In contrast, Ashleigh smiled when Higgs took the salad from her to finish it. Maybe she really would start sending him leftovers, if only so she didn't have to feel bad about wasting food. She listened as he spoke about his job. It certainly wasn't passion, but she supposed 'I don't mind it' was better than 'I hate it'. She certainly appreciated that Higgs wasn't going to quit his job without having some kind of plan. "Does the UK have other attractions?" she asked, with a slightly playful smile. It might not be the army, but Higgs got to see a lot more of his friends and his sister now, as well as being able to own all the pets he wanted.
She waved away his apology, both because they weren't talking about Alicia and because she didn't consider it his fault. It was a thing that had happened - a relationship had ended, that happened every day - it was the way Alicia was dealing with it (or rather, wasn't) that was the problem. Ashleigh stubbornly refused to ask herself what would happen if Alicia didn't get better. She would, because she had to. Ashleigh had never believed that Alicia needed Terence - that he was somehow irreplaceable and the only key to her health and happiness. They would find something else, some treatment that worked, and then Ashleigh could unpause her own life.
Pleased with herself for finding a pleasanter topic, Ashleigh still wrinkled her nose when Higgs suggested she join him. She didn't like quidditch. She watched Asher and Alicia play because they were family, but she certainly didn't go for fun. On the other hand, she'd never been with Higgs. He might make it more bearable, and Alicia would probably appreciate the respite from the pressure of Ashleigh being there all the time. "Okay," she said. "But I'm leaving if the game isn't over in a reasonable time frame."