Ashton's POV
"So where are your wings?" she asked hesitantly.
As I gazed at my wingsâmy Emilia, I could no longer say that I was falling in love with her. I had been falling harder and harder for her as each day passed to the point where I was no longer falling anymore.
I am in love with Emilia.
It felt so good to say it in my head, but I couldn't voice it. I wanted to tell her right then as we stood in the studio together that I am so fucking in love with her, but I couldn't. She's never been in love; she doesn't know how to handle a confession like that. She ran away when I told her that I liked her, so who knows how she would react if I tell her that I am in love with her.
So I bit my tongue, intertwined our hands and lovingly smiled at her. "I'm looking at them right now."
___
It has been twenty-four hours since I stole Emilia from work to show her the painting of her wings.
It has been twenty-four hours since I came to the conclusion that I am in love with Emilia.
And in these twenty-four hours, things carried on as normal.
Yesterday, after stealing Emmie for over an hour or so, I took her back to the library after we were caught making out by the canvas by some art student who came in to work on her clay sculpture. I swear almost every time we have a nice slightly intimate moment, someone always has to ruin and interrupt it. I need to take her out somewhere where we won't be interrupted one of these days.
When we got there, no one even cared that she left. The other workers continued on with what they were doing and Emmie went back to her position behind the front desk. Since I had nothing better to do, I sat in the rolling chair next to her and stayed with her while she finished her shift. It kept her from being bored from doing nothing and it gave me a chance to annoy her a bit by throwing paper balls at her while she was typing things on the computer and stealing chaste kisses out of the blue. Even though she was irritated with me because of that, her forgiving nature kept her from staying mad at me.
Once her shift was over, I brought her back to my house where she was supposed to study with Luke, but everyone, including Julia, was there talking amongst themselves and let's just say that there wasn't much studying happening. Emmie and Julia began to catch up with one another as if they haven't seen each other in weeks, and I couldn't help but smile as I watched the two best friends talk with one another. They didn't stay long and decided to leave early because they didn't want to annoy us guys with their chattingâwhich we didn't mind, but Emmie's growling stomach gave the true reason as to why they wanted to leave.
Now that it's finally Friday, the day seems to have come and gone in a flash. The school day is over and Emmie is back at my house to actually study once again. I wrap my arms around her waist as she sits on my lap and works on trigonometry with Luke in the dining room. I had to make a deal that I would keep my mouth shut and not do anything to distract themâand by them, I mean Emmieâin order for me to not get kicked out like last time. She shifts around on my lap and her boney butt is actually making my thighs hurt, but I endure the pain and tighten my grip around her and rest my chin on her shoulder to which she doesn't react to; she just keeps the pencil in her hand moving against the notebook in front of her.
As I study her profile, all I can think of are the thoughts that were swirling through my mind from yesterday when I was showing her my paintingâno, her painting; the thoughts that continue to eat at me because I so badly want to say them aloud.
I am in love with Emilia.
I just want to whisper that I love her in her ear. With my mouth so close to it, I could easily slip the words out, but I decide against it for her benefit. I can't scare her away again.
"Are you starting the grasp the material?" I ask softly, looking down to the notebook paper marked with numbers and symbols.
Luke's eyebrow arches and he gives me the 'you're-not-supposed-to-be-talking' look. I mimic his facial expression and give him the 'fuck-off-I-can-ask-my-girlfriend-a-question-if-I-want-to' look to which he subtly chuckles at.
Emmie finishes one of the problems she is working on before answering me. "I think so," she says with a hint of confidence. "Luke, check it for me?" She hands him her work and watches him intently as he looks for errors.
He hums lowly and then grins, revealing his perfectly straight teeth. How the hell are they that straight without the help of braces? Lucky bastard. "You got everything right," Luke says proudly.
My chin is forcefully pushed off of her shoulder as Emmie throws her fists in the air and begins chanting about how much of a math wiz she is now. "Now that I'm a genius in trig, can we stop for today?" she pleads to Luke who agrees with her.
They're been working for almost four hours straight, so she and my now numb thighs need a break. Luke tells her that they'll start studying again on Monday so that she can have the weekend to relax.
"Do you need me to drive you home?" I ask and gently push her hips forward, hinting that I want her off of my lap. Not because I don't like her sitting on meâI actually love it, but because I would like to regain the feeling in my legs. She stumbles off of me and I stand up and shake my legs to get the blood flowing again.
