Well..*crickets* Is there even anyone still left? I hate excuses, I really do, so naturally, I'm full of them. I've been going through a tough time recently, actually, I'm currently in the airport posting this before my flight departs. Family stuff, I'm afraid, folks. I'm terribly sorry I'm such an awful updater, I will really try harder but, well, focus has been a little lacking. So, if you're still with me, I'm still here. Sorry again. It's turned out better than I'd planned but...well, feel free to read for yourselves. And for those of you out there, thanks for the reviews and the reads. I'm truly thankful.
Chapter 2b - The Hills
Ashley plopped herself onto one of the wooden breakfast bar stools in her kitchen and poked her phone despondently. She stared at it for a few minutes willing it to ring. She'd been practicing her Jedi mind tricks and she was almost positive that if she stared for just a second longer it would –brrr-. She watched, stunned, as her phone began to shake erratically back and forth, the metal clanging against the muted gray marbled counter as it seized back and forth in an effort to force her to answer it. Ashley reached out slowly, almost scared to answer after having briefly convinced herself that she was responsible for its constant shaking. "Hello?" she said tentatively. She had been so concerned with her apparent development of meta-skills that she hadn't checked the caller display.
"Ashley?" Ashley couldn't help it, she melted. Spencer had a sexy ass phone voice. Cut that. Spencer had a sexy ass anything voice. "It's Spencer."
There was a small noise which sounded distinctly like a slap to human skin, "Spencer? Are you okay?"
A small rumble of laughter tumbled down the line and Ashley's face morphed into an unbidden smile. "Oh yes, I'm fine," Spencer's voice replied, almost ruefully, "I just slapped myself in the face."
Ashley gave a small laugh, "Oh really? Accidentally, or, were you just brushing up on your self-flagellation?" Spencer's laugh joined hers which only led to the smile on Ashley's face to grow to inhuman proportions causing her to appear slightly unhinged and maniacal. "Wouldn't you like to know?" Spencer's teased softly before she let loose an amused snort of laughter, "actually, I was slapping myself for being so lame on the phone. Like, really, 'It's Spencer'? Loser."
"It's okay, I was being pretty lame myself before you called." Ashley winced; she hadn't intended to knock herself down before the first date. She smiled at the sound of Spencer's trickling laughter. "Oh, I highly doubt that. You're too cool to be lame."
"You must have met another Ashley Davies. I was convinced, albeit briefly, that I had willed you to call me. Lame, huh?"
"That's not lame, that's sweet. I'm glad you willed me to call. I wasn't sure if you were still up for lunch today." Spencer tried in vain to keep the disappointment out of her voice at the mere notion that she wouldn't be seeing the adorable young woman who had been invading her thoughts sporadically throughout the day. And, having tried numerous times to distract herself from staring at her phone, she had given in and decided to get the rejection over and done with. Fortunately, the conversation appeared to be more positive than she had predicted.
"Oh, yeah, I totally am. I should have called, really, because I actually have no idea where to pick you up. Or whether you'd still like me to pick you up. So an answer to either, or both, would be good," Ashley paused, hating that she was rambling but feeling unable to stop, "perhaps, the second one before the first. I'm sorry, I'm rambling, and I'm stopping. Now."
The airwaves went silent except for the sound of Spencer breathing as she struggled to contain her laughter. She coughed quickly to hide any laughter that might escape before replying to Ashley, "I'd love for you to pick me up," she husked, her coughing having accidentally grated against her vocal chords. Ashley inhaled sharply as she felt her entire body go into overdrive with the majority of the sensations being directed towards her lower anatomy. Spencer cleared her throat and, unaware of the effect she'd had, continued, "I teach at Fairview? It's not far from West Hollywood and just off Melrose. Have you heard of it?"
Ashley found herself nodding dumbly, her mind still replaying the low seductive tone of Spencer's previous words. She shook her head to clear it; "Yeah, I know a few people who..." she trailed off having realised that she had yet to discuss her age with Spencer.
There was a telling silence and Ashley chewed her lip nervously, almost positive Spencer had picked up her trail of thought. "Ashley?" Spencer's voice sounded concerned which caused Ashley to grow all the more anxious.
"Yeah?"
"I don't mean to be rude but," Spencer paused delicately, "how old are you?"
Ashley sighed in frustration and stared at the ceiling before gathering herself and replying, "18," she hesitated, "I know I should have said something but I didn't quite know how to bring it up. Is it going to be a problem?"
Spencer gave a relieved sigh and let go of the breath she hadn't even been aware she'd been holding. "Oh thank God," she muttered, she spoke a little louder down the phone, "It's no problem, unless," she smirked, "well, how do you feel about older women?"
