The Great Escape
AN. Thank you to xHalosandwings, BigRedMachineUK, sophia0401, John Cena's Field Hockey Star, Grits0205, TJ Sparkles & xTwistedxImperfectionx for reviewing the last chapter.
Thanks very muchly! :)
Chapter Thirty-Six – And Then You Kiss Me
ASHLEY
Moving in day had arrived.
Well, this was certainly the case for Miss Ashley Massaro, who was wasting little to no time into re-moving her things back into their rightful places. She shuffled stuffed box upon box of her belongings out of Eve's room—humming merrily to herself throughout the hall, leading the brunette watching her from the comfort of her bed to raise a suspicious eyebrow—all the way back to she and Mickie's room.
It would be wonderful to call it that again. Her room. The room where she once felt safe, with her best friend by her side and a place to call her own. Everything was looking up.
Today appeared to be different for the usually stubborn blonde. No longer was she feeling headstrong or overly-ambitious, and she had yet to figure out if that was a good thing, but instead she was rather... relaxed. She hadn't felt that way in such a long time; it was a definite relief to the busy system.
Mickie couldn't seem to help the beam on her face, which seemed to widen each time her best friend came back with more things and dumped them down next to her bed. She wanted to question the odd mood but knew it was all too obvious what it was about—the bright student was merely proud to have the happy Ashley back.
Thinking about it, she was too. It was a nice change.
She took slow steps on her last trip back to Eve and Maria's room. Her mind was full of thoughts as she walked the familiar route, twirling rebellious strands of dirty-blonde hair around her finger. A soft laugh spilled through her glossed lips before she could stop it. Who knew all she would have to do to find some sort of peace of mind was accept everything she'd been rejecting? How much easier would it have been to follow those rules instead of her own?
She knew she wasn't back to one-hundred percent, and neither did she expect to be. It would be a fool's way of thinking to assume that having found the answer to her problems, her issues would be resolved just like that—it clearly didn't work that way. But she also knew that with just the right amount of time and respect for herself, her goals would be achieved.
Goal number one was simple: Focus more on the positives rather than the negatives. Don't forget about the past but don't become too immersed in it. Learn from the events that were beyond her control and take a stand against it. Be smarter. Be better.
She expected this aim would take a while – hence it's number one position. Though it would take the longest time to achieve, it would be the one most worth the trouble.
The second and last goal was just as simple, only made easier because of her sudden confidence in the matter: Tell Adam the truth. Express these true feelings and let him know that everything is okay now. Remind self that love... love in its truest form... is worth all the heartache to come in the future. Without it, how can a human being survive? It is a vital necessity to have.
With both rules heavy on her mind, she felt all the more powerful when she finally stepped back into what she was proud to call her old room now. Eve greeted her by blowing a bubble out of her watermelon-flavoured gum, and Ashley watched for a moment, shaking her head as the Latina chewed on noisily.
"Okay, this is the last box." The expression on her former roommate's face didn't change. She shook her head. "Oh God, what is it with you and Mickie today? You can't stop looking suspicious and she can't stop smiling."
"I'm only looking 'suspicious' – whatever you want to call it – because you're smiling. Smiling, Ash. It's like you don't even know how good of a mood you're in." Lowering her magazine, Eve added, "So I don't know about Mickie, but this is definitely a surprise for me. You kind of look... better... with this new expression of yours."
"I'm going to take that as a compliment." Ashley exhaled her sentence out as she lifted the last—and clearly heaviest—box from the bed. "Well... it's been interesting to room with you."
"Ha, you can say that again."
"No more looking at that stupid poster of Ian Somerhalder and no more hearing your rap music blasting out of your iPod."
"Ditto – more towards your rock music though." There was a moment of silence. They made to nod at each other, but the exchange was somewhat awkward. "At least you'll still get to hear my gossip the next time we all meet up. That's not gonna change."
"Oh, joy." She deadpanned. A smirk later, she made her way towards the door, though not before raising her voice to deliver one last parting shot. "By the way, the vampire dude on your poster? Yeah, he's not that hot."
The almighty gasp she received in return was worth the hassle. The balance between them as friends hadn't changed all that much; even if she didn't think 'the vampire dude' was bad-looking, it was still fun to wind up her friend for kicks. As it was stated earlier, things were looking up.