"No, Julia is actually outside waiting for me," she says, looking down at the screen of her phone where I'm assuming a text from Julia telling her that is. "She got off of work early today and decided to pick me up on the way home."
"Alright. I'll walk you out."
As much as I love driving Emmie home, I'm actually glad that Julia is taking her because I need to talk to the guys immediately. I can't keep everything bottled in anymore and if I don't tell someone that I love this girl walking by my side as I guide her out the front door, then I might explode.
"Oh, I forgot to ask Michael what time I should come over to dye his hair," she says, just as we get out onto the dimly lit porch.
"You're dying his hair for him?" I ask.
"Yeah, apparently it's going to be my birthday present to him."
I vaguely remember him mentioning something like that to me. It's a good thing Michael isn't into the whole gift giving thing or else I would be a terrible friend for almost forgetting to get him something. "Oh, cool. I'll ask him later and have him text you, okay?"
She nods and even with such minimal lighting, I can still see her beautiful smile. "I'll see you tomorrow. Goodnight, Ash." She tries to walk off and head towards Julia's car, but I grab her hand and spin her around until our chests are pressed together and my lips are on hers.
Our rushed kiss ends too short after Julia honks the horn and yells out the window to Emmie to "get her ass in gear".
I keep my focus on Emmie and open my mouth slightly, ready to tell her those three words, but I quickly shut it and say what's most appropriate. "Goodnight."
Oblivious to my hesitance, Emmie grins and takes off to the car and gives me a small wave before she drives off with Julia home. I stand outside in the harsh, cold air for several seconds before deciding to go back inside.
From the entryway, I holler, "Guys, emergency meeting!" I go over to the living room and lie lazily on the sofa, waiting for my three best friends to come over here.
Two pairs of footsteps trail down the stairs and Luke ambles over from the kitchen. All three stand confused around the furniture before finally sitting down.
"What did you do this time?" Michael groans.
"I didn't do anything," I groan back.
"Then what's this meeting about?" Calum asks.
"Don't get on my ass or anything for sounding so girly, but I love Emilia." I finally get the words out and God, it feels so good to hear them aloud. I flicker my eyes to each of their faces and there is absolutely no reaction from any of them.
"You've already told us that," Luke says as if he's keeping tally of everything I say to them.
"That was already common knowledge, dude," Michael adds.
Calum stays silent and waits for me to explain myself.
"No, I mean I'm in love with Emilia," I emphasize and their jaws drop instantly. Now they understand why I called an emergency meeting because they know exactly what my dilemma is.
Luke stands up from the couch and paces around the coffee table. "You haven't told her yet, right?" he asks.
"No. I can't bring myself to do it. I want to so badly, though," I whine, throwing my back against the soft cushion of the couch.
Michael runs his hand down his face. "Don't drop another bomb on her, Ash," he says, but it's more like a threatening warning.
"I know," I say. "I literally just came to realization about this yesterday when I showed her my new painting andâ"
"What new painting?" Calum says, cutting me off. I forgot that they don't have a clue about the painting. I pull my phone out and pull up the picture that I took of the large canvas and hold it out for them to see. "It's not in black and white," Calum says.
I shake my head. "It's the first colored painting that I've done in two years." They all stare at the photo in awe and I want to tell them the meaning behind it, but that's only for me and Emilia to know.
Luke takes a deep breath and exhales slowly. He's very defensive when it comes to Emmie and he wants to protect her whenever he can. "You can't tell her that you're in love with her," he orders. Calum and Michael turn to face him in shock of his authoritative voice.
"He can't just not tell her," Michael argues.
"That's not for you to decide, Luke," Calum adds.
I keep my vision centered on Luke's stern expression. "Why can't I?" I ask, monotone.
He scoffs loudly. "Because I don't want to be the one to find Emilia sitting on a bus stop bench late at night again. I know she likes you, hell, she may even love you for all I know, but you can't keep doing this to her. If it's not one thing, it's another. I've told you before that things have to go slow between you two or else she's going to be swimming in deep water to the point where she might drown."
I stand up from the couch. His icy blue eyes glare into mine and I know he means well by being over-protective, but he's not going to control my relationship.
