Ohmygosh. You guys, I'm sorry for the lack of updates! Life just got in the way...as it always does. Not to mention, I had a South of Nowhere marathon last night and today. I watched the finale...and just about died. It was ADORABLE. As were those webisodes! But even though it was a happy ending for Spashley, I couldn't help but want to cry. I'll miss those girls so much...probably more than I should lol. But I can't help it! They were such a beautiful couple...I want a Spencer or an Ashley! ahaha

Anyone else think Spencer looked smokin' hot in that suit in the 5 Years Later webisode? Or Ashley at the end of the episode? ;)

Spashley will always be in my heart, and I'm sure they'll be in yours too. We love them, and this chapter is dedicated to them. They've changed my life.

Enjoy!

***

When I woke up the next morning, the only thing that kept from believing last night was a complete figment of my imagination was that I was still wearing Ashley Davies' jacket, and her distinctive odor filled my senses causing every inch of my body to tingle with pleasure.

I'm sure I couldn't have dreamed up that delightful aroma on my own.

Today was dark and foggy; my new favorite weather pattern. It was all very ideal because Ashley had no reason not to be in school today. I realized dejectedly that I would probably have to return the leather jacket. I unconsciously drew it closer around myself, not wanting to let go of this wonderful article of clothing that solidly set my memory in stone.

Ashley really was a vampire.

I grabbed a light, baby blue jacket, probably too light for the current climate, and scrambled down the stairs. I hurriedly munched on a granola bar, glancing at the clock every few seconds to make sure it wouldn't change suddenly.

I was later than I thought. I reasoned that I must have slept so soundly due to the strong feeling of Ashley's presence looming over me, even though it was just her scent.

When I stepped outside, I was plunged into a thick, smoky fog. Let me tell you, it isn't too much fun trying to find a truck when you can't see ten feet in front of you.

Consequently, I walked in the opposite direction of where my truck sat, and strode toward the mailbox. My heart thudded to a halt, then picked up in double time.

Ashley's red Porsche purred idly at the end of the driveway. And sure enough, Ashley herself was sitting in the driver's seat, her angelic features perfectly still as she stared out the dashboard window.

Then, in literally no time at all, she was at my side, pulling the door open for me.

"Would you like to ride with me today?" she asked, uncertainty coating her voice. She was giving me a choice…and in this case, the choice she was giving me held so many underlying meanings to it. I nodded and she smiled brilliantly.

As I entered the Porsche, her fragrance assaulted me full blast, and I instantly felt invincibly safe.

It's official. I'm an Ashley Davies addict.

I noticed the shirt she was wearing today: a deep red version of that spectacular ivory v-neck shirt that she wore the night before, and a black vest, which only served to cling to her in every place that made my breathing pick up.

Yes, my friends. Life is good.

I remembered that I was still wearing her jacket, and immediately began to extricate myself from it.

"Don't," Ashley said quietly, laying a hand gently on one of mine, "you need it more than I do." I grinned sheepishly at her, and blushed, pulling the jacket tightly around myself again.

My blue one lay forgotten on the floor.

The rest of the car ride passed in a comfortable silence as I ogled Ashley's flawless body and face. She caught me staring a few times though, and merely smiled crookedly, only effectively serving to make me want to stare more.

Hoping to prolong my isolation with Ashley as we pulled into the parking lot, I latched onto the first question that popped into my mind.

"Where's the rest of your family?"

She nodded past me, in the direction of a buffed out, dark blue Nissan Xterra. "They decided to take Jake's car today. Classy, right?"

"Aren't you trying to blend in?"

"We try," Ashley chuckled a little, giving me butterflies. She appeared at my door, opening it graciously for me to step out. Every eye was trained on me stepping out the Porsche, and it felt like the first day of school. Again.

But this time, I didn't care.

Ashley placed some oversized sunglasses on her face, and although they look incredible on her, I almost wish she hadn't.

Her eyes were a deep amber today.

"Everyone's staring," I murmured quietly to her, unconsciously moving closer. I wanted so badly to reach out, and tangle her fingers with mine. But I'm sure she wouldn't want me to.

"Not everyone. He's not," Ashley said in a low voice, looking toward a boy that had just looked up at us. His eyes looked as though they were going to bug out of their sockets.

