Part 2 – Millbury, Ohio
2 days later, after a pit stop in LA to gather some stuff, Kyla and Ashley were on the road to Ohio. Kyla was driving and Ashley was lost in her thoughts. Silence was the main character of this little movie but that's how they liked it from time to time. Because, there was nothing to say after all.
After a while, Ashley finally decided to speak and the first thing that came out of her mouth didn't surprise Kyla the slightest.
"Are you sure she won't be there ?" she asked almost whispering like it hurt to ask somehow. Or perhaps, that was because she knew the answer to the question that it hurt.
"Yes, I checked with Arthur. She's trekking somewhere in the Andes."
A smile started to spread across Ashley's features. When she let Spencer go into the world, she had no idea she would literally spread her wings all over the world. From East to West and North to South, Spencer had travelled almost everywhere. After their breakup, Ashley had kept in touch with the Carlins and through them she had followed what Spencer was up to. She had learned that her girl had landed a very sought after job at National Geographic as a photographer. And after that, all she had to do was buy the magazine to follow Spencer's trail. From Paris to Tokyo, from Cairo to Sydney and the Great Barrier Reef, from Reykjavik to Cape Town, from Moscow to Samoa, Spencer had been everywhere taking pictures and doing what she was meant to do. Sharing the beauty of the world as seen through the most beautiful blue eyes Ashley had ever seen in her life.
"ok..." Ashley answered half hearteadly, not sure of what else she was supposed to say. Kyla smiled at her, knowing exactly what was going through her sister's mind at the moment.
The rest of the trip to Ohio went fine, the sisters took their time to enjoy the quiet and to relax as much as they could. They stopped in low key hotels outside of big cities in order to avoid the paparazzi and fans. They got recognized a few times but no big deal. Ashley was used to fans coming up to her and asking for pictures or autographs.
As they finally pulled up in front of a small house in the town of Millbury, Ohio, Ashley smiled. Funny how such a small house in the middle of nowhere could be the center of the universe for her. Kyla and Ashley started getting their bags out of the trunk when the front door opened and a tall man with Salt and Pepper hair and a smile across his face walked to them. He opened his arms and engulfed both girls in a hug.
"Arthur, let them breathe!" chimed in a voice after a moment. Ashley lift her her eyes and was met with blue eyes and blonde hair. Almost like the ones she lost a few years ago, but not quite the same.
"Paula. How are you ? It's so nice to see you. I missed you." Said Ashley smiling.
"You too, Ash. We missed you too. I'm so happy you guys decided to come see us for a few days."
"Yeah, we needed some down time and what better way to relax than with you guys." Added Kyla laughing.
Arthur helped with the bags as Paula led the Davies sisters inside the house. After everything that happened in LA, between an almost divorce and Clay's death, the Carlins decided to go back to where they were truly happy. Before LA took their innocence, their purity and tainted them a little. So after Spencer graduated from high school, the Carlins packed their bags back to Ohio. Glen had followed suite and enrolled into Ohio State and Spencer had stayed with Ashley and enrolled in UCLA, losing herself more and more each day.
As Ashley looked around the house, she saw that nothing else had changed since the last time she was there a few months ago. It was welcoming, warm and always an intense experience for her. She loved the Carlins like they were her own parents. She may have had a more than rocky beginning with Paula but everything had been forgiven and now she considered the woman more of a mother figure than her own biological mother who never showed one ounce of affection towards her. And she knew the feeling was returned because despite her being out of Spencer's life, they were still by her side when she needed them.
"Ashley, why don't you go upstairs settle your stuff, take a shower or something. You must be tired from the trip." said Arthur.
"If you don't mind, I think I'll do that. I'm in a dire need of a shower." She smiled at the man standing in front of her who had replaced her father when she needed advice and comfort.
Ashley walked upstairs and opened the door to the guest room. She looked around the room and put her bag next to the desk. She knew that this room was used by Spencer when the girl was visiting her parents and sometimes she swore she could still smell the unique scent that was Spencer's. Also, the pictures hanging on the wall did nothing to dull the ache because they were pictures of places Spencer had been, of where Ashley should have been with her. She sighed in frustration as she remembered the promise she once made to Spencer when they were 18 years old, the night of their high school graduation.
Ashley led Spencer, who was blindfolded, by the hand towards the narrow path.
"Be careful, Babe. Not too fast." Ashley said softly. "We're almost there."
She just saw Spencer's smile spread across her face. It was infectious. She couldn't help but smile back even though at the moment the object her affection couldn't see that smile.
She heard Spencer laugh softly.
"What are you laughing at, Babe ?" Ashley asked.
"Because I can actually hear you smile and it makes me so happy."
Ashley looked at Spencer and stopped in her tracks. "I want to kiss you right now."
"Good." Just smiled Spencer. "The day you won't want to kiss me, I'll be worried."
"I don't think I'll ever stop wanting to kiss you. It's impossible."
Ashley closed the gap between her and a blindfolded Spencer and kissed her girlfriend intensely. She heard the younger girl moaning and it only added fuel to the fire within Ashley, who deepened the kiss. In that second, she couldn't even fathom not having Spencer in her life. She swore that in that second she knew what perfect happiness felt like.
The need for air broke the spell that had taken over. Both girls smiling, foreheads touching.
"You know that in that second I can't actually see your eyes, but the funny thing is I know exactly what they look like right now." Spencer said.