"I'm not telling her," I say flatly and his demeanor changes in a split second. "Not yet at least. I finally have her and I can't ruin that by throwing a big 'I love you' at her. But I will not have you tell me what I can and can't tell her. If I want to tell her tomorrow, then I will. If I want to wait six months to tell her, then I will. You don't get to decide that for me. Know your position as a friend and know your boundaries when it comes to being involved in my relationships." I walk away calmly from him and head upstairs. Once I am mid-way up the stairs, I yell, "Mikey, text Emmie and tell her what time she should come over to do your hair." I continue on up to my room and close the door behind me.
Pulling out my phone from my pocket, I open up a new text message for Emilia and type out those three words that I wish I could say before saving it as a draft and locking the screen.
I can't wait forever to tell her.
___
Emmie comes over around ten in the morning, which is actually early for her especially on a weekend. I'm surprised she's not breathing fire or roaring at us by how early Michael told her to be here.
"Alright, let's do this," she tells Michael who is sitting on the lid of the toilet seat with an old towel around his shoulders, keeping his clothes safe from any dye that may spill on it.
I lean against the doorframe with my arms crossed and watch as Emmie reads the directions on the box of hair dye. "Have you ever done this before?" I ask and she glances to me out of the corner of her eye before returning her gaze back to the box.
"No," she says slowly, "but it can't be that hard right?" She places the box on the counter and puts on latex gloves that fit her small hands way too big. She begins mixing the red-orange dye into a plastic bowl and smiles at the color that Michael has chosen. She takes the brush and swirls it into the bowl before brushing it against his hair. "Happy birthday, Michael and I'd just like to apologize in advance if I ruin your hair," she jokes and continues to coat the red mixture onto his head.
"If you screw up, I'll just have Luke fix it. He's normally the one who does it anyway," Michael says.
I haven't seen Luke since last night. I don't know if he's in his room or if he left to go somewhere. None of our cars were missing so I'm assuming he's just locked in his room. I was a bit harsh to him last night, but I had a right to be. He should respect his elders.
"Where is Luke?" Emmie asks and looks to me.
I stare blankly at her. "Uh..."
"He went out to go buy a cake for me," Michael answers for me, knowing full well that I have no idea where Luke is or what he's up to. "He should be back soon before we go out to lunch."
Emmie's eyebrows furrow as she continues to work the messy dye onto every strand of hair. "I didn't know we were going out."
"This is news to me too," I say. I didn't talk to the guys after I left to go upstairs to my room so any conversations that happened after that are a mystery to me. "Where are we going?"
"Some Asian cuisine restaurant outside of town," Michael says, grabbing a paper towel and wiping off the red dye that is dripping down by his ear. "I've heard good reviews of the place. It's a bit pricey, but it should be worth it."
"And if it isn't?" Emmie asks, putting the bowl of dye onto the counter and looking at the slick mess that sits on Michael's head.
"Then we just wasted a butt-load of money of shitty food," Michael jokes, making us laugh.
After half an hour, Luke came home, Michael rinsed the dye from his hair, and Emmie and I compared the size difference in our hands. Apparently mine could "eat hers" as she says. When Luke came inside, he acknowledged me with only a nod and left to go up to his room.
I make up the excuse of having to go get my wallet from my room so that I can leave Emmie downstairs and check to see what's up with Luke. I knock on his door twice and he doesn't respond, so I open the door without his permission. Lying on his back on the bed, Luke stares up at the ceiling. I close his bedroom door after walking in to keep our conversation private and lean against his tall dresser.
"So are we going to just not talk to each other?" I ask, not beating around the bush.
Luke lifts his head slightly and looks to me. "No," he replies quickly. "I've just been thinking about what you said. I do need to know my place when it comes to things between you and Emilia. I didn't realize how much of an older brother complex I've gained since she came into our little circle."
"I don't mind you being protective, just tone it down a notch."
He sits up and rests his weight on his forearms. "So you're in love with her, huh?" He grins.
I return his smile and nod vigorously. "Without a doubt."
"Well, you have my blessing," he teases and swings his legs over the edge of the bed before standing up and walking over to me.
"Shut up, Luke," I joke while giving him a short man-hug that is interrupted by non-stop knocking on his door.
"Guys," Emmie yells from the other side. I don't think she realizes that these doors aren't that thick and that you don't need to yell at full volume for someone to hear. "Come look at what I did to Michael's hair!"
We all walk over to the bathroom, including Calum who just woke up, and wait outside the door for Michael. Slowly, the door creeks open, revealing a red-headed Michael with the most stupid grin on his face.
