* IN A HOPELESS PLACE [asher]

[karlee]

Karlee loved her car dearly, really dearly. It was the last gift from her brother that she received. However, the fact that the passenger side door didn't open, and she had to beg for it to start, was getting annoying. Not to mention that she was pretty sure the breaks where gone. Not knowing if you where going to actually be able to stop was a problem when you where going sixty miles per hour, or less for that matter. Going any speed, it was an issue. She had tried to do work on it herself, after all, she was quite the car enthusiast. The black 1969 pontiac firebird had wrapped up quite a lot of her time. She enjoyed it, however. Car's didn't back talk. Or hurt you. Well, unless you wrecked one.

Her dearest friend, Asher, worked at a mechanics shop, however. She figured he knew more than she did, and could in the least help her. And it would give her an excuse to hang out with him, and see the progress he had made on his car. It had been a while since they hung out, after the Morgan episode. She had left, she hadn't wanted to ruin his potential relationship. Or rather, she thought it had been a real relationship. Her car had not wanted to start that morning, but she finally got it to. It took a bit of coaxing and bribing, and some minor screaming and a fit before the thing decided to finally roar to life. It was loud, and you could hear it coming for quite a ways. She decided to stop by and pick up coffee, since well, she loved coffee. She picked up two french vanilla cappuccino's. She would offer one to Asher, even though she was pretty sure he didn't drink coffee. If not, more for her. She was sure she would need it today.

She pulled into the parking lot of the shop, and her window was rolled down, smoke rolling out of it before she put her cigarette out in the ashtray. Smoking was a terrible habit and she had been trying to quit - but that happened to be way harder than she thought at first. Probably because she had no motivation or a real reason to quit. She was sure he probably heard her car coming. She decided to leave the window down, since if Asher did have time to look at, he would probably want to. She got out, and when she closed the door, the door handle broke off. She scowled for a moment and ran her fingers through her hair and looked down at the broken handle in her hand. "Stupid piece of shit." She said, holding the handle in one hand, and one coffee in her other hand, with the other tucked under her arm.

She didn't feel she needed an invitation to walk into the shop, esspecially since Asher was there, looking at the engine of another car. "Knock knock!" She said, trying to sound chipper, when inside she just wanted to take a chainsaw to her car. The thing was really starting to irritate her. She hoped she didn't startle him. She seemed to have a habit of doing that to the poor boy. " I come bearing gifts." She said, nodding towards the coffee under her arm. "Wasn't sure what you drink so I just brought you my usual. It's pretty sweet." She walked over to a bench he wasn't at, and set the coffee's down. "Oh, and this." She said, smirking at him, and holding the polished silver handle out with both hands.

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[asher]

"Bryan! Where did you put my socket wrench?" Asher called from beneath the hood of a 1995 Toyota Corolla. It was an old piece of work, and had not been well cared for. The owner recently bought it for a cheap price and needed some basic work done. The Wind student was the boy for the job. Bryan poked his head out of the office--the door had remained open so they could chat. "I didn't put it anywhere Ash. You sure you didn't leave it somewhere? It was the 14 millimeter one right?" Asher rolled his eyes and leaned back from the engine, giving his co-worker a 'seriously?' sort of look. The other boy blinked and looked a bit abashed but did not say anything. "No, I need the 10 millimeter. Y'know, the average size for removing car batteries." The kid should know this by now! It was not rocket science! Well, he supposed since Bryan was still new to the mechanic ordeal that some things were still lost to him. Asher knew all of this like the back of his hand and often forgot that others did not know what he knew. He sighed and went back to the toolbox to dig for the wrench. Bryan continued to watch Asher for a few moments. "You okay bro? You seem...off lately." Aha. He found the wrench. He somewhat ignored Bryan's question as he turned back towards the car. Bryan frowned. "Come on. What's eating you?" So persistent. Asher was never the type to talk about his life to other people unless he felt he could trust you. Bryan was a nice guy but he did not know him well enough to divulge any of what was going on. Especially since it was in regards to Morgan. "Nothing man. Just trying to get this battery changed." Would that even deter his co-worker? Bryan sighed and went back into the office. "Alright man. Whatever you say."

