Author's Note:
Who's excited for Skins: Fire tonight? I am! :D
Haha dumle2209, I'm sorry there wasn't enough fluff for you, but I don't want to rush things. These things take time. There is however, quite a fluffy conclusion in this chapter, so hopefully that will hold you over until next time ;)
Anyway, I felt a distinct lack of hot pants in the last chapter, so hopefully this one will make up for that void...
Chapter 14:
It's been four days since our trip to the cinema, meaning that today marks the halfway point of the month. Spencer and I have been doing this little dance around one another, trying desperately to keep our hands inside the fence at all times. It seems to be working, although there have been quite a few close calls. For example, the other night there was a bit of an awkward moment as we squeezed past each other in the bathroom doorway. It turns out the doorway is actually quite narrow. There was no butt-brushing this time, but let's just say there were other parts that brushed...
Another incident was yesterday morning when we were both the first ones up. I had just finished my glass of milk and was rinsing the glass out when Spencer, who was smothering her toast in Chase's raspberry jam beside me, notified me of the lovely white moustache I was sporting. I could have sworn the kitchen became about twenty degrees hotter when she swiped her thumb across the top of my lip and muttered 'there', her eyes not leaving my lips for a good two seconds. Of course though, we were interrupted by a cheery Chase, who apparently was in the mood for cherry...
Things have been pretty good, although it seems to be getting harder and harder to stay away. Last night when I was lying in bed, I found myself reaching for my phone and clicking 'new message'. I was itching to talk to her, even just by text. I managed to back out though, biting my finger as I set the phone back down. What was I thinking? I'd been talking to her for most of the day, but still found myself craving her voice.
I don't think I can last much longer to be honest. My self-control has never been great, although after Paige, my libido seemed to just disappear. Recently however, it seems to have awakened. It was slow at first, but as time wears on, it just seems to get worse. Sooner or later, I'm just going to grab her and kiss her; everything else be damned.
Of course, it's not just sexual. I mean, yes, there's a definite tension of the sexual kind between us, but honestly, I don't think I'm ready for anything like that yet. It's been two years since I've been with anyone. My body is telling me different though; it's so ready. It's a constant battle between my brain and my body, but if I've learnt anything over the years, it's to listen to the more rational of the two.
So yes, there is that, but I also enjoy just being with her. Those moments I spent with her at the pier and lake are probably the best moments I've had so far this vacation... Apart from the sweet war on the Ferris Wheel; that was awesome, oh, and the trolley dash in the supermarket... Ah, who am I kidding? Neither of them can come close...
I'm up pretty early this morning, so confident that no one else is up, I have a quick wash and change into sweatpants before heading downstairs.
I'm wrong. Of course I'm wrong. Obviously Spencer would be up. I mean, the pair of us have started to make a habit of waking up early and ending up having breakfast together, so why would today be any different?
"Morning." She turns from her spot at the counter to greet me.
"Hey."
"Toast?"
"Uh, sure... You want orange?"
"Yeah, thanks, that'd be great."
While she's busy making the toast, I get the drinks, the pair of us sitting down at the table to eat.
Conversation flows easily and as we grow more comfortable, we start to laugh and joke around. When there's a pause in the exchange, I decide to bring Mel up cautiously.
"So, I was thinking of inviting Mel today." I look up at her trying to gauge her reaction.
"Oh." There's a moment of silence as the smile she was sporting disappears. "Are you guys... You know..."
"Oh, no!" Okay, maybe that was a little loud. "No. No, we're just friends." She nods slightly, unconvinced. "She's interested in someone else."
"She is?" She looks confused. Yeah, I thought she was pretty convincing too until we were alone...
"Yeah. She told me."
"Oh. Okay. But... If she wasn't, you would..."
"No. I wouldn't. I don't like her like that."
"You don't? But I thought you asked her out?" She's still puzzled.
"I didn't. Casey did." Okay, now she's absolutely baffled.
"Wait, how could Casey ask her out? She was with me, and Mel went with you..."
