L A S T friday N I G H T [Ashton]

There was so much space in the new house that Ashton almost didn't know what to do about it. It wasn't a large house—it was only one story high—but it had about twice the space of their old home and then some. He was sharing a room with his brother at the moment but his parents planned to fix up the loft-like "attic" and either take the room themselves or give it to him. It was unusable at present thanks to weak floorboards. However, they did have a large kitchen and a separate area for dining which they'd never had before. Then there was the living room, which had previously been a tiny little square of a room with a coffee table and a couch. The television had been perched on the adjoining kitchen's counter. The backyard was Ashton's favourite. That was where he was now, throwing darts with his father at the wall of the barnhouse. "Sorry!" he winced as he missed his mark and the dart landed on the roof of the car instead. His father only laughed. "No harm done. Save for the fact that you lost," he added, teasing.

His phone vibrated in his pocket, alerting him to a text. "Who's that, kid?" His father did not appear to be prying, merely sounded curious as he returned from retrieving their darts. Ashton's lips formed a bright smile when he read the text. "Noly," he said. "That's your friend from school, eh? Your mother and I've heard a lot about her." He chuckled, the smile turning to a grin. Over the holidays he'd told his parents a lot about the friends he'd made during the school years and as Hannoly was one of his best friends they'd certainly got an earful about her. He'd mentioned Asha briefly but he didn't talk about her any more. "She wants me to go over. Can I?" Dustin responded by clapping him on the shoulder. "Go for it, Ash." He went back toward the house and Ashton replied to the text with, 'Be there in a bit (:'.

When he got to the door, he knocked and wait until his friend answered before pulling her into a hug. "Guess where I came from, No-No?" He was still opting to board at the Academy so that it would save his parents the gas money of his driving back and forth most days and they'd only just moved in a few days ago so he hadn't gotten a chance to tell his best friend. "My house. We live here now! I can visit you in the summer now!" He was grinning like an idiot and obviously pleased about this. "Ooh, smells good, whatcha makin'? Can I come in?"

He couldn't help but smile as Noly let out a high-pitched squealing sound upon hearing his news, guessing that she was happy about it. He was also glad that he could now live in the Hollow with all of his friends nearby and his parents close to the Academy. He liked the idea of being able to drive home whenever there was a holiday or on weekends to visit his little brother instead of having to wait until the holidays. "I can visit during winter now, too. And summer, and spring break, and... any time we want to hang out!" He had always been careful about going over to his friends houses during the break because he didn't want to waste the money his parents sent him (via bank account) for rare trips to the town. Now they lived nearby and he could just ask his parents if it was alright to borrow the car or go out to the movies or something like that. "Oh, and you can come over to my house, too!" he realised. "You've never met my family!" Living in one city and having friends in another tended to cause those sorts of problems.

He nodded when she spoke of her baking. They were friends and through friendships you learned little things like that. "Never a bad time for junk food!" He knew he should probably be careful about what he put into his mouth or the damage done to his teeth by eating too many sweets but an occasional indulgence wouldn't hurt anyone. He didn't have too high a tolerance for sweet things—a cupcake or two was a limit before he had to move to something less sugary. He had more of a tolerance for things like cookies and brownies, however, things without the extra sugary icings. That was why his green eyes lit up when she mentioned a cake. "Cookie... cake?" he repeated, sounding surprised but intrigued. He liked cake and he liked cookies so he wasn't really wary of a combined confection. "Is that just like a giant cookie, or a cookie flavoured cake, or cake with cookie dough pieces, or...?" He'd never tried baking all that often so he wasn't aware of any rules for what you should and shouldn't do. Besides, good chefs tended to break rules.

Seeing as Noly had invited him over for a movie night, Ashton asked, "So what are we watchin'?" The Earth elemental's tone seemed to be constantly cheerful and light as he spoke. Being around anyone he got along with tended to have this effect on him. "Nice apron, by the way." He poked her playfully in the stomach and chuckled. He always liked the Disney films and had grown up with them as part of his childhood so he didn't see anything wrong with things depicting the various characters. He'd never understood the teenager fad with Dora the Explorer, though. The Lion King was a classic but Dora? It was just a show to him, nothing more. Cameron had watched it when he was little. "Then again, it doesn't matter to me! Any excuse to see my best friend is a good one, right?"

Ashton immediately felt wary about the inclusion of Nell, realising that Hannoly didn't know about what had happened between the two Earth elementals. He did not want to admit that he and Nell weren't speaking in case she scolded him on his mistrust for the other girl but he also didn't want to deny an invitation to hang around with Hannoly. I'll do it for her. "Seventy six? Wow, she's lucky. I'll be there!" He was the type of person that could to to a place such as a party or other social gathering containing his enemies without starting a fight. Granted, Nell was not his enemy. She just wasn't his friend any more. Though it had been Ashton who'd made the decision to henceforth exclude the girl from his life, there was still some pain associated in thinking about her. They'd been close. I just hope her fiancé doesn't kill me. He'd never had any problems with Josh since the rocky incidents of ninth grade but he didn't know if Nell had told him about their breaking off. "Is your sister going to be here?" he asked, curious. He didn't mind Tase but Noly hadn't mentioned her twin so he wasn't sure.

He smiled. "Cake it is, then!" Ashton might not have been very tolerant of a lot of sweets but he liked cookies and was eager to see what a cookie cake might turn out like, especially since his friend was making it. He wondered whether it would turn hard and crunchy like some cookies did or whether it would be soft and smooth like a lot of home-made ones. He also wondered if it wouldn't burn on the outside before it cooked baked all the way through. He was no expert on baking and so he just trusted Noly to make it come out great. "I have nothing against it," he assured her with a laugh, raising his hands as if surrendering. The movie had probably made him cry as a kid. He remembered the sob-fest that was Bambi. Dad'll never, ever let me live that one down. Dustin was good natured about it at least. Ana always just settled for rolling her eyes.