Glad for the lack of questioning, he slid the goggles onto his face, his gloves already on and ready to go. Batteries could potentially be dangerous and he was not going to skimp out on precautions. He already had the baking soda and water solution on the terminals to clean it off. Once clean, Asher set to removing the bolts from the battery. Focused on his work--which turned out to be rather difficult because his mind was constantly drifting--he almost did not hear a car pulling into the parking lot of the shop. One of the bolts was now undone. Just as he set the wrench on the next bolt, a familiar voice caught him off guard. Smack! That hurt like a bitch! Asher, in his surprise, lifted his head up a bit too quickly and nicked it on the hood of the car. "Fuck!" He exclaimed in pain, rubbing his head. There was going to be a lump there later. When he peered around the car, he gave her a small smile. "Hey there," He greeted. It was evident he was not himself but it was not like could be bothered to attempt to be in a chipper mood. He was tired of holding himself up. Grabbing a nearby rag, Asher started to wipe his hands before approaching her. "Thanks Karls, but...I don't do the caffeine thing, remember?" He never did well with caffeine. An unnatural way for him to stay energized when for him it was not necessary. He was a naturally kinetic person, always moving and full of vigor. Today he looked...defeated. Tired. Even so he turned down the dose of coffee he probably needed. He quirked an eyebrow at the sight of the door handle and took it out of her hands to look at it. "Well, I don't think a portable car handle will help you open the door..." At least he could still make a little humor.

After examining it for a moment, he turned to the car he had been working on. "Let me finish this, and then we can bring your car in. I don't have any other appointments today." He handed the broken handle back over to Karlee and went back to the engine of the old Corolla. It needed more than just a new battery but hey. Baby steps. "So did you just come by for the car? Or for a visit?" Either way was fine with him; he enjoyed having his friends around. They were a nice source of comfort, even if he did not tell him that he needed said comfort at the moment. Once the battery had been successfully replaced, he held up a finger to Karlee to tell him he would be right back. He started up the car and backed it out of the garage to leave it in the parking lot. The owner would be back later in the afternoon. He jogged back inside--the cold was a bit much compared to the warmth of the garage--and sat down on one of the benches. "You can bring your car in if you want. I'll have a look at the handle and stuff in here. A bit too cold outside." Asher ran a hand through his hair and, after a second or two, stood up and went over to the tool box to put a few of the tools away. He felt so off. Different. Tired. Confused. A bit of an emotional wreck. It was strange considering he was normally not the type of person to allow someone to bother him this bad. It was why he cut himself off from people he did not want to deal with. But now it was like, even though Morgan was gone, he was stuck with her. Because his emotions still existed. They could not simply be turned off.

[karlee]

Karlee flinched as Asher smacked his head on the car hood. Dammit I'm sorry. I was trying to avoid that." She said, now trying not to laugh. She had a habit of doing that to him, didn't she? When he spoke though, she could tell right away something was wrong. One of the benefits of being somebodies best friend, was you knew those things. You could just hear the tone of somebodies voice and know what was going on. She, however, was pretty sure she knew the reason. Last time they talked he tried not to sound upset bout it, but Karlee knew he was. When you got your heart wretched from your chest it was hard to be happy. "How are you doing this morning?" She asked, even though she knew the answer. She was understanding, and she wasn't going to force anything out of him if he didn't want to tell her.

She frowned playfully as he turned down the coffee. She knew he didn't drink caffine, at least she had assumed so, before shrugging. "Oh well, more for me then! I cannot function without it." She smiled a little bit, letting her bright blue eyes search his face for a moment, and finding her smile fading. He certainly was not himself. Asher was usually a very upbeat and jovial person, and always looked full of life. However, today was different. He looked like he hadn't slept in days. She frowned for a moment and placed her free hand on the side of his face. "Are you sure you don't need coffee? Because you look terrible, Ash. Have you even been sleeping?" She knew she sounded pretty harsh, but it was true. He really didn't look good. She was hoping it wasn't the thing with Morgan that had him so disraught, but she was also assuming that was probably what it was. She dropped her hand and shook her head a moment, before smiling as he took the door handle. "No, no. And I'm finding myself more than thankful I left my window rolled down. The passenger side already doesn't open. My babies falling apart, Ash." She smiled and shook her head. She knew he could fix it.