"Now I can call you Michael Clifford, The Big Red Dog," Emmie says, laughing at her own joke while the rest of us stare of her with unamused expressions. "I'm funny dammit." To that, we laugh.
"Calum, get your ass dressed so we can pick up Julia and get some food," Michael orders and pushes Calum into his room, leaving the rest of us to congregate downstairs and wait.
Â___
After choosing who is riding with whom, picking up Julia from her apartment, and taking the traffic filled highway to the restaurant that was supposed to be thirty minutes away but instead turned into a two hour drive, we finally arrive at our destination.
"This food better be fan-fucking-tastic, Michael," Emmie shouts to him as she slams the car door shut and walks over to Calum's truck where he, Michael, and Julia hop out of. When Emmie is hungry, she gets irritable. Very irritable. "I had to spend two hours in a car with those two," she says, pointing to me and Luke, "and I can only handle so much out-of-tune singing. I was ready to roll out of the car by the time we took that last exit." She continues to ramble and I'm pretty sure we guys tuned her out, but Julia laughs at her best friend and calms her down.
"If we're done complaining," Luke teases Emmie specifically and she glares at him, "can we just go inside? I'd rather be inside where it's warm than eat out in the cold parking lot."
We all agree and head inside where we are seated in a large circular booth with a white, satin table cloth that looks more expensive than my bed sheets covering the table. As I look around to the other tables in the restaurant, everyone is dressed to the nines and look professional while we all look like a bunch of unsophisticated adults wearing only t-shirts and jeans.
"Michael?" I grab his attention as we all slide into our booth. Directly across from me, he meets my gaze and raises his brows. "Just how expensive is this place?"
"Not sure," he says before picking up the menu in front of him, scanning the page and widening his eyes. "Damn..." he curses under his breath.
I take a look at the menu as well and nearly choke on my own saliva as I see the prices for each dish range from high to higher. The cheapest thing on here is water, and even then it's sparkling. "Michael..." I drag out his name in a warning tone. "How do you expect for us to afford this?"
"Hey, in my defense, I didn't know that it was going to be this expensive," he says. "We can just order a few dishes and share them with each other rather than ordering one for each of us," he suggests.
"I'm fine with that," Julia says and Calum drapes his arm over her shoulder and agrees with her. For such a short time dating, they're really close.
"I don't really care as long I get food." Emmie says, shrugging.
I place my hand on her thigh in an attempt to vanquish her irritable self, but at this point, only food can do that.
We agree to share and pick three of the cheapest dishes on the menu which are just simple sushi platters and wait for our order to be made. During our time of waiting, we bask in each other's presence and emit laughter as we enjoy our time together as a group.
Just as Michael is attempting to pick up a piece of paper with his chopsticksâwhich he doesn't know how to use properlyâa group of loud men come waltzing inside the restaurant, gaining the attention of several customers, including mine. I glance over to them and everything stops moving around me when my eyes lock with the dark orbs that have become a burden in our lives.
His dark brown hair still sweeps across his forehead, just like the first time I met him. The stupid smirk that brings out the worst in me is plastered across his face as he flickers his eyes to my girlfriend, igniting a fire of fury inside of me.
He's not supposed to be here.
He's under a restraining order.
He needs to leave. Now.
I kick Michael's foot lightly under the table, careful not to gain anyone else's attention but his. I keep my stare on Jared and Michael follows my line of sight, his mouth partially opening when he sees who I am looking at. I have to do something before Emilia sees him. I need to get him away before anyone else notices him.
"I'm going to go to the restroom," I announce, sliding out of the booth. Thankfully, everyone is so caught up in their conversation that they don't pay much attention to me leaving except for Michael who makes sure that Emilia can't see where I am going.
I make a bee-line to the group of men and discreetly latch my hand onto Jared's arm, pulling him back and out the doors of the restaurant. He stumbles back a bit, losing his balance and almost falling to the ground, but he steadies himself.
"Good to see you again, Aaron," Jared says.
"Ashton," I correct.
"Whatever." He rolls his eyes and looks through the glass door to our table and smiles but it is quickly followed by a frown. "She looks different," he says, observing Emmie.
"You can't be here," I say, ignoring his comment. "You're not supposed to be within one-hundred and fifty feet from her."
"Has she lost weight? She looks thin." He's completely ignoring me now. "She seems a lot peppier too. I don't like it." He glares at me.
"I'd appreciate it if you didn't judge my girlfriend," I snap.