Ashley slowly took the blindfold off Spencer's eyes, only to be met with blue eyes, full of love and devotion.
"I knew it..." Spencer just whispered to no one in particular before going in for another soul-searing kiss.
Once they broke apart, Spencer looked around and saw that they were standing at the edge of a cliff overlooking the ocean. Looking at the beautiful sight in front of her, it looked like the world was theirs to conquer, no end in sight.
"Wow!" Spencer managed to utter. "that's so beautiful."
"Not as much as what I'm looking at." Ashley said, her eyes fixed on Spencer.
"Are you trying to seduce me, Miss Davies ?" Spencer asked playfully.
"No, I'm just being honest, Spence." Ashley told her seriously. At the tone of her voice, Spencer immediately knew that Ashley was not playing. "You are the best thing that ever happened to me and I want you to know that. You changed my life, you changed me. I'm so in love with you Spence, you have no idea."
"Believe me, I do have an idea." Spencer said, taking Ashley into her arms. "Because I love you, Ash. More than words can express."
"I know we're still young Spence and we don't know what tomorrow will bring, but one day, I'll give you the World, Spence. I promise you."
That night, they made love like never before. Remembering all that, Ashley felt her eyes watering. She had broken every promise she ever made to Spencer. She never gave her the world, instead she locked her in a cage. She let her stupid career be her first priority and she single handedly destroyed the only person she ever loved and for that she would never forgive herself.
Ashley sighed in frustration and headed for the bathroom.
Downstairs, a frowning Paula was looking at Kyla. "She looks tired." Paula told Kyla.
"She just doesn't look tired, she's exhausted and to be honest, I think she's miserable. For the past few months, it's like nothing can make her happy. You know how she used to love being on stage, you could feel the passion. Now, I feel it's just like another job to her. I'm worried, Paula."
"Does she have any friends besides you?"
"No, she just hangs out with Ethan and the band. But no real friends. Aiden is always too busy to pick up the godamn phone and Madison is on tour across the country so she's hard to reach these days. And the people she meets are either after her body or her money so she doesn't trust anyone that comes near her."
"What did you guys say to Ethan ?" asked Arthur.
"That we're postponing the tour until further notice. That Ashley needs some downtime. He didn't take it well, but the dates were already sold out so we'll just change the dates instead of canceling. This way the fans are not disappointed because they'll get to see her eventually and Ethan doesn't lose any money."
"Poor Ash." Paula said shaking her head slightly.
"Anyway, so how are you guys ?" asked Kyla trying to change the subject.
"We're good. We both managed to cut down on the hours to spend more time together now that it's just the two of us again."
"Good. And Glen?"
"Glen is as happy as can be. He really found himself in college. We thought he would orient himself towards sport or something like that, but he now he wants to become a teacher. And the biggest news is that he got engaged two months ago." Arthur said
"Really. That's so cool. To that Amy girl we met a year ago ?"
"Yes. They make such a nice couple. They plan to get married in December. But I think Glen will tell you himself because he definitely plans to invite you." Paula continued.
"Does Spencer knows he wants to invite us ?"
"I don't know, she's hard to talk to these days. She's always halfway around the world." Sighed Paula. Kyla didn't miss this small reaction and smiled at Paula, trying to comfort the older woman somehow.
"How is she doing ?"
"To be honest, I couldn't say. She always seems fine when she comes to visit us, with new and exciting stories about the places she just visited, the people she met. But deep down, something isn't right. There's like this permanent sadness in her eyes that never seems to leave." Arthur said sadly.
The three of them remained silent for while, each of their mind working. They all knew that Spencer and Ashley had always been meant for each other and they all waited patiently for the time they would reunite because to them it was inevitable. Like every great love story, it had to have an happy ending. But in the meantime, it was hard to see the pain in their eyes.
The night was spent trying to get Ashley's minds off things. Arthur made a point of cooking Ashley's favorites with Kyla's help. Each of them had one objective, trying to ease Ashley's pain somehow. After dinner, an impromptu game of scrabble finished the evening before the girls headed for bed.
Staring at the ceiling in her bed, Ashley felt conflicted because this house was her sanctuary despite having severed ties with Spencer 5 years ago. The guys in her band always found weird that she still liked to hang out with her ex-girlfriend parents. But to her, it was also a way to hold on to the one remaining link to Spencer. Sometimes, it did feel weird but most of the time she overlooked it. The funny thing is that Spencer knew that Ashley still saw her parents from time to time and never called once to put a stop to this. Even though she hadn't talked to Spencer in 5 years, she could feel that Spencer was still looking after her in a way by allowing this situation, by letting her having this outlet, this semblance of a normal life to come back to. And Ashley was nothing but thankful to the younger woman.
The next few days passed quickly, a little too quickly for Ashley's liking but she seemed to be smiling again. And to Kyla, that was what mattered the most. This is why they came down here in the first place, to catch their breath. As usual Arthur took them fishing and to his surprise Kyla and Ashley were getting better at it. Kyla remembered the first time he took them fishing. It had been a disaster from beginning to end. The girls felt like Arthur was speaking to them in Chinese when he gave them the instructions. And by the end of the day, the three of them had landed head first in the water, wet from head to toe and empty handed of course.
Before they knew it, a week had gone by and the girls were saying their goodbyes to the Carlins with promises to come back soon, at least to celebrate Glen's engagement.