Ashley's mind flickered to an uncensored place where, she considered, she felt rather favorably about older women, "How much older we talkin' here, Mrs Robinson?" she quipped, feeling a rush of confidence in Spencer's willingness to continue their conversation. Spencer chuckled, "not that much older. I'm 24. Is that going to be a problem?" Ashley jumped off her perch by the breakfast counter and did an excited dance, her phone in one hand whilst her other hand fist pumped the air. She contemplated cabbage patching before realising that, despite there being no-one in the house, that was going way too far. "Nope, I think I can handle that," she replied calmly, even though her heart felt like it was time for cabbage patching and seemed to be taking it out on her ribcage.
"Did you just do some sort of victory dance?" Spencer teased.
Ashley blushed in spite of herself, "Maybe. But I have good reason."
One blonde eyebrow rose speculatively, "Oh really? And that would be?"
Ashley rolled her eyes. Spencer was clearly blind. Hot, but blind. No matter, I can totally handle that. "Spencer, not only are you incredibly gorgeous, and hilarious. And smart. But you're 6 years older than me," she said the last part slowly, allowing it to ruminate in Spencer's mind, "and I find that ridiculously sexy," she purred, "and just so you know, I'm a cheerleader." She smirked when Spencer's only reply was a short pause and a whispered, "Oh, wow."
Ashley's black bodied Dodge Viper crawled up the hill slowly, the wood chips crunching loudly under the tyres, dust flying up in miniature cyclones before settling only to be thrown into disarray again as the car traveled further and further up the hill. "Where are we going, exactly?" Spencer asked, her head turning comically left to right trying to spot a landmark which would help her establish where they currently were heading. "It's a surprise," Ashley replied smiling, and, turning to Spencer, she quirked an eyebrow, "Don't you like surprises?" Spencer stopped craning her neck and faced Ashley, giving her a brilliant smile, her eyes seemed to twinkle and for a second Ashley felt her chest completely empty of air, until she realized that, as the driver of the car, oxygen was pretty much a requirement. "Of course I do, silly," Spencer playfully poked Ashley on the arm, where she allowed her fingers to casually rest. Goosebumps rose up involuntarily under Ashley's skin, fair arm hair rising in situ and she blushed at her body's inability to be subtle about her feelings for the ridiculously attractive blonde seated at her side. "But as much as I like surprises, I like pushing my curiosity as far as it can go."
"What? Explain that please." Spencer squeezed Ashley's arm, charmed once again by the younger woman currently driving her into the middle of nowhere.
"Well, what I mean is, I like," she paused, mulling over her words, "I love surprises, but I like asking questions, I guess. I like knowledge." She shrugged, as if she truly didn't understand her own reasoning. Ashley tilted her head, glancing at Spencer in the rear view mirror, "So, you like teasing yourself with little details of a surprise, but not necessarily hearing about the whole surprise itself?"
Spencer clapped her hands, "Yes! That's exactly what I mean." Her eyes met Ashley's and they shared a quiet moment as they took in each other's presence.
Ashley suddenly pulled the handbrake and her car slowed to an abrupt stop in a wooded area. "There you go," Ashley gestured to the sight in front of them. A stunned silence settled around them as Spencer found herself staring at a great hunk of foliage and green.
"Oh really? And here would be...where?" Ashley smirked and exited the car and walked around the car to open Spencer's door; instead of finally satisfying Spencer's curiosity, she grabbed the girl's hand and led her through to a path that had been obscured by the blonde's position in the car, a short walk later and Spencer found herself with a picturesque view of the Hollywood reservoir and the rest of Hollywood lay out beneath her. Ashley spread out her hands dramatically, "Here is...here." She turned to Spencer shyly and tried to gauge her reaction but her friend had yet to say anything. Several awkward moments passed and Ashley assumed she'd done something wrong, perhaps this hadn't been a good idea after all; maybe Spencer was a true LA beach girl and was completely opposed to nature.
"I'm so stupid," she muttered, kicking the ground forcefully. "I'm sorry, I should have asked before..." Spencer's lips pressed against hers suddenly, and she unconsciously wrapped her arms around the blonde, just as she was beginning to settle into what was a lovely and tender kiss, Spencer pulled away, "It's amazing. I didn't even think green existed in LA, well, certainly not green like this." Spencer waved her arms around her, "Beautiful," and her eye caught Ashley's nervous ones, holding her gaze, "Beautiful," she repeated, with far more meaning than the first.
Below them stretched a view that was a tourist's dream. The hill rolled down into the valley, green grass and trees embracing muddy brown dirty roads and tree trunks, gradually rising up to meet the sky and the taller building of the industrious party city. Birds called out, rising and falling as the currents led them higher and higher into the sky towards the horizon appearing to disappear into the sky to places that humans could only imagine. Ashley fetched some things from her car and began setting out a blanket and the Chinese food she'd grabbed on her way to pick up Spencer. Not even the smell of the food could distract Spencer from the view and she gazed upon the little dots signifying people bustling around the city; she was stunned at the majestic, natural silence surrounding them – only to be broken by bird calls or the wind whistling through the trees. Scant rays of sun peeked through the trees, just missing their little patch to land on the land further down, gently warming the earth with a midday embrace.
