Author's Note:
Did I make you giggle? I'm going to admit to finding toilet humour very entertaining. If someone ever suffers from flatulence around me, I'm the first one to crack up. The most amusing experience I ever had was when I was in a lift with two of my friends and two random guys. One of the guys let rip and let out a 'whoops' while the other tried not to laugh. I totally lost it and started laughing uncontrollably while my two friends just looked at him in disgust. Fun sponges. Although I must admit, it wasn't that great to be stuck in a lift while my nose was being assaulted by a smell as pungent as that...
Yep. First time in a tent wouldn't be ideal... Don't worry though; that's coming very soon ;)
I'm glad people are actually enjoying my author's notes... A lot of the time, I feel like I'm talking the biggest load of turd in them Haha
googoo4u, have you ever considered a career in motivational speaking? I think you'd be good at it :P
Hahahaha Yes, naranga87! Another fan of Bernard's Watch! Man, imagine the possibilities! I always think about it. Not even joking. There aren't enough hours in a day, or days in the week. If I got my hands on that watch, life would be so much easier!
bio644, glad you're enjoying the story! I'm I big fan of PLL too, but I'm going to be honest with you and tell you that I had no idea I made reference to it in this story hahaha It was probably done subconsciously. I don't even know what the reference is haha Oops!
Some jumping around in this chapter. Had to fit it all in somehow...
Disclaimer: I own nothing except my imagination.
Chapter 22:
I stir slightly, but don't open my eyes. My body is engulfed by a warmness, and I simply lean into it, snuggling further. The body is soft, it's heat comforting. I let out a content sigh as cuddle into it, very close to falling back asleep.
I hear a clicking noise, and the warm body I'm snuggled into begins to stir, but the comfort it bring me is enough to keep me there. Suddenly, the clicking starts again, and I can hear someone chuckling. Annoyed with the disturbance, I open my eyes slowly, my eyebrows furrowed. It seems the clicking has woken the body next to me, and I'm soon faced with an equally sleepy set of blue eyes. They're not quite the right shade though, but maybe it's just the lighting out here...
As I begin to wake up properly, the realisation hits me, probably at the same time it hits the imposter, as our eyes widen almost simultaneously.
"Fuck!" I jump back out of the embrace, pushing the intruder with my hands as I do so, and am met with the side of the tent, my shoulder being pushed into the barrier. At least it's not as sore as it was yesterday... "Casey, what the hell?"
"What do you mean, 'what the hell'? You were the one snuggling into me! What the hell were you doing?" She stares at me incredulously.
"I..." I'm not quite sure what to say, but I'm saved by the laughs coming from Spencer and Mel, who are towering over us with a phone.
"Awww, how cute! Snuggle buddies!" Spencer bursts into laughter once more at Mel's comment. Yeah, yeah, keep laughing...
"Shut up!" Casey lobs her pillow at the pair of them, hitting Mel directly in the face, not doing anything to ease Spencer's laughter.
"Hey!" She throws the pillow back. "Would you like to see the pictures? Or how about the video? You two are just too cute!" She smirks as Casey and I go beetroot.
"No thanks... I need the bathroom." Casey swiftly unzips the tent before climbing out, leaving me with Spencer and Mel.
"So... I think you should probably let Spencer here know if you're planning on transferring your affections from her onto Casey..." My eyes widen.
"Ssshhhh!"
"Relax! The others are already up and in the house. They can't hear us..." Spencer takes this opportunity to speak.
"Oh, Mel, I don't think I have anything to worry about there... They've already tried that. It didn't work apparently..." Mel's face lights up upon hearing this news.
"You and Casey? When did this happen?" She looks like a little kid in a candy shop right now.
"Oh my God, Spencer! Why did you have to tell her?" I groan as I hide my face in my hands as Spencer laughs at my discomfort.
Mel pulls my hands away from my face and urges me to spill the beans.
"Come on, spill! When did it happen?" I sigh in defeat.
"It was years ago. We were young, and it was only a kiss; nothing more. It never happened again though, thank God. We've buried that incident deep in the past, never to be brought up again... Until someone had to go and blab..." I throw Spencer a pointed look.
"You were the one who told me."
"In confidence, Spencer. Maybe I should buy you a dictionary, seeing as you obviously have no idea what that word even means...Tell me you at least know how to spell it." She throws a pillow at me, smacking me right in the face. "Oww!" I lift my own pillow before hitting her with it, the pair of us taking part in an impromptu pillow fight in the middle of the tiny tent.
Of course, somehow I end up on top of Spencer, my hands on either side of her head as I gaze down at her. Silence takes over before Mel makes her presence known once more by clearing her throat.
"Okay... On that note, I'm going to leave now. Three's a crowd and all that. Just... Don't stay out here too long, yeah? Wouldn't want the others getting suspicious." I keep staring at Spencer as we hear Mel zipping the tent back up once she leaves, her footsteps getting softer as she moves further away.
I lean in and take her lips in mine, basking in the warmth it brings to my whole body. We don't deepen the kiss. We don't need to; it still takes my breath away. I finally find my voice as I pull back to gaze into her eyes once more.