"Yeah, she didn't ask her out for herself. When I went to the bathroom the morning before, I left my phone in the room with her. She used it to send Mel a text, from me."
"Ohhhhh." The penny drops. "But wait, if she's interested in someone else, why did she agree to go out with you?" I shrug.
"Beats me. Although we haven't hung out in years, so maybe it was just her way of rekindling our friendship."
"Ash, she was all over you..."
"Yeah... I guess that is a bit weird. Although when you and Casey left, she completely changed; she was like an entirely different person. She was actually pretty cool. And she totally kept her distance. In fact, near the end of the night, she was the one to emphasise the friendship. Besides... She kind of knows..."
"Knows what?" That I like you. That every time I'm near you, I just want to grab you and kiss you. That it tore me up inside to see you with Casey.
"Umm..." I clear my throat. "Nothing. No, sorry, I was thinking of something else there." Coward.
"Right..." She eyes me curiously.
"Anyway, I know you two didn't exactly get on the other night, but Casey seems to like her. She's asked me to invite her before, but I've been putting her off. I feel kind of bad about it though. I figured I'd ask her to join us today and see how it goes. You never know, you might like her..." Please don't go all moody again. I hate moody Spencer.
"Okay." I'm taken aback.
"Okay?"
"Yeah, okay. You said she's not interested, right? So hopefully this time she won't be all over you. I guess we can be civil. Unless she insults me again. If she insults me one more time, I will not be held responsible for my own actions..." I grin at this, my smile returned as I reply.
"Deal."
We didn't really have a plan for the day, but the kids insist on spending the day at the beach again. Like last time though, Annie opts to stay at the house with Pam and Rob. They said they'd make a trip to the supermarket while we're out to stock up.
I had texted Mel a while ago to let her know the plan, briefly mentioning the break up while I was at it, and she agreed to swing by the house in an hour.
True to her word, no longer than an hour later, Mel arrives, of course sporting a pair of light denim hot pants, in true Mel fashion, along with a white top that this time, has been bunched up in true Britney Spears style.
I'm standing just outside the front door with Spencer and Casey, Brooke and Lucy standing on either side of me as Glen loads the last of our gear into Dale's SUV. Once everything is packed, he turns to us.
"So... Who's riding with who?"
"Umm... I can drive, if you need me to." Glens looks at Mel then.
"Sweet, I'll go with Dale!" He runs into the house, emerging with Max in his arms, Dale and Emily in tow, the pair of them laughing as they hop in the car as quickly as they can and take off. I wonder what they're in a rush for...
Once they're out of sight, Casey speaks up.
"So uh... I guess I could go with Mel. You two should be okay, right?" Spencer and I nod, Mel moving towards me, looking down at Brooke and Lucy, who both lean into me more.
"And what about these little cuties? You want to come with us?" The pair of them shake their heads simultaneously, looking terrified. "Okay. I guess it's just us then..." She regards Casey.
As the pair of them make their way to Mel's car, Chase runs out of the house.
"Hey, where'd Dale go?" I chuckle slightly, realising why they were in such a rush to get away.
"Chase, they already left."
"What? Douchebags!" Boys will be boys, I guess.
Brooke looks up at me then.
"Ash, is that a swear?"I think for a second before shaking my head.
"Not really, Brooke." She looks disappointed at her loss of a dollar, but hey, at the rate I'm going, the four of them will be rich by the end of the month. "Hey, Chase, we've got the girls, but there's a space free if you want to come with us."
"Yeah, or you can come with me and Mel." He pauses for a second, his eyes following a trail from Mel's feet to the top of her thighs, where the hot pants end.
"Uh, I think I'll go with you guys..." He walks off with Casey and Mel.
"I guess it's just the four of us then..."
We had a great time on the way to the beach, all four of us singing along to my music. I was amazed that Lucy knew the songs, but apparently her cool aunt Spencer took it upon herself to introduce her to real music.
We're still laughing as we exit the car, although I catch a glimpse of Chase and realise he's not very happy.