Ashley, having finished laying out the spread to her satisfaction, slowly rose to her knees and admired the scene in front of her, Spencer against the skyline. "Have you finished staring at my ass?" Spencer laughed softly before turning her back on the view and smirking at Ashley, who, to her credit, was blushing and looking at the ground. "It's okay. I'm rather flattered, actually." She walked over to the still blushing young woman and sank to her knees, leaning forward once they hit the ground and reaching out with a hand to tilt Ashley's fallen chin upwards so that their eyes could meet, "It's not every day that an incredibly sexy woman is giving me the eye, yanno," she winked and stroked Ashley's face before rocking backwards and taking a seat on the blanket. "So," she drawled, "I was promised lunch. Pony up!" Ashley took that as her cue to begin open the various food containers she'd spread out over the blanket, allowing the smells to waft over them, and she was overjoyed to see that heat was still stemming from them.
"Well, I wasn't sure what you liked," she began, "I hope you like Chinese food?" She wasn't sure she knew anyone who didn't, so she had assumed it was a safe bet but then... She chewed the inside of her cheek anxiously until she felt Spencer's hand press over hers, "Everyone likes Chinese food!"
Their eyes met again and Ashley's face relaxed into a relieved expression, "Thank God for that," she mumbled.
Spencer made a move to survey the many food packages, "What do we have here?" She picked up some chopsticks and passed a pair to Ashley, as well as a couple of napkins, "There's rather a lot, but in summary... There's some spicy stuff, some mild stuff, some vegetarian stuff, some sweet stuff, dry stuff, chicken, beef, duck and I think I got some pork too." Ashley used a finger to indicate the corresponding containers, "And obviously there's some snack stuff like sesame toast and spring rolls. I'm pretty sure I got ribs as well. Any of that suit?"
Spencer's eyes glowed and she mocked wiping away drool, "I think we should just get married, like now. Food goddess." She made a show of pretending to bow which, incidentally, was no mean feat from her position.
Ashley smirked, "It's great to know you're so easy. All it takes is good food, huh?"
Spencer waved her finger in front of Ashley to indicate the negative, "No, no, no," she used the waving digit to illustrate her point, "A lot of good food. Can't just be having one plate General Tso's chicken!"
Ashley giggled, and reached for the individual white box which contained that particular delicacy and passed it to Spencer, "Have at it," she said, smiling as she pressed it into Spencer's greedily awaiting hands.
Silence descended on the pair as each dug heartily into different selections from Ashley's food spread, quiet chewing followed by soft groans, emanating from Spencer's side, periodically filled the silence but there was little talking, both their focuses were entirely taken up by eating, and of course, sneaking sly glances of the other when neither thought they would be caught by the other. Little smiles were interspersed between these glances and all in all, Ashley conceded, this date, as she liked to call it in her head, was going rather well. Mentally she patted herself on the back for a job well done. It's not over yet, her inner voice warned, causing her to panic slightly before she took a deep breath and turned to Spencer, intending to finally start up a conversation. That a girl! Her inner voice cheered.
Before she opened her mouth to break the silence, Spencer's voice echoed around the area, "How'd you find this place, anyway?"
Ashley watched the blonde poke suspiciously at some chicken covered in, what she thought was, lemon sauce; she looked up, catching Ashley's eye, and raised an eyebrow in question. Ashley blushed, her eyes immediately falling shyly, "Uh, you know, just, uhmmm, looking?"
Spencer rolled her eyes and smirked at the cuteness of her lunch partner, "My, aren't we eloquent today," Spencer quipped, winking at Ashley to take any sting out of her comment. Much to her surprise, Ashley snorted and quipped right back, "My, aren't we educated," she paused for effect, "not."
Spencer couldn't help but grin, and poked Ashley childishly with a chopstick before embarking on a mission to find some beef chow fun, assuming it was even there; as she poked around some of the unopened containers she mumbled petulantly, "Nice comeback, smart ass."
Ashley smiled and patted Spencer on the arm as if in consolation, "Took you a while to come up with that, didn't it?"
Spencer poked her tongue out and pretended to inch away from Ashley, "I was focusing on the food. It's not my fault you order Chinese in bulk!"
"Oh sure, Spencer, blame it on the food. It can't fight back you know, that's like, child abuse or something."
Spencer, who had given up on looking for the beef chow fun, and was mid reach for some King prawns turned to face Ashley with a serious look on her face, "Are you calling me," her voice dropped to a whisper, and she looked around them comically, "a food abuser?" Nodding, Ashley leaned forward, "If you're not gonna call yourself on it, I will. Things have to change, Spencer, this just isn't right!"
