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Chapter Twenty One

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"Our first date?"

Spencer pondered. Had she heard what her stupid ears thought they did? A date? While the idea flooded into her mind the extremely beautiful way Ashley was dressed suddenly made more sense. Then she looked at herself again. She was so... blah! Her blonde hair was all frizzy and unkempt, she was all cuddled up in pajamas, her toes were wiggling inside her pink slippers... and Spencer lined that all up with how Ashley looked. There was no comparison.

"Yeah," Ashley grinned. "I was thinking about last night... at Aiden's house, and... I hate the idea that you've never been on a real date, you know? We're a couple now and the buck stops with me so I wanna make it right."

"Ashley, look at me..." Spencer awkwardly combed her fingers through her hair. "I'm a mess...!"

The older girl shrugged. "I can wait."

Her saying that reminded Spencer where they were: outside on her stoop. After ducking her head through the frame to see if anyone else was around (she even took a quick peak across the street at Nicole's house) Spencer gestured for Ashley to come in. There was a pashmina around her shoulders that Spencer didn't notice before. When Ashley was inside she took it off inside she hung it off the Carlin family coat rack.

"Ashley, you don't have to do this. I'm okay about it."

Ashley wrapped Spencer up in her arms. "Yeah, well, I'm not. I know you don't get it, Spencer, but you're so special. There's no one I've met like you. I'm not gonna let you down again. And do you know how that starts? It starts with me acting like a real girlfriend and taking you away for a night."

Spencer smiled so hard she had to bit her lip to keep from looking like a dork. She couldn't help it. It made her heart ache longingly hearing Ashley speak like this, so sweetly. There was no way she'd question it anymore. A night alone and a night with Ashley was never going to be a tossup.

"I don't know what to wear," Spencer admitted. "I'm not big on wardrobe."

"Spencer I said, I can wait."

For an instance Spencer wondered why Ashley wouldn't just come upstairs with her but she quickly remembered that barrier she'd put up between Miss Davies and her room the last time she was here. Spencer's room was her room. It wasn't just a collection of objects in a unit of space to. It was her personal chamber, a tiny little byte of this huge world of data that belonged to no one but Spencer Carlin. It was where she'd spent so many hours crying over herself and Ashley, where she crafted her written work and built her way toward the Ivy League, where she slept and ate and lived and breathed as she chose. It didn't feel right to keep Ashley from it anymore. So in the spirit of things, Spencer slipped her small hand into Ashley's, gave her a dazzling smile, and lead her date upstairs to her quiet bedroom. Her PC was on its screensaver. The TV was off. There a few stray report sheets for school strewn about the floor and her desk but it wasn't at all messy.

"So..." Ashley folded her dress underneath her legs and sat herself on Spencer's bed. "This is your room, huh?"

"Pretty boring, right?"

"Understated," corrected Ashley. She shivered when something furry rubbed up against her ankle. "Whoa! What the hell was that?"

"What the hell was what?" Asked Spencer.

Ashley climbed off the bed and bent down inquisitively. Both her hands and head disappeared underneath the wood and metal of her bed before coming back with little Koenig in them. The Italian girl cradled the cat in her arms, gushing.

"I didn't know you had a kitten. Let's see," Ashley turned over the medallion dangling from the pet's collar. "...your name's Koenig, huh? Hello, cutie..! I'm gonna steal your owner for a few hours. You don't mind, do you?"

Spencer smiled. Another thing she didn't know about Ashley; she was surprisingly good with animals. "Looks like someone made a new friend."

"Is it a boy or girl?"

"Can't you just check?" Asked Spencer.

"...I could, but I don't normally make a habit of searching animals for crotch spikes."

A sigh. "He's a boy."

That made Ashley chuckle.

"What?" Wondered Spencer.

"You're the last person I'd expect to find sharing a room with a guy."

The blonde rolled her blue eyes at that and strode off to her closet. While Ashley played with Koenig she sorted through her wardrobe to find something suitable. Nothing popped out as good. Spencer glanced over her shoulder at what Ashley was wearing. She didn't just look mouth-wateringly sexy in it, she looked astoundingly elegant. Clearly they weren't going anywhere that suggested a casual dress code. The closest thing Spencer had to that was a strapless lavender evening dress her Mom gave her the money for last year. Spencer bought it from Bloomingdale's online with a steep $450 price tag. It was for an impromptu fundraiser her parents were invited to and they made a point of bringing her along with them. It was the best piece of clothing she owned but it was so damn expensive... if she ripped or stained it and her Mom found out...