"Hey, cheer up, Chase. What's up?" He raises his head to look at me.
"There's only so much Nicki Minaj a guy can take, Ash. Then they played 'Call Me Maybe'; twice! Casey 'accidentally' hit 'repeat', and when it came on again, they said it was too good to turn over..." Damn, the poor guy was tortured... "On the way home, I'm with Dale. I'll be the first one in the car." He mutters something about girls before heading to Dale's car to help with the gear.
Once we're all changed and at our spot, I put our clothes into a bag. There's no response from Brooke as I ask her to hand me her clothes, so I turn around, only to find her in a trance as she looks at Mel who's laughing with Casey. She and Lucy didn't seem too fond of her back at the house, but I wonder why...
"Brooke, what's wrong?"
"Her hair..." She seems horrified.
"What about it?"
"It's red."
"Yeah... And?"
"Why is it red?"
"Well, Brooke... Sometimes, grown-ups like to change the colour of their hair." She looks up at me then, intrigued.
"How? Do they paint it?"
"Umm... No. No, not exactly..." I pause as I think about explaining to an almost-seven year old how to dye one's hair, before I decide against it, realising that this will probably raise more questions. "Well, I guess, yes; in a way..."
There's a pause as she apparently accepts this, but then she turns back to Mel with a wary look on her face. It looks like I'm going to have to think of something to remedy this...
"Hey, you know who else has red hair?"
"Who?"
"Ariel. You know, the little mermaid."
"Oh yeah..." She smiles before her face is contorted with confusion. "Mermaids aren't real though..." She looks over to Mel cautiously. "Are they?"
"No, Brooke, they're not... But maybe she just likes Ariel, and wants to look like her..." Please let it work.
"Oh yeah, maybe." She potters off towards the large box of toys, rummaging around until she finds the buckets and spades. "Come on, Ash! You can help us with the castle! We're going to make an even bigger one than last time!" She grabs my hand before running over to Spencer and grabbing hers too. "Come on, Spencer! Lucy!" Lucy turns around at the sound of her name being called, dashing over to follow us as the others head towards the sea. I guess we're building a castle...
It's actually pretty fun building a sandcastle. I haven't made one in years, but I find I'm quite the perfectionist, smoothing down edges and adding subtle details here and there.
"Hey, Ash! Spence!" Casey shouts over to us, Mel standing beside her with the Frisbee. "Want to play?" I think about it for a second, but actually, I'm quite content over here with Spencer and the girls.
"Nah, I'm good over here, thanks! We're creating a masterpiece." I smile at them.
"Spoilsport! Spence?" Spencer looks up to them with an apologetic grin.
"Sorry guys, what she said."
"Pfft, bores!" They turn to the others then, managing to pique the interest of little Max, who bounds over to Mel before he takes the Frisbee out of her hand and attempts to throw it to Casey. As long as they stay over there, we're good. Max is quite the thrower if I remember correctly.
I turn back to our sandcastle, only to be questioned by Lucy as Spencer watches on.
"Ashley?"
"Yes, Lucy?" I crouch down lower in front of her as she's looking quite concerned. "What's wrong?" She points towards Mel before turning to face me.
"Is she sick?" Really? Lucy too?
I squeeze my eyes together with my hand before sighing.
"No, Lucy, she's not sick."
"But her hair is red, like blood." She looks quite scared; it's actually pretty adorable. Spencer seems to think it's quite amusing.
"Yes, it is, but it's not blood. She just..." I think back to what Brooke said. "She painted it." Spencer chuckles then, Lucy baffled by this.
"She painted her hair?" Lucy's confused face is hilarious. I have to bite my lip to keep myself from laughing along with Spencer.
"Uh-huh..."
It seems she accepts this explanation, and goes back to patting the sand down happily, Spencer giving me a knowing grin across the top of the castle.
When Max loses interest in the Frisbee, Casey and Mel join us in our artistic bubble. Mel's actually pretty good at it. I bet she's had lots of practice with the kids in school though.