"Maybe we should..."
"Yeah. Yeah, we should..." I let myself stare for a while longer before rolling off her and lying on my back. "How's your shoulder today?" She asks.
"It's better, thanks. Still uncomfortable, but I'll survive." I smile at her.
"Maybe I should take a look at –"
"No! I mean... No."
I don't mean to say it that loud, I just have a thing about hospitals. Ever since I dislocated my knee at a very young age after falling into a ditch with my friend, I've been terrified. The nurse showed absolutely no mercy as she had my mother hold me down while she popped my knee back into place with force. It was excruciating. My mother didn't even seem to care, the sadistic bitch. My partner in crime at the time got off easy with a few scrapes and bruises. That probably had something to do with me cushioning her fall...
If Spencer finds that I need to get my shoulder seen professionally, I have no doubt that she'll have no problem dragging me down there. Granted, I'll go kicking and screaming, but I don't think she'll take any of my crap; she'll get me there.
"Ashley, let me take a look." She rises off her back, and into a sitting position.
"No."
"Why not? You might need to see a doctor."
"I don't need to see a doctor!" I snap as I sit up, immediately regretting my tone as Spencer flinches.
I sigh, closing my eyes before opening them and gently taking her hand in mine as she looks at me timidly.
"I'm sorry. I just... I don't think I need to see anyone." She continues to stare at me. "If it makes you feel any better, you can take a look after breakfast, yeah?" She nods in silence. "Come on then, let's go."
Thankfully, Spencer perks up again during breakfast, Casey's account of Glen's flatulence proving to be quite the icebreaker, keeping everyone entertained.
"Hey, you can't hold what you don't have in your hand..." Casey is unimpressed.
"Excuses, excuses. Guys are gross."
"Not all of us! I'm not gross!" Chase pipes up.
"Chase, the other night when we were getting into bed, you tried to suffocate me with your pillow. And that was after you rubbed your ass all over it..." The table erupts into laughter once more as Chase remains unashamed.
"Dude, nice!" Glen high fives him over the table as the laughter begins to subside.
I squeeze Spencer's hand under the table and she throws me a shy smile. At least she's not pissed off at me anymore for snapping earlier...
After breakfast, Spencer and I find ourselves lounging on my bed after having got changed, as we wait for the bathroom to become free. I'm telling you, Mel takes forever...
As we're lying on our backs talking, I subconsciously swallow, the little muscle in my larynx moving as I do so. Obviously, Spencer catches this as she sits up slightly, running her finger gently over the area.
"Oh my God, I've just realised how bony your neck is!" While her finger is still running over my skin, I make eye contact with her before moving the muscle up and down manually. Yeah, I can do that; I'm a freak like that.
She pulls her hand away immediately, caught off guard at the movement.
"What the hell? How are you even doing that? I thought only guys could do that." I chuckle at her reaction.
"What if I told you I was really a man?" I ask, arching my eyebrows.
"Well, I'm afraid I'd have to dump you then." She puts on a serious face.
"Ooh, harsh..." I act offended. "Although... Technically, I don't actually think I'm yours to dump..." I raise an eyebrow challengingly at Spencer.
She knows exactly what I'm asking her to do. She sighs, rolling her eyes before popping the question.
"Okay... Ashley, will you officially be my girlfriend?" She looks at me expectantly after making a show of asking.
"No."
"No?" She looks shocked.
"You're only asking me so you can dump me five seconds later. I know your game, Carlin. I ain't playing."
"What? No, I'm not." She's so easy to wind up right now.
"Yes. Yes, you are. You just said you'd dump me." She throws me a sharp look.
"Ashley, you're not a man." I hesitate for a second.
"I... I might be..." She throws me an unamused look. "I mean... What if I want a sex change? I've been thinking about it for a while now, and I –"
"Ashley?" She interrupts me, drawing my attention. "Just say yes." I make a point of sighing dramatically.
"Fine. Yes. But only because you begged..." She gasps then.
"Uh, excuse me, I did not beg."
"Yes, you did."
"No, I didn't." Oh, she's getting quite stern now.
"You would've though." She pulls a face at this.
"What? How would you know?"
"I just do. You totally would have begged me..." I act uninterested as I try not to smile. She's clearly getting riled up.
"Ugh, I would not! I would –" I cut her off with my lips, as I pin her down from above, all tension soon leaving Spencer as she relaxes into the kiss.
When I pull away, I look into her soft eyes.
"Of course I'll be your girlfriend, Spencer Carlin." She smiles at me then.
"Good. Now take it off." She tugs at my shirt, my eyebrows shooting up in surprise.
"Umm... Excuse me?" She can't be serious. She can't want to do that right now...
"Take it off." I continue to stare at her. "Come on, I need to see this shoulder." Oh. Right. The shoulder...
I climb off her so I'm sitting to her side, reaching down to lift my top over my head. She shifts slightly so she's sitting opposite me, able to get a good look at my shoulder.
