Chapter 11: Sideways (Citizen Cope)
A/N: This chapter is basically about the dinner date that Craig & Ashley have, this chapter is definitely more adult than previous chapter just trying to give you a warning. Is used Sideways by Citizen Cope because I felt that no matter what happened in the past, no matter what they did to each other those feeling that they share will always remain. I hope you guys like what I have written, but I have a bone it pick with the writers of Degrassi, they have never given Craig & Ashley some sort of closure. Ashley left Craig and he hooks up Manny and when he came back he didn't speak to her. When Ashley came back she hooks with Jimmy and hardly any mention of Craig. I just think they have given their relationship respect, outside of Sean & Emma their relationship had the most feelings involved.
You know it ain't easy
For these thoughts here to leave me
There are no words to describe it
In French or in English
Well, diamonds they fade
And flowers they bloom
And I'm telling you
These feelings won't go away
They've been knockin' me sideways
They've been knockin' me out lately
Whenever you come around me
These feelings won't go away
They've been knockin' me sideways
I keep thinking in a moment that
Time will take them away
But these feelings won't go away
"Thank you. You don't look so bad yourself," says Ashley as she enters the house
"Yea right, compared to you I am so underdressed" responses Craig
Ashley walks through the house she noticed how beautiful it was on the inside, she had just spent 20 minutes in the car trying to regain her composure, she looked at the clock on her cell phone & saw that it was 7:30. She kept on thinking to herself "wow, is this really happening. Come on girl, you need to get yourself together, remember he loves you and you love him. God did I get too dressed up for this, knowing Craig, he probably just heated up some pizza and is wearing jeans and a t-shirt". Earlier in the day she spent the afternoon in court for a couple of hours doing the preliminary part of the trial and since it was Friday, the judge adjourn for the day and the trial would officially start Monday morning. It was around 4 when she got out, she went straight to the salon and got her hair done, it took about 2 hours; afterwards she raced home and got ready and did her makeup. As she walked up to the house she was that it was a pretty big house, one that was suitable to raise a family, and then she told herself "That is so far away from now, I just want to get through this night without incident and I'll worry about the rest later". She walked through the front gate and almost tripped over the skateboard that adorned the front lawn. As she knocked on the door she let out a big sigh, as Craig opened the door she noticed that Craig was wearing slacks and a tight collared shirt that wasn't bottomed up all the way revealing the black shirt he was wearing underneath it, she thought to herself "wow so we both think that this is a special night, This is important to the both of us".
"No you look great Craig," says Ashley as she wraps her arms around his waist.
"Come on Ash, you have always been the better looking one. I'm just trying to keep up," says Craig as he puts his forehead against hers.
Ashley looks into his eyes and says, "Well Mr. Manning your doing a pretty good job of it." She then proceeds to place her lips on his; they stay like this for a while as they kiss it is strong yet soft, one could say that it is metaphysical. They let themselves leave reality and enter their own little world it feels like an eternity. Ashley places her head on his shoulders; Craig leans in and kisses the side of her forehead. She is startled by a loud beeping and says, "What the hell was that?"
"Oh crap that's the oven, I put a timer so it would let me know when it's done" says Craig as he leads Ashley into the kitchen.
Ashley chuckles and says "you made dinner; I thought you probably would have ordered out."
Craig looks back at Ashley and says, "Well when you have a kid, you have to learn how to cook, so on tour all I would do was read cookbooks and I would talk to the caterers at each venue and they would teach me things. Plus Joey & I would go to Ellie and Sean's house all the time, where me & Ellie would cook, so I've had a lot of practice".
As they enter the Kitchen Ashley notices the dinner table, it has French rolls on a plate, some salad in a bowl, some mashed potatoes, a couple of glasses with a pitcher of lemonade & a bottle of wine next to them, and I candle right in the middle. She looks at Craig and he put on his oven mitts and opens the oven door and looks at the temperature of the gauge and sees that the duck is done. Ashley looks over to him and says, "So what did you make?"
Craig looks over his shoulder and says "I made Duck, if that's alright with you"
"It's great, I just can't believe that you made me dinner, that's so sweet," says responses back Ashley.
Craig puts the duck on the table and looks at Ashley and says "I wanted to make a good impression, so I wanted to go all out"
Craig grabs a knife and starts to cut into it, and places a piece on two separate plates and hands one of them to Ashley. She grabs the clamps and puts some salad and mash potatoes on her plate; Craig follows suit and then her sits down. He pours her some champagne and he pours himself some lemonade.