At first, the girls seem wary of Mel, but as time progresses, conversation becomes smooth, and the girls grow far more comfortable around her, so much so that Brooke has started to initiate dialogue on her own.
"Mel?"
"Yes, Brooke?" She smiles at her
"Are you a mermaid?"
Oh, for the love of God...
I clench my eyes tightly together before opening them and seeing Spencer sniggering over the castle. I playfully throw a handful of sand at her, although afterwards, actually find myself giggling along with her. Kids...
So as it turns out, Mel isn't a mermaid. She did however come back to the house, where she stayed for dinner, but left shortly after, claiming she didn't want to impose, despite Pam insisting she was welcome to stay however long she wanted.
When she was leaving, we all got hugs, even Spencer. The two of them seemed to get on well today, despite getting off to a rocky start. Granted, she wasn't attached to me like she was at the bar, nor was there any inappropriate touching this time... No, it was all good. In fact, no insults were exchanged either; it was all very civil. Maybe we really can be BFFs...
It's my turn to take the girls to bed tonight, and despite Spencer offering to help, I turn her down. I want to get the lowdown from Brooke on Spencer's magic. How does she get her to sleep?
I take the girls upstairs, making the toothbrush game extra long. Brooke is humming a familiar tune, but I didn't think she'd heard that before...
"Brooke, is that Guns 'N Roses?"
"Yay, you got one right!" She beams up at me. "Your turn, Lucy!"
"Wow, wow, wow... Hold on a second. Where did you hear that?" They're a good band, but I definitely don't have any Guns 'N Roses on my IPod...
"Spencer . Sometimes she lets us listen to her IPod or play games on it." Ah.
"Oh. Okay... Well, come on then, Lucy, let's hear you!" I smile as Lucy bursts into song. Taylor Swift. Okay, maybe there are some things we need to fix...
After the girls are washed and changed, we make our way into the room to read a story, being very quiet as we try not to wake Max and Emily. The girls snuggle down together as I lie on the edge of the bed and begin to read...
By the time I finish the story, Lucy is fast asleep. Brooke however, is still awake, so I take this as my chance to ask her about her bedtime experiences with Spencer.
"So... Spencer's been putting you to bed these past few nights, huh?" I glance down at her.
"Uh-huh." She just plays with her bear.
"And... Do you like her putting you to bed?"
"Yep." I sigh inwardly. It's like trying to get blood out of a stone...
"Well what exactly do you like about it?"
"Well, first of all, she's way better at the toothbrush game than you, and she sings better songs." She gives me a serious look.
"Oh, she does, does she?" I arch my eyebrows, to which Brooke just nods. "Well what else?"
"She's does funny voices when she reads us stories."
"I do funny voices!" I'm insulted. They're damn good too!
"Yeah, but Spencer does them better." No way. Not possible.
"Excuse me?"
"And she makes up stories too. Like last night, she told us a story about two superheroes. Their names were Brooke and Lucy. Isn't that cool? She made a story about us!"
"That is pretty cool..." I concede.
"Yeah. She's super cool." Brooke smiles as she plays with Paige's ears.
"I guess she is, isn't she?" Her little smile is contagious, and I can't stop myself from mimicking her. "But now..." I get off the bed, careful not to wake Lucy, before crouching down beside Brooke. "It's time to get some sleep."
She holds her little bear out to me to say goodnight before we say our own. I plant a kiss on her forehead, then move to the doorway.
"Night, Brooke. Love you." I wink.
"Love you too. Night, Ash," she replies sleepily.
When I join everyone downstairs again, it seems they've set the poker up again from a few nights ago... Well, the majority of them have anyway. It seems that Pam, Rob and Annie snuck off to bed while I was getting the girls settled. I take a seat at the end beside Casey with Spencer opposite me. Glen sits beside her in the middle, next to Dale who's facing Chase.
"Okay... Let's make this interesting..." Glen is grinning as he says this. I guess we're going to be putting our money where our mouths are... "Strip poker." Or not...
"Eww, Glen, no!" Casey scolds him.
