A/N: So here's the Beta'ed version, now with the first part I forgot to add last night. My bad. Thanks for everyone reading and there are a few changes in here from what I had yesterday posted, so you might want to read it again...
Spencer lay in bed, staring at the ceiling. After dinner, she and Ashley had come back to her room to watch some TV. About an hour ago the brunette had announced she was tired and went back to her own room.
Leaving Spencer alone with her thoughts.
Neither of them had mentioned the almost kiss, for which she was eternally grateful because she hadn't as yet worked out how to convey her thoughts on that one:
Hey Ash, I really want to kiss but I can't. You know, with the promotion and all.
Yeah, that would go over real well.
As she thought about it though, she had to acknowledge to herself that the promotion thing was really only a small part of it.
No, even if her future career wasn't riding on the line, she wouldn't have kissed Ashley tonight.
Why?
Because when she finally did kiss Ashley - and she knew she would, there was no doubt about that - she wanted Ashley to kiss her back because she felt what Spencer was feeling.
Not because Ashley felt emotionally vulnerable and Spencer had been there for her.
Not because she was needy or grateful.
No, when she and Ashley kissed for the first time, Spencer wanted it to be for all the right reasons.
She sighed quietly to herself. She was missing the feeling of Ashley next to her, her light snores soothing the blonde to sleep. Sleep eluded her as thoughts of the undecided Fate down the hall danced in her mind.
Ashley really was an enigma to Spencer. Was she even a Fate? She could do things that Spencer had never heard of any other Fates being able to do, but if she wasn't a Fate, why would the Powers That Be choose her to be one? In her experience, TPTB knew almost, if not, everything; surely they had to know Ashley could do more.
It was also strange to Spencer how she had gotten use to sharing her bed in such an amazingly short time. To be fair though, it was only because it was Ashley and in the darkness of her room, without anyone else there, Spencer could be brutally honest to her self and her growing feelings. She felt a pull towards the brunette she'd never experienced; it excited and scared her all at once.
She rolled over and stared at her closed door. She was still no closer to figuring out what to do than she had been earlier in the day.
The way Spencer saw it, she had two choices; one, say something to her Supervisor about what Ashley could do but risk being taken off the assignment while other higher beings took over. This way, she'd still probably get her promotion but it would mean sacrificing her budding feelings for the brunette . The promotion was what she had been working towards for decades. She had passed up on other chances for personal happiness for the greater good of the Balance. Was she willing to do it again?
Or option two, she keeps quiet and takes the chance that Ashley's feelings were genuine, but risk getting into trouble when it all came out that she had known. And she wasn't fooling herself into think that that it wouldn't come out eventually. This all meant basically kissing her promotion and chances of further advancement good-bye. Thereby making the whole sacrifice meaningless if she was to just get reincarnated for failure.
She considered talking to Aiden about everything but there was a distinct possibility that her Gray friend would feel it was his duty to inform his council. Especially given that someone with Ashley's abilities could certainly tip the balance for whichever side she chose
Nope. No matter how she looked at it, there didn't seem to be a way for it to end well for her or Ashley.
Spencer's head swam at all the different possibilities but her thoughts always came back to one thing;
After every thing she had done over the years to preserve the Light Side of the Balance, didn't she deserve to be happy too?
Didn't she deserve the chance to see if what she felt for Ashley could be the real thing?
These questions along with deep, soul piercing brown eyes and knee weakening smirks played over in her mind on a constant loop as she fell into a troubled sleep.
Spencer, freshly showered and changed, rushed to answer the knocking door. Her hair was still slightly damp and her normally bright eyes were a little duller that morning due to the restless sleep she'd had the night before. "Hey…Kegan."
"I don't know if I should be offended or not." Kegan playfully frowned at the disappointed look on his friend's face.
"Sorry, I was thought you were Ashley." Spencer stepped back, gesturing for the curly haired guy to come in. "We're supposed to go shopping today."
"Oh, that's cool, I was coming by to see if you and Ashley wanted to go shopping with Brandi and I later." Kegan walked in, and leaned against the back of Spencer's couch. He hid his concern at seeing how tired the other Light Fate looked. "We haven't really seen you around for a few days."