"Sounds perfect." She replied, before going over and grabbing one of the coffee's and taking a sip out of it, and hopping up and sitting on the bench. She figured she would wait for him to finish what he was doing. "Both. I need some best friend time. And well, I need my car to work. It's getting scary not knowing if I'm gonna be able to stop or not." She chuckled and shook her head. When he left, she just waited, and glanced around the shop. She had been here before, but only briefly. She never really glanced around too much. She wanted to see the progress Asher had made on his car, too, during her visit. After she found out what was wrong with him. She smiled and nodded at him. "Alright." She said, as she walked out of the shop, and to her car. She had to reach inside and open the door from the inside, since, well, there was no handle. She got in and the engine struggled to start. " God damn you, stupid car." She mumbled, pumping the gas a few times before the engine roared to life. She pulled it slowly inside the shop, and put it in park before shutting the engine off and getting it out. "Here she is! My regal beast." She said, obviously joking, before going over by Asher, and sitting on the bench next to him. "I have nothing else to do today, so, you don't have to start now if you don't want." She said, her voice slightly quiet as she looked over at him for a moment. "Are you alright?"

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[asher]

There was definitely a lump on the back of his head now, but he supposed it could be worse. He had had worse before. Slipping off of waterfalls, hurting himself playing sports, plenty of bruises and cuts. "Ah, it's okay," Asher replied, waving her off with a limp hand while the other continued to rub the tender spot on his head. "It's not like you planned to make me beat myself up. Right?" He looked nervous but it was only playing. Oddly enough it did not really seem all that playful; probably because he was so drained. He hadn't smiled much lately. It felt strange. Was this how Adam spent his days? With a permanent frown on his face? It was actually more painful than offering someone a smirk or a grin. 'It takes more muscles to frown than to smile' definitely applied to this situation. "I'm just...doing. Staying busy with school and work. The usual." Asher replied with a faint shrug, offering Karlee a sort of twitched smile. Just enough to show that he was not necessarily in a bad mood or upset with her. It was just a shitty day. Well, more like a shitty past couple of weeks. He was more than glad to have Karlee take up the second cup of coffee, being as he really didn't think it would do him much good. He had considered taking up caffeine lately but he felt that it might be more of a downer than a pick-me-up. Maybe things would balance out soon and he could get a good night's sleep. He wanted to stay positive about this. Of course when one of your closest friends took notice of the difference and was asking questions it made that venture difficult.

Asher tensed up a little when Karlee touched his face; normally he was an affectionate person but lately he had distanced himself from others. As though touching others was painful. A bit dramatic but it spoke volumes when Asher was not willing to be as huggy towards his friends. "I'm getting sleep where I can get it. I've just been busy is all. No worries." He smiled a little more this time, but it was strained. Tired. Forced. Karlee would probably be able to pick up on it, but he was not really attempting to hide it anymore. That took a lot of energy and effort. Besides, this was one of his best friends. He was not as eager to lie and fake his happiness in front of her. Asher shook his head, lamenting over the broken door handle a little before chuckling dryly. "Well, let's see if we can put it back together enough for you to drive safely. I can't have you leaving here in a two-ton metal death trap." He waited until she got comfortable before turning away from her and working on the car. At least conversation was easy enough considering he was trying to focus on not getting electrocuted. "I can balance both of those I think. I'm guessing the brakes are giving you a hard time?" He raised an eyebrow and glanced over at Karlee briefly before turning back to the battery in the car. "Could be you need brake fluid. I'll check that for you after I get the handle fixed." Even though her car was old, Asher wanted to assume the simple things first before moving on to more expensive fixes. Brake fluid was not a big deal and much cheaper than replacing anything else.