"Wait why are you drinking lemonade?" asks Ashley
"I don't drink anymore not even wine, I think with being bi-polar, and being a former addict I would never want to risk anything that would screw up my life again. And I think being clean in everyway lets my mind clear so that my writing is the best that it can be," responses Craig
Ashley looks back to him and says "wow that's awesome Craig"
Just he about to eat he looks and says, "wait a sec, I forgot something". He gets walks over and opens a cabinet and takes out a lighter, he lights the candle and sits down, and he looks over to Ashley and smiles.
She looks back over to him and says, "Wow, now everything is perfect"
They start eating; Ashley says to herself "wow, Craig really knows how to cook. This is really great, not just the food, but the setting he made everything just perfect". She looks up to him and smiles.
They spend the next 5 minutes in silence, just enjoying their food. Every now and again they look at each and just smile.
Ashley always hated utter silence so she looked at Craig and said, "This is great Craig, and I don't just mean the food. The entire night has been perfect, thank you so much for this"
"Thanks but it's nothing, remember the night's not done yet" says Craig as he gives her a sly smile
"Now, what is that suppose to mean?" asks Ashley
Craig looks back at her and says, "Nothing, all I'm saying is that it only around 8, and we have the entire night together, right? "
"Of course. Whatever you say Craig" says Ashley as she blows him a kiss
"Well do you always have to think the worst of me, huh?" asks Craig as he lets out a chuckle
"No, I just know how your mind thinks" responses Ashley
Craig looks at her and says, "Well it has been such a long time and I've change so much"
"Yea, your right it has been so long and a lot has changed but you will always be my Craig," says Ashley
"Well I guess I can't escape my fate," says Craig as he gives her a huge grin
"Nope, we destined to be with one another" responses Ashley
"When did you start believing in that whole Destiny mumbo gumbo stuff?" asks Craig
"The last 10 years helped to shape that" responses Ashley
They continue eating their food; it takes them another 15 minutes to finish up. Craig grabs both plates on put them in the sink, then takes the remaining food and put plastic wrap over them and put them in the refrigerator. He then proceeds to start washing the dishes; Ashley just looks at him and just smiles. She gets up and moves over to the sink, she forcibly moves Craig over and grabs a wash cloth
"When did you become Martha Stewart, you cook, and you clean. You're right you are completely different person" says Ashley as she dries off a plate
"Well I had to learn on the fly, I mean I'm all Joey has, sure Ellie and Sean help but in the end, it's just me & him. I have to be both parents, I have to make sure that I'm always here for him." Responses Craig
Ashley grabs the next plate, and the question of where the mother is pops into her head but she doesn't want to spoil the mood so she asks, "Well what do you do when you are on the road?"
"Well at first I had a personal assistant help me out, so when he was younger I would take him with me, and when I had to be away from him doing little promotional stuff, my assistant would take care of him. But as he got older, I started to shift around my schedule so that always try to be home when he was in school, and tour in the summer and winter so he would go with me. And when we would record an album, it would be in town. But if I had to go out of town for a couple of days he would stay with Ellie & Sean, I try to make that as rare as possible" says Craig
Ashley looks at him and says "Is that why your retiring Craig, because I remember that you always told me that your dream was to spend your entire life on the road just playing shows"
Craig hands her a glass to dry and says "Yea, that's why I'm doing this. I don't want to miss out on his growing up into the man that I know he'll be. Both of my parents were dead by the time I reached 16, I don't want that for my son, he has already lost so much in his young life. That and I just really need to rest; the road is a harsh mistress, and after 10 years of doing this I feel burned out. It's not like I'm just going to be a bum, I plan on buying out the record company and have complete control over my own label. I also plan on investing in some clubs; so that up and coming artist have a place to showcase their talents. I mean it's not like I'm going to stop recording, they're too many songs in this head that want to get out for me to stop" says Craig as he points to his head.
"Wow, that's great Craig. I just didn't want you to stop and remove yourself completely from the business, cause I know how much you love the industry" says Ashley
Craig just smiles and finishes up, he wipes his hand on a nearby towel and proceeds to kiss Ashley on the cheek. He wraps his around her waist and kisses in between her neck and shoulder. Ashley lets out a soft moan that causes Craig to just chuckles a bit. They meet eyes, and Ashley lightly punches him in the stomach.
Ashley laughs at him and says, "You haven't given me the grand tour, Mr. Manning"
"Oh well, right this way" response Craig as he grabs her hands and walks her out of the kitchen.