"Sorry, I've been busy with getting Ashley settled in and all. You know how it is when you first get here, everything is so overwhelming." Spencer walked over to her desk, smiling as she picked up a book Ashley had left out but forgot to take with her the night before.
"No, it's okay, I get it. I was thinking though that maybe it would help if you introduced Ashley to a few other people. You know, let her see that we're not all that different from what she's use to." Truth was, even though he was curious about the undecided Fate, he also knew how Spencer was; she had a tendency to try and do everything herself. So even though this was her assignment, he wanted to help in whatever way possible. Spencer had helped him out on more than one occasion, it was only fair to repay the favor, especially after seeing how tired she was already and it had only been less than a week.
Spencer was torn, she knew Kegan had a point, but at the same time she wasn't sure if she was ready to give up her alone time with Ashley. "I don't know, she might not be up to meeting new people quite yet."
"Ok, well ask her, we can make plans at breakfast if you want. I'm meeting Brandi in the cafeteria." Kegan stood up and walked towards the door. "It would be nice to spend time with you, Spence, I miss my best friend."
"I know, I'm sorry, Kegan. I promise we'll spend some time together soon, if not today." Spencer smiled, she did feel bad that she had been neglecting her other friends lately. It wasn't that she didn't want to but she didn't want Ashley to feel uncomfortable being around a lot of strangers.
"Actually, on second thought" she said suddenly reconsidering, maybe breakfast would lessen some of the tension she was feeling "I'll grab Ashley and we'll meet you and Brandi down at the cafeteria, ok?"
A wide smile graced Kegan's face, his light blue eyes lighting up, "Great, I know Brandi has been missing you almost as much as me."
"I've missed her too. Ok, I'll see you in a few minutes than." Spencer said as she followed Kegan out the door.
"Cool, see you then." Kegan left heading down the stairs.
Spencer continued on a few doors down, no longer trying to tell herself that she wasn't excited to be seeing the brunette again, after the longest separation they'd experienced yet. 'Ugh, how lame am I? It's only been 9 hours, seriously, I need to get a hobby or something.' Spencer rolled her eyes at her own ridiculousness before knocking on Ashley's door.
"Spencer!" a bubbly, dark auburn haired girl called out while jumping up to throw her arms around a laughing Spencer, who promptly returned the hug.
"Brandi!"
They both pulled back with huge smiles on their faces. Ashley stood to the side, exchanging hello's with Kegan, trying to ignore the fact there was some unknown girl hanging off Spencer.
"And this must be the Ashley Kegan's told me about." Brandi stuck out her hand while giving Ashley an appraising look. "I'm Brandi, nice to meet you."
"Well, if he said I was devastatingly beautiful and loads of fun to be around, than, yes, I'm that Ashley. Nice to meet you too." Ashley smiled shaking Brandi's hand.
Spencer watched the exchange, rolling her eyes but unable to keep the large grin off her face.
Brandi laughed, "Somehow he managed to leave out modest when describing you."
"Imagine that." Spencer smirked, as they all sat down.
"So, Ashley, I hear you can do the impossible…" Brandi casually said, a mischievous glint in her dark brown eyes.
Ashley choked on the mouthful of orange juice she had just taken sipped, a flash of panic coursing through her. How could Brandi possibly know about what she could do?
Spencer quickly reached over and slapped Ashley on the back. Her face wore a façade of calm in spite of the same thoughts that Ashley was experiencing, hurtling through her own head. Oh, great, how does she know? Who else knows?
"Are you okay?" Kegan asked, worriedly. Ashley was now bright red and tears were streaming down her face.
"Yeah, sorry, it just went down the wrong way." She managed as her coughs finally subsided.
Spencer continued to rub small circles on Ashley's back while giving Brandi a quizzical look.
"Impossible?" Ashley squeaked out, after regaining her breath and calming down a tad.
"Yeah, Kegan says you have done the impossible by actually getting Spencer here to slack off a bit on her Head Fate duties." Brandi laughed.
It was common knowledge that Spencer was one of the most involved Head Fates when it came to the Fates in her dorm. The fact that someone had managed to get her to relax for a few days was almost a miracle.
"You've been slacking off because of me?" Ashley turned to a now pink faced Spencer, quirking an eyebrow at her, giddy with relief that her secret was still safe.