Spencer pouted prettily, pushing her lower lip out and throwing in a slight wobble for dramatic effect said, "I went to a Food Abuser Group meeting once. I didn't think I fitted in," she swiped at an imaginary tear before turning innocent baby blues on the brunette beside her. Ashley eyes scanned Spencer's seriously before shaking her head in disappointment, "That's just not good enough, Spencer! It's not even about you, it's about the food! Why won't you please think of the food?!"
Unimpressed by Ashley's attempt at badgering her, Spencer threw up her hands dramatically, "Oh the humanity!" Ashley rolled her eyes at Spencer's dramatics and stuck her tongue out at the blonde. Spencer smirked as she eyed the girl beside her, watching with great amusement as Ashley attempted to use her chopsticks to reach for a spring roll whilst still maintaining her hold on her plate; a little impressed when Ashley was successful in her attempt, the first go, Spencer raised her eyebrows and indicated Ashley's clutch on the spring roll, "Pretty cool trick there, Ash." Ashley chose not to comment on the shortening of her name which had instantly caused a warm sensation to run rampant throughout her entire body straight to the tips of her toes. It surprised her. She had been called 'Ash' by the majority of her family and friends at one time or another (other nicknames hadn't been quite so pleasant) but she was fairly used to this one yet she had never felt such pleasure at hearing it coming from the lips of another. She was getting used to Spencer breaking her expectations but the feelings caused within her even by the mere presence of the woman sat beside her casually gnawing on a rib were not just new, but welcomed. She enjoyed these feelings, and was willing to do anything to have them continue. She gazed at Spencer, taking advantage of her unmasked interest in searching for something amongst the little white boxes to truly look at her lunch companion.
The sun had spread its arms even wider to greet the earth and its inhabitants, and Spencer's golden locks, seemed to merit a special greeting as the rays from above wove themselves in and out of her hair causing certain portions to glow more than others. She was, simply put, beautiful. And even the sun appeared to recognise this as it attempted to cast all it's shine upon her to showcase her effortless beauty. She could easily see Spencer in a Disney movie with all the little creatures running about doing her bidding, birds tying ribbons in her hair, squirrels leaping onto her shoulder to chatter to her just to receive a moment of her time, music regaling her wherever she went. Ashley shook her head. This is ridiculous. She could be an axe murderer for all I know! She eyed the blonde again. But what a way to go. She was brought out of her head by the slight ding of Spencer's chopsticks landing on a pile of empty takeout containers. She watched her lay back patting her stomach in satisfaction, "That was quite easily the best lunch I've ever had."
Spencer smiled and patted the space on the blanket beside her, "Join me?" She shielded her eyes from the sun and looked at Ashley, "It's totally comfortable and I'm so full," she groaned, "Why did you force me to eat all of that?"
Ashley's eyebrows rose, "Force? I couldn't stop you! You had this intense look in your eye once I handed over those chopsticks. I wasn't gonna get in the way of destiny."
Spencer smiled slyly at Ashley, "That wasn't because of the chopsticks," she allowed her eyes to travel up and down the supine form of Ashley's body making her implication clear to the brunette. Ashley, right on cue, blushed up a storm and made quick work of tidying up the empty cartons, gathering those that still contained food and placing them in a pile – a very small pile, thanks to Spencer. She felt a soft hand on her wrist, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to embarrass you." She turned to face the owner of the arm who was looking contrite, "Well, I mean, I did, obviously, but if I offended you..." Spencer looked down as her words trailed off. Ashley couldn't help but tingle inside, "It's okay. You seem to have that effect on me – constantly. I mean it's understandable really." She took a deep breath to centre herself and smiled to show she wasn't upset, "You're beautiful, Spencer."
It was Spencer's turn to blush as she took in the softly spoken words, even though it was accompanied by a smile. "Thank you," she replied shyly. She raised her body slightly and pressed a gentle kiss against the brunette's soft lips before pulling away. Ashley's eyelids fluttered closed and continued to hide brown eyes for a few moments after Spencer's body had backed away. A small puff of air escaped her lips, and she opened her eyes unable to stop the smile teasing at the corners of her mouth. "Ready for dessert?" she said without thinking. Spencer winked at her and smirked, but as she opened her mouth to reply, Ashley beat her to it, "Not that kind, you pervert." Spencer's laugh ran rampant over the valley, echoing slightly down the lush hills surrounding them. "And how did you know what I was thinking?"
Ashley chuckled, "The wink was far from subtle."
Spencer pretended to look affronted, "I had something in my eye."
Ashley rolled her eyes and shook her head, "I'm sure you did, Spencer."
"I really did!"
"Mmhmm, sure." Spencer's false indignation spoke volumes and Ashley only smiled and picked up all their garbage, stowing it in the carrier bag she'd brought with her. Their exchange had also caused Spencer to smile, and she observed the young woman beside her meticulously pack away the Chinese food in silence. She is stunning. Even picking up garbage. "So," she drawled, "you mentioned dessert?" She flashed Ashley her most winning smile. "Let me guess," Ashley replied, turning to face her friend, "you're a dessert fan?" Spencer nodded her head eagerly and spreading her arms wide to indicate the magnitude, "Who isn't?"
