he was pretty sure that the stutter was natural. That he could tell, anyway. Reading books seemed to be a huge thing to Ash, and Eric appreciated and understood that. Many others, like his "foster sister", also liked to read books, he assumed it was because of their desire for information and worlds. He noticed that lonelier people tended to read more.
"I don't mean to be rude, but is your stutter natural? Or are my good looks throwing you off?" He asked teasingly. He knew that he probably shouldn't have thrown flirts everywhere he went, but he just couldn't help it. It was how he hid some insecurity and how he got to know people better, just by flirting and seeing their responses to better understand how they felt and more importantly how they felt about him.

"I-if you l-love reading than you f-find t-time to read. Always." Ash told Eric with a serious look on his face before smiling faintly. He knew that life got busy, he had a younger brother and school and he also liked to run, so he knew all about busy. But when people really liked reading, they found time. It was all about prioritizing. He looked surprised at Eric's offer to help him and blushed a deep red colour before hiding his face partially by looking down. He wasn't used to people offering to help him. Not that the students at Warwick High were particularly rude or anything but Ash was usually so invisible that no one even noticed enough to help him when he needed it. He was just a ghost boy passing through. The type of person you only noticed when he slammed the door too loud or coughed during an exam.
"Oh." He breathed out nervously before passing some of the books over to Eric. He immediately felt the difference in weight and had his arms been able to speak, they would have been crying tears of joy.
"Th-thanks." He mumbled, stuttering even more now in his flustered state. Eric was so nice. Since he didn't really get a lot of human interaction, Ash was immediately flustered by Eric's simple conversation making and he couldn't stop thinking about how handsome the other boy was. It was like his brain was short circuiting. A boy was talking to him, not just any boy thought, a popular, nice, cute boy.

There it was. The moment where they figured out he wasn't just nervous. Ash had learned the exact look people got in their eyes when it dawned on them that he had a stutter rather than him just clumsily stumbling over his words. Ash found it extremely satisfying to be able to read people like he could. Often he wondered if his attention to detail came from his strange Warwick mutation but he mostly assumed it was simply because he was such a wallflower.
"I g-g-got into a car accident and t-the impact c-caused a p-permanent stutter." He said in way of explain. He hadn't always had the stutter but a car crash had damaged some of the nerves required for speaking. It had taken a long time to get used to but eventually he had learned to live with it. He couldn't change it, so why think too much about it? The second part of Eric's sentence made him laugh before running a hand through his hair nervously.
"B-but m-maybe your looks m-made me a little b-bit n-nervous." He admitted with a smile. He was trying his best to flirt back a little bit but he honestly had no idea how. He wasn't in the business of relationships. He didn't even have friends, having a boyfriend or girlfriend or literally anything else seemed like a far away fantasy. No more real than Harry Potter or Eponine from Les Miz.

Eric took all of the books under his left arm. Learning about Ash's stutter was a sad story. It was sad how everyone else around him had to go through so much, yet all that had happened to him was losing his parents. At that moment, when Ash looked up at him, he was sure that Ash's eyes were made of stars. Bright, beautiful stars. He wasn't sure if he was daydreaming, or if the stars were really in the boy's eyes. He felt the weight of the books, of course, but they were no heavier than what he was used to when he occasionally did lifting in the gym.
Of course, reading wasn't the largest priority in his life, but he really did want to make time for it. He did manage to pull aside at least seven hours a week just for reading, but he claimed it wasn't enough, not when the worlds of fantasy were so thrilling, so beautiful, and so magnificent. He often read up to fifteen hours when reading books with beautiful worlds, he just had to get through the entire series before he was satisfied, otherwise, he wasn't able to sleep.
"Sorry about that." He looked right into Ash's eyes as he said. "You're cute." He meant it. not as a joke. Ash was cute, in the way he looked and the way he acted, especially his clear inexperience when it came to flirting or conversations.

