Pop 25

A soft knock came on Ashton’s door.

“Hey, Ashton,” Leo said, stepping inside. “How’s the ear?”

Ashton tapped the side of his head. “Still weird.

There’s this tingling that won’t go away. I heard Olive’s getting better, though.”

Leo flipped through Ashton’s chart and handed him his pills.

“Yeah, her hearing’s improving fast. Yours might take a little more time.

The doctor wrote here that it might not completely heal.”

He smiled faintly. “But then again… they’re just doctors, right? They’re not like us.”

Ashton raised a brow. “Like us?”

Leo’s eyes softened. “Yeah. We believe in miracles. We’re positive thinkers.”

Ashton stood, pacing by the bed. “I’ve been switching to juices instead of soda.

Mango, aloe vera, whatever’s natural. Trying to clean up, you know?”

Leo nodded without looking up, scribbling something on the chart.

“That’s good. Keep it up.”

He checked his watch. “I should go—two new nursing students didn’t show up,

so I’m covering their rounds. Plus I can’t find Tristan, it’s weird, he did not

showed up either. I’ll try to stop by later, okay?”

Ashton just looked at him—too long, too heavy.

“Sorry,” he said quietly.

Leo paused. “Sorry? For what?”

Ashton sat down, the air thick around them.

“I don’t know. I just… I haven’t been honest with you. And I hate how that feels.”

Leo set the chart down and moved closer.

“Ashton, what do you mean? If this is about the last time at my place…I mean,

I think I got it….but, is there something else that you’re not telling me?”

Ashton’s mouth opened, but fear caught his words.

“Forget it. I’m just tired. I’ll see you later, maybe. If not, probably I’ll be at the

bingo room, it will be nice if you can stop by.”

Leo turned toward the door. Then stopped.

“You’re not gonna tell me, are you?”

Ashton froze. “Tell you what?”

Leo exhaled slowly. “You’re lying.”

Ashton laughed nervously. “Lying about what?”

Leo turned his back, voice low but trembling, tears starts to hint at his eyes.

“I don’t know how it happened. Or why.

I don’t even care about the how anymore.” He turned, eyes wet.

“All I know is—the guy I kissed, touched and almost fucked in that bathroom was you.”

The world seemed to stop.

Ashton’s eyes widened, tears already forming. “Me? Leo… how did you—”

“I didn’t know,” Leo said, his voice cracking. “ I had never been certain in my life until now.”

Ashton stood, panicked. “Please. Let me explain. Let me—”

He pulled Leo into an embrace. They both shook, tears staining each other’s shirts.

“Leo, please. I just wanted to explain why I did it—”

Leo lifted his wrist, fingers brushing the small bracelet Ashton still wore. His gift.

“You forgot to take this off,” he whispered. “If you were going to lie, Ashton, at least cover your tracks.”

“Leo—”

“You think I’m stupid? The moment I saw you on that dance floor,

I knew. I said to myself, I don’t know what happened, probably the two beers I just had, but

there’s something strange with him, he looked younger. I knew it was you, and

I’m fucking jealous that you’re all over the floor with those men, all of them, they can’t

wait to get their hands inside your pants. Ashton, you see, when you love someone… truth is

much closer than you thought”

Ashton’s breath hitched. “I didn’t mean to deceive you.

I just wanted you to see me the way you saw him. The younger me.”

Leo’s face broke, pain twisting his voice.

“You think that matters to me?” He shook his head.

“I was ready to take you home that night—to my condo.

But you didn’t want that. Your eyes did not lie, you wanted it quick, cheap, forgettable.

Right there on that dirty floor. Why? Because if it’s not real, you don’t have to commit.

Tell me Ashton, why am I not deserving of your fucking love? What am I to you?

Just a quick fuck? Is that all you want from me? A quick dirty fuck?”

“Leo—”

“You’re not ready for me, Ashton,” Leo said quietly. “You never will be.”

He turned and walked out, the sound of the door closing sharp as a heartbeat breaking in half.

Ashton collapsed onto the bed, sobbing.

Outside, Olive had been listening.

She stepped in silently and wrapped her arms around him.

“Oh, Ash…” she whispered.

Tristan, who finally showed up, still in his student nurse uniform, appeared in the doorway.

He didn’t speak—just sat beside Ashton and gently patted his back.

All three of them sat there in the quiet hum of the hospital room,

the only sound the faint ringing still echoing in Ashton’s ears—

like the ghost of everything he couldn’t say.

He looked at Olive.

Olive gave him a cold stare, it was so cold, it feels like ice burning on his skin.