The first stop is the backyard, Craig turns on the lights; Ashley notices an Apple tree and an Orange tree in the background. Of the right is a tool shed, she looks over and sees a soccer net with a couple of soccer balls next to it, Craig notices what she is looking at and says "Yea, Joey plays soccer he is a forward, he is actually really good. Since we just moved back into town, he is still just getting to know his teammates."
"Aww, you're such a great father," says Ashley as she wraps her arms around Craig.
"Nah, I just try to do what Joey would have done and I try to follow his lead" response Craig he kisses Ashley on the forehead.
They go back inside, Craig shows her inside and they walk into the living room. She sees the beauty of it. Craig looks over to her and says, "Marco helped me pick out everything, all the furniture, all the china in the kitchen, even the paint job, it's was all him and Dylan."
"Yea well I always knew Marco had great taste, so it makes sense to ask him for help" responses Ashley
As they walk through the living room, Ashley notices the pictures of Craig & his son on top of the fireplace, including one of Craig holding Joey in his arm when he was a baby, one of him in his soccer uniform, and one of Craig & his band in front of Abbey road. She also notices several paintings on the wall some of Salvador Dali, Andy Warhol, and Max Ernst. Craig sits down on the couch and just looks at Ashley as she analyzes the living room and just smiles. Ashley notices this and positions herself into his body, and breathes in the light scent of his cologne. Craig grabs the nearby control and presses a button that causes the fireplace to ignite; he wraps an arm around Ashley. Ashley feels like a Tetris piece that fits perfect with Craig, she rubs her head against his chest. This feels so right to the both of them, but the elephant in the room shows its ugly face.
Ashley tilts her head up and meets Craig's eye and she asks "What it is this Craig? I need to know"
Craig looks back at her and says, "We're just getting to know each other again. You just have to be patient with me babe, if it's really going to work out this time we have to build something, this is not just for the short term but possibly for the rest of our lives. If I was alone this would be easier but the thing is that it's not just me, it's also Joey. The question you have to ask yourself is are you ready to be in his life, because if you are not ready for that responsibility than I understand, but if you chose to continue then you don't just get me you also get him. And you know that I love you completely and utterly without question but if it came down to a choice between you and my son, you know which way I'm going on this."
Ashley sees the stress in Craig's eyes so she just lightly brushes his cheek with her hand and then returns to her original position and says "I know honey, hell that's all I have been thinking about since this morning. But Craig you have to understand that when I was younger I always thought I would be the mother of your children, and I'm not saying that it still would not happen, hint hint. But like everything else with our relationship nothing goes the way we plan, so while this is not the ideal situation that I originally hoped for but I am ready for whatever life bring us. I am ready to be whatever you want me to be. But like you said earlier we just have to take this one day at a time, for this to be what I hope that it is going to be we have to take a time and we have to make sure we do this right."
"So can I ask you a question and I want you to extremely honest with me" asks Craig
"Of course I'll answer any question that you have" responses Ashley
"Will you go steady with me?" asks Craig
Ashley chuckles a bit at the question, she is glad that Craig is trying to lighten the mood. She gets up and looks Craig in the eyes and says "Of course I'll go steady with you"
She moves closer to Craig and kisses him on the lips; Craig starts to massage the back of her head with his hand as they start to kiss more passionately. Craig maneuvers himself to lie down on the couch and Ashley lies down on top of him and they continue to kiss. They spend the next 20 minutes just making out reminiscent of what they use to do as teenagers only separating themselves when they needed to breathe. Both Craig and Ashley look at the fireplace, they are so much alike that they look at the flames shooting up and have the same thought in their minds, their relationship is like a blaze; it's passionate, it's hot, and it consumes everything around it. Craig looks up to the ceiling and then looks over to Ashley and kisses her on the head and just lets out a big sigh.
"Craig I didn't mention it earlier but this is a pretty big house, what are you gonna do with all these rooms?" asks Ashley
"I have no freaking clue, I mean it's just me and Joey. So why do I need 7 rooms, right? I mean each of us have a room, then I have a media room and all my exercise equipment is one room so there are three rooms left over. I mean I figured one of them would be converting into an office, what do you think I should do?" asks Craig
"I don't know Craig I mean it's your house you can basically do whatever you want with it" responses Ashley
"Yea, but I hate the fact that I own such a big house and only two people live in it. I mean I own a house in Vancouver, one in L.A, and one in N.Y but they are two room houses, nothing big. It isn't a bad problem to have but it's definitely makes my head spin," says Craig
"Don't worry about it so much, huh? There are worse problems one could have," says Ashley
"Yea I guess you're right, you wanna see the rest of the house?" ask Craig
"Of course I do" responses Ashley
They get up and they readjust their clothes, and start to walk around a bit. They check out Joey's room, it's a pretty big room, they painted it dark blue, and it's outfitted with a lot of Joey's soccer stuff; since he is only ten it's pretty messy, Ashley just laughs. Craig just shakes his head and drags her into the next room Ashley notices the equipment adjourning, she just smiles and starts to rub Craig's stomach, Craig just looks at her with a confused look so they move on. As they move closer and closer to the main bedroom Ashley starts to notices a bunch of picture that were blown up and framed, she stops for a second and sees Craig's signature at the bottom of each one.
