I Never Promised You A Ray Of Light (Lucas)

[lucashart]

Lucas sighed. "Hold on. You don't have to go." He said. He liked Ashley and liked spending time with her. He walked up to her, tell me about yourself." He said. He wanted to know more about her.

He sat down on the bed again. He looked down at his phone out of habit. It was almost one. He looked back up at Ashley, almost fully recovered from the towel incident. She was still standing next to the door, hesitant. "Come on." He encouraged her.

[Ashley Aimes]

Ashley walked over to Lucas's bed. He seemed to relax. She sat down next to him and looked up. "You want to know about me?" She asked quietly. "I'm boring. Just another kid." She said. That was a lie. She lived by herself since she was twelve and her father was a national ambassador. That wasn't exactly normal.

"Tell me about you." She said looking up at him. She already knew about him. He had quite the reputation around campus. Great lacrosse player, better kisser, and amazing student. A lot of the girls in her dormitory wanted him.

[lucashart]

"Well. I play lacrosse. I love it" He said. He would've much rather heard about Ashley but she didn't want to talk about herself. "I like writing an reading...I'm a nerd." He admitted.

Anytime Lucas was around Ashley, he found it hard to concentrate. He tried listening to her but couldn't take his eyes off of her. A piece of Ashley's hair had fallen into her face. "Um." He said quietly. "You have..." Tristan moved his hand to her face and brushed it out of her face and smiled. He let his hand linger on the side of her face a little longer then needed.

Then Lucas did something without thinking about. Something he had been wanting to do ever since she saw her under the tree yesterday. Lucas gently kissed Ashley on the lips. Her lips were better then he expected. They we're sweet and a little cool.

He leaned back and looked at her. He wasn't sure how she would react. When he leaned back though, he saw a picture of him and Brittany. He instantly felt guilty. "I...have to go." he said getting up from the bed and walked out of the room.

[Ashley Aimes]

Ashley listened intently to Lucas talk about lacrosse then school. She thought it was cool how he found a way to balance the two. He spoke very passionately about writing and could tell it was important to him. It was hard to find someone that could balance those two things and popularity. She thought it was cute when he called himself a nerd.

He definitely didn't look like a nerd. He still didn't have a shirt on and she couldn't stop staring at his abs. They were perfectly sculpted. She felt a strong urge to touch his stomach. Not just his stomach, but his chest too and his arms. His whole body was perfect.

At one point Lucas stopped talking and told her that her hair was in her face. He tucked it behind her ear then just stared at her. She found it a little odd but smiled up at him. Before she knew what was happening, his lips were on hers. There was a spark when they kissed. He all too quickly pulled away, studying her. She wanted more then anything to just shout for him to kiss her again but just sat there in a slight daze.

Then, for the second time, he ran out on her. She was beginning to think something was wrong with her. And it was his room. Why did he just leave his own room? Was she supposed to leave now? Ashley just sat there confused for moment before getting up and walking out of the room in silence.

As she walked though the common room, Justin caught her by the arm. She smiled at him, "What's up?" She asked in a sweet voice. He asked what happened with Lucas. She answered saying nothing. He then kindly informed her that Lucas had a girlfriend. "Good to know." Ashley said as if it didn't phase her. "I have to go." and with that, she left the dorms.

Of course Lucas had a girlfriend. What was Ashley thinking? But why had he kissed her? Some much was running through Ashley's head. Whatever. Lucas could do whatever he wanted. Just not with Ashley. She was sad that nothing would happen with them but convinced herself she didn't need a relationship right now.

[lucashart]

Did he really just kiss Ashley? Did He really just run out of his own room? He ran both of his hands through his hair, closed his eyes and sighed as he walked down the hall of his dorm. In a matter of minutes, he had messed everything up. His relationship with Brittany, his relationship with Ashely, everything.

He moaned and kicked the front door of the dorm open. The crisp Autumn air that bit at his skin made him more alert. He opened his eyes and walked down the dorm steps. Lucas started walking straight across the grassy quad when Justin called him name. His voice alone annoyed him. "What do you want, Justin?" He asked through his clenched teeth. Justin laughed and asked if he had a nice time with Ashley. Lucas just walked away from him, not answering.

Lucas walked straight off campus and into the forest. He kept walking, not bothering to look back even when his lacrosse teammates started calling his name. He would more then likely miss practice tonight and coach would be pissed but right now he didn't care. As he walked deeper into the forest, it got darker because of the dense tree branches hanging above him, but Lucas was too distracted to notice. He just needed to get away from it all.

[Ashley Aimes]

Ashley went back to her dorm room and changed into a sports bra, sweatshirt and yoga pants. She went back outside and ran. She just ran and ran for what seemed like hours. Ashley ran around the campus, and past the lake everyone was always talking about. She made a mental note to go there some time soon. It looked very relaxing.

When Ashley finally got back from her run she looked at the clock. She had just run for four hours. Ashley changed back into her sweatshirt and jeans then wondered around the dorm for a while. After about an hour, everyone started leaving for dinner. Ashley opted to stay in again. She went back to her room and quickly fell asleep.