She furrows her eyebrows in concentration as her eyes run over the injury.
"Well, it's definitely bruised..."
"Yeah. Thanks for that, Captain Obvious..." She throws me a look.
"Shut it, you. I can easily make it worse for you right now... Just push me." I've already come up with a witty comeback in my head, but due to her threat, I think it's best I just keep quiet."Alright, I'm going to touch it now, okay?" I nod.
Her hands are warm on my arm.
"Does this hurt?" I shake my head. "How about this?" I shake for a second time. "This?"
"Sort of..."
"Okay... Well, how about this?" She flicks my shoulder hard.
"Oww!" My hand goes up to defend my shoulder from any other blows she might be planning on dealing. "What the hell?" She bites her lip to suppress a laugh as she places her hands on either side of my face.
"Aww, I'm sorry, babe! I couldn't resist! You were being an ass. I had to get you back somehow. I'm sorry!" She pouts.
I sigh before my face softens and I lean in to take her lips in mine. We're kissing for a while before I feel myself being pushed gently onto my back, Spencer on top of me. She pulls away for a second to look at me, before leaning back in again.
"Hey Ashley, do you –" The voice cuts off suddenly, and I look towards the door, only to find Casey standing there, wide-eyed.
"Casey! I –"
"I can come back later... Yeah... I'll come back later..." She turns before walking back out the door.
"Shit!" I jump off the bed in a flash and throw my shirt back on before running out the door after her, leaving a stunned Spencer on my bed. "Casey... Casey!"
When I get downstairs, I'm pleased to find Casey sitting in the living room on her own, everyone else outside. I sit down beside her as she flips the channel.
"I'm sorry, Casey." She looks confused when she turns to look at me.
"Huh?"
"Look, I totally understand if you never want to talk to me again. I –"
"What are you talking about, Ash?"
"If you want to hit me, hit me. I deserve it." She holds a hand up to stop me speaking.
"Woah... Why would I hit you?"
"I shouldn't have pursued Spencer. I know exes and stuff like that are off limits, and I –"
"Wait, you think I'm angry at you because you're with Spencer?"
"Well, aren't you? You walked out pretty quick..." She looks at me amusedly.
"Are you kidding me? That reaction is one anyone would have if they walked in on two people getting it on. I'm not angry. I was just embarrassed. Tell me, if you walked in on two people like that, would you stay? Actually, forget I asked. You probably would, you creep!" She smiles and nudges me, causing me to chuckle.
"No, I wouldn't."
"Well then, there you have it. Why would I be pissed off? Two of my favourite people ever are dating. That's awesome!" Okay, I wasn't quite expecting a reaction like this... "Just so you know though... I don't really want to walk in on something like that going down ever again, so just... Warn me beforehand, yeah?" Wow. She's taking this really well...
"Uh... Sure... Umm..." She throws her arms around me.
"I'm happy for you, Ash."
"Thanks..."
"You know you have to tell them though, right? Everyone else, I mean..." I wince at this.
"Yeah... I'm not looking forward to that to be honest..." She pulls a face.
"Yeah, Pam can be... Scary at times..."
"Yep..." There's a moment of silence before Casey speaks again.
"There's actually something I wanted to tell you about... I'm kind of seeing someone too."
"Martha, right?" She looks taken aback.
"Wha... How did you –"
"Spencer told me."
"Right. Of course..." She nods.
"Well that, and the fact that you're always so secretive when she's mentioned. Oh, and 'stew', Casey? Really? We both know that's not why you were there the other day..." She blushes slightly. "Anyway, what did come into my room for?"
"Oh, I was just going to say that Mel and I were going to go out for a while, and we were wondering if you wanted to come. Spencer too, of course." She smirks.
"Oh... Well, thanks for the invite, but I think we'll just hang out here for the day." Truth be told, I'm kind of freaked out by how well Casey has taken the news of Spencer and myself. I'm not really sure if I want to be hanging around her as a couple just yet.
"Whatever. Hey, at least I asked, right?" She smiles at me before making her way outside to the others.
That was weird... I guess I'd better let Spencer know.
As expected, Spencer is just as surprised as I am at how well Casey took the news, considering the way she found out wasn't exactly ideal...
By the time we make it downstairs again, Casey and Mel have already left, Pam quite annoyed with their sudden disappearance.
"I just needed them to wait for two minutes, and they left! Now I'll have to go and get it myself!" Apparently, Pam needs a few bits and pieces from the supermarket, and had planned on sending Casey and Mel with a list, but they made a run for it before she had the chance.
"Well... We'll go if you want. It'll save you going. Plus, it'll give us something to do." Naturally, I nominate myself and Spencer. This way, we'll get more time to ourselves.
"Oh, that would be great! Here. We don't need an awful lot. It'll do for the dinner tonight. Thank you, girls!"
After being given the list by Pam, Spencer and I set off to the supermarket. With my shoulder feeling better than it did yesterday, I decide to drive. It's still a bit uncomfortable, but I'll survive.
Once we've got the shopping, we load it in the car before agreeing to go for a walk. As we make our way towards the pier hand in hand, I turn to Spencer.