"Models?" Spencer shook her head in disagreement as Ashley rifled through her bag for the brownies, "Tyra Banks and Heidi Klum definitely get their dessert on. Definitely."
Ashley glanced back at the blonde, "personal friends of yours?"
Spencer huffed indignantly, "No. It's just so obvious; you can picture it, can't you?"
Ashley shrugged her shoulders and passed the Tupperware box to Spencer. "You're not allergic to chocolate, are you?" Spencer gave Ashley a disgusted look, "I'll take that as a no, then." She watched Spencer pry open the container and then blushed when Spencer moaned in a way that sent a warm feeling straight between her thighs and she licked her lips unconsciously when she felt her mouth dry up instantaneously. Spencer's shining eyes meeting hers only made her smile. "You made brownies?"
Ashley shook her head, taking one from the box and handing it to Spencer, "No, my friend made them. I can't cook to save my life," she admitted, slightly abashed.
Spencer paused, the brownie suspended in front of her mouth, "I'll cook for you."
Ashley gave her a sidelong look, "You can cook?" and at the nod, she chewed her lip shyly, "I've got a great kitchen you could cook in, if you wanted," when Spencer didn't reply, she rambled on, "Or not. I mean, you don't have to – it could be at your place. Or you could cook something and we could meet somewhere else." Ashley slapped her head mentally, Shut up, shut up! She went silent, deathly afraid of what else she might say.
"I'd like that, either option. Really." She felt Spencer's hand on hers and her breathing evened out slightly.
There was a silence until Spencer let loose a guttural groan that would have caused even the most seasoned porn star to blush. "I guess you like the brownies, huh." Spencer's only reply was to fan herself as she continued to chew on the heavenly concoction in her mouth. Ashley watched the blonde slowly consume her brownie with undisguised lust. It's like she's having sex with it. It suddenly hit her that she was completely and utterly irrationally jealous of a brownie. She couldn't help but imagine Spencer's teeth on her body, her tongue running... She stopped mid thought as she felt that warm feeling descend on her again, this time causing her cheeks to warm harshly into another blush. Spencer's hand was still on hers and the desirable friction she was generating on the back of Ashley's hand wasn't helping her internal situation whatsoever. Once the groans quieted, their eyes met and Spencer smiled with great satisfaction. "That is the best brownie I have ever tasted."
Ashley nodded and spoke before she could help herself, "I noticed." Spencer blushed and shuffled slowly towards Ashley, "Sorry, I couldn't help myself." She glanced down and then, gathering her nerve met Ashley's eyes, "Just like I can't help myself around you."
"You just have to be yourself."
"But, I don't want to embarrass you, or make you feel uncomfortable."
Ashley couldn't help the blush as she remembered the feelings that were still invading her body, but spoke honestly, "you make me feel uncomfortable in the best kinda way." She realised how close Spencer was to her now and gulped loudly, the smell of the blonde completely taking over her mind and short circuiting it to the point where she could recognise only the baser sensations. "I really want to kiss you," Spencer said softly, smiling shyly. Ashley smiled back and even though she was still entranced by Spencer's close proximity she managed to reply, "Then kiss me." She had barely gotten out the words when soft lips silenced any other words she'd been about to speak. Her entire body sank into the contact and she resigned herself to being Spencer's, wholly and truly. It scared her, truly terrified her, to know that someone had a greater degree of control over her than she did herself and whilst Spencer terrified her to a point she'd never encountered before, she was intoxicated by the blonde. She craved the feeling of Spencer's body against hers, the way Spencer's lips guided her into total submission and the gentle pressure of her hands on her body. Her arms tingled in the wake of Spencer's fingertips dragging themselves down a pathway that was only known to her.
Spencer pressed herself closer to Ashley, forcing their bodies to naturally recline in sync against the blanket beneath them. Being atop Ashley was a position, Spencer decided, she'd happily stay in forever. She was soft in all the right places but clearly had muscle in several others. Even through Ashley's thin band tee she could detect the rigid outline that indicated her abdominal definition. A thought that made her body squirm in delight. Ashley's tongue slipped into her mouth and all of a sudden, Spencer Carlin knew she'd found heaven. It was unfathomable that all her life she'd been told about St Peter with his checklist at the pearly gates, the angels hovering ahead with glorious white wings fluttering and the choral music (always the choral music!) descending around all those gathered, enticing anyone into the gates of Heaven when all of that was clearly complete and utter crap. Where she was, right now, with Ashley's tongue doing that to hers, and Ashley's fingers casually playing with the hairs at the base of her neck, her breasts pillowing against hers, made her realise that Belinda Carlisle definitely knew what she was talking about. The sensations were completely indescribable. It occurred to her that she had completely misjudged Ashley's shyness. It wasn't from inexperience, Ashley's thigh had slipped between Spencer's legs and it was clear she knew what she was doing, and so Ashley became an even greater conundrum to the blonde. A conundrum close to losing some items of clothing if she carries on like that, Spencer told herself. She tried; she honestly tried her best to pull herself away from Ashley, but then the Ashley had repositioned her mouth at the piece of skin just below her ear and scraped her teeth gently against the flesh and her body had all but collapsed on the one below her. She decided that giving into Ashley's ministrations was a far better course of action.
