It didn't actually work at all, but Jason knew what Ash was trying to do so he forced himself to smile and shrug. He slipped into that jocky flirt again, his last line of defense between him and ... well, almost everything. "It was nice, helps wen you got fire burnin' in ya' twenty-four seven."

Ash sighed. "I'm sorry. I probably should've asked before I put my arms around you." He knew that the smile wasn't real. Once you saw the real one, it was fairly easy to tell.

That wasn't the right thing to say Ash, not at all. His smile twitched a little, almost going away, before he rocked his weight to his heals and then balls of his feet, back and forth. "Nah, it's fine."

"But it's not, and I know it's not, and it doesn't matter how many times you say that it will never be okay," he said.

Dark red flickered over his freckles a moment until it was forced out. He took a deep breath, he might have to take another dunk. " Ash ... I say it's okay because I'm trying to move on. It's in the past, what had to happen had to happen even if I didn't like it or still don't. I've been through a lot before, I think I'll live."

"That also means that you can try to get over the destruction you've done in the past as well," he said softly.

The dark red flickered over his freckles again. "..." He didn't seem to want to talk about this, either of the topids, but he had to. He couldn't keep writing things down and not confiding in anyone. He couldn't keep all this power and anger and hurt bottled up inside. Because they just might explode out at some point.

Exactly. Ash continued, but not in a pushy pry way. "I know what it's like to have a tortured past. And trust me, some things are definitely harder to get over than others, they take more time, more effort. There are still some things I haven't got over yet. Many things, actually. So if you ever need to talk, just know that I'll be willing to listen." He hesitated for a moment, tempted to just walk away. He didn't.

He grit his teeth, clenching his fists a bit. The red suddenly stayed around his freckles like little burrs stuck on your pants. " ... Don't. Empathize. Me." He said in an undertone. " Don't say you understand me. " His response was pretty logical, he'd grown up in a way that would lead anyone not to trust anyone. "No one has ever understood, no one will. You're not me, so nor will you. Growing up the way I had, you learn that no one really is a friend. I made the mistake of trusting. I shouldn't have, but I've dug myself into a whole that I can't get out of. I don't need empathy, I don't need anyone to talk to. I don't need anything but a break." He said. Isn't that what Lila had said? To just give him a break? She had said at the party that no one gives him a break, not even her. Had she really meant it so literally?

Ash didn't seem fazed. "I never said that I would understand what you went through," he said calmly. "And you're right. I won't ever understand. But as for the no one is a friend part...I think you're wrong," he said bluntly. "Take Puck for example," he pointed out. "He's never hurt you. And I highly doubt you consider him any less than a friend. Just let me know when your break's over," he said quietly, taking a step back the way they had come.