Craig looks back at her and smiles; she points to one of them and asks, "You took these?"
"Yea, about 5 years ago I started talking picture again, most of them were on the road, a couple of them were random shots I took around Vancouver & New York. One day we had a party over at Jimmy's house, it was his wedding anniversary and I took a bunch of pictures, so when Jimmy and me developed them he saw some of the picture I had taken. He thought they were great and told me that he would put me in contact with his dealer. She thought they were amazing and we done several showing across the states and some here and all the proceeds have gone to several Child Abuse organizations in T.O. But these are the ones that are the most personal to me so I've kept them. It has always been a nice release from the daily grind and on the road there is so much that you see and it's a way of keeping a memory of what happened. Do you like them?"
"I love you them Craig, I knew for a while that you want to start to take up photography again but all your focus on was on your music, but wow you've got an amazing eye" responses Ashley
"Well I'm shock to you're surprised by that, I mean you've always had the attention of my eyes, and I mean you are the most beautiful person I've ever met." Says Craig
"Flattery will get you everywhere, Mr. Manning" says Ashley she wraps her arms around Craig's neck.
Craig looks at her and gives a light peck on lips and says "Why do you think I always pay you complements Kerwin, cause I know what will lead to."
Ashley gives Craig an evil stare and just shakes her head. She returns Craig's kiss and says "Oh really and where do you think that it will lead to"
Craig points to a door and says "which room do you think were next to, huh?"
Ashley looks over and rolls her eyes and says, "We're next to your bedroom, huh? With this all apart of your master plan"
Craig nods his head and grins and says "Yea we are. You say master plan like it's a bad thing, but we don't have do this if you don't want to"
Ashley chuckles at Craig's lame ass attempt to get laid but she has to admit that the thought had run through her mind more than a few times. She kisses Craig on the lips and whispers into his ears and tells him "Craig make love to me tonight, we'll worry about everything else tomorrow."
Craig gives her a giant smirk and says "I don't want to ruin the mood but can you give me a second?'
Ashley chuckles and says "well you gave me 12 years so I think I can give you a minute or two. But don't make wait long."
Craig kisses her a kiss on the cheek then enters the room and closes the door behind him. Craig looks around and grabs some candles, he places them all around the room and takes his lighter out of his pocket and lights each of them. He then go into the bathroom and grabs a bottle air freshener and sprays it all over. He turns off the light and says, "You can come in if you want."
As Ashley enters the room she see that the room is full of lighted candles, Craig opened the blinds so the moonlight is shining into the room. She just stares at Craig and says "wow Craig, this is so romantic"
"I'm just trying to make this perfect, I hope you like it" responses Craig
"I love it Craig," says Ashley as she jumps into his arms.
Craig carries her to the bed; Ashley starts to unbutton his shirt and throws it to the floor. Craig unbuckles his belt as they continue to kiss. As his pants fall to the floor he wraps his arms around her back on unzips her dress. Ashley is now down to her underwear, she feels a little nervous she had not been with anyone sexually in a really long time add on to the fact that this was Craig whom she was almost naked in front of but she remember what Liberty told her earlier in the day "If you want it all, you have to risk it all" she then maneuvers towards Craig and rips off his undershirt. For a second Craig gets lost in her beauty, the last time he had seen like this is when they were teenagers, he could notice the subtle differences in the past and the present, in his mind his wasn't looking that the girl he fell in love with as a kid but the woman he always believed he would spend the rest of his life with. Ashley catches him in his moment, and just smirks at him and says, "What are you looking at Mr. Manning" as she crosses her arms.
Craig uncrosses Ashley's arms and wraps his arms around her waist. He looks her in the eyes and says "the most beautiful woman on God's green and verdant earth, that's whom I looking at."