"Nevermind," she amended, a smile playing on her lips. "Well, we might as well give them something to really stare at," she whispered huskily, slinging an arm tentatively around my shoulders.

I swear, I think my heart exploded as my entire right side connected with her left. I could hear an audible intake of breath from each student as we made our way onto campus.

"Isn't this…against the rules?" I felt foolish for asking such a question, but I'm almost certain that she shouldn't be doing this judging by the reactions of the student body.

"Haven't you noticed? I'm breaking all the rules now," she smiled, and I gained a bit more confidence in our matched gait. "So what will you be telling Sherry in Trig?"

I looked at her, startled. How did she know that I was trying to fabricate some bogus excuse to feed to Sherry? Ashley picked up on this, though.

"I can read her mind, Spencer, not yours. She'll be ready to bombard you when you're alone."

I groaned inwardly. I wasn't looking forward to the Spanish Inquisition.

As we stopped in front of my Trig class, Ashley removed her glasses as well as her arm from my shoulders. I felt a little warmer, for Ashley's skin must have been icier than the weather outside.

I didn't mind the coldness she radiated, though. I might just prefer it to regular body heat.

"Sherry wants to know if we're secretly dating, and she would also like to know your feelings for me," Ashley informed me quietly, effortlessly looking as if she were just like every other person in school, having a regular conversation with somebody else.

I wish we were secretly dating because I'm in love with you. "And what do you propose I tell her?"

"You could say yes to the first one. It's easier than any other explanation," Ashley suggested, guardedly. "That is…if you don't mind."

"No, nope. Of course not," I assured her faintly. I must be dreaming. Does this mean I'm her girlfriend?

My breath caught as Ashley reached up, her golden eyes never leaving mine, and pulled the leather jacket more snugly around my shoulders.

"As for the second question, tell her I think you look stunning in my jacket," she breathed into my ear, sliding her slender hands slowly down my leather clad arms.

I suddenly wished I wasn't wearing the jacket so I could feel her skin.

"See you at lunch, Spencer," she called over her shoulder, already sashaying away from me as I tried to catch my breath. I walked into class, very flushed, and suddenly feeling very empty.

Ashley wasn't next to me. And that really bothered me.

Possibly the last person I wanted to see at the moment approached me, and I looked up at him wearily.

"Hey Spence, how was Port Angeles?" Clay perched himself in front of me on top of the desk.

"It was…" there wasn't an adjective to describe my experience, "great." Good word, Spencer. "Chelsea bought a very nice dress."

He began to chatter on about his newfound excitement for the dance, and although I was genuinely happy that he didn't seem interested in me anymore, I wasn't paying too much attention, for I was too busy formulating careful, open-ended answers to Sherry's many questions.

Ashley's little talent could be very inconvenient.

Sure enough, she was right when she said Sherry would be waiting for me. Her customary mirror was not in her hand, but surprisingly, on her desk. She was bouncing up and down with impatience.

This would be a long class period.

"Tell me everything," she demanded, her voice a bit too loud for my liking, as I took my seat.

"About what?" I dodged her request, choosing to play dumb as long as possible.

"What happened with Ashley, girl?"

"She bought me dinner, and took me home," I answered automatically. This wasn't a lie, it just wasn't the full truth.

But who's counting?

"Was it, like, a date?" I simply looked at her, cocking an eyebrow. I know most guys and girls at school would go for Ashley in a heart beat, but what made her so sure I would?

"Oh please, Spencer. You practically have gay stamped across your forehead."

Oh, who am I kidding? I really need to stop ignoring my feelings.

"No, it wasn't a date," I replied quietly.

At least, I think it wasn't.

"Yet, she picked you up for school today," Sherry reminded me, equally quiet. I said nothing.

"She's driving me to Seattle on Saturday. She says my truck isn't up to the job," I told her randomly. Sherry leaned forward on her elbows, staring at me as if I were an oracle.

"Wow. Second date with Ashley Davies. Spencer Carlin, you're one lucky girl."

That doesn't even begin to cover it.

"Wait," she slammed her hands down, suddenly resembling a crazed old woman who hadn't slept in days.

Yeah, I have an overactive imagination.

"Has she kissed you?"

"No," I mumbled, sadness flooding my system, "it's not like that." Sherry's expression turned from knowledge-thirsty to shockingly embarrassed.

"Wait…you're not gay?"

Ha. As If.