"So, anything in particular you want to do today?" She shrugs.
"Not really. I'm easy. Is there anything you want to do?"
"Nope. I mean, we could..." I stop as I catch sight of something in the distance. "Hey, isn't that Mel's car?" I point to the red car parked almost out of view in the far corner of the car park that always seems deserted.
The two of us make our way over, hands entwined, stopping beside the vehicle. I raise my hand to knock the window, seeing signs of life from inside, but stop upon realising exactly what's going on in there. Confused by my lack of movement, Spencer calls out to me.
"Ashley? What are you... Oh." Spencer looks equally as shocked as she catches sight of the scene. I go to turn, but am called back to the car by a frantic Casey.
"Shit! Ash, wait! Come back! Please!"
"What, Casey?" I'm mad at her. Not because she's seeing someone; I knew that, but because instead of being with her girlfriend, she's here, getting it on with Mel in her car. And Mel probably has no clue she's even seeing someone.
"Are you mad?" She looks at me.
"No." I lie. I go to walk away again, but turn back to look at her once more. "Just tell me one thing..." She waits with baited breath as I stare at her. "Does Martha know?" Her mouth opens and closes as if she's trying to say something, but nothing comes out.
Mel turns to her then.
"Who the fuck is Martha?"
"I... I don't –"
"Who the fuck is Martha?" Mel repeats herself, slower this time, but with added force, staring at Casey intensely.
I decide to interrupt.
"Oh, just her girlfriend," I spit out. "But I'm guessing she never told you that one." I look at Casey then and Spencer and I both jump at the sound of Mel's hand slapping the side of Casey's face.
"Get out." She averts her gaze and looks straight ahead, out the windscreen.
"Mel, I –"
"Get. Out." She reaches over and pulls the handle of the door, opening it to emphasize that she means it.
"Mel, wait. I... It's not... Just..." She closes the door and Mel sits back again. "Hear me out, okay. I'm not cheating." Mel lets out a bitter laugh. "I'm not. I swear!"
Right now, I'm thinking maybe Spencer and I should leave, but my legs won't cooperate.
"Oh, you're not? Okay then, so Martha –"
"No! There's no Martha!"
"What?" The three of us say in unison.
"Well there is, but, there's not." We're all looking at her like she has three heads.
She sighs before looking at Spencer and I.
"Martha's Mel." She's greeted with silence. "Mel's Martha." We each pull a face at this before Mel speaks.
"I'm not Martha." Casey sighs again in frustration.
"No. I know you're not. I made it up. I made Martha up." She looks back to me again. "I didn't know how you would feel if I told you it was Mel I was with, after you guys went out."
"Casey, that was a one time thing. And anyway, after the 'date', we decided to just be friends. She told me she was interested in..." Then it clicks. "Wait." I hold my finger up. "It was Casey you were interested in." I direct this at Mel, who bites her lip. "That's why you were all over me that night. You were trying to get Casey's attention; not mine..." That would explain why her demeanour changed as soon as we dropped Casey and Spencer home that night...
She shrugs.
"It worked, didn't it?" I laugh in disbelief as I shake my head.
"I can't believe this..." At least the harsh atmosphere has changed now. The whole situation is quite funny actually, when you think about it.
"Wait." Casey turns to Mel then. "You were trying to seduce me? By flirting with Ashley?"
"Well... I wouldn't call it 'seducing'... It was more trying to get your attention." I decide to put my two cents in at this.
"Mel, you really didn't need to. Trust me. Casey here has been crushing on you since she was thirteen. She told me so herself." Casey's mouth is left hanging open.
"Ash! Why'd you tell her?" I smirk.
"Well since we're all being honest now..."
"Have you really liked me since we were thirteen?" Mel turns to Casey, who ducks her head, her face even redder than it was when we were caught 'snuggling' this morning. Mel's face breaks into a huge grin before she speaks again. "That is so cute!" She leans in and pulls Casey in for a hug.
With Mel unable to see, Casey throws me a smug look. I stick my tongue out at her in return, Spencer giggling at our exchange as our hands remain linked.
"Well, whatever. We'll leave you two lovebirds to it..." I go to walk away with Spencer, but Casey calls us back.
"Wait! Where are you going?" I shrug.
"Don't really know. Haven't decided. We were just going to walk around for a bit, see where it takes us..."
"Well, hop in. You can hang out with us."
"Yeah, that sounds great. We'll just sit in the back while you two continue your make out session in the front..." She laughs at this.
"Oh ha ha... Come on, let's go somewhere. Anywhere." I turn to Spencer then.
"You want to?"
"Sure. Could be fun." She smiles at me then.
In the car, we find out just how long each of our secret relationships have been going on for. Casey gets slightly annoyed with Mel for not telling her as soon as she found out Spencer and I were together, but she soon stops going on about it when I tell her that I'd asked Mel to keep it to herself. Surprisingly, Casey and Mel have been together for quite a while too. It turns out they swapped numbers that day at the beach when Casey asked me to invite Mel along, and had been texting each other on the sly. Not that there's anything wrong with that, because I mean, Spencer and Casey had broken up, Spencer was kind of with me, and Casey and Mel liked each other, so what's the problem? There isn't one. And it's actually pretty cool that Casey's with Mel. Maybe the four of us can hang out more often...