Ashley could feel the warmth emanating from the apex of Spencer's thighs and felt her own body parts warm that bit more. Who am I kidding? I'm on fire. She couldn't get enough of the woman above her, each time her mouth came into contact with a patch of Spencer's skin she felt herself lose even more of her self control. She was dangerously close to throwing modesty out the proverbial window and making their first date a little more memorable than she had intended. Spencer was panting into her ear, her hot breath running over Ashley's skin causing it heat up and rise to attention, much like the rest of her body. Spencer moaned softly when Ashley's fingernails scratched just a little too much in just the right way and Ashley realised she had to put a stop to this. Respect for Spencer, respect for Spencer, she chanted in her head. She forced herself to tear her mouth away from Spencer's neck and slowed their kisses down from the frantic momentum they'd built up to until both of them were able to breathe against each other, their chests rising rapidly in succession.
Ashley hands couldn't resist circling Spencer's body, her fingers tracking the long expansion of muscle, taking routes of their own accord. Ashley sighed contentedly, finding it hard to imagine any other place she'd rather be. Opening her eyes, she found herself once again entranced by eyes that had darkened to a deep indigo, the usual flecks of darker shades appeared to have taken over Spencer's irises and captured the lighter, daintier cornflower blue much like Spencer had captured her. Sexy, Ashley thought to herself, very sexy. "Well," Spencer breathed, but it was clear she didn't know what else to say. Ashley smiled at the beautiful woman above her, "well, indeed." They gazed at each other with mutual affection until Ashley gently rolled Spencer's body to rest beside hers taking her hand in hers, "I didn't expect that at all."
Spencer smiled ruefully and scratched a delicate blonde eyebrow, "Sorry?" she offered, sounding about as apologetic as a child who was already chewing contentedly on her stolen candy. She glanced at the sky, marvelling at the grouping of clouds above them.
"I'm not," Ashley paused, gently stroking Spencer's warm palm, "sorry, I mean. Not at all." She hesitated for a few seconds and continued, almost as an afterthought, "I enjoyed it." She mentally rolled her eyes after she'd spoken, I sound like I'm talking about a movie, not one of the most intense kisses of my life! She internally slapped herself, she probably thinks I'm a moron. "I thought it was pretty incredible, actually." Both women smiled to themselves, reliving the moment that had just passed, their bodies still attempting to cool down.
"Spencer?" They were both gazing at the sky in comfortable silence, Ashley's hand still wrapped around Spencer's, her left hand twitching with the desire to also reunite with some body part of the blonde's and feel warm again. "Yes, Ashley?" Spencer, tired of the itching need she'd now developed to feel her body pressed against Ashley's and forced her free hand to cradle her head but couldn't help, paling in comparison to Ashley's nimble fingers stroking a pathway across her neck, musician's fingers! She told herself, she'd been right after all. The silence from her friend wasn't unusual, especially when Spencer gave her the go ahead to speak but she still turned to look at the woman beside her, smiling at the sight of the bashful expression on her face. She raised an eyebrow in question, keeping a smile on her face to make Ashley feel more at ease. She is so adorable. Ashley's shyness was such a contradiction of her character as, from what Spencer could tell it appeared to only come out when Ashley was around her and, more importantly, sober. She'd been fine around that girl who'd put the moves on her, and she'd been fairly confident with a few drinks in her, but now, when it was just them with no liquid courage, no dark lights to hide blushes and shy lip bites, Spencer couldn't help but think Ashley was far more beautiful than she'd first acknowledged. The blank vulnerability that sometimes flickered in her expression, or settled around the corners of her mouth and eyes was all the more endearing than anything she'd seen in anyone before. She was on the fast track to feeling some deep feelings and, unlike in the past, she couldn't help but be drawn nearer and nearer to the younger woman who so clearly fascinated her.
Ashley's courage bolstered at the sight of Spencer's expression and she managed to force the words out, "Is this a date?" The hopeful expression on Ashley's face almost broke Spencer's heart and she restrained herself from grabbing Ashley into a full body hug, recognising that giving her space would probably be more appropriate – given what had happened the last time. She bit her lip playfully, "Do you want it to be?" Ashley grumbled good-naturedly, "You can't answer a question with a question!"
"Who says?"
"It's like...the law!"
"Oh yeah, of what land?"
"England!"
"Oh I'm sorry; I thought we were in America. My badness."
Ashley's eyes appeared to grow unnaturally large as she became even more affronted, "I can't believe that you just had the gall to quote Hilary Swank – when she was playing an English teacher!"
