Call Me Maybe (Ashe)

[Nathan Darwin]

After the ridiculous bs that his friends had pulled after the game, Nathan felt like a tool just because he acquainted himself with them. Seriously, they were probably the most immature people he could possibly associate with. Maybe he should look for better people to hang out with. Older people, non-jocks perhaps. Then again, even he knew that all jocks weren't as bad as the ones that he typically hung out with the most. He blamed his friendship on the fact that it made him look smarter by being around them. Because they were all flat out stupid. Man, he didn't know how he was going to explain all of that to Ashe. She probably thought he was just as bad as them.

But she said to call her, so he did just that. Hoping for the best.

Dialing her number, he sat on the edge of his bed, freshly showered and half naked. He didn't feel like layering up, not yet at least even if there was a slight chill in his room. He could handle a little bit of chill. Laying back on his bed, he held the phone to his ear as it rang. And rang. He thought of hanging up, but then he realized it wouldn't do him any good if she could see that he had tried calling. Then she'd just call him back and he'd feel like even more of a tool. So he sucked it up and just sat there. Waiting.

And then she answered. "Uh, hey Ashe. You uh, you told me to call. So I'm calling. And apologizing for the moronic people that I associate with. Seriously I don't know why I bother with them sometimes." Now he was rambling. Fuck.

[Ashelia Volkov]

No, Ashe didn't really blame or judge him for who his friends were and how they acted. If he thought he was the only one with childish and stupid friends, he was wrong. Just because his friends didn't hit her taste, it didn't mean they were bad or that he was an idiot for hanging with them. Everyone had their own in taste and she wasn't going to question them. Even girls could act foolish around guys, so there wasn't much room to judge them on that either.

So, Nathan had nothing to worry about when it came to that. Besides, she really doubted there was anything he could say or do that would ever put him in a bad light. After all, she had already seen him eat mud. Nothing could beat that.

Instead of heading home, Ashe took a stroll down the park. The weather was getting chiller by the minute, but she didn't really mind the cold. She blamed it on her Russian genes. She quite enjoyed the fresh autumn air, even if it was a tad cooler than what she'd prefer. She wasn't going to complain either way. Ashe sat down on a nearby, empty bench and pulled out her phone. She really hoped he would find the time to call.

And then her phone started ringing...

She pulled it up to her ear, the corner of her lips twitching up slightly. ''Ohai.'' And that was all she got to say before Nathan started word vomiting into the phone. ''Woah, woah, dude. Chillax.'', she said with a laugh, shaking her head. ''It's cool. Don't worry about it.'' He really shouldn't have. She didn't really understand why he even did. ''They seemed... Cool.'' Well, she had seen worse.

[Nathan Darwin]

It wasn't just because his guy friends had acted like that in front of Ashe that he questioned his friendship with them. It was their general attitude towards people. They were all pigs when it came to girls. They were judgmental pricks when it came to someone different and heaven forbid it be a combination of the two. He was kind of glad he never put Willow through hanging out with them because he could only imagine what they would have said around her. She wasn't like everyone else. She had been quiet, reserved and she looked different from the other girls that they typically hung around. That had been part of the reason Nate started liking her in the first place. But none of his friends would have stuck by him if they had found out.

Nathan was stressing over his friendships lately. He didn't have that one friend that always was there. Not unless he counted his brother, but that made him sound even more pathetic. It was all fine and dandy having Nick around as a friend and a brother, but for him to be the only real friend Nate had, it was just sad. And he also didn't count a few of the girls that he was friends with either because he had plenty of those. It was the guy friends that he was lacking. And ever guy his age needed a wing man.

"Sorry, I'm just...I'm embarrassed by them sometimes," He said quietly, pinching the bridge of his nose. It was all just very frustrating. He sighed and reached for the plush football on his bed, tossing it in the air. "So what'd you think, of the game? I'm pretty terrible right?" Nate said trying to lighten up the mood.

[Ashelia Volkov]

If Ashe had known and gotten any say in it, she'd tell Nate that he worried too much about what everyone else thought about him. It seemed like he let others define him too much when the only one who could decide just who he is and what he's capable of doing is himself. He doesn't need to be accepted by the rest of the world to matter. He has the right to be who he is and like what he likes just as much as everyone else do. But Ashe couldn't have blamed him for it. It had taken her quite some time to accept herself and learn to be proud of who she was and what she could do.