Spencer sighed.

"What's up?" Asked Ashley, setting Koenig down.

"I have nothing to wear," she complained. "My clothes are just... ugh."

"Spencer, I'm not Jimmy Carter. You don't need to bust out the good china for me."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. As long as you're comfortable."

Well at least that was one less thing to worry about. The studious teen exhaled once more then began the search again, this time with lower standards. In a few moments she found an outfit that... kinda worked; a fluffy snowflake blouse and a denim mid-thigh jeans skirt. She found a headband and a pair shoes to go with it. While it still seemed dorky in comparison to Ashley's dress Spencer figured their clothes would clash less if one of them wore a jacket. So she planned on taking one of those too.

Spencer was just about to change when she remembered who was in the room with her. Her cheeks flushed red as a tomato just thinking about it -- Ashley seeing her naked. Strange thing was Ashley had seen it all before. Every freckle, every curve, every dimple and every pucker. It seemed different now though. As comfortable as they were around each other it was like they'd hit some kind of reset button and they felt new to each other -- or at least that was how Spencer felt.

"I need to get changed," hinted Spencer.

"Don't I get a peep?"

"No, you don't."

"I could close my eyes," She did just that. A wide, lusty grin slowly tugged at the corner of her lips and curled up. With her eyes shut tight a grinning Ashley purred sultrily, "Oh wow..."

Spencer stared at her. "...What is it?"

"Well I've seen you in the nudie-nude before so all I have to do is close my eyes and... there you are. Every little bit of you... mmm! Makes a girl wanna-" She was stopped in her tracks when Spencer shoved one of the pillows in her face.

"I'll change in the bathroom," said the studious one.

She didn't take long. When she came back she was fully dressed and waited bashfully in the doorway for Ashley's approval. Of course she more than approved. Spencer could tell just by gazing into Ashley's widened eyes and her appreciating smile. She knew she looked okay. Just about good enough to stand side by side with Ashley Davies -- who God knows has never had any trouble pulling off beautiful.

Spencer grabbed her keys, cell and wallet. "Should we go?"

"Yeah. Lets."

It was reassuring in some way that Ashley's eyes never left her on the way down to her car. She locked up and followed her girlfriend to her ride where she climbed in and buckled up. When they drove off Spencer paused to wonder where Ashley would take her. She hadn't asked all evening. The funny thing was that they didn't share many interests -- nor had they spoken much about them. That was why she was absolutely stunned when fifteen minutes later Ashley's car pulled up in the car pool of a sprawling arts centre. It reminded her of an article she'd read online about a new exhibit cataloguing replicate Byzantium-style gold and ceramic works.

"What are we doing here?"

Ashley put it in park. "I know you like art. You don't talk much about it, but... I know you like it. I wanted to do something special too, so... here we are. Is this okay? If you're not interested we can always go somewhere el-"

Spencer silenced her with a tender kiss.

"It's perfect," she whispered. "Thank you."

"...No problem."

No matter what theme or ideas you drew from the term 'Art' you likely had a specific taste for it or not. You either knew the academic culture, snobbery, champagne parties, unveilings and theory behind it or you didn't. Ashley didn't. She never would. It was just that the very idea of Ashley putting her own interests aside for Spencer's sake... something about that moved Spencer. It made her heart throb pensively in her chest for this girl. Without even thinking to do so Spencer reached for Ashley's hand (gripped to the stick shift) and held it softly with just a casual stroke of her thumb. They exchanged joyful glances and smiles on their way.

The exhibit was amazing. It was basically the progeny of a group of art historians who got together to create a collection of pseudo-relics and put them on display as a kind of museum exhibition. They crafted pots, shaped golden jewelry, forged swords and wove tapestries; all of which were then beaten, cracked, withered and abused to simulate the process of aging. Everyone who came to see the 'exhibit' were lead through a linear corridor delimited by numerous pieces of this artwork by a sort of tour guide. The exhibit itself was the actual piece, though, in totality. At the end of it was a plaque that explained that some of the relics on exhibit were genuine Byzantine pieces -- and challenged the viewer it surmise which pieces had been real and which ones had been fake.

In this way the whole exhibit was the artwork -- the point was to highlight the significance of perspective. What was real? What wasn't? How do you determine the gap between the two? It certainly provoked Spencer's thoughts, which was why she strolled contemplatively through the display. In the corner of her mind she knew that Ashley was less enthused about the whole thing.