Spencer smirked playfully and patted Ashley's hand condescendingly, "I'm also an English teacher. How 'bout them apples?"
Ashley kicked her legs into the air, "you don't play fair, Spencer."
"You've been looking like that all day. I hardly think you can start with me about playing fair." Ashley blushed and dropped her eyes from Spencer, Spencer pulled her hand out of Ashley's and rose up on an elbow, "Hey?" she hesitated before gently grasping Ashley's chin and raising it up so their eyes could meet. "That was a compliment," she smiled. "I was just saying in my most roundabout way," she rolled her eyes at herself derisively, "that I think you look gorgeous." Her eyes dropped briefly and then rose again, "and you've looked nice all day. More than nice really," she winked conspiratorially at Ashley, "I should have told you earlier." She cupped Ashley's face in hers and used her thumb to lightly stroke the skin beneath it. Unable to resist the temptation, she pressed a light-hearted kiss on Ashley's lips. Feeling the butterflies starting to explode in the pit of her stomach, she pulled away quickly before she pushed her luck too far with her already hypersensitive body. Her lips still dangerously close to Ashley's, she whispered and allowed her words to run over the extremely inviting lips millimetres away from her own, "I wanted it to be a date. In my head, I told myself it was a date."
Still watching Ashley's lips, Spencer saw her expression expand quickly into a beaming smile and as she pulled away, her eyes expressing similar happiness, "Me too," the brunette replied. Ashley looked down at her hands distractedly, absently realising that she missed the feel of Spencer's palm pressing against hers. Spying the very hand, she encapsulated it within her own and immediately felt better, but she was so busy admiring the way their hands fit together that she missed the adoring expression on Spencer's face as she gazed at the distracted girl.
They spent a moment or two smiling at one another before Ashley realised the color of the sky was already beginning to start the transition from early afternoon to late. "I should probably get you back to your car, sorry for basically monopolizing all of your afternoon." She made to stand up and brushed the grass off her jeans before stretching out a hand to give Spencer some help getting up.
"Feel free to monopolize my afternoon, any time."
They stood up and shyly eyed each other before Spencer reached for the blanket and rolled it up whilst Ashley gathered the remains of their lunch and repacked it all, placing the box of brownies on top. She smiled when she noticed Spencer's focused gaze on the brownies, "They're all yours," indicating the brownies with a nod of her head. Spencer's laughter was her only reply.
The drive back to Spencer's school had been relatively quiet, soft music played in the background and occasionally one of the occupants would say something, or point to something on the street but beyond that not much had been said. They both appeared caught up in their own thoughts and neither knew what to say, although they were both deriving comfort from the pressure of each other's hands entwined together just below the gear box. This lasted until Ashley's gear shifting became more sustained and Spencer moved her hand to rest on Ashley's leg; from time to time she stroked the material, imagining that she could feel Ashley's skin beneath her fingertips, a small smile lingering on her face at the mere thought. Ashley, on the other hand, was trying not to squirm under the delightful sensations Spencer was delivering to her thigh, it was only unfortunate that it made concentrating on driving a little difficult. She hoped that when she'd answered Spencer's last question that her voice hadn't sounded as strained as she'd imagined it had. At least she'd managed not to moan – yet.
Once Ashley had navigated her way into the parking lot, she switched off the engine and silence descended upon the couple. Neither looked at each other because neither wanted to admit that Spencer had to go. Both had been eagerly looking forward to today but neither imagined it would have ended so well. Spencer's hand absently stroked Ashley's leg in contemplation, still completely unaware as to how she was making her companion react, "So," she said, attempting to prolong their day just that bit longer.
"So, indeed," Ashley replied, echoing their previous conversation, "do you want to do this again sometime?" Ashley cast a hopeful gaze and Spencer melted all over again.
"Hang out in your car outside my school?" She quipped, in an attempt to lower the tension, "Hell yeah! I can't think of anything more thrilling." Ashley stuck her tongue out at Spencer, grateful for the light-hearted answer. Spencer rolled her eyes playfully and nudged Ashley with her shoulder. "I, uh, meant that, maybe we could go out again, sometime, maybe?" Ashley bit her lip bashfully, internally shaking her head at herself. Spencer eyed Ashley in amusement, charmed yet again by how adorable she was. The silence dragged on as Ashley internally debated with herself why she had pushed Spencer into a proverbial corner, her fists balled up and shook with the effort it took her from slapping them down onto her thighs.
"Stupid, stupid, why would she even want to?" she muttered under her breath and, so caught up in self-remonstration, she missed Spencer's amused smile, "Because she thinks you're adorable." Ashley's eyebrows rose in surprise, her eyes flew with uncertainty to capture Spencer's, the beginnings of a tentative smile teasing at the corner of her lips which grew with every second that Spencer held her gaze, blonde hair dipping slightly over her face whilst her head tilted showing off an encouraging smile.
