University Roommates (Restart)

Ashton:

I looked down at my clothes then up at her with my eyebrows raised. "Really?" I said. I leaned over the bar, flicked the faucet on and splashed a handful of water back at her.

Emily:
I flinched when the water hit me. "Hey!" I yelled. "You could have just dusted it off!" I argued. This time I took a bigger handful and aimed for his head.

Ashton:

I swatted at the puff of flour and managed to get some of it to waft back over her. I was still finely dusted in white, and wet hands became sticky with it.

Emily:
Maybe it was slight malicious because we had both been in bad moods today. I had a little dusting of flour in my shirt but he was a little worse off. His face had a considerable amount on it and his hands wet hands were causing the flour to form a paste. "Thats what you get for splashing me," I told me.

Ashton:

I snorted. "You started this. You're lucky I didn't get you with the sprayer instead," I said and took a seat at the bar. I brushed my shirtfront and looked down at the carpet. It was duty too. She would have to clean it up, I wouldn't help her.

Emily:
"No you're lucky I didn't dump the whole bag over your head," I told him, heading to the fridge for eggs.

Ashton:

I rubbed my hands together and flakes of flower fell onto the countertop. "You don't want to go get something to eat?" I asked as I watched her move about the kitchen.

Emily;
"I dont know," I shrugged. He was clearly keeping a certain distance from me and I get it, but I also wasnt looking to have it shoved in my face. "You dont have to eat my pancakes if you dont want to," I said.

Ashton:

I sighed. Was this what it was going to be like between the two of us now? Is that truly better than the other alternatives? "I'm going to take a shower," I muttered, getting up from my seat. I left the room without looking at her and went to turn the shower on. I sat on the bathroom floor while the water heated up with my head in my hands.

Emily:
I sighed when he left but kept making pancakes that I didn't even want anymore. I was so caught up in my own thoughts that I didn't realize how badly I was burning one of the pancakes until the smoke wafted up into my face. I coughed and tried to see through the think grey smoke to turn off the stove. In my haste, I burnt my hand and cursed. When the stove was off and the pan was off the heat, I grabbed a dish towel and tried to fan the air around me, hoping to get rid of the smoke before he came out of the bathroom.

Ashton:

I got into the shower once the bathroom was steamy. I was in the process of washing the flour out of my hair when the smoke detectors started screeching. Turning the water off, I hopped out of the shower and wrapped a towel around my waist. Opening the door, I called, "Emily?" I barely dried off before pulling sweatpants on and going out to investigate in nothing else. There may have still been soap in my hair.

((Just so you know, Ashton is surprisingly built for someone who mostly sits around on the couch it's actually pertinent to the story, not just making him pretty for pretty's sake XD))

Emily:
When the smoke alarm went off, I cringed and glared at it. "You stupid machine, cant you see I have it under control?" I muttered under my breath. With my hand still stinging, i kept trying to fan at the air to stop the noise. When I heard Ash, I sighed and gave up. "Its fine!" i called. " You can finish your sho-" I turned around and stopped when i saw him. He wasnt wearing a shirt. "Uh, its fine..." i said more quietly.

((It would have been fine if he was pretty just for the sake of it lmao. But im interested as to why it's important))

Ashton:

I went into the kitchen to grab the broom then walked up close to her. Reaching up I pressed the restart button on the smoke detector above the stove with the broom handle. When the silence rejoined us I looked down at her blackened pancakes. "Yum," I said, restraining a smirk. There were still water droplets speckling my body.

Emily:
I didnt move when he came over with the broomstick but i did avoid looking at him. That is, until he made a joke. Then my eyes went up to his to glare at him. "That one is yours," I told him. His hair was still wet and drops were traveling down his jaw and over his neck.

Ashton:

Somehow the situation had lightened my mood and I couldn't help but chuckle at her glare. "I think I mich pass. It might give me cancer," I muttered in amusement. Since I had the broom out, I swept up the spilled flour at her feet.