Five minutes later, the blonde was settled back into her room. The first two minutes were spent just admiring the comfort she was about to slip back into, and the other three were used to decide which box of clothes would be going to the recycle bank on the edge of campus. Moving about five different crates of her own things had proven one thing: she had way too much stuff.
"Well I hate to love and leave you, and I'm sure you're going to be devastated—"
"Bring on the heartache, punky." Mickie interrupted, swivelling around on her seat to face her instead of her laptop.
A flicker of recognition at her old nickname, only just picked up on now since the first time in years, sparked a shallow warmth in her. "As I was saying – devastated. But I'm going to go and take this box of stuff to the bank. Have you got anything you need me to take?"
After a brief look around her half of the room, the brunette shook her head. "No, I don't think so. I'll walk out with you. Guess who I'm going to see?"
"Your beloved punk boy?" Ashley spoke the alleged insult with hints of amusement. She got an empty chocolate bar wrapper thrown at her for her efforts. "Oh c'mon, I heard you on the phone just before I went to collect the first box of my stuff. Are you telling me it wasn't Maria on the phone sounding excited because she'd just spotted your guy-toy freshly back from Chicago?"
If Mickie was going to keep up the pretence of nonchalance, it didn't show in her next gesture. Her excitement was clear for all to see as she bounded forwards, grabbing her friend's arms and bouncing up and down in her signature style. "My boyfriend's back! My boyfriend who flew out from Chicago to come and see little old me for the day is back!"
She rolled her eyes playfully. Truthfully, she was very happy for her—in this moment, however, it was still a little fun to act out the part of bad girl. "Yeah, whatever. Let's go before you cream your panties."
"God, Ash—that was a little obscene. Even for you. Oh... this was what the old Ashley would say, I remember now."
"You brought her back and you're going to have to deal with the consequences." She nudged her friend and turned to grab the right box. "Alright, let's do this. I'm planning on having a productive day."
The pair made small talk until they reached the cold outdoors, and then parted ways, Ashley watching for a moment while Mickie literally jumped away to go and find her Chicago-born Punk. She shook her head and then headed towards the recycle back.
Was it just her or was the college experience upon heading back from break going to be even better? She felt like it would be. She and Mickie were rooming again, and her head was clearer when it came to decisions to make. It was all just so—
"Ooft." The girly sound – almost unrecognizable coming from such a character as herself – came suddenly to her. Famous for being too involved in her thoughts at times, she shouldn't have been surprised to bump into someone while thinking about her indescribable life.
She also shouldn't have been surprised to run into the person now standing opposite her, staring back at her with an amused yet oddly vacant look on his face.
Instantly, her stomach filled with what felt like a thousand little butterflies swarming around. She would have cursed herself for allowing such a moment—one read about in romantic novels she pretended to despise but secretly wanted to experience—if the focus wasn't entirely on him.
Adam nodded and made to brush past her. "Excuse me."
Confusion struck her for a moment but she quickly banished it away, determined to go through with her promise before she lost her nerve completely. "Is that all you have to say to me?" Traces of her stubborn self came pouring through in her defensive tone, causing her to grimace slightly.
"Hey listen," said the student, surprised to find she'd stepped in front of him to stop him from going anywhere, "I already poured my heart out to you twice – I wasn't going to go for third time lucky. Call me weak, but I really don't like being constantly rejected. It hurts a man's ego after a while."
"Oh. Well—"
"And I really don't have anything to say to you now—not when you made the obvious attempt to escape me by going back home. You couldn't handle seeing me here over the holidays, could you?"
"No, that's not the truth. At all." She wanted to laugh, but it would hardly remedy the situation. So she decided to explain herself instead. "Certain events and people—Mickie, mainly—forced me to evaluate the choices I'm making in my life... you have to believe me when I say I didn't go home because I didn't want to be around you."
"Is that right, huh?" He questioned with the casual sarcastic response from him she'd grown to hate... and completely admire.
"I went home to fix things with my family—and there's still some stuff that needs to be talked about, but I hope those issues will be dealt with properly given some time."
He seemed to believe her. Then he shrugged. "Why are you telling me this?"