Mel ends up driving to the little ice cream parlour, before taking us to the beach, where the four of us have fun just messing around and chasing each other. As Spencer and Mel run around after their new eight year old friends, Josh and Andrew (Yes, they made friends with eight year olds; we can't take them anywhere...), Casey and I decide to take a breather, sitting on the edge of the grassy bank that surrounds the beach, smiling as we watch on.
"So... You know what this means..." I start. She looks at me questioningly. "You and Mel," I expand.
"What?"
"You've got to tell them too... The others." She sighs.
"I know. I'll tell them straight after you." Oh hell, no.
"Nu-uh."
"Yes. Come on, I found out about you two first, plus Mel knew for ages!"
"I don't want to go first."
"Well neither do I, but fair's fair." I take a deep breath.
"I didn't want to have to do this, Case..." She gives me a weird look.
"What?" I make eye contact with her before reaching into my back pocket and pulling the small card out, handing it to her.
She smiles, closing her eyes as she shakes her head. When she opens them, she looks me straight in the eye, still smiling.
"I hate you." I chuckle at this.
"I know you love me. Looks like you're going first though, huh?" I nudge her with my elbow.
"Guess so..." She shakes her head. "You realise Pam's going to go crazy at me before I even have the chance to explain, right?"
"Oh, I know. That's why I didn't want to go first. It'll be fine though; Pam thinks Mel is 'a lovely girl'..." I snigger.
"Yeah, well she'd be right." There's silence for a moment. "So... when will we do this?" I take a deep breath before letting it go.
"How about at dinner?"
"Sounds good. That way, straight after, Mel and I can make a run for it and stay at her house if Pam gets difficult." I gasp at this.
"Casey! You would really run off and leave us with her?"she makes a face.
"Uh... Yeah!" I chuckle at this.
"Well, you are just the most amazing and supportive friend, aren't you?"
"Yep, that's me!" She grins, and the pair of us giggle.
"Hey, what do you say we join in? Help the boys bring the girls down?" I ask as I watch the boys struggle to catch the girls as they run around.
"Let's do it!" We share a high five before running across the sand, our mission to rescue the young boys and take down the girls as we do so...
We leave the beach to collect my car so we'll make it back to the house just in time for tea. On the way back to the supermarket's parking lot, we tell Spencer and Mel about our plan to tell the others at dinner. Mel isn't too enamoured with the idea of coming clean first, but she agrees once Casey mentions the friendship card and ensures her that she'll do the talking. Of course, I have to tell Spencer the same thing to keep her happy.
Sure enough, we're home just in time for dinner, Pam already seeming slightly annoyed at our tardiness, aiming it mostly at Spencer and myself.
"What took you so long? I only asked you to get a few things, not a whole shop! Some of it was supposed to be for the dinner, but obviously you weren't here to supply them, so I had to make do..." Uh-oh. She is not a happy woman. Boy, am I glad I'm not going first...
"Uh... We're sorry. We bumped into Mel and Casey and decided to make a day out of it..."
"Oh, you decided to make a day out of it? Well thank you for the phone call. I didn't even know if you were coming home. Lucky there's enough to go around... Mel, if you're joining us, take a seat." I gulp as the four of us take our seats at the table.
When dinner is served, there's a bit of an atmosphere, with very little conversation going on. Spencer, Casey, Mel and myself haven't uttered a single word since starting. I think the four of us are too scared to...
Chase mentions a rumour he heard through one of his friends texting him, to which Pam interrupts him, shooting him down.
"Don't be so ridiculous, Chase. Your friends are talking nonsense." Everyone looks at each other then, Chase going silent.
Man, something must be up with Pam. I know she's scary when she's mad, but she's usually in a pretty good mood. Tonight, she's extremely irritable...
As dinner goes on, I nudge Casey, who's in the seat beside me. She turns to me and I gesture for her to say something.
"Are you crazy?" She mouths. "She'll kill me!" I roll my eyes.
Granted, I wouldn't want to be Casey right now, but we need to tell her, so I nudge her again.
"No."
"Pam, there's something Casey wants to tell you." I speak up, Casey's mouth hanging open at me, while Spencer and Mel's eyes widen across the table.
"Yes, what is it, Casey?"
"Umm..." She begins to stutter. "I... I was... I mean, I..." She pauses for a second. "I'mdatingMel..." She rushes out.
"Sorry, I didn't quite catch that." Casey sighs before repeating herself.
"I'm dating Mel." Pam stops eating and looks at Casey, following everyone else's gaze . She stares at her for a few intense seconds, before Casey breaks. "But it's okay, because Ashley's with Spencer!" I hit her on the arm.
"Casey!"
"Well, fuck!" That's Glen, who gets a good scolding from the kids and Pam. All of the kids that is, except Brooke, who for some reason is just smiling goofily.
