Rule 9

Rule 9 (Not proofread so ignore any mistakes, I'll fix them at the end. Also, not overly happy with this chapter but it is merely a filler for what's next to come with Ash and Ryder).

I leaned on the bar and gave Sid a sad look, who just smirked.

"Hey, it was you that wanted the job here," she replied. I nodded and pushed back, resting on the column next to the bar.

"I know, but I didn't know it was so quiet here," I justified. Sid shrugged, moving to rest on the bar stool.

Ash had stayed true to his word and spoke to his mum, landing me the job by Monday morning. I'd been there two hours and served three people. One of them was Dev, who ordered a pity drink just to make me sound important.

"It's always this quiet in here unless there's a bike race on out the back," she said, twirling her newly dyed hair. This time, it contained shades of violet where the red had been beforehand.

"Good morning," Matt grumbled, pushing through the door, looking like one of the zombies from The Walking Dead.

"Someone looks rough," Sid mocked when he slumped down behind the bar with a bottle of water. "Too many alchopops, honey?" she cooed with fake sympathy. I smiled and raised an eyebrow in Matt's direction.

"It was vodka and piss off," he responded with a small smirk, shoving her as he leaned forwards. "How's your first day, newbie?" he asked me and I shrugged.

"Pretty uneventful if I'm honest." He nodded, obviously expecting that response.

"You'd better get used to that." After saying that he was going out to the store room, Sid and I made a bet that he'd either fall asleep or pass out in there and we wouldn't see him for a few hours.

"Are you coming tonight?" Sid asked me a few hours later, just as we were closing up.

"Where are you going?" I enquired, leaning on a chair. She appraised me with a raised eyebrow and shook her head.

"Clearly not. Well, our friend Nate is having a party at his dad's place and we're all going. It would be somewhere for you to meet some new people," she offered and then paused. "Plus, I kind of want to see what you're like drunk," she added. I mulled it over for a moment and then nodded.

"If you don't mind me tagging along. I met Nate the other night," I said. Sid grinned and tapped her knuckles on the bar.

"Of course I don't mind, I wouldn't have offered otherwise. I'll come to you and we can get a taxi from there," she planned and pretty much shoved me out of the door.

When I got home, I heard giggling coming from the living room. With a roll of the eyes, I shoved my key in my pocket and tiptoed down the passage. Ash had been gone for the weekend and he was due back, so unless Dev was back early from work, Ash had brought someone to the flat. I peered around the door and saw a red head sitting on his knee with her tongue in his mouth.

Her hands were in his hair and I shuddered, backing up and making sure to slam my door to let them know that I was there. My shift had ended at five and Sid was due to come over at seven, not leaving me long to try and eat without disturbing the 'happy couple'.

I sat on my bed for a good ten minutes before finally getting up to attempt to get some food. Some amazing mission impossible movements went down, enabling me to get into the kitchen without detection. Making toast, however, wasn't an easy task as there was a undeniable noise when it was ready.

"Alex?" I heard Ash call and I grimaced, buttering my toast without answering. I heard a small squeak before a hand fell on my shoulder.

"Evening," I responded, moving from in front of him to out of the kitchen.

"Fancy giving me a slice?" Ash asked, following me out into the living room. I smirked and glanced over at the girl, who was straightening her top.

"You seemed to be having a pretty decent meal over there," I said, gesturing towards the girl.

"Jealous?" the girl suddenly spoke up. Ash raised his eyebrows at me and the girl stood, putting her hand on her hip.

"Nope, he's herpes ridden," I grumbled and made a move to go into the passage.

"Only because you passed it on, love!" he called after me and I stuck my hand back into living room to flip him off and fumed my way back into my bedroom.

In the end, Sid turned up just after I'd shoved my hair into a high ponytail and put on my only clubbing dress. She, as I'd expected, was jazzed up in a blue dress with high black heels. Her jaw dropped when she saw my simple attire.

"I think we need to educate you in the art of clubbing clothes," she said, gesturing towards the black converse I'd put on.

"I don't get along with heels," I said and she sighed, gesturing towards my feet.

"So you put those on?" I offered a shrug in response and shoved my phone into the side of my dress.

"At least they're not the high top ones. Did you call the taxi?" I asked and she nodded, checking the time.

"Yeah, it's outside."

I didn't know if Ash and his company were still in the living room but I locked the door and followed Sid outside.

Nate's  mum's house was massive. Apparently, it was only rented and Nate's mum was a business partner of Ash's mother's, which made sense as to why he had so much money. The music was already blaring when we got out of the taxi and Sid grinned, dragging me up to the door.

"Let's go and let Nate know that we're here," she shouted over the music. The party wasn't in full swing but it wasn't quiet, either and house parties weren't exactly something I was familiar with.

