Trev had everything lined up for him today. It was done snowing for the year, and still a couple weeks out from midterms. Nice and sunny outside, too, and that perfect cool, but not cold temperature this wolf liked best. And with his roommate out, there was room for guests—and today he knew just the one.
Sat next to him on his bed was a little rabbit girl with white fur and hair and strawberry-pink highlights, named Ashley. She was eagerly dressed for the coming spring, wearing a pair of short-shorts and a crop-top. It often was the case that her outfits had a little more thought put into them than his—currently a plain t-shirt and jeans, but they were both used to it. Though, as often as they’d seen each other by now, they usually didn’t sit this close. Side-by-side as they were, the difference in size was never more apparent. If Ashley leaned over just a bit, her head would fall right at his chest. Trev felt a little warmth in his cheeks at the thought.
Wolves and rabbits usually were pretty far apart in size, but Trev couldn’t help but wonder at another reason that may be. After all, while it was his first year in college, it was her first—in high school.
It stopped him from ever having her over before—kept him at a distance in general, really. Even now he felt self-conscious about the whole thing, but she’d insisted. She’d had half a year by now to wear down his defenses after all. They had his high school friend group to thank for that, who took her in soon after she showed up, and kept him around even after graduating. Trev had a way of bringing groups together—and keeping them together—but he never would’ve guessed four years ago that it’d lead to this.
He snuck a glance at Ashley, feeling a brief pang of guilt at how pretty she looked up close. Meanwhile he ran over in his head, all that she’d said since she sat down with him. She was dealing with something recent, and it bothered her enough to talk about it here, and apparently she was comfortable enough with Trev to talk about it with him.
“Sorry I… guess that was a lot,” Ashley said with a nervous laugh.
“No, no that’s fine. You vent any time you want, Ashley—”
“You’re allowed to say Ashe~” she giggled softly.
“Uh, Ashe, heh…” Trev laughed a nervous laugh of his own. Only the sophomore of the group ever called her that, and they were pretty buddy-buddy. “And I’m guessing this all is why you asked about beer..?”
Ashley blushed a little. She looked down at the floor with a sheepish little nod. “Um… y-yeah heh I… guess it’s been bothering me more than I thought, the past few days…”
Trev turned a heartfelt glance back to her. She did seem quieter the last couple times the group got together; he’d been wondering what was on her mind. “I’m… sorry hun… breakups can be hard—and yeah, I totally understand if you wanna do something different to get your mind off it, heh.”
The bunny returned a small, sweet smile, though her eyes still looked a little sad. “Thanks, Trev…” she said with a heavy sigh, looking back down to the floor as she recomposed herself. “Gosh he’s… not even worth it, anyway,” she said looking frustrated with herself, “he’s just some… jerk, anyway.”
“Sure sounds like one, from what you’ve said,” Trev said with solemn nod, “It’s okay to feel hurt, though, jerk or not.” He looked up to the ceiling, looking for something else to say. “I um… kinda figured he was a little old for you, anyway.”
Ashley furrowed her brow amused. “As if. He skipped a grade, so he’s not ‘actually’ a senior. I thought… maybe this year I could try something a little more… serious..? But he’s just as bad as eighth graders.”
Trev shot her a teasing inquisitive glance.
“Okay,” she giggled, “almost as bad.”
He liked her laugh. Nervous as he was, just hearing it seemed to put him at ease. It felt nice to have lightened the mood a little, too.
“But yeah… I was hoping for someone who like… cared more, you know? Guys in my grade haven’t figured that part out yet, as far as I could tell,” she scoffed, raising her water bottle for a sip.
Trev had been listening patiently, and in the brief pause caught himself looking over again, just to watch. She seemed to take her sips so delicately—he wasn’t sure if that was just how rabbits were, or more like her specifically. But either way, he couldn’t help but find it cute. The sunlight was peeking in through the blinds and the tree outside his window, and in that moment with the water bottle tilted to her lips, the slivers of light danced along her hair and fur, the pink-dyed tips glowing elegantly in the gentle light, where they fell along her forehead and framing her face, with glimmers of white fur bright like snow.
He felt bad for staring, and began to wonder if maybe he shouldn’t have had himself a beer…