"Glen, language!" Pam turns to me then. "Is this true?" God, she's scary...
"Yes." I duck my head.
Pam says nothing, and continues eating her dinner. It's Chase who breaks the silence.
"Wait a second... Ashley, didn't you go on a date with Mel?"
"Yeah, so?"
"And now Casey's with her? And Casey used to be with Spencer, who's now with you?"
"Yep."
"Right..." There's silence for a moment as everyone else starts eating again
"So..." Chase starts, looking at me. "Is that a normal thing in the lesbian world? You know, swapping partners with your friends?" Spencer nearly chokes on her drink.
"Uh..." What do I say to that?
Just then, Glen decides to save me.
"Dude, what do you mean 'the lesbian world'? Straight people do it all the time. I mean, haven't you ever seen 90210? Every time I turn it on, they're dating completely different people than they were the last time I saw it. And it's normally best friend's exes and the like. Man, I can never keep up with those guys..." He shakes his head as his mind drifts off, obviously thinking of the complicated love lives of the characters on the show.
Everyone stops eating to look at him. When he realises everyone's gaze is on him, he looks slightly embarrassed.
"I mean... I don't watch it. Not all the time..." There's still silence. "If there's nothing else on, sometimes I channel-flick. It's on a lot..." There's another round of silence before Dale chips in.
"Dude, you are so gay." Annie nudges him before he goes back to eating, the rest of us soon following.
After dinner, the four of us decide to do the dishes, attempting to get back into Pam's good books. As Pam washes the table, Casey speaks up.
"So, uh... I was going to go stay at Mel's tonight, so –"
"No, you are not," Pam replies, not bothering to look up from what she's doing.
"Sorry?" She looks at Casey then.
"You're not staying at Mel's. I know exactly what you're planning, and I won't have it under my roof."
Yeah, the whole no sleeping together rule? Pam kind of believes in no sex before marriage and all that, so she does what she can to prevent it. If only she knew what Dale and Annie were like before they tied the knot...
"But it's not under your roof –"
"Casey!" She snaps. "You know what I mean. You know how I feel about –"
"No sex before marriage, blah, blah, blah. Yeah, I know, but we won't even –"
"Casey..." She warns.
Casey sighs, giving in.
"Fine. I won't go."
"Mel is more than welcome to stay here," She adds, looking at Mel. "But if that's the case, she'll be in with Spencer. Ashley, you're not to go near that room," she warns. "That goes for you too, Casey."
"What? Well, can I at least bunk in with Ash then?" Hold on, since when did I invite Casey into my bed?
"If you so desire, then, yes. I have no doubt that there'll be no funny business between the two of you." I shiver. Gross.
"Great. It'll be like old times, right, Ash?" she grins at me.
"Right..."
Brooke is unusually quiet during our bedtime routine. When I finish reading the story, Lucy asleep as usual, Brooke looks up at me.
"Ash? Was all that stuff at dinner true? Is Spencer your girlfriend?" Well, that one caught me off guard...
"Uh... Yeah. Yeah, it's true..." I hold my breath as I wait for her reaction, and am rewarded with a huge smile.
"Yay! I knew it would work!" I furrow my eyebrows.
"Knew what would work?" I ask.
"The wish, silly!" It takes me a second to catch on, before I laugh.
"I guess it did..." Little does she know this has been going on a lot longer than that... "Alright well, get some sleep. I'll see you in the morning. Night, Brooke."I kiss her on the forehead before making my way to the door.
"Night, Ash!"
So Mel decided to stay, bunking with Spencer as we promised Pam, and now, Casey and I are currently sprawled out on my bed, talking. Well, I say talking, but really, I'm just listening to Casey giving off about Pam.
"I don't get it! I mean, we're twenty three years of age. You'd think she'd stop treating us like kids... So what, now I can't even stay over in my girlfriend's house?" She's getting slightly hysterical.
"Casey, calm down... Yes, I know we're not kids, but I get where she's coming from. I mean, if your daughter or niece was sneaking off to visit a girlfriend or boyfriend, you wouldn't be too thrilled either, would you? I know I wouldn't. I'm dreading Brooke getting to that age..." She sighs.
"I guess you're right. It's unfair though..."
"Casey, you know what she's like. And she's good to us..."
"Yeah, I know." Casey seems to be deep in thought for a moment. "Hey, why don't we sneak out?"
"Huh?" I give her a weird look.
"Why don't we sneak out? We can climb out the window and get the other two at Spencer's window, then we can escape for the night." I raise my eyebrows at this.
"Escape?"
"Yeah. Mel and I will go to hers, and you and Spencer can go wherever, get some alone time..." I chuckle. Just thinking about climbing out the window with Casey brings back so many fond childhood memories, and what Pam doesn't know won't hurt her.
"You know what? That sounds fun." I smile at her.
"Great! What do you say we go get our girls then?" She grins at me and I can't help but grin in return.
"I say let's do it."