Ash couldn't stop staring at Eric. He tried to look away so he didn't look creepy but he liked looking at the other boy. He wanted to commit that face to memory. The boy who had helped him in the library that one day. Even if Eric never spoke to him ever again, Ash would probably spend the rest of the year daydreaming about him. He didn't have many other people to think about. Like most teenagers, when it came to dating, Ash crushed on basically every other person ever. But none of them had ever bothered to even look his way before, so the fact that someone so handsome as Eric was talking to him made him want to do a little victory dance.
"I..." He trailed off, not because of his stutter but simply because he had no idea what to say. No one had ever called him cute before. No one had ever called him ugly either but it was nice to have someone who he thought was as stunning as a movie star compliment him. Smiling bashfully, he put the books under his arm and looked up at Eric through his dark eyelashes. He didn't know what to do with that compliment and was silent for a long while as he tried to think of something to say.
"And y-you're sweet." He replied softly. He wanted to spend some more time with Eric, he didn't want this to end. Tomorrow things would probably go back to the way things were. But for now, Ash wanted to hold onto this new friendship tightly.
"D-o you m-maybe w-want to help me g-get the b-books back to my house? W-walk with me?" He asked hesitantly. It had taken every ounce of courage in his body to ask that and now he could only pray that the answer would be yes.

Eric smiled. The way Ash was looking at him, he didn't deserve. He didn't deserve all the nice things that Ash was saying to him, not at all. He was an idiot, who got his own friends killed and didn't recognize that his grandmother was a killer. He was a little shocked at Ash telling him that he was sweet, and for the first time in ages, he felt his face heat up a little. It was rare that he was the one who blushed, considering that he was the flirter, and almost never the one receiving the compliments. He smiled a little as his face flushed a pale pink.
He laughs a little. "I'm not that sweet, but of course I'll help you take your books home, it's not like your cute self can carry it." He didn't want to let Ash down, and he also did kind of want to spend more time with this nice, cute, admirable boy.

"D-did I j-just make you b-blush?" Ash asked with a sparkle in his wide eyes. He had just made Eric blush. This was the guy who was known for being a flirt and a player and yet here he was with pink flooding his cheeks. Ash couldn't believe that he even had the ability to make someone like Eric blush.
"Hey! I'm t-tougher than you th-think." He replied with a smirk, surprising himself with his outgoing comment. Just because he was a little bit smaller than most boys didn't mean that he wasn't able to do things for himself. He had always sort of disliked the fact that he was "cute". Although like every teenager he had his doubts about his looks, he had eventually settled on the fact that if he were good looking at all, he would be cute. He had always wanted to be handsome because it felt more tough. Cute made him feel like a little bunny rabbit or a pet dog. Despite that, he knew that he couldn't carry all the books home by himself.
"T-thanks again." He said more shyly this time and began walking towards the checkout system their school had. It was an electronic system, which he loved because it meant he didn't have to talk to the librarian to take out any books.
"I l-live really c-close by." He assured Eric as they left the library. They lived in a small house about five blocks away from the school. The house was shabby and much too small for two kids but it was close to nearly everything and it was cozy and lovable.

((Just a reminder! Let me know if you want to stop rping and that's fine I just want to know if Ash can be freed for another rp or not!))

{I love this}

(omg i can't believe goodreads didn't send me a notification! i really do want to continue, if you're still up for it! and thanks, nova :>)

((Yeah i'm still up for it! Don't worry about it))

"What? I'm human too, I can blush as well." Eric nudged Ash in a friendly, joking way. He might've been known as a flirt or a player but he was still a human with many emotions under it all. But, it did make his emotions more precious, in a way, he assumed.
"I really doubt it." He laughed. He had known many people who were really tough and Ash didn't seem to have anything in common with them. "At least not physically, since I'm literally carrying most of your books."
"You're always welcome, whether your home is close or not." Eric smiled. He had the New Years Ball in the back of his mind and did want to ask Ash, maybe, but he felt it might've been a little early. He should ask early, otherwise Ash the cute might get asked out by anybody else. He decided that he should probably ask right before they got to Ash's home.