His eyes darken and though it's not visible in his expression, his serpent green eyes show the malice building inside of him. "Girlfriend? I don't think so."
"I don't give a damn what you think," I say, the volume of my voice rising. "You need to leave. I have every right to call the police right now unless you willingly leave."
He stares at me, expressionless, and I can only imagine what's going through his head. He's probably pissed offâno, I know he's pissed off. He doesn't like that she's with me. He doesn't like that she's actually happy. He still wants her to himself. He's still the same sick bastard.
"Have you slept with her yet?" Jared asks calmly.
"What?"
"Have you slept with her?" he repeats slowly, enunciating each word.
"Our relationship is none of your concern," I say.
He scoffs loudly. "I'll take that as a no."
My hand balls into a fist at my side as I suppress the urge to punch him in the face. "Get the fuck out of here, Jared."
"Still as protective as beforeâmaybe even more now," he sings. "Just like I predicted, you're turning into me." He stands a foot away from me and smirks. "You probably call her 'mine'. You probably can't stop thinking or picturing every moment you've had with her when you lie alone in bed at night. Every touch, every kiss; the way her skin feels against yours, or the way she looks at you. You probably crave more."
Each word he says makes me livid, but at the same time sends a shooting pain into my chest because deep down, he's right. I do crave more, but I'm not going to take advantage of her and be completely possessive. "I'm not turning into you," I say.
"Oh, I beg to differ. You probably imagine what she would be like in bed, don't you?" He laughs and I clench my jaw. "It'll be a surprise since she's a virgin. Who knows what she'll be like? Maybe she'll be a screamer. Or maybe she won't find you pleasurable at all."
My fist makes collides with his nose and he stumbles to the ground. I've never hit anyone before. My knuckles hurt like hell. He has a sturdy nose, but from the sound of the crack that I heard, maybe it's not so sturdy after all. I shake my wrist, trying to alleviate the stinging pain that rises up to arm. Jared covers his bloody, most likely broken nose with his hand and winces in pain as he swears uncontrollably.
"I know myself better than you and in no way am I remotely close to what you are," I say. "You have twenty seconds to get in your car, drive back to Fort Collins, and leave me and Emilia alone before I call the cops for violating your restraining order." I begin my countdown and slowly, he stands and carries himself over to his car, starts the engine and drives out of the parking lot.
That was easier than I thought.
I turn around and as I look through the glass windows, every customer's head is turned to me, including the one person who I wish didn't witness the event that occurred only seconds ago. I swallow the lump in my throat and head back inside, ignoring the chit chat from customers who are judging me as I pass each table and slide back inside our booth.
I know my friends have questions for me as they stare me down, wide-eyed, but I think the one who has the most questions is the one rubbing her fingers over my throbbing knuckles next to me.
"Was that...?" she trails off, not wanting to say his name.
I sigh. "Yeah, but he's gone," I say. "Apparently, punching him and threatening to call the cops was all it took to get it through his thick head that he needed to leave." I meet her gaze and surprisingly, her dazzling grey eyes hold no fear, just worry for my swollen hand. I tenderly kiss her temple and smile down at her. "You're safe. I'll always keep you safe."
She returns my smile and I turn to look over at Mikey. "Hope that was enough entertainment for your birthday," I joke and even though the situation was of a serious matter, everyone found it easy to laugh along with me.
__________
A/N:
Guess who should be studying for her clinical counseling exam, but instead updated? This girl! Yeah. I hope the wait was worth it for this chapter!
This chapter literally went everywhere. So much happened, wow. Ashton finally realizes that he's in love with Emmie (yay!!), Luke and Ash clashed for a moment, Mikey has red/orange hair, and Jared made an appearance! Every time I write about Jared I get so mad, haha. Now I'm trying to figure out where to go from here.
When do you think Ash will actually tell Emmie that he loves her? Will Jared show his stupid face again? I can't think of anymore questions for you...
Anyway, thank you guys so much 26k reads! I'm humbled by all your sweet comments and thoughts of this story. It needs so much editing, especially the first half, but you guys still like it. Thank you so much for your continued support! Please continue to vote comment and share!!
Also, I made an ask.fm account so you guys can ask me questions about PYW or POC or even just a general what's up? So if you want to ask me something just go to: ask.fm/rdysasi. It's the same username as my Wattpad account. You can also follow me on Twitter if you'd like as well @rdysasi.
Thank you guys once again, I love you all!! âRebecca xoxoxoxoxoxoxo