"Yes!" She holds her hand out for me to give her a high five before the pair of us throw on our daytime clothes again, and get to climbing out the window.
Of course, we're not as agile as we were as kids. I learnt this when I fell on my shoulder the other day, but Casey realises as soon as she starts flailing her arms in a bid to keep her balance as she almost falls over.
"Oh shit!"
"Casey, Sshhhh! you want Pam to find us?" I whisper harshly, and she soon shuts up.
We make it to Spencer's window without any major injuries; just a few scrapes here and there, and I knock softly on the window. There's no response, so I knock again. There's movement at the side of the curtain before Mel's face appears and she jumps back in shock. Casey and I chuckle as she opens the window.
"You two scared the shit out of me!"
"Well who did you think it was going to be?" Casey asks as we make our way inside.
"Come on, we're going out." I hold my hand out for Spencer to take, but spy the hoodie in her hand, and look over to see Mel clutching her overnight bag. "Going somewhere?" I ask, and she chuckles.
"Actually, we were on our way to get you two, but it seems you had the same idea as us. Although, you were obviously quicker at following it through..."
"Great!" Casey exclaims. "At least we don't have to persuade you... Come on, let's go." Spencer and Mel follow us, Casey closing the window behind us.
"Wait, where are we going?" Spencer asks as we reach the ground safely.
"Well, I don't know about you guys, but we're going back to Mel's." Spencer looks at me then, and I just shrug.
"Lake?"
After Mel and Casey leave, we do end up going to the lake, just lounging on the boardwalk as we talk about all sorts. After a while, I finally pluck up the courage to ask Spencer something I've been wanting to for a while now.
"So... I was wondering... I mean, Brooke mentioned something a while ago..." She's watching me intently, waiting for me to spit it out. "It's not long until this vacation's over, and she said that you would be staying with Glen."
"Uh-huh." She waits for me to continue. She knows that's not the only thing I want to ask.
"Well... As it turns out, he actually doesn't live that far away from us." I bite my lip, nervous to go on.
"Right." I see a hint of a smile on her lips. She knows what she's doing. She's making me work for it.
"So..."
"So..." She mimics me.
"So, I thought you could... You know, if you're ever in the area, you could... Call round." She finally lets
"You're so cute when you're nervous." She pecks me on the cheek. "Of course I'll call round. Regularly," she adds. "But will you promise me something?"
"Anything." She looks at me seriously.
"When Glen's being a tremendous ass, and I'm close to tearing my hair out, do you promise to let me stay?" Uh, hell yes.
"You don't even need to ask." Her face breaks out in a smile again.
"Great! You can be my pyjamas." Say what?
I can't stop the images that run through my mind at this statement. Little Miss I'm-So-Innocent-Butter-Wouldn't-Melt is definitely anything but, and I'd be lying if I said I'm not eager to see just how adventurous she can be.
I'm pulled out of my trance as Spencer chuckles, probably at my facial expression. I don't think it's very attractive at the minute. In fact, I'm pretty sure I'm looking quite gormless, as Spencer reaches over and closes my mouth.
"So yeah... I was actually going to ask you something else..." I stay silent as I wait for her to continue. I don't quite trust my voice at the minute. "You know we were staying with my uncle, right? Before we came here?" I nod. "Well, he phoned me the other day saying he'd like to see me again if I was still in the area... I was thinking of going up to stay with him for a night, maybe tomorrow." She's leaving. Great. "I was thinking that maybe you could come? There's more than enough room." I smile then.
"Of course. I mean, only if he's alright with that..."
"He is, I already asked."
"Well, okay then... I'll need to let Brooke know. I'm sure she'll be fine though." She smiles at this, a comfortable silence taking over as the pair of us look out over the lake.
A few seconds later, I feel her staring at me, and turn my head to look at her. For some reason, she's just staring at me with an unreadable expression, her eyes sparkling in the moonlight.
"What?" I chuckle nervously under her gaze.
"Nothing. I just... I..." She shakes her head then. "Nothing."
"Okay then, weirdo." She pulls a face.
"Hey, I'm not a weirdo, weirdo!" She hits me lightly before staring back out over the water, our laughter soon dying down as we let silence take over once more.
Sometime later, I catch Spencer yawning and insist on going to bed, marching her sleepy form back up to the house as I search for the key Pam keeps hidden
"Shit..."
"What?" I turn to her and pull a face.
"The key's not here."
"What?" She repeats herself before double checking. "Shit." She turns to me. "Back through the window?" I shake my head.
"Casey closed them. They both started to jam a few years back because we climbed out that often, so we can't open them from the outside..."
"Great... Maybe we should have just used the doors to get out, like normal people."
"Yeah..." I trail off, trying to think.
"What should we..." her sentence trails off as I start to walk back towards the lake. "Ashley? Where are you going?"
She follows me down to Rob's workshop, where I try the door, but to no avail.
"Right... Guess there's nothing else for it..." She looks confused as I pull out my phone I managed to stuff in my pocket before making our escape earlier.
I highlight the contact and press 'call'. They don't pick up for a while, but on the third call, I finally get them, chuckling at the pissed off voice at the end of the line.