"Dude." Dale hits him on the back of the head. "That's my sister over there. And my brother. I'd rather not see them naked, thank you." There's a second before Dale tears into him again. "And that's your sister sitting right beside you, come on, man! Despite what they say, incest is not best."
There's silence for a second, everyone looking at Glen horrified, before Casey speaks.
"Okaaayyy. And with that, we move on. Deal 'em, bro." Chase starts dealing the cards.
It seems I'm on a roll tonight. All of the boys are out and have headed to bed, while Spencer, Casey and myself are the last men, or women rather, standing.
"I think you're bluffing..." Casey narrows her eyes at me. I just raise my eyebrows challengingly, not saying a word as she thinks of her next move. "Okay. All in. Let's see how big you play now, badass." She wiggles her eyebrows at me.
"Fold." Obviously Spencer isn't feeling quite as brave as us.
I make a clicking noise with my tongue as I push all my chips to the centre of the table. Casey seems a bit off put by this. Guess she didn't believe me...
"Alright..." She puts her cards face up on the table. "Three of a kind." She has three sixes, a four, and a two.
I take a deep breath, exhaling as I set my cards down.
"Full house."
"What the? How do you do that?" She's looking at me stunned, Spencer, likewise. I shrug it off.
"Just lucky tonight I guess."
"Yeah, lucky... You keep that up, and I'm hauling your ass to Vegas next summer instead. We be doing some serious gambling..." She gets out of her seat then. "Well, I'm going to turn in for the night, guys. I'm beat."
"What? No, come on, Casey, just a little longer... You're not tired, are you, Spence?" She smiles at me. I do believe that's the first time I've called her 'Spence' in a positive way. The only other time I've said it was when I was giving off to her in the bathroom the day I found out she was with Casey. Oh, how things change...
"Nope. I reckon I've got a good hour left before I conk out..."
"See, Spencer's not tired. Just stay. Please?"
"Ash, I can't. I will literally pass out, I'm not kidding; I'm that tired. Look, I'm getting bags under my eyes!" She bends down to show me her imaginary 'bags'. "How about tomorrow night? I promise I'll stay up late with you guys." I look at Spencer, who shrugs at me, before sighing.
"Okay. But you better..."
"I will. I promise." She hugs us both before saying goodnight and making her way upstairs.
Then there were two...
I turn to Spencer.
"So... I'm guessing poker won't be much fun with only two..." Unless it's strip poker. Thank you, Glen, for that fantastic idea, although I don't think now is the time to suggest anything like that... "What do you want to do?"
We end up in my room, despite Pam's rules about beds. We're just friends for the minute now, right? Besides, we'll just chill for an hour or so then Spencer will go to sleep in her own room.
We decide to get washed and changed first though, so the pair of us are just lying side by side in our pyjamas as we stare at the ceiling.
"So..." I start.
"So..." She mimics me. There's silence for a moment as I think of what to say.
"Chalk or cheese?"
"What?" I see her turn to look at me out of the corner of my eye.
"Chalk or cheese?"
"I don't –"
"What you've never played 'This or That' before?" I look at her then. She shakes her head.
I sit up slightly, my left elbow holding my weight as I lie on my side.
"Okay, so I say two things. You have to pick whichever one you'd rather have before asking me to pick between two new things that you think of. Sound good?"
"I guess. Sounds easy enough..."
"Okay, cool. So... Chalk or cheese?
"Umm... Cheese." She pauses for a second as she thinks of two new things. "Summer or Winter?" That's a good one.
"I'd have to say winter." She raises an eyebrow. "There's something about coming home to a warm house after being out in the freezing cold and snuggling up to watch crappy TV with a mug of hot chocolate..." I smile.
"That does sound good..."
"Yeah, see? Cats or dogs?" This is an important question. She answers this incorrectly and I'm afraid I'll have to turn my affections towards someone else, or at least try to...
"Definitely dogs." Excellent answer. "Black or white?"
"Hmm... Black. White's too bland, and besides, black is a slimming colour to wear." She chuckles at this. "Gold or silver?"