Ashe let her hand run over the frills on her jacket, nodding slowly at what they blue-eyes boy said. ''You shouldn't be. They act the way they do because they want to. If that's how they wish the world to view them, who are you to stop them or even say it's 'wrong'?'', she said as she lifted her eyes up towards the sky. ''Oh yeah. The worst..'', she joked. ''Even I could have done better. I'd be a superstar football player within the month.'' Not really.

''You did great.'', she said after a short pause.

Ashe stood up and walked over to the grass. ''So, apart from the awkward friends... How's school?'' She sat down on the grass and leaned down onto her back, watching the sky again. The park was more or less empty, and silent. Almost a sort of ghostly silence.

[Nathan Darwin]

"Yeah, but I get lumped in with them because I'm around them all the time. Seriously, it's like everyone expects me to be a dick just because they are," And he could be at times, too. It was a wonder he hadn't gotten smacked more than twice in his life. Though both times had been well-deserved and he willingly let it happen. Still, for as many times as he went through girls without much contact after the act, it was surprising that he hadn't gotten his dick cut off. He was glad it hadn't happened though. Because he liked his genitals where they were placed currently.

Nathan snorted and shook his head, "I don't doubt it, babe. Coming from the sports background of those brothers you have, you could definitely take down any of those guys." Just not him because he was awesome. Not really, but whatever.

"School? Eh, it sucks. Kinda boring, ya know. Not like I need to know this stuff if I'm gonna be an underwear model anyway," Because that was the job he was sticking with. Totally. Lux doubted him, but he was going to do great things for the undergarment world one day. "How about you, anything fun and interesting in that school of normies?" He didn't doubt it was much different from Hammel, just a little less dangerous without a bunch of teens that can't control their abilities.

[Ashelia Volkov]

''Sounds to me like you have two choices. One; You ditch them and get new friends. Two; You stop caring so much about what everyone else thinks.'', she said with a slight chuckle. Sleeping around was such a common thing around teenagers these days, she didn't really understand why it was so frowned upon. Sure, shame on people for leading others on just to get in their pants. But also, shame on them for letting themselves be charmed. She had been in that position, and in the end, the only one she blamed was herself. She had known what she was getting into, and she knew she would end up getting a broken heart, yet she kept on going.

She was sick and tired of the players getting all the blame for everything that happened.

Ashe let out a laugh. ''Babe?'' That was a new one. ''Be careful with what you say, 'babe', those brothers of mine need a new plaything.'' Not that she thought her brothers would actually do anything about it. They loved the Darwin family. And it wasn't like she disliked being called babe or anything... But he didn't have to know that.

''Underwear model? Guess you eating mud wasn't such a bad thing after all. You don't need much brain in that profession, so I guess you're safe.'', she said with a smirk and chuckled. Well, he surely had the body for it. ''Oh you know. The usual. Naked girls running through the halls, lots of sex, parties and drama. I doubt there's much change between the different high schools. At least not in that area anyways.'' Superhero school sounded so much cooler in her opinion.

[Nathan Darwin]

"Easier said than done," Especially when he was constantly trying to make everyone around him happy. People-pleasing wasn't an easy job. Not when he constantly had to worry about what he was doing. Whoring around had always worked for him, yet he got so much crap for it because he was such a jerk. Using girls for their bodies, how dare he! As if no one else did that. As if girls didn't do that! No, he shouldn't have worried so much about everyone else's opinions, but he did and he didn't know how to change it.

Nathan laughed, "Oh please, you really think they'd hurt me just because I called you a non-committal pet name? Puh-leeze. It takes a lot more than that. I'd have to at least cop a feel. A nice grab-ass." Who was he kidding though, something like that wasn't about to happen. He wasn't worried about her brothers though. He was fairly decent at talking his way out of messy situations and it helped that his brother was friends with them. Granted, Nick probably wouldn't help him, but he could pretend for a second that he would.