"Because... because I'm trying this new thing out where I'm going to be truthful. I'm not going to lie to anyone – especially myself." Looking into his eyes, she couldn't help but to swallow. This was it. This was positively it. How was a young girl who'd never poured her heart out to anyone before supposed to do it so freely? "So if I tell you something now," she continued bravely and placed the heavy box she was holding on the floor, "Will you promise to listen until I'm done?"
Folding his arms across his chest, he simply stared at her for a moment. Was he testing her? Whatever the look was, it was working on her. He eventually nodded. "I'm listening."
Nervous couldn't even begin to describe her mood. There were so many things she wanted to say to him, and now was her chance to say them all. But just how was it was possible to put important words into a specific order when her thoughts were all jumbled and jumping over each other to get the first say?
"When Mickie told you about the rape, I was angry. Beyond angry, actually – I was so unbelievably pissed. I felt like she'd betrayed my trust by telling you my darkest secret." Skimming over those particular details, she licked her suddenly dry lips. "And though I understand why she did it now, at the time I was moving back into my old self. I thought that crawling further into my shell would isolate me to the point of being untouchable."
"Why would you do that to yourself?"
"All anyone has ever given me is pity for my rape story. I was just... so sick of being given this sympathetic look. Everyone always used to say, "Oh you're a victim in this, dear" and, "I'm here for me if you need the support", and I always felt like screaming at them to shut up. To just shut up.
"And hey, you're Adam Copeland. You're this guy who I love to hate and hate to love, and my best friend had just told you my pity story. I didn't want you to treat me any differently."
"You didn't give me the chance to. You avoided me."
"I know, and I'm sorry. I really am. It didn't hit me then but now I know why I was so mad... it was because I realized you're one of the most important people in my life. I didn't want to accept it at the time—I didn't want you to know that you're stupid, annoying ways have had such an impact on my life. That you, Sir Piss-Me-Off-A-Lot, mean more to me than any other guy I've had in my life.
"And what I'm getting at now—because really, I'm not one for long speeches—is a simple thing. A simple thing I should have admitted to earlier on, when you first confessed your feelings for me. Because we're so much more than a silly game now, aren't we? It might have started out like that but we've... evolved. There are real feelings involved now.
"So I want to say... I want to say... that I... that I love..."
A smile crept onto Adam's lips even before he knew about it. This had to be the best day of his life, bar none—and that was definitely saying something.
"Pie."
It was one of those moments. In a state of utter disbelief, he was caught in-between laughing and crying. She loved... pie? Staring deeply into her eyes, he waited. And waited. Finally, he echoed the word. "Pie? Really?"
"Oh yeah." Suspicious eyes were on her as she got all worked up, silently cursing herself as she felt her heartbeat speed up at a rapid pace. "My mom makes this awesome sort of cake-pie, which I'd totally forgotten about until I went home. You should try it... it's good. Amazing, really. So yeah, I love—"
Enough was enough.
Saving the blonde from her pathetic display, he unfolded his arms, grabbed the girl by the back of her neck and pulled her into him roughly, as though the distance between them was simply too much to bear all of a sudden. The box she'd dropped between them was kicked aside without a care as the kiss was deepened; just two young adults on a cold day, with enough passion to create their very own fire.
Ashley pulled away slowly, perfectly still for a moment, and then rested her forehead against his. Her eyes were still closed. "You." She uttered through swollen lips a beat later. "I love you."
"About damn time." Pecking her lips again, he pressed a hand against her cheek, brushing back the strands that had fallen around her face during the heated moment. "Alright, I'm going to head off then."
Fear clutched at her insides as he casually waved, giving that cheeky grin of his, and made to walk off. "Where are you going?"
"To brag about how I caught the Ice Queen in my trap, obviously."
She believed him for a second. Then – scolding herself deeply for her mistake – she laughed. It was a nice sound to his ears; he hadn't heard it in so long. "Shut up, you idiot." Taking a step forward, Ashley hit him on the chest. "Come here and kiss your girlfriend."
"Girlfriend?" Only then did he smirk. "That sounds good to me."
And so the distance was closed once again, and Ashley allowed herself to wrap her arms around his neck to pull him in closer. She never wanted to let go. This was it. The it every girl talked about but never had. Now she had it.
And she was loving every single second.
So there's the next chapter. Please review :)
Up next is the last chapter for Eve.