I had to fight the urge to laugh. "I just mean that our relationship," if you could call it that, "is so…sans contact."

"Spencer, she walked you to class this morning with her arm around you," Sherry practically shouted, throwing her arms up in the air, earning stares from everyone within a four foot radius. I put my head down, my cheeks flaming.

"Sherry, please quiet down," Mr. Lee glared at her. She put on a fake smile, then turned back to me as if the request hadn't even been made.

"You've got to give me some details, Spence."

"Okay, fine," I told her, sighing. I just wanted her to stop begging, but I knew Ashley was listening in. "The waitress flirting with her really got on my nerves. But she looked at her all of about…once."

That's discreet enough, right?

"Was she pretty?"

"I think she was."

"I bet Ashley likes you!" Sherry concluded, like a triumphant spelling bee winner.

"It's hard to tell… she's always so vague," I threw this in, hoping Ashley might pick up on my irritation.

"She's so intimidating. You're pretty brave to be alone with her," Sherry stared past me. A fresh batch of possessive nerves sprung to life in my stomach and I clenched my fists. She talked about Ashley like she was some monster.

"Anyway, she's impossibly gorgeous," Sherry declared, as if this excused any sort of flaw Ashley would have.

And it did, in Sherry's book. But it didn't matter because Ashley was already flawless.

"There's so much more to her than that," I murmured, envisioning Ashley, the good vampire who saved my life. The way her voice cracked; rough, raw, and honest, as she told me she didn't want to be a monster.

My heart fluttered. The things that girl could do to me…

"Like what?" Sherry asked eagerly.

"She's just…so much more amazing behind the good looks," I felt myself slipping into an Ashley-filled daze.

I didn't really care if I sounded like I was in love. I was, and Ashley could glean whatever she wanted from my admittances.

"How much do you like her, Spence?"

"Much more than she likes me," I said, feeling melancholy all of a sudden, and shoving my hands into the pockets of Ashley's black jacket.

When the bell rang, I jumped up and roughly shoved my class materials into my bag, my mood lifting just as quickly as it had changed.

Maybe I'm bipolar.

This didn't go unnoticed by Sherry.

"You're not sitting with us today," she stated matter-of-factly.

"Spencer," Ashley called from the doorway, her face twisted into my favorite uneven smile. I smiled back, blushing, and turned to Sherry again.

She, however, was already striding past Ashley, making every effort not to look at her.

"I'll talk to you later, Spencer," she promised.

I might need to disconnect the phone.

"Hello," Ashley's musical voice was reserved, and although there wasn't a lot of space between us, she didn't put her arm around me again.

I think I made her angry.

Everyone stared again as we entered the cafeteria, and my breathing increased when I couldn't figure out where to put my eyes. If I fixed them on Ashley, then I'd look desperate. But if I stared back, I would turn bright red.

I actually did blush when I saw Ashley handing the cafeteria lady a couple of dollars, and carry a full tray to our table.

I went after her as fast as my legs would take me. As if I were actually trying to outrun the stares.

"So the waitress was pretty?" She asked when I sat down, as if she hadn't seen her.

"You didn't notice? You looked at her a few times."

"I believe you said once," she said curtly. I dropped the subject. Now I know I made her mad.

"Something you said to Sherry is bothering me…" she glanced up from under her lashes with troubled eyes. I leaned forward, wrapping my arms around my body.

"Enlighten me, Ashley."

"Do you sincerely believe you care for me than I do for you?" she breathed quietly, leaning closer. Her breath was intoxicating…so much so that it was causing my vision to blur.

Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale. How does breathing work again?

"Stop," I managed, shutting my eyes and attempting to regulate my breathing.

"Are you alright, Spencer?" Her voice was suddenly laced with concern as she sensed my discomfort.

"Fine. I'm fine."

"Stop what, then?"

"Dazzling me," I whispered, staring at the beautiful contours of her face and daring her to look away.

She blinked her tawny eyes, expression hard. "Answer the question."

"Yeah, I do think that," I still refused to break eye contact. Ashley's perfect features softened a bit, and her eyes reflected amusement.

"You're wrong. But out of interest, why do you think so?"

"Ashley, I'm ordinary," I spat, trying to make her see the obvious, and irritated that she was actually making me point it out. "I attract more near-death experiences that no person on earth should have to deal with. And then…there's you." I tilted my head, scrutinizing her overwhelming perfection, trying to find a flaw.