Ash couldn't help but stare at Eric like a weirdo when he gently nudged his shoulder. Ash knew that plenty of people did that to each other, he had observed enough high school friendships to know that was a thing. But no one ever did it with him, he didn't have any friends like that. He knew that he should stop staring but he couldn't help himself. Eric was acting like they were friends. A warm feeling spread through Ash's chest and he smiled hesitantly before quickly letting his gaze slide back down to the ground. He figured that Eric was already weirded out by all the staring and he didn't want to make things worse than they already were. For someone who studied human interaction so much in his daily life, Ashur wasn't great at being social himself. He felt like a rusty machine, trying to figure out how to work. But his parts were moving too slowly and were creaking with misuse and he just felt stupid trying to talk to Eric. Who was he anyways to think that someone as popular as Eric would actually want to talk to him.
"Hey! I w-was going t-to carry them all home by m-my self. B-but you offered" He said with a pout on his face. He was only half joking. He didn't like that people doubted his abilities to do things just cause he was small. It was a nice day and Ash couldn't help but smile as they walked down the street. It was nice to have someone to walk with. It didn't take them long to reach his house. He had a small house and it was sort of grungy but he liked it, it was his home. Stopping in front of the gate he ducked his head shyly to look at Eric from under his eyelashes.
"Th-thanks for helping me." He mumbled softly.

When Ash spoke, it sometimes became hard for Eric to focus on what he was saying, mostly because the melodic and soft tune of Ash's voice would drown out the content and the words. He definitely tried to focus, and he assured himself that he was doing a pretty good job of doing so. He had never felt the warm glow of a heart (like in jane the virgin), and it all felt very new and exciting.
"You're welcome." He smiled. He thought about how to ask Ash out as they walked down the street, not really talking. He kept thinking about this. He had never been this nervous before about getting anything wrong. Sure, he knew that Ash would most likely say yes judging by the fact that the younger boy looked like him as god earlier, but that didn't mean that he wasn't freaking nervous. After running through a bunch of different scenarios inside his mind, he decided the best way would be to just ask him.
"So, Ash, could you show me where to place the books and where to place the invite to the ball with me?"

The door was unlocked as usual and Ash just pushes the door open with a creak. They weren’t the wealthiest people in the world and there really wasn’t much to steal, so the door was open most of the time. Ash didn’t usually use the door anyway and neither did his brother since both of them were shapeshifters and preferred to use the low window in the kitchen. When he opened the door something whizzed past his head in a flash of gold and brown. His younger brother was a shapeshifter and often flew about the house in his falcon form. He had been told many times not to fly in the house but he was young and full of energy and couldn’t help it. Adjust could only hope that Eric didn’t notice it. No one knew about their abilities and Ash planned to keep it that way. Plenty of people believed in the supernatural in Warwick but others thought it was just a myth. Either way, Ashur didn’t want the attention and he wanted to protect his brother too.
“Shawn!” He shouted out toward his brother’s room. He wanted to just warn his brother that he had a friend over. If Eric even was a friend, he didn’t know what to consider the boy. They had only known each other for half an hour but he knew that he at least wanted to be Eric’s friend.

“Oh... j-just put it on the c-counter.” He said, gesturing to the kitchen counter. There were already piles of books on the counter as well as the table. Really there were just books everywhere. Teetering stacks that looked like a feat of physics keeping them up, organized homemade shelves and stacked on coffee tables. There was more paper in this house than anything else. It took Ashur a moment to understand what Eric had just asked. The last thing he had expected was to be asked to the New Years ball. No one asked him to do anything with them, let alone go to a dance.
“Y-you want to g-go to the dance with me?” He stammered, out of surprise too this time. He couldn’t believe it, but there was a smile slowly spreading across his face. Tentative at first just on case he had heard wrong, he didn’t want to get his hopes up.