"Exactly the point," And to think, people doubted him. Tsk tsk. It wasn't like he needed to be smart in order to traipse around in his skivvies. He'd give boxer briefs a damn good name and everyone would be looking at him and all of his manhood. Seemed like a good job to have. It probably paid well too if you were as well-endowed as Nate was. Yup. He had it all.

Laughing again he closed his eyes, "Yup, sounds familiar. Though you don't have to worry about flaming naked girls and explosive parties. And by explosive, I mean literally." Oh the insanity.

[Ashelia Volkov]

''You wish, Blue Eyes.'', she replied with a laugh. That would just be weird, if he did that. Right? Right. And she wasn't quite sure if she'd enjoy being sexually harassed by her childhood friend. He was like a brother to her. Well, a very hot brother. Who wasn't related to her. And her family actually liked him. Which was new. Not that it really mattered, because none of them would ever go there. Nope, she was forever doomed on bringing guys home her parents didn't like. Yep. Just friends. Totes.

Chaaanging the subject.

''Well...'', she began, trying to hold back a chuckle. ''When you're fifty, fat and broke, don't come to me and whine about money. Well, actually. Please do. I probably need something to laugh at.'' Not that she thought he'd ever get fat or be anything remotely close to being ugly when he was fifty. Men has this lucky card that just made them better looking the older they got. Lucky bastards. But she wasn't going to fluff his ego. Nope.

''That sounds like some crappy, B-rated vampire movie.'' Well, hey, if she had been a guy, or a lesbian, that might have been kind of hot. Hellwoman. Catchy. ''And to think you ended up with such a lame power...'', she said jokingly. ''Man, I could have had good use of you when I'm taking over the world... But nope. You had to go and get a lame power.'' Well, at least until the world ended and he was one of the few who managed to survive.

[Nathan Darwin]

Nathan resisted the urge to make the conversation even more awkward by agreeing. It was true though, he did kind of wish for something to happen between them. Even if it was just experimental. They'd known each other for so long, surely they would know what the other likes by now right? He was being good though, not bothering to take it there because the likeliness of her wanting that was very slim. A guy could dream. Dream about a hot redhead with a killer smile, pretty eyes and a knack for being good at rugby. Well hell, now he was just making things worse for himself.

"Oh please, Princess. As if this could be ugly and as if I'd allow myself to get fat. I'm going to be the youngest, hippest grandfather ever," He laughed and shook his head at the image. He'd probably continue talking like he did now, potty mouth and all around his grandchildren. Oh boy would that be interesting. Bad Grandpa, that could be his television show after his underwear model career ends. Or better yet, Briefs for Old-timers! Yus, that was full proof. And highly disturbing, but hey, if it paid well, who's to say he'd deny it?

Nate nodded, "It really does, but ya know. At least it'd be hawt." Because he was a teenage guy and anything to do with naked women was hot. Blood, fire, it didn't matter as long as she was naked. "And I'll have you know that my ability allows for me to survive everything. So while everyone else dies off during the apocalypse, I'll be here, surviving like a bad ass. You know, stick with me and we could be the ones to recreate the human race." Okay that was bad, very very bad. "Kidding, of course."

[Ashelia Volkov]

She would have to admit, he had a point. After all this time and all those years, growing up together, it could have lead to something. Anything, really. But it seemed like a different lifetime. A different universe. It was a little confusing, really. It wasn't especially awkward or anything, but it did make her curious about what might have been. She wasn't completely opposed to the idea either. He had a great personality and looked like a movie star. But it could all just be hormones and other teenage stuff messing with her head. Right?

''Oh, god.. The images! Kill it, kill it with fire!'', she said with a feigned dramatic voice. She didn't really doubt it though, even if she really thought he could do a lot better than being an underwear model. Even so, he'd probably end up looking just as good as the rest of his family. They were surely a family of lookers, there was no one who could ever argue on that.

Ashelia laughed and shook her head. As if he could see it. ''Let's hope the apocalypse doesn't ruin all the buildings, because y'know, having sex in the forest isn't all that much fun.'' He should have known by now that she didn't really take things like that too seriously. Well, maybe he didn't. But he'd learn it sooner or later. ''And while you run around gathering food, the rest of us have to walk around in hamster balls.'' Joy.

''Shouldn't you be out celebrating the game earlier with your friends?'' Instead of like, being a geek and talking on the phone with his friend.