[lucashart]

Lucas eventually made his way back through the forest and to his dorm building. Nobody was in the quad or the dorm which Lucas assumed was because it was dinner time. Lucas didn't feel like eating tonight. He was kind of glad nobody was in the dorm with him. He didn't feel like talking either.

Once he got to his room, he kicked off his shoes and closed the door. He didn't even bother turning on the light. Lucas just peeled his shirt off and took his jeans off. He fell onto his bed and got under the covers. He had walked for such a long time, his feet now hurt.

He closed his eyes and started falling asleep. As soon as he had gotten comfortable, his phone started buzzing on the nightstand next to him. Lucas moaned before picking it up and flipping it open. There was fourteen missed calls. All from Brittany.

On his walk, Lucas had decided he would tell Brittany about the kiss...Just not tonight. He put the phone down but made sure to put it on silence before doing so. Now he couldn't go to sleep if he tried. He just laid there, staring up at the dark ceiling. Eventually, he fell asleep though.

[Ashley Aimes]

- The Next Day -

Ashley got up early as usual. She quickly got dressed in a grey sweatshirt, yoga pants, ugg boats, and putting her hair up in a messy bun. She went out the the dorm common room and made herself some coffee in the small kitchenette. Nobody was ever up this early. She found it really peaceful.

When her coffee was done brewing, she took her cup out to the dorm steps and sat down. She breathed in the cold Autumn air, shivering a bit. Brittany took a sip of her steaming cup of coffee she held in her hands and closed her eyes. It warmed up her entire body, it relaxed her. She smiled as she held the cup up to her lips again. She opened her eyes again and looked out at the quad. She could hear the birds chirping.

She spent about an hour out on the front dorm steps. She drank three cups of coffee during that time. After an hour though, the peaceful silence of the quad disappeared. People started walking out of their dorms and going to the dining hall for breakfast. Ashley had yet to make an appearance there despite being at Rosehurst for a week now. She decided today would be a good day as any.

She had made friends with most of the girls in her dorm so when she saw them walk out of the dorm, she stood up and smiled. They gladly invited her along. She walked along with them, laughing when they told a joke and smiling when they talked about something happy. They got to the dining hall and sat at a table next to the back then they got there food. Ashley wasn't very hungry and ended up only getting an apple.

She didn't know if it was just her, or if people were actually staring at here. Maybe it was because they hadn't seen her before. Most kids on campus hadn't. But she kept getting looks from people. It was weird.

[lucashart]

Lucas must've been really tired because when he woke up, his roommate was in his bed. Usually he would wake up when he came in. It was around seven thirty when he woke up. The sun was just starting to come through his window. He got up and slipped some sweatpants and a tee shirt on with some sneakers.

He threw a pillow at his roommate, waking him up so he wouldn't miss breakfast. Once he got dressed, they walked over to the dining hall together. They talked about sports the whole way there. Once they got there, they headed straight for the food. They piled the food on there plates.

As Lucas was walking back to his table, he noticed the eyes of his classmates on him. Did he forget his pants or something? Some of them were even glaring at him. He couldn't help but wonder why. Maybe he was just loosing it.

Once he got to his regular table, he looked at everybody. At the table right across from his was Ashley. At first he couldn't believe it. He had never seen her in the dining hall. She looked pretty today. She only had an apple in front of her. She had probably already eaten the rest of her food.

Justin quickly pulled him out of his Ashley trance. "Dude." He hit Lucas when he saw him staring at Ashley. "Did you really make out with the blonde?" He whispered. The rest of the table had gone quiet, waiting for his answer. "Wait. What?" Lucas asked. Justin just pulled his phone out and showed him the latest gossip blast. How did she know about the kiss?! He hadn't told anybody. That's why everybody had been staring at him. He shut Justin's phone and left the table without eating. He rushed out of the Dining hall.

[Ashley Aimes]

Ashley sat at the table with all the girls from her dorm surrounding her. She zoned out for most of the conversations but listened intently to one in particularly. "Did you here Lucas Hart kissed another girl?" One of her classmates said. "No way. Brittany would rip the girl and Lucas to shreds if he did." Another one added. How did people know about the kiss?

This conversation was very uncomfortable for Ashley but didn't let it show. She just looked down at her apple. She wasn't very hungry anymore. She pushed the apple away and turned her attention to the conversation at hand. She wanted to know how much the girls knew. From what she could tell, they didn't know who exactly kissed him, which was good.

All of the sudden, half of the dinning hall went quiet which made the table Ashley was sitting at go quiet. We all turned to see everyone staring Lucas. A few of the boys closest to him turned to Ashley's general direction then turned back to him. Lucas pushed away his food just as Ashley had done a few seconds ago. He then stormed out of the hall looking upset.

The silence lasted for a few more seconds before the regular noise returned. The boys went back to hooting and hollering and the girls went back to gossiping. The girls were no longer talking about Lucas which relieved Ashley. She got up unnoticed and left the dining hall. She had grabbed the apple on her way out and had it in her hand.

