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“This is why I prefer baseball.”
Aiden laughed, a little too loudly for one in the morning. They were at the middle schools basketball court. Originally, the goal was to teach Logan how to play. The plan was to get a ball from the crate outside, but it was locked and Ashlyn stopped Aiden from breaking in.
They were about to give up, but then they spotted a tennis ball lying against the wall. So now, they were playing a game called Tenball, completely made up on the spot. It was……entertaining to watch from the sidelines. Ashlyn had opted out of the game, and Taylor followed, so they sat on the chilled bench while the boys played.
You’d think after everything they’d been through, they wouldn’t be staying up for a while, but you’d be wrong. Most of the time, if most of them were too haunted (or too hyper, in Aiden’s case) they’d all meet up and either go to the graveyard, or just walk around. Ashlyn sighed quietly, taking a sip of water from her bottle. Taylor glanced over but didn’t say anything, it was always quiet when it was just the two of them.
It wasn’t like they weren’t close, they certainly were. Ashlyn would go as far to say that Taylor was her favorite out of all of them. She was sweet, caring, attentive, smart, just a ray of warmth whenever she could be.
Plus, there was the touching. It wasn’t excessive, but often enough that Ashlyn noticed. She was used to it by now, from both Taylor and Aiden, but there was a difference. Aiden was touchy with everyone, he always had been, but Taylor? She was only touchy with Tyler and her.
Why her? An arm around her shoulder, her hand somehow always finding hers, their arms brushing. She wasn’t complaining, far from it, she just wanted to know why.
Something nudged her arm and she looked over, knowing it was her friends elbow. Taylor pointed behind her and she turned, seeing a playground. “Wanna go swing?” Ashlyn immediately stood up, getting a little embarrassed at her own eagerness.
Taylor stared up at her for a few seconds, a little stunned, before smiling warmly. A feeling settled in Ashlyn’s gut, one that she’d figured out a while ago. She liked Taylor, a lot. She’d never admit it to anyone, of course. They strolled over, their knuckles brushing every few strides, making Ashlyn acutely aware of the countless times they had held hands.
They got to their destination, swings for kids much younger than them. Still, Taylor plopped down on the one at the end, and Ashlyn sat on the one beside hers. Funnily enough, neither of them were swinging much. Half hearted kicks made them rock a little, but other than that, nothing.
Maybe Taylor just wanted some quiet, and that’s why they were here, but then why invite Ashlyn? Taylor seemed distracted anyways, lost in her head. She was staring at the mulch with such intensity, that Ashlyn couldn’t help but ask. “So….” She started, and Taylor looked up. “What are you thinking about?”
She tensed, and Ashlyn immediately regretted asking. “You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to. I just-“ “Do you miss it?” Ashlyn’s rushed words paused, and she glanced up, seeing nothing but earnest in Taylor’s gaze. She had to think about it for a while. “No, but…..I don’t regret it. Kinda thankful for it, actually.”
When Taylor gave her a confused look, she explained. “If we hadn’t been stuck in the phantom dimension, then I don’t think we would’ve all become friends. I wouldn’t have, at least.” Taylor nodded, at least she was trying to be understanding. Ashlyn shook her head at herself, this wasn’t about her, Taylor had obviously asked for a reason.
“So…why do you ask?” Taylor shrugged, suddenly shrinking into herself. It was kind of uncharacteristic. “Well…..it’s really dumb actually, I just-“ “Do you miss it?” She flipped the question onto Taylor, who was now back to staring at the mulch. “Kind of….I liked hanging out with you guys, even with the circumstances. It’s just- I feel like we’re not seeing each other as much.”
She laughed a little at her own expense. “I know it sounds clingy, it is, I mean, we see each other everyday at school and most weekends…….it’s stupid, right?” Ashlyn shrugged, honestly not knowing. “Well, schools different, since we aren’t together there all the time.” Taylor just nodded and Ashlyn tried another approach.
