My new roommate’s name was Neil James. He told me that he’d moved back to help with his family and apparently there were some issues going on but I could tell that it was close to home … literally. I totally got where the dude was coming from because I didn’t want to talk about my family issues either so whether he knew it or not we shared a common bond.

I slapped him on the back and said, “Don’t sweat it, Neil. It’s nice to have a roommate because it gets kind of lonely around here sometimes.”

Neil and I had just finished moving him into the apartment for the day. We both thought it would take a lot longer than three hours but it was still the afternoon. I decided to just relax for a Saturday night and maybe grow some balls and text Ashlynn.

I know what you guys are thinking. That I haven’t seen Ashlynn in a month or two and I don’t even have the decency to call her but I was scared shitless of her rejection and I didn’t want to hear the words come from her beautiful mouth. I didn’t want to hear a sentence that formed, “I can’t Jason.”

I decided to grab a beer from the fridge and just veg out in front of the television for a while. Neil plopped down next to me with a beer in hand and said, “Well, I was going to take my little brother and sister to the beach. You can come if you want.”

I just smiled and said, “Thanks but I’m just not in the mood for it today. Maybe some other time.”

Neil just slapped me on the back and said, “Well ok then,” and walked back to his room.

I didn’t take my eyes off the television when he came out of his room and started to walk to the door but then he said, “When I come home we’re talking about the girl on your mind Jas,” and with that he left the apartment and it gave me time to be filled with my sorrows.

I’m not sure exactly how many pep talks I had to give myself to finally text Ash, but I did, twice, and I can’t say that I blame her for saying:

Ashlynn - … no we can’t. I’m attempting to move on, you should too.

A half hour later Neil came back from the beach and told me all about this gorgeous girl he met and that he was taking her out on a date tonight. I was happy for him because at least one of us was living our life. After Neil got ready he came out to the living room and had a beer with me.

Finishing his beer he said, “Well, wish me luck. I feel lucky about this one.”

I laughed and said, “How lucky?”

He just smirked and said, “That’s for me to know, but she seems like a special one.”

A few hours later and a few more beers in my system I texted her again and just told her the truth.

Jason – I’ll never move on Ashlynn.

I was waiting for her to text back when I heard the front door unlock and open. “Back so soon Neil?”

Neil just laughed and said, “Nah, she’s here with me.”

I wanted to see the beautiful girl Neil met at the beach and took out for a date when I saw blonde hair and bright blue eyes staring at me and I said, “Ashlynn?”

I thought she was going to collapse because she barely whispered my name, “Jason.”

I couldn’t believe that Neil was talking about Ashlynn and I felt like someone kicked me in the balls because I couldn’t breathe. I looked over at Neil and he looked between me and Ashlynn and then I saw him get everything together.

He looked over at me and said, “This is her.” It was more of a statement then a question because he could see with his own eyes our reactions.

He then looked over at Ashlynn and said, “This is him.”

The fuck does he mean by that? Were they talking about me on their date? And if they were then why was Neil bringing her back to our apartment? My blood instantly boiled and I slammed the beer I was holding onto the end table and staggered on over to Ashlynn.

She looked terrified out of her mind and started walking backwards to the front door.

I was just about to reach out to her when Neil pushed me away and said, “Dude, you need to calm down.”

With words like that I completely lost it and shoved Neil away. “Fuck off Neil. You need to stay out of this.”

Neil managed to get a hold of me from behind and said, “It’s not what you think Jason. You need to calm down and I’ll explain all of it to you, okay? But dude, you seriously need to calm the fuck down. Look at Ashlynn. You’re scaring the hell out of her.”

With a shrug Neil let go of me and I looked over in Ashlynn’s direction and tears were falling down her face. I wanted to wipe them away but it felt like she fucking ripped my heart of its chest and stomped all over it. I just couldn’t deal with the dad issues and then to top it all off with a cherry my girl walking in with my roommate. What the fuck was I supposed to think?

So I walked over to her and as calmly as I could I bit out the words, “I shared something so personal with you and you just fucking ripped my heart out. I thought you were different Ashlynn but I was so wrong about you. So incredibly fucking wrong.”