"What?"
"Oh, hi Casey... I actually phoned Mel, so if you could –"
"What do you want, Ashley? We're kind of busy..."
"Uh... A place to stay would be nice... And a lift too, if it's not too much trouble..."
"What? Just use the key."
"Not there. We checked. Pam must have taken it into the house."
"Fucking... Ugh!" I hear movement, before the phone is handed over to Mel.
"Hello?"
"Hey, Mel! Look, we can't get into the house, so we were wondering... Would it be okay if we stayed with you for the night?"
"Uh... Sure. Come on over. We'll keep an eye out for you. You know where the house is, right?"
"Yeah, but umm... we don't actually have a car. I left my keys in the house." There's no response for a second as I hear Casey and Mel arguing in the background. Mel tells Casey to shut up, before coming back on the line.
"Okay, so you need a lift?"
"If that's okay..."
"Sure. We'll be there soon."
"Thank you! See you then!" I hang up before turning to Spencer, who's looking at me with a questioning look. "Mel and Casey are coming for us. We're staying with them." Beats sleeping outside anyway, right?
As promised, Mel and Casey arrive to pick us up, Casey looking just as pissed as she sounded on the phone.
The journey to Mel's is spent mostly in silence, Casey not saying a word as Mel makes small talk with us. Even when we get to Mel's room, Casey is quiet, climbing into the bed as Mel sorts us out with pyjamas and bedding. There are no spare rooms in Mel's house, so Mel insists we stay in her room as opposed to downstairs, to save her mother a heart attack in the morning, and to save us from being interrogated from her younger brother when he wakes up. Fair enough...
Spencer and I get washed before climbing into our makeshift bed on the floor, the silence deafening as the lights are turned off. Then I realise...
We're totally getting them back for last night.
"Well now... This is cosy." I mimic Casey's words from our previous night in the tent.
"Uh-huh." She doesn't seem too enthused.
I turn my head to face Spencer, throwing her a cheeky smile which she returns as I join our hands beneath the covers.
"No funny business, right?" Casey whispers to us. It's the first time she's spoken to me since we were on the phone earlier. "I mean it. Some of us actually want to sleep." I chuckle at this.
"Someone's frustrated..." Spencer manages to state through a laugh, causing me to join in.
"Yeah... Guess someone got sent to bed without their 'stew', huh?" This only causes us to laugh harder, until a pillow hits me square in the face. "Hey! What's up with you?"
"What's up with me? What's up with me? You. That's what." She pauses for a second. "Now, hand me back my pillow please."
"What if I want to keep it? You know I like to keep my head elevated when I sleep..." Spencer's biting her lip, trying not to laugh. She knows I'm talking crap.
"Ashley, give it back."
"No." She moves so she's sitting on the side of Mel's bed, holding her hand out.
"Give it back." I shake my head. "Damn it, Ashley, why are you being like this?"
"Me? I'm not the one with the stick up my ass."
"Yeah, well, it wouldn't be a stick that's up my ass right now if you hadn't shown up!"
And there it is...
To be honest, I don't know why I'm being like this. I'm going to put it down to the lack of sleep though. It's late, and I'm beyond tired. It's the kind of tiredness that makes you hysterical though. You know the type, where you're so far gone that the slightest thing sends you into a fit of giggles, and if you've got company, the best way to get your kicks is to annoy the hell out of them? Yeah, well that's how I'm feeling right now, and with her confessed frustration, Casey's just an easy target. Besides, I've lost count of the times she's done the same thing to me.
"Ooh. Touchy." That does it.
In an instant, she's looming over me, reaching down to grab the pillow, but my grip is too tight, and I pull back, causing Casey to topple over on top of my legs which are hidden by the bed covers.
"Ugh, you're such an ass!" She's so annoyed that she's started flailing her arms as she speaks.
"I've been told..." I smirk at Spencer, who grins back.
"Mel. Mel, tell her. Tell her to give me my pillow back..." There's no response. "Mel?"
We stop moving completely as we refrain from making any more noise and are greeted by soft snores coming from Mel's direction. This just frustrates Casey further.
"Fuck! Fucking... Fine! Keep the stupid pillow!" She gets up and stomps back to the bed, climbing under the covers. "I'll see you in the morning, ass face," she mumbles into the darkness.
"Yeah, yeah. I love you too." I lie down, still clutching the pillow as I pretend to be using it to cushion my head. "Wow, this extra pillow is amazing. It's like sleeping on clouds..." I hear a mumble come from Casey before I decide to call it a night.
"Here, grumpy." I toss the pillow onto the bed. "Have your 'stupid' pillow back if it'll help you get your beauty sleep. God knows you need it."
"Ass."
"Douche. Goodnight."
"Whatever."
.
.
.
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A/N - So, I have a feeling some of you had your suspicions about 'Martha', and knew about Casey and Mel's 'thing'. Team Camel! :P The next chapter's all ready to go, and I have a feeling that quite a few people will enjoy it... See ya in a couple of days!