“Plus, spending seven hours with Aiden and Tyler bickering each night? I figured we were all sick of them by now.” It wasn’t that good of a joke, honestly even she could do better, but Taylor smiled, so it achieved its purpose, at least for a bit.
“True, but” Taylor leaned over, the swing creaking a little at being pulled in the wrong direction. Her head rested on Ashlyn’s shoulder now. “Ignoring them, I wish we spent more time together.” She couldn’t believe it, Taylor wanted to spend time with her? One on one? Ashlyn’s eyes widened and she tried not to look too much into it, afraid of getting the wrong signal.
“Well…….now we can. Without phantoms chasing us.” Without fear of losing eachother. She’d admit it, she distanced herself from Taylor because she was afraid. Ashlyn’s hand laid on her leg, slightly curled up. If either of them had died before there potential love even passed the beginning stage, she’d never forgive herself.
But they both survived, they all had. They were free. Taylor’s hand slid onto hers, and Ashlyn ignored how perfectly it did so. “Ash,” Taylor didn’t lift her head up when she spoke. Thank god she didn’t, she would’ve see the red spreading on Ashlyn’s face like wildfire. Despite this, she kept her voice calm. “Yeah?”
“I really like you. Probably not in the way a friend should.” Ashlyn could’ve sworn that the world froze around them, if not for the boys yelling in the distance, from across the parking lot. She could feel how tense Taylor had slowly gotten. Ashlyn tried turning to see her face, but from the way she’d angled it, her face was hidden.
Ashlyn hesitated, for only a few moments more, then she pressed a soft kiss to the to the top of Taylor’s head. The sharp intake of breath she heard made Ashlyn smile. “I really like you too.” She mumbled it against her scalp, and Taylor squeezed her hand. “Sorry I didn’t say anything sooner.” Taylor lifted her head up now, back to her original height, slightly taller than Ash, she looked a little starstruck.
“It’s okay.” It came out as a whisper, and really, what else was there to say? ‘I love you’ could wait. They had all the time in the world now, and right now, Taylor looked beautiful. Glimmering brown eyes, crooked smile, messy hair. She was still leaned over in her swing, so Ashlyn met her halfway, brushing their foreheads together.
She didn’t know which of them leaned in, but soon they were kissing, and it was like a weight lifted off her shoulders. She let out a sigh of relief into the kiss, Taylor seemed to like that, because not a second later, Ashlyn could feel her palms resting on her cheeks, holding her in place. It was like that for a good minute before they separated, barely. They stared for a while, not sure what to say, maybe nothing needed to be said.
A enraged yell came from the courts, and Taylor stood up, laughing. The loss of warmth was mildly disappointing, but her laugh made up for it. It was a little breathless, Ashlyn loved it. “Come on, let’s go mediate so Tyler doesn’t rip Aiden apart.”
On the walk back, their hand found each other and they both held on tightly, Taylor leaning onto Ashlyn’s side. Once they made it, what the others were shouting about was more clear.
“You agreed to the rules buddy! Not my fault you didn’t look on the back.”
Tyler seethed. “There’s no way that ‘Tyler, and whatever unfortunate soul may be on his team, automatically loses’ should be a rule! You tricked me!”
Aiden just shrugged “Ben wrote it, not me.”
“Hey!”
They all looked over at Ashlyn, and Taylor rested her head onto her shoulder again. “First of all, Tyler, stop screaming. The whole town can hear you.” He glared at her, and she couldn’t tell if it was because of the scolding or because of how close her and Taylor were. Probably both. “And Aiden, please stop provoking him. It’s too late for this bullshit.”
Aiden gave her a thumbs up and suggested another, fair, round, and the other three agreed. Ashlyn and Taylor went back to sitting on the bench. Ashlyn sighed, watching their game commence. “They’re idiots.” Taylor laughed again, and Ashlyn smiled
Yeah, they were finally okay.