Not questioning her massive collection of films, Ashton thought about it for a moment. "I don't like horror too much. Wanna go with something funny?" He didn't mind comedies, romantic comedies, cartoon comedies—anything to make him laugh, really. He enjoyed laughter and he liked seeing his friends happy and chuckling. It was why he was so willing to kid around, even when it was at his own expense. "I don't care which one, though." He instead busied himself with dipping a pretzel in chocolate and popping a piece into his mouth. "Can I marry your baking, please?" he requested with a laugh. "Or you, so I can make you bake for me?" He was obviously joking.

Though he hadn't known too much about the relationship between the sisters other than that it was a slightly rocky one, it was saddening to hear her admit that her sister was gone. Ashton's first instinct, and one that he followed, was to step forward and wrap his arms around his best friend. He'd always been the type of friend to provide comfort and a sense of closeness when anyone he knew well experienced some sort of loss—he never knew what to do with himself otherwise. Ashton was so empathetic that it hurt sometimes, feeling pain just listening to others talk about the things that had happened to them and so forth. "Oh, I'm sorry, I never knew." He almost wished he hadn't said anything at all but he knew it would have come up eventually. Twins were supposed to be inseparable and even Ashton would have noticed after a long enough period of time. Months, though? That's already bad. "I hope she comes back." He was hoping this for Noly's sake. The sisters might not have been the closest duo but they were still sisters. He guessed that it was shaking Noly up pretty bad. He didn't know what he'd do if he lost Cameron and they weren't even twins.

It felt nice to see her smiling, like his presence was actually doing something. She might have just been forcing it for his sake but he thought that it looked genuine enough and so tried not to pessimistically question the gesture. That wasn't hard, being that Ash had never been a pessimistic person. He was an optimist, always trying (and usually succeeding) to see the best in people and situations. It was why he was so friendly, why he always gave second chances, why he went into things with a smile. He hated dragging other people down with any worries and concerns he might have and so he pretended that those concerns were invalid and that everything would work out for the best. Unfortunately this didn't always work as well as he hoped. It didn't stop him from trying, though. "Sure," he agreed, smiling back at her when she suggested a movie. "I haven't seen that one. What's it about?" He never cared so much about the movie's plot so much as he did enjoying it with friends but he'd still be paying attention to it and so he was curious.

He winced apologetically when he made her mess up her kitchen. "Sorry!" he said, chuckling. He shook his head when she explained and let out another couple of laughs before he was stable and coherent enough to make a response. "No, I know," he said. "I'm only messin' with ya." He reached over and slung his arm around her shoulder in a one-armed hug for a moment, tilting his head when she mentioned the cake. "Are you sure?" She'd baked plenty of things and he wasn't sure she'd miss it either way but he didn't want to inconvenience her if it would be any issue. He never wanted to be a bother when it came to his friends, not even his closest ones like Hannoly. He also didn't mind it when they drank because it was their life. As long as they didn't start winding up in ditches and jail cells he wouldn't intervene. He drank too, sometimes, and so when she brought out the wine coolers his only question was, "Is this enough of a special occasion?" He took one anyway—why not, right? Unfortunately for the pair of him his alcohol tolerance was not that high and it wouldn't take too much to make him tipsy.

[Why is my muse always better in the early hours of the morning? x.x]

He appreciated the fact that Hannoly was not the type to drag everyone down, even though he was still worrying about her when she pushed aside the grief and put on a smile. No one liked to be around a person when all they did was mope and act miserable but Ash also hoped that she'd tell him if it was really too hard for her to take. He was always there for his friends when they needed him. Ashton was a very compassionate and empathetic guy—he'd gotten it from his father, according to his grandmother. He almost wanted to console his friend a little more but couldn't think of what to say, so he simply squeezed her shoulder briefly and then let his hand drop back to his side. There were some wounds that even friendship and condolences couldn't heal. The loss of a twin was one of them, even if it wasn't through their death. He didn't know what it was like to lose a twin but if losing a sibling was bad enough, losing one that was also your body double must be twice as bad. He'd never know, as he was not a twin himself.

He blinked and then laughed at her explanation. "Sounds adventurous." He didn't mind romantic comedies, not even if they were rated R and had some steamy scenes. Ashton wasn't as prudish as some people might have assumed for such a sweet and shy Earth elemental. He didn't go parading it, either. "Hey, anyone who shares my name is cool with me," he joked when Ashton Kutcher was mentioned. It was strange to have people share your name and it wasn't a problem he thought Hannoly would encounter often. She had a unique name. He'd not met many Ashton's, thankfully. His problem would likely have been amplified if his parents had named him something like Alex or David. Common names. "No Strings Attached it is, then," he concluded, voicing his approval of the movie.

Noly seemed rather enthusiastic about the cake, something that amused him. "If you need to go crazy with the icing, go for it," he assured her, not wanting to limit her creativity simply because he couldn't stomach mass amounts of sugar at once like some people. It amazed him when he watched people gorge down cupcake after cupcake without so much as wincing but he didn't exactly envy them. His hesitance stopped him from eating an entire box of chocolates and blowing up like a blimp, for example. "I'd just eat it slower." He was sure it would get finished at any rate. He was not a wasteful person and if she was letting him take it home that meant he'd have to share with his family as well—something he did not mind doing. On the subject of drinks he grinned and took one. "Well, alright then." He didn't mind indulging every once and a while.