Entering Ash's house was like a calm and serene environment, apart from the little something that flew above his head. He didn't really notice it, but it was somewhere in his peripheral vision. He liked it. It was quaint and quiet, a cute kind of house. Much nicer than the torn down, and raggedy old house of his grandmother's. He shook the negative memories out of his mind as he walked further in. From the call Ash shouted, Eric presumed he had a brother, or a dog, either way, it was cool. He wondered for a moment why he called out to his brother, but knowing what it was like to have a house-mate, he often understood why you needed to warn the other person if guests were coming over. After all, he would need to warn his roommate that there were guests or she would just leave her stuff all over the house.
After dropping the books on the counter, he turned around to face Ash.
"Of course, I mean, I've only known you for like half an hour, but you seem like a cool guy, and it beats going to the dance with my roommate." He joked, but he really did want to go with Ash. He was confident that Leona would find her own date or just go alone and end up with a date. It wasn't something he wanted, but she had that sort of talent in her blood. "So, what do you say?"

“Oh.” Ash didn’t know what to say. His eye were as wide as saucers as he stared at Eric in shock. He couldn’t believe this was actually happening. Eric, one of the most popular boys at school had just asked him to the New Years dance. He felt like an idiot and in his shock he managed to knock over a glass on the counter onto the floor. It shattered with a crash and Ash’s eats and cheeks turned bright red in embarrassment. He had just had a huge idiot of himself in front of possibly the handsomest boy in school. Not only that but he was also the boy who had just asked him to go to the dance with him.
“I-I’m so sorry.” He stammered out, leaning over to pick up the bigger glass pieces. Suddenly realizing that he hadn’t even answered Eric’s question yet he straightened up with a start only to hit his head on the counter ledge. Wincing in pain he squeezed his eyes shut before finally looking up at Eric.
“I w-would r-really like to g-g-go with you. If you still w-want to take m-me...” he mumbled almost tearfully. He had always been a sensitive kid and he was horrified to feel hot tears burning his eyes. Turning away from Eric by grabbed the broom, he scrubbed furiously at his eye with the palm of his hands. If there was one thing that could make this moment worse, it would be crying. Eric would probably think he was a freak and stop talking to him. Ash told himself not to care. He had lived basically his entire life without friends, who cared if this boy he had only known for less than an hour stopped talking to him. Life would just go on as normal. But Ash was so used to disappearing that it was nice to finally be noticed by someone. Part of him wondered if this was all a joke, being asked to the dance. He knew that Eric was a horrible flirt so maybe this was all just a game to him. But it was too late for Ash, he had already put his heart in the game.

Eric was at first amused by the crashing of the glass until Ash started crying. His eyes then widened as he bit his lip. Then Ash hit his head on the counter and he fidgeted with his fingers. He didn't know what to say, what to do, but as he noticed the tears in Ash's eyes and his clearly hurt tone, he didn't know what to say. He just knew that whatever he said, he had to keep up his reputation as well as his chances to get to go to the dance with Ash.
"It's fine." He followed Ash as he went to grab the broom, and placed his hand on Ash's shoulder. He wanted to reassure the poor boy, tell him that it was all going to be okay and that he was definitely going to the dance with him.
"I can definitely go with you." He turned the boy around and clutched his shoulders. "I want to go to the dance with you for sure, okay, and nothing's going to change my decision." He took a dramatic break. "Now, is your head okay?"

((I just figured that Eric should know what he's getting into... there will probably be a lot of of crying for literally no reason! Ash is a sensitive guy))

What hurt even more was that Eric looked like he was almost smiling. Ashur didn't know what he had been expecting when he had done pretty much every stupid thing he could have, but he hadn't thought that Eric would find it funny. Since he was a little boy, Ash had always been easily hurt. Physically and emotionally. Since he was naturally smaller than other boys and even some girls, he had always been pushed around in elementary school. Whether it was because of his stutter, or just because he didn't like to play with the rest of the kids, he had always gotten teased and shoved. By middle school he had learned how to disappear in plain sight and people started to leave him alone. He wasn't interesting because he didn't fight back and eventually they just stopped noticing him. Now that he was in high school it was pretty much the same, he was invisible. He knew that being able to just disappear was a blessing but sometimes he felt like it was a curse. But just as he was easily physically hurt, it didn't take much to break his heart. He had been insulted so much about his stutter when he was a kid that just the slightest insult could make him tear up, and then because he was crying, he would get even more upset and start crying even more. He wasn't even sad, his tears just flowed more freely than most other people's did.