The second the words left my mouth I wanted to fall to my knees and apologize but I didn’t have time because she turned her back to me and swung the front door open and ran.

I just stood there and was then shoved out of the way by Neil who didn’t even look back at me when he said, “We are going to have a long fucking talk when I get back.”

By the time I walked over to the sofa and sat down I was crying. I cried because I’d fucked this all up again. I cried because I made this mess when it wasn’t even necessary. I cried because of the words I said to Ashlynn when I didn’t mean a damn one. I cried because I just hope that she’ll have it in that huge heart of hers to forgive me yet again for being such a huge ass mess.

I didn’t even hear the door open and close when Neil walked over and sat in a chair, looked at me and said, “Well, let’s start from the beginning then Jason.”

He told me about how he met Ashlynn this afternoon at the beach and how he really liked her. He told me about how when they were at the restaurant they had a great time, but he could feel he and her were just going to be friends. He told me about how he could sense she wasn’t over someone and then she got a text. He then told me that he offered to let her vent to him about it over a couple of beers and she accepted.

“Honestly man, I had no idea that Ashlynn was the girl, but what the fuck was that all about with you? How could you treat her like that? Because I could tell you from the way she saw your text at the restaurant she wasn’t over you. That was the first time since I met her that her eyes glistened and glittered and it looked like she was really alive for the first time and taking her first breath. And in a matter of, oh I don’t know, two minutes of you seeing her you take it all away.”

Taking a huge breath I looked over at Neil and told him everything. I told him about my childhood and I told him about how my dad is dying. I told him about how the first time I laid eyes on Ashlynn I knew she was the one. The one who would save me. The one who would help me out of the mess I’m in. And in a dream world, the one I would marry. But now that I’ve talked to my dad the one I am positive without an ounce of question I will marry someday.

By the time I finished Neil got up from the chair and walked over to the fridge and grabbed two beers. Popping the tops off he walked back over and handed me one and then sat down and took a huge gulp of his and said, “Well fuck me Jason.”

He took another gulp and said, “You’ve got a lot of groveling and apologizing to do to make it up to Ashlynn. You know that right?”

Now it was my turn to take a huge gulp of my beer. Struggling to swallow I said, “Yeah, got any advice?”

He gave a low laugh and said, “Help on fixing the mess you’re in? Fuck no! I’ve got my own problems to deal with. I don’t need to add a chick into that because well, it would be a big mistake on my end and hers.”

I just laughed and said, “Thanks for the advice Neil.”

He got up out of the chair and slapped me on the back and said, “Anytime Jas,” and began to walk back to his room to let me have some peace and quiet to try and figure out how exactly I was going to get out of this mess with Ashlynn. Right before he closed his door he said, “Good luck with that mess Jason.”

I just nodded my head and said, “Thanks. I’ll definitely need it.” 

Chapter 8

Ashlynn

Neil was nice enough to drive me home and the whole ride was filled with complete silence, besides my sniffling. By the time he parked the car I had somehow managed to stop crying but just before I got out of the car Neil said, “I don’t know what’s going on between you and Jason but I know that from the way he looked at you that he really cares about you. I know that you just met me today but please don’t give up on him.”

I turned and gave Neil a kiss on the cheek and said, “Thanks Neil.”

He smiled and nodded his head and said, “Anytime Ashlynn. I’m here if you ever need to talk or anything.”

After nodding my head in understanding I closed the door and waved goodbye to him.

Letting myself into my apartment I was grateful that Jade wasn’t there because I just needed my alone time to think about what in the hell was the right decision to make with Jason. I decided to take a long hot bubble bath to release the tension and calm down. I brought my Kindle in there with me to relax but I couldn’t even read, that’s how bad I was hurting.

After an hour of dozing on and off in the bathtub I dried myself off with a warm towel and changed into a t-shirt and put on some panties and climbed into bed to try and at least get a good night’s sleep. I tossed and turned for what seemed like forever and then all of a sudden I heard rain pitter patter against the window and the wind blowing the trees back and forth. I loved listening to the sound of the rain, but then the thunder slowly erupted and shuddered.