Filed to story: Penny and Navy Brother Asher
She stares back.
She sighs, soft, almost lost in the echo of the building.
Asher, we just met, right? You don’t even know me.
She’s not accusing.
Just stating facts.
I tilt my head a little, studying her. Waiting for the rest..
She picks at the hem of her sleeve, voice dropping so low I almost miss it.
“So… what do you think of me?
Her cheeks flush, and the rushes on, stumbling over her words.
“I mean, I know you think I’m a princess and I’m stupid and I’m not careful and…” She that do I think of her?
I think if I touched her hair, it would lose its shine.
I laid a hand on her skin, it would burn under my fingers. shrugs, messy and embarrassed. “Never mind “
I think she’s made of all the things the rest of us aren’t light and softness and impossible kindness and if I got too close. I’d stain her ruin her without even trying.
I think if she knew half the things I’ve done, half the things I’ve wanted, she’d never sit this close to me again.
I think I’m already so far gone its pathetic.
I don’t say any of it.
I just stand there, heart thudding too hard against my ribs, feeling like I’m fighting every instinct I ever learned.
Instead, I say, “Why didn’t you tell him?”
Her forehead crinkles, “Tell who what?”
“Tyler,” I say, sharper than I mean to, “Why didn’t you tell him?”
She blinks at me, still not getting it.
“Tell him,” I grind out, “when he fucks up.”
Penny looks down at her hands, twisting her fingers together.
“It’s nut…” she starts, voice too soft. She takes a breath. “It’s not really wrong, what he’s doing. He’s just being nice. Friendly. He’s not trying to hurt me.”
I bite the inside of my cheek so hard I taste blood.
She doesn’t get it.
She’s making g excuses for him like it’s her job to forgive the things that are slowly bleeding her out.
“You think you can’t ask someone to stop their world for you?” I ask.
She shrugs, helpless.
“I can’t,” she says simply. “I’m not enough for that,”
Yes, you are
Goddammit, you are.
In my head, it’s a different conversation,
In my head, I’m grabbing her face in my hands and telling her she s supposed to be someone’s whole world, whether the think she deserves II. or not.
In my head, I’m telling her she should bear the place down when someone makes her feel small.
But I don’t say it.
I can’t just say, “Still. He should know it hurts you.
Penny exhales, slow and tired, and gets to her feet, grabbing for her hag.
“If you’re here to make me feel worse about myself,” she says, voice tight, “you’re doing a great job.”
She turns like she’s about to leave.
The panic rises so fast it almost chokes me.
“Don’t, I say.
She stops. step closer before I can talk myself out of it.
Keeping my voice even, low, rough.
“Come with me,” I say. “I’m fixing Tyler’s car. I’ll bring you home after.”
I don’t know why I say it.
Don’t know why I can’t just let her go.
All I know is I’m not ready to watch her walk away from me
Not now, now. Not today.
She hesitates, biting her lip.
Glances past me, toward the double doors leading back out to the field, where Tyler’s still laughing, still kicking a ball around like he’s not even missing anything.
She looks back at me.
Something flickers across her face- hesitation, maybe, Or trust, las not sure which is worse
“Okay,” she says finally.
She bends down to grab her bag, but I get there first, scooping it up before she cam
Her mouth opens like she’s going to protest.
I don’t give her the chance.
I sling it over my shoulder and start walking toward the parking lot, slow enough that she can stay beside me without running
Her footsteps are soft next to mine,
Smaller. Quieter.
Like she belongs there,
And maybe that’s the problem.
Because somewhere along the line, in the short time I’ve known het, she stopped being just another stupid, reckless girl who needed a reality check.
Somewhere along the line, she became something else entirely.
I sit cross-legged on a heat-up metal chair, the kind that wobbles if you shift wrong, and watch Asher work on Tyler’s car.
When he said he needed to fix it, I pictured him tossing the keys to some garage
Not… this.
Asher’s the one doing the work himself, sleeves shoved up to his elbows, hands streaked with grease, arms Bexing under the faded black bric of his shirt every time he tightens a bolt or leans in under the hood..
Veins line his forearms, sharp and defined, like the whole world’s tension is colled under his skin, ready to snap ay fast, my face heating.
I look away
Great. Fantastic. Let’s just ogle the guy who still hasn’t smiled at me once today. Totally normal behavior.
Still, grateful he asked me to come.
I’m…g
If he hadn’t, I would’ve gone home and curled up in bed, letting the dark eat away at me piece by piece.
This is better.
This is… distracting.
I bounce my knee and tap my fingers against my ankle, watching him work in silence for a full two minutes before I decide
If he’s going to be a grump, then I’m going to see how long it takes to make him crack.
“Serious question,” I say, tilting my head
He grunts- I’ll take that as permission.