Emily:
I smiled and shook my head in amusement. I turned to the stove and poked at the pan. It was like a hockey puck. And my hand was still stinging. Since i had a chance to look at it, i did. It was all red and felt hot.

Ashton:

As I put the broom up I saw her inspecting her hand. "Did you hurt yourself?" I asked. I wasn't surprised, she was accident prone. I assumed it was a burn and grabbed and Icepack from the freezer. "Here," I held out my hand for hers to place the Icepack over.

Emily:
Without thinking, I held out my hand and the ice felt amazing. "I think its fine, burns just hurt for a while," i said with a wince.

Ashton:

I cupped her hand in mine as I placed the ice over her burn. Hesitantly, I pulled my hands away with a soft exhale. I ran a hand through my wet hair and felt a trickle of water glide down my back. "I'll be back," I muttered turning away from her. I went to my room to fully dress then laid down on my bed for a minute. It was easy to fall for her when we were being light hearted.

Emily:
I held the ice when he walked away and suddenly felt cold. Strangely enough, i didnt think it had anything to do with the frozen packet in my hands. I started digging around one handed for a menu to order something for dinner.

((I'm gonna skip a few days))

Ashton:

I got up after a few more minutes of solitude and returned to the living room. If I didn't come out she would start thinking that I hated her again. It probably would have been best, but I didn't want her to feel bad.

The next few days were like walking on a tightrope. I tried hard not to let things escalate in either direction. It mostly consisted of sitting on the couch and occasionally replying to her commentary. I didn't push her away, I didn't mention that I was bad for her, I tried not to show my moodiness at all. Anytime we slipped into light-hearted banter I had to remove myself. I was as neutral as I could be, but it was killing me inside. I wanted to be happy with her, but the happier I was, the more likely it became that I would give in, now knowing what we both wanted.

I was happy to get back to work after my few days off, but it brought it's own set of challenges. I was trying so hard to hold onto my self-control at home with Emily, that I gave in to indulgence at work. Alicia was more interested in me now after I had stayed over at her place and often gave me free drinks after each shift. I was spending more time with co-workers, which lead to the other unfortunate development of my readdiction to smoking. When most of the people I worked with did it, it was hard not to. I did my best to hide it from Emily remembering that the first big fight we had was caused by her finding me smoking.

Emily:
After a few days of controlled interaction with him, It was getting more more easy to pretend I didnt want more than he was giving me. Tonight, one of my old friends from highschool wanted to hang out and I decided it couldnt be a bad idea. She wanted to go to some club so I tried to dress appropriately. I sat on the couch and waited for her to come pick me up.

Ashton:

I worked the early shift on Saturdays and got off eleven. I stuck around the bar talking with the bartenders, Alicia especially because every free moment she had she was with me. Thankfully it was her busiest time now. The rumor that I was gay had started to fade, something I had mixed feelings about since it had kept her at bay. I had a few drinks, it was starting to not be enough but I tried to ignore the little alarm bells ringing in the back of my head.

Emily:
When Taylor came to pick me up, I realized she had brought a friend with her. A male friend. Who she introduced with a wink. I sighed. She has clearly brought him along for me. I decided to suck it up and have a good night. When we pulled up to the bar she wanted to go to, I shook my head. Of course it was THIS bar. "Are you sure tou dont wanna go somewhere else?" I asked, biting my lip. He was working tonigjt, i was sure of it. Taylor insisted on thia particular bar and with another sigh, i got out of the car. Her friend, Nick was trying to talk to me as we walked inside and i tried to appear interested in what he was saying.

Ashton:

"Hey, your roommate is here," Alicia said with a nod toward the front entrance as she passed by me. I spun around in my seat in confusion to scan the crowd. Sure enough, there she was. I checked my phone to see if she had tried to contact me, but she hadn't. I was puzzled until I saw that she was with two other people. Perhaps she hadn't chosen this place. I watched her from the bar. She had to know that I would be here tonight.