Austen gave me a smile. "I was thinking we could go out for something to eat, what do you say?"

"I say let's do it, I'm absolutely starving."

"Ash." There was a rise in Dust's tone. His fingers twitched by his side like he wanted to grab hold of my wrist. He must have noticed it too because he curled his hand into a fist and his jaw tightened. "Are you sure you want to go? I can go to training late, I don't mind dropping you home first."

"She's in safe hands, man," Austen called from his car.

Dust's eyes glazed past me and towards my boyfriend. They narrowed a fraction behind the frames of his glasses before his attention was drawn back to me.

"Ash?" he prompted.

"I'll be fine," I insisted. "I know my mother puts a lot of responsibility on you to take care of me, but Austen and I have been together for ages. She trusts him, if that's what you're worried about. Besides, I don't want you to disappoint the little ones."

I nodded at the field behind the student carpark where a group of kids had already gathered. Dust turned and looked at them too, sighing heavily. While he was distracted, I headed towards the car, dropping my bag into the backseat.

"Ash," he said, just as I was about to get inside.

I looked up at him.

He swallowed, raking a hand through his hair before he gave me a forced smile. "Have a good time. I'll see you tonight?"

"Yeah, of course. We kind of live together now," I said, laughing.

Dust looked like he wanted to say more, but I was already in the vehicle. As soon as my seatbelt was on, Austen pressed his foot against the pedal and we were off.

It was good to be in the familiar presence of his car. The worn seat covers were soft against my skin, the overall interior warm to accomodate my preferences. The cheap air freshener dangled from his rear-view mirror, emitting the faint, tangy scent of citrus.

"So, that's Maura's son," Austen said.

"It is."

"He seems...tense."

"Yeah, that was a little weird wasn't it?"

Dust had been relatively calm and friendly since I had turned up at his doorstep, so seeing him get so angsty at the appearance of Austen was strange to say the least.

"Guess the guy doesn't really like me, hey?"

"He doesn't even know you," I said.

Austen reached over and took my hand in his. His threaded our fingers together, his palm warm against mine. He kept his eyes on the road, one hand on the wheel. But as he drove, he lifted our hands to his lips and kissed my frozen fingers.

"Well, as long as he doesn't try anything on you, we should be cool."

"Are you really worried he'll make a move on me?" I laughed, but Austen's expression wasn't his usual friendly grin. His eyebrows were drown together, his jaw set. I instantly sobered. "You're not jealous, are you?"

"Of course not," he scoffed, then his blue eyes brightened. "But just to be sure, how does your mum feel about you staying with me? I live close to the school so you can transfer back and graduate with me and all our other friends. Plus you know we have a spare room ever since my brother went away for university. I mean, not that you have to stay there because you can totally sleep in my arms every night."

I laughed, shaking my head. "As delightful as that sounds, you know my mum wouldn't allow it."

He jut his bottom lip out, feigning disappointment. "Well, I guess we only have a few more months of high school. Then we'll be out of here."

"Out of here," I repeated, smiling, a knot in my stomach.

Austen gave my hand a comforting squeeze. "How does sushi sound?"

My mind was wandering but the mentioning of food caught my attention. "Sounds perfect."

Austen never ordered anything except for the California rolls so we split a platter. I took my homework into the restaurant so that I could complete it before I went back to Maura's house. Being cooped up in that tiny room for too long drove me mad.

"I can feel you staring at me," I said.

"Is that such a crime?"

"It is if I fail biology. Don't you have any studying to do?"

He dismissed the notion with a wave of his hand. "I can study later. I just want to spend time with my beautiful girlfriend. But aparently she keeps getting distracted by a the functions of plant cells."

I laughed and gently closed my textbook. "Okay, I'm sorry. You have my attention."

Austen leaned over and kissed my forehead. "That's what I like to hear. So all the seniors at school are getting together in a few weeks to do a fund raiser. We're doing a heap of stuff, kind of like a carnival. You should join."

"I don't know. I'm technically a student at Lyon now. We're the biggest rivals in town."