Ashley just smiles says "yea right" and pushes Craig down to the bed. He moans a bit, then removes her bra and jumps on top of him. Craig grabs her and switches her around, he starts his exploration of her body by kissing her underneath her chin then using kisses he makes a pathway all up and down her body. As Craig explores every craves of her body she rubs the back of his head with her hands and every now and again she lets out passionate moans.
She lightly grabs his head and looks into his eyes and says, "Craig, you know I love foreplay but it's time"
Craig just shakes his head and smiles, he maneuvers his body next to hers, and he reaches over to a nearby cabinet and pulls out a condom. Once it's on Ashley takes off her underwear, as they have sex they never leave each other's eyesight. They stay in this position for the next hour; Ashley finishes first Craig finishes soon afterwards. Craig rolls over and looks at Ashley and thinks to himself "Oh my God, she's glowing." Craig kisses her forehead and she moves her left arms over his chest. Craig pulls over the sheets and they fall asleep in this position, both happy as school children on a snow day. Ashley is waken by the sunlight creeping into the room, she looks over to see that the clock says 9:18, she notices that Craig is gone. She puts her underwear on and sees Craig's dress shirt at the edge of the bed and puts it on. She walks outside the bedroom and goes downstairs; she notices that the house is empty. Craig comes running into the house, sweating, probably from running as evident by the fact that he was wearing a running shoes, some short and an underarmor shirt; he is shocked by Ashley's presences.
"Hey you're up, how'd you sleep?" asks Craig as he leans in and kisses Ashley on the cheek.
"Yea I slept great, it was perfect to be in your arms again. It's just when I woke up and saw that you were gone, and then i when i came downstairs I noticed that the house was empty. Sorry I got scared for a second, but where did you go?' asks Ashley
Craig opens the refrigerator and pulls out a bottle of water and starts to drink it. He looks over to Ashley and says, "Sorry if I scared you, I like to run every morning, I feel like it's a good way to start the day". Craig comes up behind Ashley and wraps his arms around her body; Ashley didn't mind that he was sweating because she always loved the smell of him.
Craig kisses her on her shoulder and asks "Do you want me to make you some breakfast?"
Ashley turns around and put her arms around Craig's neck and kisses him on his sweating lips, and then she taps her lips with her fingers and says, "Salty, umm yea I could eat. By the way when did you become the perfect guy?"
"Well Ms. Kerwin, I had a lot to growing up to do over the years. But I'm far from perfect young lady. But can I tell you something?" Ashley nods and Craig moves over to her and whispers in her ears "Don't ever doubt me when I say this but you are the most perfect woman I've ever met."
Ashley shakes her head and says "Yea right, if I'm so perfect then why did I cheat on you?'
Craig groans a bit and starts to look out the window and says "damnit Ashley, don't you see that I'm trying to get past this. If I didn't we would be here having this conversion, we wouldn't have spent last night together. Trust me we have made awful mistakes, and we hurt each other badly but we're older, and we're stronger. So could you stop thinking about all the crap we went through, could you release all that pain in your heart and just be right here with me in the present." Craig just looks down and lets out an angry sigh.
Ashley sees the hurt in Craig's eyes and walks over to him and places her head on his back and says, "I'm sorry baby, it's just that I don't want to lose you again. I don't want to hurt you the way I did, I want to be the woman you have pictured in your head, it's just hard because I have all this self doubt."
Craig looks up and turns around to meet Ashley's eyes and tells her "you don't have to do anything just be you, that's what makes you the perfect woman. So please get over your fears and have some confidence in yourself, ok?"
Ashley just smiles at him; he always knew how to lift her up. She leans into him and rubs her face into his chest; she looks at him and kisses him on the lips. She returns to her original position and says, "Well now I'm really hungry. What are you going to make?"
Craig looks at her and says, "Well I'm was gonna make you an omelet."
Ashley smirks at him and goes to sit down on a nearby chair. Craig takes out some pots and pans, he opens the refrigerator and starts to take out some eggs, some vegetables, some cheese, and some orange juice; he then takes out some Canadian beacon out of the freezer. He starts by chopping up some onions and tomatoes; then slicing a few pieces of cheese; he then starts to work on the eggs, he beats them in a bowl and pours them into a pan that had been frying. He then throws in the chopped vegetables; in the next pan he places pieces of beacon on in another frying pan. Ashley just watches him work, like a surgeon operating on a patient, every move is deliberate and concise, after a move minutes Craig takes the omelets on a plate. He puts a couple of pieces of bread in the toaster, and takes the pieces of beacon out of the pan and places them on the plate. He grabs the orange juice and pours it into the glasses; he then grabs the plate and motions Ashley to head over to the dinner table. As they sit down they just look at each other & both think that these are the moments that they will cherish for the rest of their lives.