Bless her heart, she tried to act interested. She asked Spencer what she thought of certain pieces, or how much they might be worth, but most of the time she simply followed the younger girl's lead and let herself be directed around the foyer with a sigh in her throat. Spencer went on to explain the point of the exhibit and remind her that beyond the aesthetics art was primarily a statement, but her dark-haired girlfriend just about grasped it. No commitment was involved.

It took a full two hours plus fifteen minutes in change for them to complete their exploration of the exhibit and by that time Spencer was thoroughly satisfied. Ashley looked half-ready to fall asleep. The kiss she got back in the car that woke her ass up.

"Did you like it then?" Ashley wondered whilst adjusting her mirror.

Spencer couldn't wipe the grin off her lips. "Very much, thank you. How'd you find it?"

"Uh... it was... yeah, it was... interesting... never thought of a Crusade operating like... Iraq, you said? So yeah, the whole thing was kinda-" she didn't get the chance to finish her rambling sentence... mostly because Spencer was too busy jamming their lips together. The cornflower-haired youngster worked her thin fingers underneath Ashley's statuesque jaw and kissed her with more passion either one of them knew possible of her. Ashley was earnestly taken aback by it -- but she couldn't resist it -- and wound her loving arms around her dream girl in return. They didn't stop exchanging lusty kisses until a tell-tale fogginess clouded up the car windows.

Spencer bit her lip. "Sorry..."

"Don't apologize," leered Ashley. "I like it."

"I just wanted you to know... I appreciate what you're doing. I know you don't like that kind of thing. It means the world to me that you're willing to try."

Ashley shrugged. "It's no biggie. I'm just trying to show... you know, that I'm thinking of you. But you know what?"

"What?"

"You keep kissing me like this I'm gonna get ideas," purred the lavish Italian.

All this talk flowered Spencer's cheeks. "Sometimes you can't help it, I suppose. I'm having so much fun with you."

She knew that Ashley didn't feel the same way about the arts center and it made Spencer like her all the more, knowing that Ashley was doing things for her for a change, rather than herself. That sole gesture might've been a rudimentary one if seen by another light -- but as far as Ashley's relationship with Spencer went... it was such a good sign. It felt like Ashley Davies was finally living up to the wonderful girl she truly was inside.

"So where to now?"

Ashley hooked her arm around Spencer's seat, threw her head over her shoulder, then guided her car out of their parking space. "I was thinking that after this we go get a bite to eat. What do you fancy?"

"Something light?"

Ashley drove the car back into the streets. "That excludes Chinese I guess. There's a little diner I know by the beach. How about it?"

"I'm game if you are." She replied.

So it was settled. Ashley took to the wheel and drove them across town. The vast and sprawling skyscrapers of central suburban Los Angeles gradually melted into the palm trees and sandy roads that marked the beach front. Street lamps lit up the view that collapsed from the expressway into the shore line. The roar of the engine did nothing to drown out the soothing course of the waves that crashed in the distance. Spencer never came to beaches much so she never developed an affinity for the sound. But when she noticed it she couldn't help but note how relaxing it was.

They pulled up in front of the diner Ashley spoke of earlier (called Katie's) and happily made their way inside. It wasn't crowded. Of all the circular chrome tables and chairs there were plenty free so Ashley drew them over to a good window spot in the corner. Katie's being built upon a hill gave it had an attractive view of the outside. From there you could see the freeway carve its way into the darkness and beyond it the sandy slopes of the beach caressed by the sea's waves. The night had turned its waters a vivid black.

"May I take your order?"

Spencer glanced up. A disinterested waitress stood over their table with a pad in hand and a pen behind her ear. Across the table Ashley already had her nose in a laminated menu. She mulled over her choices for a second before answering, "Uh, yeah... I'll have a double cheeseburger with a side order of chilli fries... plus some ice water to wash it down with. What about you Spencer?"

"Oh, uh..." She quickly cracked open a menu. "...Um... can I have the... uh... the garden salad, please? And maybe a glass of orange juice?"

The waitress yanked the pen from her braid-enfolded ear and scribbled their orders. "Anything else?"

"...Um, I don't think so."

"What about dressings?" She asked dourly. "Want any salad dressings?"

Spencer thought about it. "...Do you have Thousand Island?"

"Yup. Okay, so that's one cheeseburger, chili fries, salad with Thousand Island dressing, ice water and juice. It'll be about twenty minutes, okay?"