He feigned annoyance, lip curling into a sneer, eyes narrowed. "Guess we should be enemies now."

"But you're too cute to hate," I answered, tugging a piece of his dark, curly hair.

Austen was delighted. He smiled at me from across the booth.

"Seriously, Ash, be there. It won't be the same without you. You've been a part of Preston since the start. I can barely wrap my head around the thought that I won't be able to graduate with my girlfriend. At least be there for some of the other fun stuff."

"Well...I really do miss everyone."

"Rachel is going insane. You have to come home every so often. It's barely been a week since you left and she's losing hair from all the stress. It's not even her hair. It's mine." Austen dipped his head to showcase his thick mop of hair. "She's making me rip my own hair out. Babe, I'm going to go bald."

I ruffled his hair. "You are not not going bald. But I'll see what I can do about the Rachel situation."

I didn't have any siblings growing up, but Rachel had been my best friend for so long that we considered ourselves sisters.

Austen wasn't exactly her biggest fan though. It was mostly due to the fact that they were practically the same person; headstrong, driven, confident, loud. They had a habit of butting heads quite often, but for the sake of my benefit, they agreed to remain relatively civil in my presence.

"Thank you," he groaned, relieved.

I laughed, watching him straighten in his seat. "Other than that, how were classes today?"

"Study periods aren't nearly as fun without you. I actually studied."

"No way."

"Yes way." He ran his fingers through his hair. "I was productive."

"Maybe me moving schools had some perks after all," I teased.

"No." Austen dramatically tipped his head back. "Come back to Preston. Be my distraction."

"Austen," I said, unable to hold back my laugh, "you get distracted by practically everything. Just the other week, you got distracted by a bit of fluff floating in the classroom. You don't need me present for you to procrastinate."

He considered. "Come back to Preston and be my favourite distraction."

"Tempting, but I'll pass." I gave him a mischievous grin.

He dipped his head and looked at me, frowning. "Why the sudden change of mood? I thought you hated the situation you're in."

"I do, but I had an epiphany in Biology, thanks to Sam."

"Sam?"

I waved my hand dismissively.

"Harmless," I said, but Austen raised an eyebrow, unconvinced. "The point is, my mother is incredibly dependent on everyone surrounding her because of the divorce. If I keep showing signs of restraint against her authority, she'll only want to limit my freedom even more. She's clingy right now. I have to prove that I'm responsible and mature about this whole thing."

"And what will that do?"

"Hopefully it'll aid as some sort of comfort to her. She'll get back on her feet again. We'll move out of her friend's house and find a flat, hopefully close to Preston so I can transfer back again."

Austen took my hand from across the table. "Do you really think it will work?"

I hoped so.

"It's worth a shot," I said instead.

With one last kiss goodbye, I left Austen's car and walked up the driveway to to the Reeds' house. My mother was the only one with a key so I raised my knuckles to knock on the door. But before I could even do that, it was flung open.

"Oh God," I said, jumping back.

Dust gave me a quick look over before he stepped past me and watched as my boyfriend pulled away from the curb and back onto the road. He narrowed his eyes at the car, his jaw tight.

"Are you okay?" I asked.

He directed his attention back to me once Austen was out of sight. "Fine. You?"

"Fine," I answered skeptically, pushing past to get inside.

Dust closed the door and followed me into the kitchen. I could feel him watching as I grabbed myself a glass of water.

"Did you want something?" I asked.

"Are you okay?" he asked instead.

I nearly choked on my drink from laughing. "You asked that already," I pointed out. "I'm fine. Why do you look so stressed?"

He rubbed the back of his neck, red slowly creeping its way into his cheeks.

"Oh my God, did my mum completely freak out? I'm so sorry you got the wrong end of the stick, I'll sort it out with her. Usually she's fine with me seeing my boyfriend, but maybe the divorce is making her a little more protective than usual."

"It's not that... It's just-"Dust scrunched his face up, his gaze unable to meet mine. "Nothing. Since you're back I'm going to shower."

He abruptly left, gaze still glued to the floor. I placed my glass of water onto the table, my mind wandering. Eventually I left it there, forgotten.