J- 21Way – Who wouldn't be jealous. Lol. Yes, Caleb is a sweet heart and I promise there will be more drama to come. Thanks for the review.
cmunoz.22 – Yup, no one but Evelyn can know she's back and the reason why is explained better in this chapter but feel free to send me a pm if you have questions. I couldn't decide on what Ashlyn's favorites should be so I went with my own. White roses and heresy's kisses are the way to my heart. Lol. Thanks for the review.
KaylaSimms1990 – Lol. Yeah I guess Caleb was a little bit too protective of Ash but that just adds better drama. Thanks for the awesome review and for keeping up with the story.
"Thanks," Caleb smiled. "I better get going before I'm late for school. You gonna be okay here by yourself?"
"Yeah, sure I'll be fine," she assured him. Caleb gave her a hug goodbye and sped off to Spencer in his mustang.
Ashlyn jumped into the shower and got dressed for the day. Grabbing the breakfast tray on her way out, Ashlyn headed towards the kitchen to see if her aunt was awake. The kitchen, just like the rest of the ground floor of manor, was deserted. Aunt Evelyn must have one hell of a hangover, she thought to herself. She started the coffee maker and went into the living room to watch TV.
While aimlessly flipping through channels, Ashlyn heard footsteps descending the staircase. "Morning Aunt Evelyn," she said, her eyes never leaving the television. Evelyn just groaned and walked off into the kitchen. Ashlyn let out a sigh as she got up to take care of her aunt. She searched through the cabinets before she found the pills and then handed them to Evelyn with a glass of water.
"Thank you dear," Evelyn smiled as she popped the pills into her mouth and drank the water.
"Your welcome," Ashlyn set a plate of leftover breakfast in front of her.
"I see Caleb was up early this morning," Evelyn laughed.
"Yup, he just left for school a few minuets before you came down."
"I guess you can't enroll in Spencer without your parents finding out," Evelyn sighed.
"Nope, guess I'm home schooling for now."
"He's a lot happier now that you're back…we all are," Evelyn smiled.
"I'm glad I decided to come back," Ashlyn admitted, "Even if I can't be seen by the rest of the covenant and the council yet."
"Idiots, all of them," she muttered. "At least it's only until you ascend. Then the power will become your life, you won't survive without it, and they can't bind it otherwise it would kill you in the process."
"Can't wait," Ashlyn smiled. "I'm gonna go and catch up on some reading in my room."
"Alright dear, I'll be out most of day but feel free to have the run of the house until Caleb gets back from school."
Ashlyn offered her thanks as she climbed the stairs up to her room. She pulled out her copy of Alice in Wonderland from her bag and plopped down on her bed. Within a few pages she was pulled into her favorite story. Half way through the book, Evelyn came up and called Ashlyn downstairs for lunch. The two ate in kitchen. Seeing as it was the two of them, neither of them saw the need to go to the dining room. Ashlyn returned to her room and finished the book. Before long her eyelids closed as she fell asleep with the book still in her hands.
.-:-. *~* .-:-. *~* .-:-.
Ashlyn woke up to a pair of deep chocolate-brown eyes looking down at her. "Hey Alice, glad to see you made it out of the rabbit whole," Caleb smiled.
"Hey, I guess I dozed off for awhile," she said stretching her arms. "What time is time?"
"Just after three," Caleb told her. "I just got out of class." Caleb chuckled as he picked up the paperback book that Ashlyn had dropped in her sleep. "This is still your favorite, isn't it?"
"Yup, always will be," she smiled. "So what do you want to do?"
"How about a movie marathon," he suggested.
"Sounds great; I'll go make some popcorn."
A few minuets later, Ashlyn and Caleb were sitting on the ground with their backs to the couch, waiting for the movie to start. "So what movie did you pick," Caleb asked.
"You'll see," Ashlyn passed the bowl of popcorn over to Caleb.
"Harry Potter," Caleb asked amused.
"Yup," she smirked. "Now hush, the movie's starting."
During the movie the two had moved closer together. Ashlyn's head was resting on Caleb's shoulder and his arm was draped over her shoulder.
"Did you really mean it," she asked out of the blue, "Back then I mean."
"Huh? Mean what," he asked.
"About us," she clarified.
"Yeah, I did," he whispered.
"And now," she asked softy.
"I don't know," he let out a frustrated sigh. "I've waited all this time for you to come back but you never did. Then I met Sarah. Sure she's clingy and there's no future but I thought that she could help me forget you." Ashlyn just looked up at him and listened to him quietly. "She didn't because even the thought of forgetting you scares me. It killed me when you left Ash. And now that you're back, I'm terrified you'll leave me-"
Ashlyn cut him off by pressing two fingertips to his lips. "Caleb, this isn't an ultimatum. You can take all time you want to sort out your feelings. I didn't expect you to be waiting for me forever. I just wanted to let you know that I still have those feelings for you. So take all the time you want." She leaned in and kissed him on the cheek. "I'm not going anywhere," she whispered in his ear. They finished watching the movie and moved on to the others in the series. Caleb was surprised when he saw that it was one in the morning.
Ashlyn got up and stretched. "Night, Cal."
"Night," he said softy. Caleb heard Ashlyn walk up the steps, her door open, and then close.
Ashlyn lay in her bed for ten minuets in the dark before she heard her door open and close. Suddenly, she felt a significant amount of extra weight on the mattress and an arm wrap around her waist.
"I meant it then and I mean it now; you're mine Ashlyn," Caleb whispered in her ear. "Only mine." Both fell asleep smiling and in each others arms.
Well that's it for this chapter guys. Remember reviews=much love and more frequent updates. Thanks for all the reviews.