Once she was outside, she searched for Lucas. She found him on the steps of his dorm building. Ashley casually walked over to him and looked down at him with a small smile on her face. "Here." She said, holding out the apple to him. He looked as white as a ghost. She sighed and sat down next to him. "Are you okay?" She asked quietly, breaking the silence.

[lucashart]

Once Lucas was outside, he walked to his dorm. He didn't want to go to his room yet but was not going to go back to the dinning hall so he sat on the stairs. Lucas sighed and closed his eyes while he ran his hand through his hair. Lucas just wished Brittany was here so he could just tell her what happened. He would feel so much better.

After about five minutes of sitting on the steps alone, he heard someone approach. He opened his eyes to see none other then Ashley Aimes standing in front of him. She just looked so sweet, so innocent. Even though he was in such a crappy place right now, seeing her made him want to smile. But he knew being seen with her wasn't doing much for his now bad boyfriend reputation.

She handed him an apple and sat down next to him. Lucas wasn't very hungry but knew he should eat. He took a bite of the green apple then placed it on the step next to him. He kept zoning out. He had a feeling once he told Brittany and Ashley, he would feel...no never mind. He would still feel like shit.

Ashley asked if he was okay. Of course he wasn't okay! He had messed up royally. He knew it would be a good idea not to see Ashley because of what he did last time. But it wasn't Ashley's fault. She had done nothing wrong which made him feel even worse. He had led her on by kissing her. And now he was going to hurt not only Brittany, but Ashley.

"Ash..." Lucas said reluctantly. He didn't know what to say after that. What could he say after that? He ran his hand through his hair again. This was harder then he thought. "Ashley." He tried again. But he still didn't know what to say.

[Ashley Aimes]

Ashley sat with Lucas in an uncomfortable silence for a few minutes. She pulled her legs close to her chest, wrapped her arms around then and rested her head on her knees. She listened to the trees blowing in the wind and watched the clouds move slowly across the sky. She then turned her head to Lucas and watched him eat the apple she had just given him.

She had a feeling she already knew the answer to her question. He was feeling badly. Which made her feel bad, but then it didn't. He knew he was in a relationship. He wanted to kiss her. And he did.

When he said her name, Ashley moved her head back to looking out at the quad. She sighed, but smiled a small smile. "Don't worry." She said quietly. Ashley playfully pushed her shoulder into his. "We're friends." She said. That's what he wanted. He didn't want to hurt anyone. So she would make it easy on him.

"It's okay." Ashley said without looking at him. She didn't really have much choice. She refused to be a home wrecker and she definitely was not a mistress. So she would settle for just being friends. Even if thats not what she really wanted...

[lucashart]

Lucas was still trying to think of what to say when Ashley started talking. She saved him, telling her they were just friends and she was happy with that. That relieved him until he looked over at her. To someone looking at them, she looked happy. But Lucas couldn't help to see a sadness in Ashley's eyes. She turned around before he could really look though.

The fact that Ashley just lied to him to make his life easier made him feel even worse. And he didn't think that was possible. He moaned to himself and put his face in his hands. This was not how this year was supposed to go. "Everything is a disaster..." Lucas mumbled through his fingers.

He let his hands fall and he let his head fall back. "I'm sorry, Ashley." He said quietly. He knew an apology probably wouldn't make anything any better but he would try. "I shouldn't have kis-I shouldn't have done that last night." He said. He looked over at Ashley again to see her staring out at the quad.

[Ashley Aimes]

Ashley sighed. She couldn't help but feel bad for Lucas. She put her hand on Lucas' back and rubbed it. "It okay." Ashley whispered quietly. "Everything's going to be okay." She said.

Ashley couldn't believe she was comforting Lucas. He was the one who messed up. He should feel like crap. But she couldn't help it. She hated seeing him sad. He reminded her somewhat of a lost little puppy.

Her head fell into Lucas' shoulder as she continued to rub his back. "It's all going to be okay..." She said, barely audible. Ashley was saying that so much, she began to wonder who he was trying to convince. Lucas, or herself. The two sat on the stairs for a couple minutes.

Then students started coming out of the dinning hall. Ashley got up without a word and started to walk away. She turned around once she was down the stairs and looked at Lucas. "Bye, Luke." She said with a small wave. She walked across the quad to her dorm without looking back.

[lucashart]

Lucas watched in silence as Ashley walked away. It felt like he was never going to see her again, like she was saying goodbye for good. He waved but Ashley had turned back before she saw it. He had a feeling they weren't going to be friends like before. That thought alone was enough to make Lucas want to go back to his room and go back to sleep. And thats what he did.

He got up from the stairs, leaving the apple on the steps. He walked though the dorm common room unnoticed. Lucas was lucky enough to get to his room before Jamie was back. Throughout the years at Rosehurst, Jamie became one of Lucas' closest friends and he also happened to be his roommate. He knew if Jamie was here, Lucas would breakdown and tell him everything. He just didn't want that right now.

Lucas kicked off his shoes and got into bed. He pulled the covers over his head and moaned. He wished Brittany would just hurry up and get here. She would probably break up with him but the guilt was eating him alive. He couldn't turn a corner without hearing someone talk about how badly he messed up.