He removed the goggles from his face while Karlee went to fetch her car and pull it into the shop; there was a faint ring around his eyes from where the plastic sat. It was either that or not take all precautions for a battery exchange though. If Greg were to ever catch him without them...he did not want to think about it. The car's engine echoed in the shop before it died away, leaving a small space of silence before Karlee got out of the car. "Yeah, I'll give myself a little bit and then I'll start. Take advantage of the slowness I guess." Asher sighed and sat down on the bench when she said there was no rush. Was it bad that Asher was grateful for a break? Probably. He didn't even look at her as he ran a hand through his hair, trying to sort out his emotions and remain level. Crying? He hardly ever cried. It was not really something he went out of his way to do. Besides, up until now he never had much of a reason to shed tears. He'd fallen a million times, broken bones, dealt with family drama, but this...was a bit more painful than that. It's why I try to avoid relationships and avoid loving people. He loved people in the sense of friendship (those that were his friends) but never more than that. Morgan had managed to reach that point and then she vanished. Again. The ever confident Asher Rizzo felt like he was worth nothing. "I'm fine." He replied, voice distant. "Nothing I can't get past with time and finding things to keep me busy, y'know?" Staying busy was important for him. Kept his mind focused on one thing at a time. Prevented it from drifting to the dark recesses he wished to avoid.

[karlee]

Karlee could tell Asher was not being himself. He was usually the most light hearted and carefree person that she knew. She knew why he was being this way though, even though he was not outright saying it. And it kind of made her want to hurt somebody. He was her best friend, and he was hurting. She could tell when he all but pulled away when she touched his face. "If you insist..." She said in a quiet voice, although she knew he was lying. His smile was forced, and looked like it was painful. She knew him well enough to know when he was hurting. Hell, he was one of her closest friends. That was a title she didn't just give out. She shoved that to the back of her mind while he went back to working on the car. "Oh yeah it would definitely be nice to be able to drive without fearing for my life." She said, with a small nod. That was the truth, too. It would be nice to know if her car would actually stop. Or start, for that matter. It was just a mess. She laughed a little and nodded at his question. "Yes. More like, some type of demonic squeeling noise happens every time I try to stop it. Sounds like I ran something over. Like.. a demon cat or something." It was the truth, too. She wasn't thrilled by the sound her breaks where making. "Your the expert. Whatever you think needs to be done."

Karlee was hoping he was going to want to not get to work on the car right away. That would give her some time to talk to him. Even if he didn't want to, she figured getting him to talk would be best. Even if he didn't talk about what exactly was bothering him, at least talking to a friend might be a good idea. After all, she knew that it took time to heal a broken heart. Even if Asher was too stubborn to admit that, Karlee could read him well enough to figure it out. "Good. Then we can talk." She said, in a cheerful voice. She didn't want to make talking seem like a scary or bad thing. She didn't want Asher to think she was trying to force anything out of him. She was just being a supportive best friend. That was all she could be, right. She took a sip of the coffee that was in her hand and looked over at Asher. Her eyes where sympathetic. He spoke and she sighed, keeping her eyes on him. "Your lying." She said, blatantly. "I know you are lying. Please don't lie to me." Her voice wasn't demanding, it was calm and quiet, but she didn't want him to lie. "At least don't say you're fine, when it's obvious your not, Ash" She searched his face for a moment, before dropping her eyes. "But you don't have to talk about it, if you don't want to."

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[asher]

Asher didn't like that he turned Karlee away. It was a defense mechanism though; he was accustomed to telling people he was fine, putting a smile on his face and acting as though life was just peachy keen. That was usually pretty true, being as Asher just went with the flow and never let many things in life bother him. He did have a habit of fluttering away from his friends when he felt there was a need to break ties, but it was to ensure he could retain the flow he had before. He broke that chain with Morgan and it really fucked shit up. Asher flashed Karlee a look that said 'I'm sorry' without actually stating it aloud. "Yeah I don't think you'd wanna spend all of your time wondering if you're gonna die." He did manage a bit of a chuckle, but it was a bit distant and dry. Most of his responses had been. It was not that he was disinterested in the conversation with Karlee, no. It was that he had had little sleep over the past several days and was so busy trying to busy himself with work and school that straying away from that was a bit difficult. Sitting still was hard. Karlee's description of her brakes did elicit a more natural laugh before he shook his head. "I'm not exactly an expert at expelling demons but I can try for you. I just hope it doesn't try to possess anyone else's car. Or a person." That would be incredibly awkward and creepy. At least his car seemed to be doing okay so far with all of the work he had been doing on it. Karlee's car could get to that point eventually. She just needed to get the right parts and find the time to get it done. He didn't mind helping of course.

