Summary:

Jake asked if Asher had any family he could contact for him. “We wouldn’t even need to tell them what happened, Asher,” he’d said, like the problem was that Asher needed convincing.

“I don’t have any family,” Asher had said. He’d spoken in that same dead-sounding voice that he knew seriously unnerved people, but he couldn’t help it; he’d still been perfecting his normal-person voice at that point. “I never knew my mom. My dad is dead.”

Jake had deflated visibly but tried again and asked about friends.

Asher had stared at him for a little too long but eventually produced a response after the assistant trainer’s question had spent a moment rattling around his head. “I had a boyfriend,” he’d said. He’d smiled, like a reflex. Asher wasn’t even really thinking of Gabe specifically but rather the simple concept that he’d Had A Boyfriend, But Now He Doesn’t. “Kent kinda ruined that for me.”

 

— or: you've heard of Asher Rivera. would you like to meet him?