Word Count: 1248

Lovely didn't fall asleep until sometime around two in the morning.

He didn't wake up until noon.

The only reason he even dragged himself out of Ilian's bed (so awkward) was because someone landed a series of hard knocks against the front door. Lovely stumbled out of the warm bedroom into the chilly living-room, still wearing yesterday's clothes. He hadn't brushed his teeth, his hair was a mess and probably stuck up at odd angles, and his eyes felt dry and swollen from all the crying he'd done the night before.

In short, he looked like s**t.

He didn't know why he even bothered to answer to door.

Ashley's cheerful face greeted him out on the landing. The coat she wore was decent for something that obviously wasn't designer. Her light brown hair was loosely curled. Her eyes were a dull hazel. She didn't wear any make-up (how classless). He hadn't noticed it before, but her face was smattered with freckles.

He liked that. He'd spent all his life hating his freckles. It was reassuring to be faced with someone who wore them well.

What the ********. It wasn't like him to be so complimentary.

Lovely shook it off as a fluke.

“Hi,” Ashley said brightly.

“Hi,” Lovely greeted her in return. He sounded tired. He hated that. People should only see him when he was at his best.

“I brought you some cookies.”

She had a plate wrapped in plastic wrap in her hands. Through it, Lovely could see more than a dozen M&M cookies. The M&Ms were colored red, pink, and white. He hated when stores put out Valentine's Day s**t before February.

He hated a lot of s**t, actually.

But he took the plate from her. He felt a little numb. He didn't know how to respond, so he just said, “Thanks.”

An awkward silence fell between them. Or at least Lovely thought it was awkward. Ashley just kept smiling.

“Did you need anything?” she asked.

At first, he didn't know why she was asking. Then, he realized she was trying to be polite. And helpful. He wasn't used to people showing him kindness and generosity during trying times, though that was mostly because he'd never been in a situation like this before. He certainly hadn't expected it from anyone around here.

He struggled to find something to say. He didn't want to talk about how he'd come to be there. Her opinion of him might change if she knew he was a runaway. He didn't want to talk about how scared and lonely he was, or how he'd been cut off from his family and didn't know how he was supposed to survive if he didn't suck up his pride and go back home.

“Ilian doesn't have a lot of food,” he said lamely.

Her smile brightened a little bit, like she was actually glad to be able to help him. “I can bring some leftovers in the morning,” she said.

Lovely nodded. It would be better than the frozen pizzas and microwavable dinners he'd bought.

“Do you live alone?” he asked. It felt weird trying to strike up a conversation, but it wasn't like he had anyone else to talk to.

“I live with my fiance. He's a line cook. He works most nights.”

“What do you do?”

“I'm a sex therapist,” she said with a completely straight face.

Lovely flushed darkly and almost backed away.

“I'm just kidding,” she laughed. “I'm a nurse down at DC General.”

He cleared his throat, tried and failed to cool his face off, and took this information in. He figured that meant she had an education beyond high school. He hadn't expected that of people around here either.

“Aren't you a little young to be getting married?” he said.

“Aren't you a little young to be living on your own with your boyfriend?” she gently countered.

Lovely frowned but said nothing to argue that fact. Soon he realized that the more he played along with this stupid ruse, the less the term “boyfriend” bothered him. It certainly wasn't an idea he was fond of (ew), but he'd stopped caring what people thought about it.

“Do you go to school with Ilian?” Ashely asked.

“No. I go to Azure.”

She looked surprised by that. She should be. Azure was a good school compared to the likes of Hillworth.

“Isn't today a school day?” she wondered.

“Oh,” Lovely said. He'd forgotten. “Yeah.”

He wasn't as distraught over missing a day of school as he thought he should be. He hated that s**t hole, but he was conscious of having a good attendance record and getting good grades. He did his homework. He studied for tests. He took his time writing papers because he didn't want to be known as the kid who made a piss poor effort. He didn't have any friends, but he didn't think that was what school was for. High school was a vehicle to better things.

Yet, for some reason, he couldn't dredge up the will to go. He told himself it was because he was tired and upset about the situation with his family.

“Hey, did you want my number?” Ashley said. “In case you ever need anything else?”

Lovely hesitated a moment. He couldn't imagine himself ever calling or texting her. But hers was the first show of kindness he'd received in days. That had to mean something, even if he couldn't quite see what it was yet.

“Let me just... get my phone.”

“It's okay. Just give me your number and I'll text you.”

He waited for her to pull out her phone, then recited his number haltingly. It wasn't often he gave it out to people, so he had a habit of forgetting it. Vaguely he wondered why he was giving it out to her when she was practically a stranger. He blamed it on the fact that he was too stressed to think straight.

“There,” she said, when she'd entered it into her phone and sent a text. “You can text or call me whenever you want. My shifts rotate, so I have weird hours, but seriously, if you need anything, I'd be happy to help.”

He nodded again. He didn't quite know how to express gratitude.

“My fiance's name is Manny. He's a big guy. Has a sleeve of tattoos down each arm, but he's a total softy, so if you see him, don't be afraid to say 'hi.'”

Lovely didn't plan on it, but he couldn't very well say that. Instead, he said, “Manny?”

“It's short for Emmanuel,” she explained.

The smile never left her face. Lovely thought she was sort of pretty for a plain jane.

“Anyway,” she continued, “I've got to get ready for a shift, so I'll let you go.”

“Okay,” he said. “Um... thank you for the cookies.” It was the best he was able to manage.

“No problem. See you.”

Lovely watched her go, closing the door once she was halfway across the parking lot. He went to sit on the couch and set the plate of cookies on the coffee table. He pulled the plastic wrap back on one side, then took one of the cookies to eat.

He feasted on cookies for breakfast.

His only regret was that he didn't have a glass of milk.