ErikTheBat

"If I keep on pushing people away I won't get hurt."
"If I stay calm and collected, no one can reach me."

We give our all to everyone around us, believing that if we make them happy, we too will become happy.
It is not that easy and Ashton has been stuck in that realization for awhile now, not wanting to believe that life could be so cruel.

We fight to be seen and acknowledged by the ones we care about. But is it really worth it, when you give your all and it's still not enough. Corey is conflicted, fighting with his own brain, not knowing if he should take a step back or keep going.

Both of them need a break, someone that will listen and comfort them, without making a fuss.

"They say great minds think alike."
"Only that we don't think, we feel.”

I Want My Forever

Tony had taken him to the shop, before heading home to take care of his younger siblings. Ashton wished that he could've stayed with him, but he knew that's not how things work.


Still sitting on the same chair, he kept on sorting the comics. From time to time he stalled before putting the comic in the right pile. Quickly looking through it, admiring the artwork he held in his hand.


Cole parked the car just across the street from a tiny comic book store. Watching the small sign outside of it, he huffed at the name. Little shop of comics. 


"Oh, you have already spotted the shop." Cole exclaimed as he unbuckled his belt, on his way to leaving the car.


"Is this a joke?" Corey looked at his brother in serious confusion. Sounding a bit worried about their spot for studying. 


"Don't judge a book by its cover, it is super cozy inside and the guy working there is something out of the ordinary." 


Corey glared at his brother in annoyance, "Why does that have anything to do with me?" He growled.


"I ju- Forget it." Cole sighed quietly, "Let's just get inside."


In silence the twins walked over to the shop, Cole entering first making the bell above the door pling from his presence.


Corey hurried after, not wanting to have to touch the door, risking to leave a pling behind him. When he was inside, he stalled for a moment, looking sceptical as he took in the new environment.


'So my brother wasn't lying about the cozy atmosphere.' He thought as he took another few steps further in.


"Let me guess, Cole and Corey?" A woman's voice spoke from behind the counter, "Ash told me you were coming. 


So just be chill, study how much you want. We close at, like around eight sometimes ten pm. So no need to feel stressed. Any questions about the comics, you will have to talk to Ash. Right now he is in the backroom, but just tell me and I'll either tell him or let you guys into him."


'Is this real? It can't be, not a place where we are being told to chill and take it easy. Not forcing us to buy anything to be in here. Just letting us be here, because we want to.


"Oh I'm sorry, I almost forgot. I'm Katie the owner, how rude of me to not introduce myself. I come and go all the time, so don't always expect me to be around. I trust Ash to have thing's under control while I'm not here."


"How long has he been working here?" Cole asked curiously.


"Well, he's twenty now. He started when he was fourteen? If I remember correctly, so around six years?"


Corey stared out into the thin air in schock.


'He has been working since he was fourteen? How can he even afford to attend university? And why has he been working since then? Is he an orphan? Is his family really poor?'


A million questions surfaced in Corey's mind. He wanted answers, but how would he get them?


Questions