Did he honestly want to talk? Not really. At least not about what it was that was bothering him currently. Karlee seemed to catch on and that bothered him. Not that he was doing a wonderful job of hiding it or anything. By this point he was so tired of holding up a mask that it was getting harder and harder to pretend. "Yeah, I suppose we can." He muttered, sitting next to her. He ran a hand through his hair and rested his arms on his knees. The typical pose of a man in distress. Asher did flinch when she pointed out his fib. "Not lying. I will be fine in time. Promise." And yet another bold faced lie to toss into the mix. Why was he constantly trying to keep up an act of stoicism when he knew for a fact it was not working? After a moment, Asher sighed and looked over at his best friend with a partial frown. She'll just get mad if I keep avoiding everything. Morgan was probably mad at him or some reason, which was why she left. He did not want to lose someone else. "It's kindof a default, Karls," Asher stated, shrugging a little bit. Now that was the truth. "I tend to kinda...just act like everything is fine in order to help me get to that point. One of those 'if I say it enough it'll be come truth' sort of things." So far, so bad. Not really working out in his favor this time around. He watched as Karlee dodged his gaze and looked at the ground, and guilt washed over him. Asher exhaled slowly. "I'm sure you already know though. About Morgan. The fact that she left again. And I'm just not sure if she's coming back." And even if she did, Asher was too flighty to stick around for a third attempt. Even love could only hold out for so long before becoming brittle and breaking under the pressure.

[karlee]

Karlee knew how Asher was with relationships. Mostly because she was the exact same way - for the most part. She tried to avoid them. Nothing good came from them, at all. Nothing but heart break and feeling sorry for yourself pretty much for eternity. She didn't want to deal with that. However, somebody was getting pretty damn close to breaking down her walls. It was scary, but at the same time, she wasn't sure what to think about it. Emmett was a great guy, but she didn't know enough about him yet. But maybe that's how things where supposed to start. She didn't believe in love at first site, however. That stuff was shit that fairytails made up to make little girls think that the perfect man was actually out there. "No, that's never fun. Might like to drive some where some day and not have to have somebody jump my car, either." She said, chuckling back a little bit and brushing her hair behind her ear. It did need to be jumped. A lot. And it was annoying as fuck. She smiled as he laughed - glad to hopefully have made him laugh for the first time in a while. "Well if it does, just hopefully it gets into the nearest persons car who pisses you off. Although, I wouldn't wish this demon on anybody." She said, shaking her head a little. Her little car really was a work in progress she had put off for much too long.

She knew Asher didn't want to talk. but at the same time, she knew he probably had too. He had to get these things off his chest. Keeping those things bottled and locked up inside where not good on anybody. Cause ulcers and shit. That certainly would not be good at all. Plus, they where best friends. Karlee was the type of person that he could tell anything too, and she would be nothing but supportive. Hell, even if he told her that he wanted to get a sex change, she would be supportive of it. Creeped out, but supportive. After that thought entered her mind, she really did find herself wishing that Asher would not get a sex change. That would just be weird. A female with muscles like that would be gross, anyways. She frowned at him a little bit and patted his arm. "I know you will be, time heals everything. But it kills me to see you so upset, Ash. You need to get out." She said, smiling at him a little bit. Maybe he needed to go get drunk or something. Even if he didn't drink, a one time thing couldn't hurt. It would probably actually help him. A lot. She sighed and glanced down at his next comment. "Yeah, I've been there. I know how that is." She said, glancing back up at him, and placing her hand on the side of his face just to make sure he was looking at her. "But you really have to accept it. There's nothing you can do. Morgan is gone." That sounded harsh, she knew that, but it was the truth. "I'm not going to be a bitch and tell you to forget about her, but you have to move on, Ash." She took her hand off his face and dropped it to her lap, still looking up at him. "It obviously wasn't meant to be." She wanted to say something along the lines of 'you're too good for her, anyways' . but that was so default. She searched his face with her eyes, wanting to find some way to cheer him up - just not sure how.