"Silver. Apple or orange"
"Apple."
We play 'This or That' for quite some time, laughing along and just generally enjoying each other's company. As time wears on, Spencer seems to become more confident, giving more lengthy answers, which is great; I'm learning quite a lot of fun facts about her...
"Bike or scooter?"
"What, no skateboard option?" I laugh at her response. No way did she skateboard.
"You did not skateboard."
"I did too..." She protests. "Granted, I was about eleven at the time, but they were all the rage back then. Besides, Glen hadn't evolved into a huge asshole yet, so he was able to teach me." This causes me to laugh even more. I could just imagine a little Spencer out skateboarding with her brother, complete with knee pads, elbow pads, helmet and gloves. I'm sure she was quite the cutie... "I was actually pretty good too. I managed to teach myself how to do an ollie. Of course, the boys all thought I was great, but unfortunately for them, I just wasn't interested..."
"You?" I look at her in disbelief. "You can do an Ollie?"
"Yeah, what's so hard to believe about that? I doubt I could do it now, but I used to be a master... And to answer your question, bikes. Scooters are boring." Right. Remind me to get the skateboards out someday... "So... Planes or boats?"
"Planes. They're quicker. Socks or sandals?"
"Can't I wear both?" She smirks at me.
"Nu-uh. Not while I'm around anyway. I will not be seen with you whilst you're wearing socks and sandals. That's just an atrocity that should be made illegal in countries everywhere..." When I finish my rant, I notice Spencer staring at me with a grin on her face. I realise that I've just implied we would be seen out together in public, presumably without the rest of our 'crew'.
She holds my gaze for a while before replying.
"Sandals then. Ice cream or cake?"
"Hmm... Ice cream. Lions or tigers?"
"Lions..." She pauses for a second, looking into my eyes. "Blondes or brunettes?" Really?
"Blondes." I swear her eyes have turned a shade darker. The orbs that once were a beautiful sky blue are now a dark sapphire, and they seem to get darker the closer we get.
This is it.
This is the moment I lose control.
I'm going to kiss her...
I move my hand up to her face, but just as I'm about to go in for the kill, my hand jolts back.
"Owww! Fucking hell! Casey, what the fuck? I need the bathroom!" We pull apart, startled by Chase's cry from the landing.
"Sshhhh, Chase; I need it more!" There's a bang as the bathroom door closes and we can hear muttering through the door.
"Hey, Chase!" I call out to him, Spencer glancing questioningly at me.
"Yeah?" He calls back.
"Jar. Times two." Spencer sniggers beside me, causing me to join in. I hold a finger up to my mouth, trying to get her to quieten down. The last thing we need is to get caught in my room.
"Yeah, right, Ash. You aren't a kid, so it doesn't count..."
Just then, another voice cries out from the kids' room.
"I'm a kid, and I heard! Jar!" Excellent! Good old Lucy! Spencer and I are in fits of giggles, trying to suppress them with our hands.
"Aww, man..." Chase groans before the bathroom door is opened again and Casey's voice can be heard.
"It's all yours. Night, bro."
We're still laughing, even after Chase finishes in the bathroom and makes his way back into the room he's sharing with Casey.
Soon enough though, the laughter subsides and Spencer looks at her watch.
"God, look at the time! I should go to my room..." I try to hide my disappointment as I smile at her. "I had so much fun tonight. We should definitely do it again." She smiles back at me. "Night, Ash." Before I know it, she leans across and plants a firm kiss on my cheek. I'm rendered speechless as she creeps over to the door, throwing me one last smile before she leaves.
Well, that was different. I wouldn't mind spending every other night we have left here like that...
It doesn't take me long to get over to sleep. It turns out, I am actually pretty tired. Besides, when I close my eyes, my vision is assaulted by images of Blonde and blue, lulling me into a deep sleep, which consists of very sweet dreams...
.
.
.
.
A/N – Soooo... It seems things are progressing, no? And we're halfway through the month already. I hope the second half will be better than the first...