They start eating and as Ashley bite into a piece gives off a little moan and says, "Oh My God Craig, this is so freaking good. It just melts in my mouth; you are such a fantastic cook, way better than anything I would be able to do. Wait aren't you going to eat to, i mean i'm sitting her eating this fantastic omelet and you are not going to have some." Ashley uses her fork and cuts a piece out and moving it towards Craig's mouth and says, "here have some."
Craig shakes his head and says, "sorry i already had breakfast, i had a bagel with cream cheese and some orange juice."
Ashley returns the fork to her mouth and puts the piece of omelet into her mouth and shrugs. She looks over at Craig and says, "I'm serious Craig this is so good, you have to teach to cook."
Craig just chuckles and says, "Thanks… I guess, I mean I don't know what to say, you know that I really don't like complements."
They spend the next 20 minutes just eating and talking, just having a good time. Once they finish, Craig cleans up and washes the dishes; Ashley wants to call him Mr. Mom but decides not to make that joke. Craig walks over to her and kiss her on the lips and says, "If you don't mind a gonna take a shower, alright?"
"Yea, it's cool. But one question what am I suppose to do, I know you don't have any women's clothes here." Response Ashley
Craig looks back at her and says "Well I haven't thought about it, but you know what I'll take a shower than I'll drive you over to your apartment and you'll grab some clothes and we'll come back here."
"So do you want me to stay over again?" asks Ashley
"I thought we would spend the weekend together and you would get to know Joey a bit, I mean you don't have to if you don't want to" response Craig
Ashley walks over to Craig and wraps her arms around his waist as their foreheads meet. She thinks to herself "wow, this is real. Craig really wants me to be apart of his family; he wants me to be his other half." She looks into Craig's eyes and says, "Of course I'll spend the weekend here, and I want to be a part of your life again. But just so you know I have court on Monday, it's actually a pretty big trial."
Craig smiles and tells her "You'll always be a part of my life Kerwin, and I'll make sure you get to work on Monday."
Craig kisses her on the lips and runs up stairs; Ashley follows suit knowing that she couldn't go out in public in her underwear and a man's dress shirts. As she walks upstairs she hears the water running, as she enter the bedroom she can see the steam escaping from the closed door. She puts on her dress and throws Craig's shirt into the hamper, she looks around and just smiles. She sits on the side of the bed and closes her eyes and starts humming. Happiness is just radiating off of her, and you could see that she is starting to let go of all the pain, all the regret of the last 12 years or so. She doesn't seem to notice that the water has stopped running, Craig exits the bathroom, he is quietly startled by her presence, he doesn't want to stop her from having her moment of thought so he just leans by the door just watching her. As she opens her eyes she automatically meets Craig's eyes, she is somewhat startled by his stare but his smile seems to have a calming affect on her. She notices that Craig is only wearing a towel, she notices the definition of his body, something she really couldn't appreciate in the dark, then her eyes meets his scar and stares at it for a second and then meets Craig's eyes.
She walks up to him and touching his heart and asks "is this from when you were attacked?"
Craig looks down for a second and then looks up at her and says "yea, that day really sucked didn't it?" then he proceeds to rub his scar.
"I didn't know it was that bad, have you ever thought about removing it?" asks Ashley as she gives him a hopeful smile.
Craig returns her smile and says "you know for a long time I wanted it as a reminder of everything that happened, then I want to get it removed so I wouldn't have to think about it. But now I'm think about as another chapter in my life, and I neither think about it in a positive or negative way, it just is what it is. Umm do you mind, I'm gonna get changed, I'll met you downstairs a few minutes."
Ashley just smiles and kisses him on the cheek and proceeds to walk out the door and closes the door behind her. As she heads downstairs she smiles knowing that Craig was truthful in his statement that he is starting to let the past go. Craig starts to change; he puts on jeans, a long sleeve shirt and a collar shirt over it; along with his chucks. He had long ago retired his famous leather jacket because he thought that if kept on wearing it people would view him as an old man trying to hold onto his youth. As Ashley waited for Craig to come downstairs she walks around a bit and looks at some more photos that are hanging on the wall, she walks to the end of the hall and stops to see a picture of Joey as a baby being held by a young Latina woman.
Craig stands near the door and just looks over to Ashley. He walks towards Ashley and says "That Joey's mom, Casey"