After saying our goodbyes to Jimmy, who had somewhere else to be, the rest of us headed to the park. It was Ellie's idea and Marco gladly accepted. Craig didn't jump the gun, but I decided I'd go and soon after he did too.
Ellie and I walked a few steps ahead of Craig and Marco, for obvious reasons.
"That was the most embarrassing afternoon of my life," I whispered to Ellie, making sure the guys didn't hear.
"The day is young, it's only four thirty. I'm sure there is more embarrassment to come," Ellie laughed and tried to put a smile on my face. It worked.
"Spinner always knows how to makes things awkward," I shook my head and looked back to Marco and Craig, who were obviously involved in an interesting conversation as well.
"So, what did happen with you and Mr. Manning last night?" She nudged me and grinned, slyly.
"Look El, I know how you feel about him and…"
She stopped me before I could continue on with my apology.
"Stop, Ash. You have no reason to be sorry. It's just a stupid crush, but you and Craig…you two have something real. Plus, me and you…we're best friends,"
"Always?" It was more of a statement than it was a question.
"Always. Now, please explain that Spinner comment to me," she said, giving me a curious look.
"What is there to say? Craig and I had dinner last night at The Dot, I guess to Spinner it was more than that." I shrugged, not wanting to get into full details.
"We both know it was more than that, Ash." She shook her head and laughed. "But, if you don't want to dish all the details, that's cool."
We walked for a bit more before we finally reached the park. Marco and Craig caught up to us and all four of us sat on a bench.
"Oh, Marco…swings!" Ellie squealed, grabbing Marco's hand and dragging him off towards the swings.
She only looked back at Craig and me briefly, and that was to give me a devious smile.
"If only Marco were into girls," I said, chuckling.
"Yeah…they'd make the perfect couple." Craig scooted closer to me on the bench.
I kept my eyes on Marco and Ellie, attempting to avoid eye contact with Craig.
"Listen Ash, I think we should talk. Do you…want to go for a walk?" He stood up and faced me, practically forcing me to look him in the eye.
"Um…sure," I got up and took one last look towards Marco and Ellie.
"They won't miss us much," he smiled at me and we began to walk side by side, towards the trail in the woods.
We walked in silence for the first few minutes. After a while, he took a seat on a log and patted the spot next to him.
"You know, we could've stayed on the bench," I sat down beside him and he grabbed my hand in his. "Um, Craig…"
"Let me talk, Ash. I just, remember last night?"
Oh great, here it was. But, he was holding my hand…was it his way of saying he felt the same as I did about the kiss? Or, was this him letting me down easy?
"Um…how could I forget?" I said, looking around the wooded area to avoid eye contact.
This reminded me of the time we met in the hallway before the recording session and he ended up kissing me. If only the result could be so good this time.
"I need to know if, um, that kiss meant anything to you," he stumbled over his words a bit, which made me smile a little.
Here was the moment of truth. I had to tell him how I felt, and I could only hope he'd return those feelings. A million thoughts rushed into my mind at once, and I wasn't sure how I'd even speak clearly with all that was going through my mind.
I opened my mouth to talk, but nothing came out. Tears started to form in my eyes and I could barely keep my thoughts straight.
"Ash," Craig said softly. He pulled me into a hug and I let the tears fall freely. "I'm sorry; I don't want to make you cry. Just, forget it."
I could feel the warmth of his arms around me and that's when I knew everything would be okay. I could finally fess up to how I've felt all along. I pulled away from our hug and wiped my eyes.
"No. Craig. It's fine…I, um, that kiss…" I could feel a lump forming in my throat, and I had to tell him before I couldn't anymore. "It meant a lot to me Craig…and if you don't feel the same way…"
Before I could finish explaining, he cut me off with a passionate kiss. Although it took me by surprise, I kissed him back. When we finally pulled away from each other, all I could do was smile.
After a few minutes of sitting there in silence, just staring at each other, he decided he'd speak first.
"Does this mean we're, um, back?"
I nodded my head and laughed, "Definitely."
One minute we're talking and the next, we're kissing. Before I know it, we're back together. I wanted this more than anything else in the world. To me, nothing else mattered.
We sat and talked for hours. We barely noticed when the sun started to set and it started to get darker outside. Soon we heard Ellie and Marco calling our names, and we knew it was time to go.
It only took us a few minutes to find our way out of the woods and Ellie and Marco ran up to us.
"We thought you two left," Ellie said, grabbing Ash's arm and dragging her off.
I looked at Marco and we started to walk behind the two.
"You know they are talking all about you, don't you?" He said, grinning.
"I know. But, that's fine."
A huge smile was plastered on my lips and Marco took hint of it. He stopped walking and so did I.
"You and Ash…you two aren't…are you?" He looked worried and that made me worried.
"What if we are?" I asked, "Marco, I thought you were gay."
He gave me an awkward look and laughed.
"What? Yeah. I'm gay. And, it's not me that I'm worried about…it's Jimmy."
We started walking again and it was getting so dark that I could barely see the girls ahead of us.
"Maybe we should catch up to them," Marco said, trying to change the subject.
"What did…what about Jimmy?" I stopped walking again and Marco grabbed my arm.
"Fast walk and I'll tell you," he pulled me along and I obeyed his 'fast walk' command. "Didn't Ash tell you? Her and Jimmy…she kissed him at graduation."
My smile faded quickly and I started to run towards the girls, pulling Marco along with me.
Before we caught up to them, I screamed Ashley's name a few times and she finally turned around, smiling. As soon as she caught sight of my facial expression, she took on the same expression. I grabbed her shoulders.
"We need to talk."
"Um, didn't we already settle everything?" She said, swallowing hard.
"Something else came up," I said and she looked worried.
Just then, we heard thunder and Ellie and Marco encouraged us to walk on.
"It's going to storm!" Ellie yelled, already walking ahead with Marco.
"Yeah, Craig…we should hurry up. Start walking," Ash turned her back on me and started to walk, but I grabbed her wrist and turned her towards me. "Craig…"
"You kissed Jimmy?" I could feel the anger rising in my cheeks as my face turned red.
"Craig…you don't know the situation and…"
"No, stop Ash," I said, letting go of her wrist and walking away, upset.
It started to rain and I turned back to her, still walking.
"Is that what you do now, Ash! Kiss, date, then run!" I yelled and turned back around, picking up my pace.
I could hear her feet hit the pavement as she started to run after me.
"No! Craig! It's different with you, I love you!" It seemed as if she was screaming at the top of her lungs, but I didn't care.
Ellie and Marco were way ahead of us by now, so I just continued the walk to my house. Soon after I got home, I heard a knock at the door.
"I'll get it!" I yelled up the stairs to Joey.
Opening the door I saw Ashley dripping wet. She stepped closer to me, though she was still not out of the rain.
"Even when I was in London, my heart was in Toronto…with you. Not with anyone else."