But I saw none.

"You didn't hear what every human male in this school was thinking on your first day, Spencer," Ashley muttered darkly, her symmetrical brows creasing. "Trust me, you're anything but ordinary."

The sheer honesty in her velvet voice made my blood feel electric in my veins. It was definitely easy to be in love with Ashley Davies.

"Well, aside from that, you always talk to me as if you're saying goodbye."

"Don't you see?" Ashley pressed, leaning forward, folding her pale hands under her chin, "That proves that I care about you so much more. I'd hurt myself a thousand times over just to keep from hurting you."

It hurts her to say goodbye to me?

"No one's tried to hurt me today."

"Yet," Ashley grinned mischievously and her liquid topaz eyes sparkled, "I'm starting to think it has something to do with my self-appointed, full time occupation."

I decided to play along. I was tired of trying to sort out her cryptic messages, so maybe I could understand better if I just tried to think like her.

"And what does that job description entail?"

"Keeping you safe," Ashley said seriously. This time, she wouldn't break eye contact, and I could feel myself wanting to blink.

"So, will you be accepting Ethan's invitation to prom?" she asked casually, still watching me intently.

"It's your fault he's tricked himself into thinking I'd want to go. I can't dance," I admitted.

"Please, Spencer," she said dismissively, as if she didn't believe me at all. "If I had asked you, would you have turned me down?"

Of course not.

I'm pretty sure I turned an intensely deep shade of scarlet.

"Like I said, I can't dance."

Silence. I hate silence.

"So, are you settled on going to Seattle, or are you open to alternatives?" Ashley was a conversation-starter today.

I liked it.

"I'm listening," I observed her pensively. Inside, I was jumping for joy.

She remembered.

"Well, the weather will be quite nice that day. We could spend the day outside," she smiled, her amber eyes twinkling.

"You're going to show me why you can't go outside when the sun is out," I guessed.

"Good assumption," she congratulated me. "I must insist, though, that if you don't want to be alone with me, I'll ask you not to go to Seattle. I'd hate to think of what could happen to you in a city that houses such a large population."

I wasn't going to argue about my clumsiness when Ashley just asked me to spend an entire day alone with her.

I was sold.

"It just so happens, I like being alone with you," I tilted my head to the side and batted my eyelashes in, what I hope, was a flirtatious manner. Ashley flashed a nose-crinkling smile my way, but suddenly turned somber.

"You'd better tell Arthur."

"I'll take my chances," I said dryly. She exhaled patiently.

"Spencer, your father might just be the only thing that would keep me from leaving town with you all together."

I wouldn't mind that at all.

I looked at her, composed and complacent although my stomach was roiling. "Did you go to Goat Rocks last weekend to hunt? Arthur told me there are tons of bears up there."

"Grizzly is Glen's favorite. Especially now, when they're coming out of hibernation, and they're particularly tempered," Ashley's eyes scanned my face, waiting for a reaction she wasn't going to get. "Tell me what you're thinking, please."

She wasn't asking me to, she was demanding.

"You don't hunt with guns, do you?" I asked timidly, tucking a strand of blond hair behind my ear.

"We prefer other weapons of destruction," her eyes glinted, and she flashed me a bright, gleaming smile. My stomach dropped.

Well, she is a vampire.

"If you want a visual," Ashley said, clearly enjoying my obvious surprise, "a lion attacking an elk is the equivalent of my hunting habits."

I dug my hands into the pockets of Ashley's jacket, inhaling her scent, and summoning the strength and courage to ask my next probing question.

"Will you ever show me that?"

Ashley's eyes darkened at least ten hues, and she folded her arms in her classic stance. She clenched her jaw furiously, and I must admit, I was more than a little stunned by her reaction.

"Absolutely not."

"Why not?" I pressed, deciding not to let this one go.

"Some other time," her eyes swept our surroundings and she was out of her seat in one gracefully mesmerizing movement. "We're going to be late."

The cafeteria was void of all students, save for us. It struck me how hypnotized I was by Ashley. I always lost track of time when I was with her; it was simply irrelevant.

Any amount of time spent with her was never enough for me.

"Later, then," I followed her out the door, and we fell into a synchronized step.

I wasn't going to forget.

***

R&R PLEASE! :)

SPASHLEY FOREVER.