They both nodded that that was fine and she went off to wait on other tables. When she was gone Spencer found herself staring out the window again. She knew that she was on a date and that she ought to be paying her girlfriend more attention than this but she couldn't help it. It was weird. Los Angeles was her city and she'd been living here a while but she'd never gone to the beach often. It was more than being conscious of herself in a swimsuit (which she undoubtedly would've been). She often associated the beach with the kind of crowd that she always longed to be away from; the trendies and beach bunnies and whatnot. But in this lush dark night when almost everyone was gone it looked absolutely beautiful. Yet it was something right in her own backyard. It made Spencer wonder how much of the world she'd been missing out on by keeping herself to herself. It took Ashley's warm hand squeezing her knee to break her out of the reverie.

"Hey," she whispered. "We can go there later if you'd like."

Spencer nodded "yes, please" to that. Shortly afterward the waitress came back with their drinks, the ice water and the orange juice. Between that and the meals that were served eighteen minutes later Spencer and Ashley got to talking. Mostly it was just inane stuff like what assignments they had to finish, who at school had been acting extra annoying recently, what they might do on future dates and so on. While they ate Spencer brought up Nicole and the others, wondering if Ashley might like to hang out with them again sometime. She seemed genuinely open to the idea, if not a little frosty on the issue of Nicole.

"She hates me," Ashley quipped, gnawing off half a chili fry.

"Nicole doesn't hate you," Spencer argued. "She's just a little set in her ways. As long as you two don't stir each other up I don't see why you can't be good friends. It's not like you don't have anything in common."

Ashley rolled her eyes. "Yah huh. We both like you. Anything else?"

She crunched a slice of iceberg lettuce between her teeth before answering. "You're both tough, confident, strong-willed, funny, and intelligent. You both love your families very much. You both go to the same high school and you both get on well with others. I can't think of a reason why you two shouldn't be friends."

"Oh no? Well I can. She hates me."

"Now you're just going around in circles."

Ashley, fist propping up her chin, and popped another fry into her mouth. "It's not like I'm not trying to be nice to her now, you know. I apologized for what I said."

"And I appreciate that," smiled Spencer. "Just give her more time and I'm sure she'll come around."

Another thing Ashley didn't want to do that she was still prepared to do all for Spencer's sake. When they were done with the eats and split the bill (something Spencer insisted they do) they left Katie's and headed for the beach it overlooked. It was very quiet tonight. There weren't that many beaches that opened at night because the glory of it always seemed to shine through during the day. That was when all the surfers, sunbathers and kids came out for fun. For Spencer the ocean was more scenic pitched in nocturne and showered in starlight.

Her shoes dangled from her hand as she walked barefoot over the sand with Ashley at her side. It was warm and velvety between her toes. Together they found a spot that inched just shy of the shoreline, close enough to smell the waves' aqua fragrance without getting their feet splashed.

A reflective Spencer gazed out into waters unknown. "It's beautiful, isn't it?"

"Yeah."

"When I was a kid," the younger girl's voice had a wistful tint to it. "I used to love sea animals. Fish, turtles, whales... especially dolphins. I even thought about becoming a marine biologist when my Dad and I first spoke about colleges. I changed my mind after a while, but... back then I was happy thinking about it. Swimming with dolphins. Playing with seals. Researching whales. That made me happy."

In the corner of her eye she noticed Ashley staring at her, quizzically, probably wondering what point she was driving at here. Spencer didn't keep her waiting long;

"I didn't remember being happy since then," she explained. "...I felt lonely... and screwed up for so long... and now, it's like... for the first time in ages... I feel like that again," she turned to her girlfriend and smiled with all the cheer and devotion in the world. "You make me so happy, Ashley."

"I know," She smiled back. "I really wish I could kiss you now."

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Okay so I'm going to erase my chapter and replace it, cause like I said it's not mine, and it's so obvious that I can't do this story justice. I can't tell you how happy I was that Chris got the message so I hope you enjoy this update, and I hope you check out his other stories on nifty!!! Thanks for reading!!

Chris's Afterthoughts

* I haven't updated this story in ages but I was moved to do so after reading a certain fanfic in the South of Nowhere section of . You may notice that this chapter is shorter than usual. It's occurred to me that I update faster when I write shorter chapters so from now on I'll be updating this story in shorter bursts (say 3000-4000 words max). That's preferable to seven months of inactivity, don't you think?

* I can't remember what Koenig's gender is and I'm too damn lazy to go back over all these past chapters and find out, so from now on (if he wasn't already) Koenig's a boy. ^_^

* Wanna do me a solid? Support my blog, .com . Come here and post your thoughts if you want to speak to me more in depth. Or, by e-mail, if you prefer.