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[asher]

Asher blinked and tilted his head, looking a bit tired but his mind was functioning properly. At least, he thought it was. No missing fingers or hands from working on the cars today. That was evidence his mind was at least somewhere. "Oh, jumpstarting? You'll need a new battery, yeah. I'll pop one of those in there for you too. Just as important as the brakes." On one hand he was glad that they were having a conversation about the car, but at the same time he knew it was default. This was what he always talked about. Either that, or other random interests like his extreme sports or even school. Nothing ever went past that, really. Unfortunately, aside from Karlee, Morgan was the only person who had heard anything of his life. Does Karlee even know about my dad? Probably not. He never spoke of his dad. Not to anyone really. Even with Morgan it was actually an unexpected portion of conversation.

Asher took notice that Karlee smiled and his smile became more natural in return. It was the first time he had giving anyone a real laugh or a smile in a good while. "Maybe we can just capture it, lock it in a box, and just save it for a rainy day then?" Then they could keep it hidden away until someone really did set them off, and then they could unleash the fury. Not that the demon was real; hey, they could dream.

He raised an eyebrow and looked utterly confused. "You realize who you're talking to, right?" He asked, shaking his head. "I always get out. I'm always doing things. It's just...for some reason it doesn't feel like enough." At least not right now. The long runs through the trails, the hours upon hours of work put in at the shop, the rock climbing, everything. The poor boy even attempted video games with Adam until they got into a fight. Typical. The kid was one big time bomb. He noticed she looked down and felt bad. Asher had not really been through many relationships, but from what he could tell with Karlee she had not had many either. At least, not the ones that lasted for months on end. He sighed. "It's not a good place to be." Instinctively he placed his hand on hers and used it as a crutch to keep his head up. So much weight on his shoulders. He was tired. Even so, Asher kept eye contact. "Yeah. Yeah I know she is." That tumbled on top of him like a ton of bricks. He fought to keep his shoulders firm.

"Do you know how hard that is for someone like me?" His laugh was, again, humorless as it passed his lips but there was a faint tremble to them this go around. "I...I allowed myself to get in too deep. Something I never do. And I fell hard. And I shouldn't have." Asher ran a hand through his hair and took in a sharp breath to steady his emotions. Fuck. This was so goddamn hard. This was exactly why he never kept people around for long. Or kept them at arms' length. And one of the few times I didn't...I get torn to shreds. "I guess it wasn't. And I should have known. But I was blind to it." After a long, drawn out silence, Asher reached out and pulled Karlee into a tight hug. The tears fell down his face freely now. In between the few takes of breath he did manage to say, "Thanks for being here." And he meant it.

[karlee]

Karlee smiled at Asher as he spoke. She figured it was probably the one thing she could do to really help him right now. She had to be a good friend. That was what best friends did right? She knew she wasn't there all the time, but that was another thing about friends. You didn't always have to see them to know they where there. Karlee and Asher became friends pretty quickly, but they also bonded pretty quickly. "You're a lifesaver, Ash!" She said, grinning brightly at him. It pretty much was amazing having a mechanic for a best friend. It just made everything quite easier.

Karlee stuck her lip out like she was thinking before nodding her head. "Rainy day demon in a box. Sounds like a good day to me." She couldn't help but laugh a little bit. Just the thought was actually quite humerus. It was obviously not real, but the thought was there. However, the more she thought about it the more she realized a demon in her car sounded probably. A demon cat, to be exact. It could happen.