"O-oh. Okay." He mumbled softly. His eyes were still red from tears but he looked up at Eric to give him a faint smile. He didn't understand why the boy still wanted to go with him to the dance. Ash had been sure he would have revoked his offer after he had seen how weak he was. He literally cried at the drop of a dime. But the offer still stood and that was enough to make Ashur feel a little bit better about the whole glass crashing mishap.
"Yeah. I-it's okay." He said, sniffling softly and wiping his eyes again. It hadn't hurt that much, he had only started crying because it was so embarrassing.

(view spoiler)[ Do we want to end this one in a few posts and maybe rp them somewhere else with a timeskip to a few days later, or maybe set up a direct message between them (hide spoiler)]

(view spoiler)[Direct messages, for now, I guess, since that would make sense. (hide spoiler)]

((aww, Eric is definitely ready for this!))

Being liked and well-known was something that Eric had known for all of high school. Before that, he was just the goofy class clown, the goofy boy that didn't pay attention to his studies, that simply just goofed around and didn't get good grades either. He found it everything he had known, which was why when he entered high school, he wanted to rewrite his own image. It was a fresh start for him, of sorts, since most people he knew in middle school either left the school or never made it to high school. He didn't expect that his playboy image would reach such an extent though, given the fact that he was still the same boy, still scared of the same things, and had the same friends.

"If you're okay here, I guess I'll pick up your number, and see you at the ball later?" He asked, kind of ruffling Ash's hair since he was taller than him and anything else would appear awkward.

(view spoiler)[ Okay i'll make a messaging thing started. Next post will probably be at the ball yeah? (hide spoiler)]

"Yeah i-i'm o-okay." Ashur mumbled out again with a sheepish smile. A light blush had spread across his cheeks and he ducked his head slightly, looking at the floor instead of Eric because he was still too embarrassed to look at the other boy. Shoving his hands into the pockets of his hoodie he lifted his shoulders up slightly towards his ears, looking completely nervous and bashful. When Eric asked for his number, Ashur couldn't help but feel a little bit giddy on the inside. In all the high school books and movies he read and watched, there was always that fateful moment that the characters got each others numbers. Cute texts ensued along with deep meaningful conversations over phone or text. You knew that when the guy got the girl's number and smiled like the stars shone just for him, that's when you knew that this was going to be a nice romance. Of course, this was a little bit different because there was no girl in this scenario (movies still haven't really caught up to modern ages quite yet, or at least not the ones Ash watched) but it was the same concept. He liked to text people because then they didn't have to listen to his stupid stuttering and mumbling all day. Texting he could just write. Plus, writing things was easier than saying them.

"Here, Th-this is m-my number." He grabbed a scrap of paper from the counter and jotted it down before handing it to Eric. The blush across his face had only spread even more now.
"Yeah... see y-you." Ash said with a grin. He couldn't help but wince a little when he felt his hair being ruffled. People did that sometimes since they thought of him as "cute" or like a little kid. He didn't want Eric to see him as a little kid, he wanted to be seen as an equal. Once Eric was gone out the door, Ashur ran to the window at the front of the house and just watched Eric disappear out of sight. Once he was, Ash immediately remembered that he was going to have to wear something nice to the ball. Shit.

(view spoiler)[Right! I'm excited! (hide spoiler)]

Eric smiled, turning around to leave and he walked out the door, feeling happy. It was a feeling of joy that he was unused to feeling. He was glad that he had found Ash, and was even happier to be taking him to the new year's ball. He had a suit and everything, but he wasn't sure what else to wear. After all, he had to look brilliant beside his boyfriend if they were going to steal the show.