I grimaced as we shoved through some people grinding and got into the kitchen. It was quieter and Nate, who looked a lot more at ease, was sorting out some bottles of drink. He turned at the sound of us entering and smiled, pulling Sid in for a hug.

"How are you?" he asked and grinned at me. "Not brought the date?" Sid rolled her eyes and pushed herself up on the counter.

"Where's the sister?" Sid asked. Nate picked up a cup of drink and took a swig, gesturing towards the main room of the house.

"Through there."

Sid opened the door and took me with her, I felt a bit like a rag doll but as soon as we got to the group of people, Sid let go of my arm and I lost her. My dancing skills weren't brilliant and everyone was either sweating or dropping some form of alcoholic liquid on me. So, being the logical girl that I was, I made a break for the sidelines and grabbed a cup of coke. Well, there was a burn to it, but it appeared to be more coke than it did alcohol.

"Hey there, darlin'," I groaned at the sound of Ry's voice and turned around to face him. He looked a bit better close up and was looking down between us.

"I don't want to talk to you," I blurted, remembering the speech that everyone I knew had given me.

"You don't want to talk to me or everyone around you doesn't?" he asked, giving me a look.

"Bit of both," I admitted. Just as he was about to say something, I felt a presence beside me.

I looked up to see Ash standing pretty much inbetween us with a sneer on his face.

"Back off. We're not having a repeat of Sid," Ash growled and Ry let out a bark of laughter.

"Sid was a mistake from the beginning, we both know that. Let's face it, you just want a pretty girl on your arm to cool the burn of losing the championships," Ry retorted and Ash just rolled his eyes, slinging his arm over my shoulder, pulling me close to him protectively.

"You're not winning," Ash replied simply and started pulling me away.

"My win is assured, Toms, so you'd better watch your back," Ry challenged, but it didn't seem as though Ash heard him.

We disappeared into the throng of people and the music was thumping. The lights were dark and wherever you looked, there were people dancing. Ash looked down at me and smirked, his appearance giving me butterflies in the dark light. His hands rested gently on my waist and he pulled me closer, my arms going around his neck.

I could feel the muscles in his stomach moving when he danced, keeping us both moving with the rhythm. I nearly forgot where his mouth had been a few hours earlier.

"Nice shoes," he whispered, leaning down to press a gentle kiss on my neck. I shuddered and pushed against his chest.

"Rule 9, don't put your lips somewhere they're not wanted," I mumbled, leaning up to whispered in his ear. His arms tightened around my small form and he let his cheek brush against mine. My heartbeat had picked up when his stubble brushed against my face and his lips moved into my hair with his words.

"They weren't going anywhere they weren't wanted," he whispered.

I didn't stay with Ash the whole night, I couldn't take much more of his wandering hands so joined Sid, Matt and Nate in the corner with their shots game.

Bad idea.

"No, I want a taxi," I groaned into the phone and the guy on the other phone cursed.

"Look, we're not a taxi company. We sell pizzas. Please, for the last time, stop calling me!" With a sigh, I hung up and typed in another number.

"Hello, I need a taxi," I said and I heard a familiar voice.

"Miss," the guy started and I hung up quickly, looking around me with a sad expression. I had long lost Sid and Matt and apparently, wasn't very good at memorising the taxi numbers.

"Need a lift?" I turned to see Ash, who looked perfectly sober, standing by the door. I shook my head and felt the street spin around me.

"I'm not getting on that, that, that..." I paused and narrowed my eyes. "Death trap." Ash let out an amused chuckle and offered me his arm.

"I came on foot," he said and I took his arm, allowing him to lead me down the road.

"I haven't got a high tolerance to alcohol," I explained and Ash laughed.

"I got that, thanks."

We walked in silence until I felt my footing go and I nearly went crashing to the ground. Ash managed to keep me upright and raised his eyebrows.

"Alright?"

"Piggy back?" I asked and Ash shook his head.

"Violation of rule 8, love, no intimate areas to be touched," he said. I narrowed my eyes.

"Since when do you listen to my rules, my feet hurt." Ash let out a bark of laughter and turned around, ducking.

"Works for me, stress head. Hop on."

Ash's hands were warm under my thighs and my arms were tight around his neck. When we got back to the front of the apartment blocks and he let me go, I felt a tiny bit of disappointment that the trip was over. It was probably alcohol over logic, but rested my hands on his chest and he looked down, raising an eyebrow.

He didn't say another word and let his hands move down to my lower back. The next few moments seemed to take a lifetime, the few seconds that it took for his lips to meet mine. They were warm, soft and he tried to take control immediately, pushing me back against the wall. Unfortunately, the impact from my body against the wall erupted a horrible feeling in my stomach.

"No," I pushed and managed to move myself aside to throw up the contents of my stomach onto the floor next to me. And what made it more embarrassing was that Ash stayed there, holding my hair, while I made an absolute fool out of myself.