Karlee was not an expert on relationships by any means. So trying to give him advice was probably not working out real well. She didn't have meaningful relationships, and esspecially not one that lead up to saying "I love you". At least not in more of a heat in the moment kind of way that happened when you where drunk. "I mean out with... people. Not by yourself. Going running. And all that junk. Go out and have some fun. She nudged him a little and continued looking at him. Her kind of fun was probably different than his, but they could meet in the middle. "We could go out or something. Hit up the mall, or the club, cause some trouble." She said, smiling at him again and raising her eyebrow. She just wanted to get his mind off everything. It wasn't healthy.

She could tell that he wasn't himself. She knew what it felt like to be like the world was on your shoulders and crushing you inch by inch. It wasn't fun, or a good place to be at all. "I - I don't know what to tell you, Ash.." She started, blinking a few times. "Truthfully? I've never even had a boyfriend... so I - I wouldn't even know." She had a lot of sexual relationships, but not once had she actually dated somebody. She didn't know what it felt like to fall hard for somebody. Not at all. But her heart yearned for him it felt like. To the point it was almost painful. She didn't know what to do to help him. "We're all a little blind sometimes..." She said, with a sigh, before being pulled into a hug. She hugged him back, and trying to soothe him, stroked his hair. "I will always be here for you when ever you need me, Ash. It's okay..." She cooed. She could tell he was crying, and it made her stomach knot up. She wished there was more she could do to help him.

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[asher]

"I agree with ya there. Always gotta save something for a rainy day, right?" Asher nodded to confirm his words. He was not an angry person by nature and would not go out of his way to exact vengeance on other people. Instead of retaliating with a fist or having some huge argument he simply walked away. It saved him the trouble. Unless he felt someone was worth staying around--which there were a very very select few--then he would break ties rather quickly.

He blinked a few times and tilted his head a little, not quite understanding what Karlee meant. Asher was a very social person and did do things with people, but the problem was that a lot of people were never interested in the things he enjoyed doing. That narrowed down his options by quite a bit. So, instead of trying to beg people to tag along on his crazy excursions he merely did them alone. Karlee was normally not opposed to them but he knew she would have caught on to his abnormal behavior. Like now. "But I do go out and have fun," Asher argued, half frowning. "It's just not stuff that a lot of people consider fun. But I don't mind! Helps me clear my head." Even if that was only temporary. He couldn't lie to himself; having other people around might be more beneficial. He simply did not want to rely on them for support every time he turned around. Most of them were not close enough for that sort of trust anyway. A smile crossed Asher's lips when she nudged him. They probably did have different views on fun but even so that did not make them too different to be friends. "I'm not really a club kind of guy, and I don't drink all that much or...well, do any of the party scene." Some days he wished he was a part of that world. Maybe a good dose of alcohol would do him good. "But I guess I could handle the mall."

So long as Karlee did not try and drag him into any of the lingerie stores or those places with the really expensive purses and shoes. If he had to he would go in--he was comfortable in his masculinity and would not blush and get embarrassed over it--but if there was nothing for him to buy, why bother?

No matter what he did, Asher felt alone in this situation. It was no one's fault of course. He simply did not have a wide range of friends and several of them had never experienced what he had. At least, in the aspect of falling in love. Dating was not uncommon. Even so, his best friends' admittance to never having had a boyfriend before was a bit of a shock. He blinked. "Oh...well, it's really not all it's cracked up to be." Asher tried to reassure her. Did it work? He was not sure. "Obviously. I mean, look at what happened to me." With a sigh, he ran a hand over his face. It was strained from trying to hold back tears. He did not cry very often and avoided it if he could. One moment he felt okay, as though he could push through this, and then a wave of emotion crashed over him. Asher was then rendered helpless. This back and forth was so cumbersome. He looked at her with a sad, tired expression. I don't want to be blind. I don't want to make these mistakes. Having her return the hug was reassuring at least. It let Asher know that his best friend was there. That was all he truly needed. "Thank you. You have no idea how grateful I am." He would find a way to let her know of his appreciation though. As to what that would be, he had no idea. For now he let the tears fall and released the tension before pulling back. He wiped his face. "So...your car." His voice was broken. "I should work on your car." Anything for a distraction. This was how he functioned.