Chapter Text
Ashley sighed in frustration, twirling the pen in his fingers as he listened to the riffs Jake and Jinxx sent him, lyrics were slowly coming to him as he continued to listen to the rough cuts of different riffs and imagined the drum fills that CC would most likely come up with. The sound of the door to his apartment opening caught his attention, he looked up seeing Andy walk in with a bag of take out and a tray with two coffees.
“Hey Andy.” He smiled lightly, he’d managed to work up his courage and confess his feelings for Andy 2 months ago, and Andy had quickly become the perfect boyfriend.
“Hey Ash, you writing?” He questioned, setting the bags down, eyeing the notebook in Ashely’s lap.
“Yeah, Jinxx and Jake just sent me new stuff they came up with.” Ashley said, pulling his headphones out and getting up to greet Andy with a hug and a light peck on the lips which Andy gladly returned.
“Sweet, we can go over that after lunch.” Andy smiled, turning around to get plates for the food he brought. He and Ashely were still new as a couple, but he’d been over at Ashley’s place so much during the last few months of his failed marriage that he knew where everything was. He sighed looking down at the tan on his left hand, the only remains of his failed relationship. He got all his tattoos that he got for her covered within a few weeks of the divorce becoming final, he gave up the ridiculous diet they did as a couple, he still ate healthy and didn't drink as much as he used to in his early 20s, but he did enjoy a few drinks now and then with Ash and the guys.
“Andy?” Ashely’s voice drew him from his thoughts.
“Yeah Ash?” He questioned, turning around with plates and cutlery in his hand.
“You okay? You spaced out a little there?” He saw the concern on Ashley’s face, and knew that he worried Ash whenever he spaced out, he spiralled during the divorce, he couldn't count how many breakdowns he had and how many self destructive habits he developed.
“Yeah, just wish the ring tan would fade.” He sighed, rubbing his hand after he set down the dishes on Ashley’s table.
“It’ll fade over time Andy, soon you’ll have nothing to remember her by.” Ashely said softly, grabbing Andy’s left hand and and intertwining their fingers together.
“I know, thank you for being there for me for these last few months.” Andy smiled, forever grateful and Ashely was able to pull him out of his spiral and give him time to recover before confessing his feelings. Andy needed time to find himself again before jumping into a another relationship, Ashely knew this and was there as a friend until Andy had found himself again and was stable on his own, read to be a supportive partner and not rely on Ashely for anything.
“As your best friend and now boyfriend, it was my pleasure and I was happy to help.” Ashely smiled softly, kissing Andy’s hand before dropping it and grabbing the bag of food that Andy brought.
“Burgers?” He questioned with a raised eyebrow causing Andy to roll his eyes, it was now common for the band and crew to make fun of his venture into veganism.
“Yes burgers Ash, I know how much you love meat.” He smirked, winking at his boyfriend, knowing his dirty mind would quickly go to where Andy was hinting.
“Only certain types babe.” Ashely winked with a laugh before grabbing ketchup and mustard from his fridge.
“You’re horrible Ash.” Andy laughed grabbing the coffees out of the tray.
“You’re the one that hinted at it in the first place, so does that make you horrible?” Ashely asked with innocence as he grabbed his coffee from Andy.
“Well, with a boyfriend like you, how can I not make dirty jokes?” Andy retorted earning a laugh from Ashely that made Andy’s heart stutter, once again truly thankful for Ashley’s presence in his life, not only as a bandmate and business partner but as someone he cared for extremely, and over time, would soon come to love with all his heart, if given the opportunity to.
The two continued to walk around each other as they grabbed the rest of the stuff they’d want for the lunch Andy had brought over.
“You check the news recently?” Andy questioned, scrolling through his phone as he walked over to Ashley’s living room which was connecting to the kitchen in the open layout apartment.
“No why?” Ashley questioned.
“Apparently a plane went down, with Senator Montez in it.” Andy said grabbing the remote and turning on the TV, flipping to CNN.
“Breaking News of Today. Anti-mutant activist Senator Montez and his political team along with some others he was travelling with have perished in a fatal plane accident. From reports and security footage, the flight seemed to be an average one, the plane took off at 4:03pm but shortly after take off the private jet lost both it’s engines, conformed by CCTV to be caused by a mutant with the ability to manipulate metal, the plane careened into a nearby field. No others were injured on the ground.”
“Fuck.” Ashely breathed, walking up next to Andy to watch the news cast.
“As suspected, tensions are mounting between mutant and human activist groups. Humans blaming mutants for the accident and mutants attempting to defend themselves. We have Jillian in the field taking statements from both sides of the conflict. Jillian?"
The footage cut to a young woman in a Purifier sweatshirt, the white cross standing out against the black fabric, her blond hair shaping a face that Andy and Ashely both knew well.
“I’m here with popular musician, Juliet Simms to give her statement on the situation at hand, Juliet?”
The reported turned to the woman that had been the source of Andy’s mental torment for months now.
“This is just another example of how dangerous these people are, this mutant terrorist fucking tore the planes engines right off. What’s to say there’s not more like her, how many mutants have powers that can kill us, we have to stop them now and stand up for what humans deserve, these fucking muties think they deserve equal rights then they do shit like this.”
Juliet continued to go off on her hatred for mutants and Ashely couldn't take it anymore, he grabbed the remote from Andy’s hand and turned off the TV, throwing it on the couch and turning to Andy, anger radiating off him.
“She’s a fucking Purifier? Are you?!” He questioned, his raised voice showed anger instead of his true emotions which were riddled with fear and anxiety.
“No Ashley, I swear.” Andy held up his hands, knowing that Ashely had a very strong pro-mutant stance, but unsure why. He was positive Ashley was human, maybe he had a close friend or family member that was a mutant. He watched as Ashley’s eyes scanned his every move, trying to watch his body language and see if he was lying. “I’m not lying Ash, I know that mutants aren't inherently evil or terrorists because of their genetics, it’s what they choose to do with their abilities that make them criminals, and I also agree that mutant laws are too harsh and need to be changed. I did not know this about her, and if I did I would've ended our relationship earlier that I did.” Andy spoke truthfully, not wanting to upset Ashely anymore than he already was.
“Okay.” Ashely breathed out a sigh and his body physically relaxed. “I’m sorry for yelling at you, and accusing you of being a Purifier. I just get worked up about that type of stuff.” He sighed, blowing his bangs out of his face and playing with his hair, a nervous tick that Andy was always able to pick up on.
“Mind if I ask why you get so worked up about it, besides the obvious that Purifiers are horrible people.” Andy asked.
“You promise you won’t see me any differently?” Ashely questioned, fear flashing across his eyes as his body started to tense up again, him and Andy were still young as a couple, yes they’d been friends for over 10 years but this could put a major bump in the relationship.
“Ash, I know we haven't been dating that long, but I know you better than almost anyone, we’ve been friends since the beginning of the band, you know you can tell me anything.” He said softly, Ashely usually didn’t give a shit about what people thought of him, he was arguably the most out there of the band with his fashion choices and personality differing from the rest of the band. It concerned him that Ashley was this scared to admit something, Ashley was scared when admitting his sexuality, something he struggled with admitting, if this was something harder to admit it was big.
“I-” He sighed, his voice shaking as he started at his hands, not meeting Andy’s eyes. His voice was mumbled and barely audible, but Andy was able to make out what he said, something that would change the way he viewed his boyfriend.
“I’m a mutant Andy.”