"Really? I mean...that's good." A light blush sprinkled over Ashley's cheeks and she winced at her desperation. She hesitated, "Are you busy Wednesday?"
"Yeah."
"Oh, okay," Ashley pulled her gaze from Spencer's and looked out the window; whilst she had accepted that chances were she was always going to look like a moron around Spencer, she hadn't expected such a clear confirmation. Spencer's smile only grew bigger. Running her fingers down Ashley's arm to grab her attention, she continued speaking as if Ashley hadn't spoken, "I have this date, you see, with this smokin' hot girl. She's about," she paused and caught Ashley's eye with a wink as she raised her hand to hover beside Ashley's head, "yay high, has these incredibly gorgeous brown eyes, really cute and adorably shy. See," Spencer lowered her hand to pat Ashley's arm, "we had this date before, and I thought it went pretty well, and I'd really like another shot to get to know her better."
She tried in vain to stop it but her efforts were in vain as Ashley felt her cheeks warm with a light blush. She mustered up any remaining bravado and forged on as if nothing had happened, "Oh really? And where's she taking you?"
Spencer shrugged nonchalantly, "I don't know yet. She hasn't told me but I'm really looking forward to it."
"How remiss of her. If I was gonna take you out, I'd make sure you knew what was going down."
Spencer smirked but decided to let the innuendo fly, she was enjoying their banter far too much to have it derailed by Ashley's cute blushing. "What makes you think you're any better at keeping a girl in the loop than she is?" Unexpected as it was, to both girls, Ashley's lips twisted into a sly smirk and her eyes flashed confidently. "Well," she stressed the word as she manoeuvred her lithe body over the gearbox, "if she was any sort of woman," she stretched out a toned leg and nimbly managed, against her own expectations, to straddle Spencer's lap without poking her in the eye (or anywhere else for that matter), "she would have done this a long time ago." Meeting Spencer's eyes, Ashley leaned in and pressed her body against Spencer's. When their lips met in a similar embrace, one hand migrated to cup Spencer's face, the palm warming itself against a soft cheek, a lone thumb stroking an untraceable path across any skin it found.
Ashley had kissed a lot of people, yes people; it wasn't until recently that she'd started getting picky about the sex of her kissing companions but nonetheless, she regarded herself as rather experienced. Until Spencer's lips met hers. Spencer made her feel like the time her Dad had decided, unceremoniously, that at the tender age of 5, Ashley needed to be practicing her "mad" driving skills. And so, with Ashley sat between his legs with her feet dangling at least two feet away from the pedals, he had placed her hands on the wheel ("We'll start with 7 and 5, honey, just 'til you get the hang of it,") and proceeded to accelerate. Things were going quite well until, it being just after 5, all the working stiffs hopped onto the motorway to put as much distance between them and their boring ass jobs. In no time at all, the car was veering off the road and heading for telephone pole. Luckily her father saw fit to end their lesson that minute and, jerking the wheel hard, they'd careened briefly before the car righted itself onto the road. She remembered her father's words clear as day "Now, honey, next time, you gotta keep an eye on the road, okay?"
Spencer made her feel like she was having her first kiss all over again, and like she had felt then, and in the car, she knew she was irrevocably out of her depth. But instead of thinking she was going to die, like she had with her father, Spencer made her feel as if she was someone, someone worth being. Sure, she felt warm and gooey, in more than the hyperbolic sense, but she felt something ultimately more powerful. Something real. Spencer might make her feel like an inexperienced idiot but equally she made Ashley feel human which was more than anyone else had managed. Ashley's thought stream came to an abrupt stop when Spencer playfully nipped at her lower lip and, taking advantage of the small gasp the brunette gave, Spencer slipped her tongue into Ashley's mouth. It was warm and seemed nowhere near as cavernous as the other mouths she'd encountered. Ashley's tongue and her tongue met in a playful battle, tapping each other back and forth, oblivious to any other movements occurring beyond them.
Spencer could feel a warm rush of something that she'd rather not deal with and she knew that it was time to bring things to as graceful a stop as she was able. She slowed down the movements of her tongue, gently sucking on Ashley's as she pressed her hand against the one resting on her cheek. She entwined their fingers and pulled slightly away from Ashley to press a kiss against her palm. Her eyes opened slowly and she smiled at the childlike blinking of Ashley's eyes as if she was only registering her surroundings and fighting against reality. She gave Ashley's small nose a tap which caused it to wrinkle, which in turn sent the butterflies in Spencer's stomach flying into a frenzy, "You wanna know something?" Ashley's eyebrows rose comically and she shrugged, leaning back against the soft leather panelling. "Sure?" she smiled encouragingly at Spencer.
"I think you're my kinda woman. I'm totally ditching that other broad," Spencer winked playfully and Ashley blushed. Spencer stroked a palm across the tiny patch of heat on Ashley's cheek, "I'd love to go on another date with you."