"Uh…" Spencer wasn't sure what to say. She hadn't been slacking so much as otherwise occupied, not that she minded. Thankfully Kegan jumped in to save her.
"Not really slacking off, just not as involved as usual…which is good because, Spencer, you really do deserve some time to yourself to work on other… stuff." Kegan's eyes shot over to Ashley.
No one could ever accuse Kegan of being subtle.
"Spencer's always been very involved, some would say even too involved, with those in her dorm. She's always there to bail them out of whatever trouble they get into." Brandi waved an apple accusingly at the blonde Fate, "I keep telling you, you have to let them screw up every once in awhile or they'll never learn."
"Brandi is the Head Light Fate for St. Simon House." Kegan explained to Ashley. He smiled adoringly at his girlfriend. She was a tough but fair Head Fate. And even though she and Spencer were close friends, their styles greatly differed when it came to handling their charges.
"I'm not big with the tough love, like you. I just think if I can help them from messing up then I should." Spencer replied, defending her approach. "Isn't that the point of being a Head Fate? One team, one dream?"
"Aw, Spence. My poor idealistic friend." Brandi shook her head, "This isn't some sensitive, touchy, feel good seminar. This is war. A polite one for now but war none the less. And right now we're losing".
She raised her eyebrow at Spencer "Do you think those Head Dark Fates are coddling their Fates? No way and that's why they're winning. They understand what this is and are treating it as such."
"Oh come on, Brandi, don't you think you're being a little melodramatic?" Spencer rolled her eyes, shrugging off the sudden uneasy feeling in her stomach. A part of her recognized that the other Head Fate was right in a way. "We're doing the same thing we've been doing for thousands and thousands of years."
"Are we?" Brandi mused, almost to herself. A far away look had clouded her dark eyes.
"Of course we are." Spencer laughed, trying to make light of the situation.
Brandi and Kegan were a great fit together as they both had very strong views on the direction the Light Council should be headed. Sometimes it scared Spencer how close they both came to skating that thin line between voicing your opinion and outright calling for the Light Council to do more.
"Yeah, of course…" Brandi trailed off for a moment. Then she seemed to suddenly snap out whatever thoughts had captured her attention and changed the subject. "So how about we all go shopping?"
Ashley finally perked up after being bored for the last few minutes, not sure what the two Head Fates had been going on about. "That sounds like a plan to me, as long as we don't go to the mall. I really don't like the mall." Or most the people who hang out there.
"Oh, no worries there. The mall is infested with mostly Dark Fates." Kegan reassured her. He said it as if he was talking about an infestation of cockroaches, though that would be in insult to the insect in his opinion.
And so the group began planning their day. Spencer smiled when needed and added an "uh huh" where required but her mind was preoccupied by Brandi's words; was it really war? Was it really serious enough that people viewed what they did to keep the balance as a war between the Light and Dark Councils?
The pounding of the bass could be heard as they neared the club. Ashley walked next to Spencer while Kegan and Brandi walked a few steps ahead, holding hands.
"Thanks for taking me shopping today. I had a really good time with your friends." Ashley grabbed Spencer's hand, giving it a light squeeze to show her appreciation for being included.
"Really? Because I know Brandi can be a little much…" Spencer shyly replied, her heart racing at the feel of Ashley's hand perfectly fitting in hers.
"Are you kidding? She's a blast. Seriously, Spence, she had me laughing all day. I wasn't pretending to like your friends just to make you feel better, honestly, I'm not that nice." Ashley smirked, "Now, come on, I want to find out what all the fuss is about with this club."
Spencer could only stupidly grin with happiness as she allowed Ashley to pull her toward the entrance to Gray like an impatient little kid.
"Whoa." Ashley softly exclaimed as she looked around the dimly lit club. For a moment it almost felt as if she was back on the Mortal Plane at any one of the different clubs she used to frequent. From wall to wall, there were young, good looking people dancing, laughing, flirting, fighting and…hold on…were they actually drinking?
"Not so different from what you're used to, huh?" Brandi laughed, catching the surprised look on Ashley's face.
"Are they drinking? Can we actually drink? Like get drunk?" Ashley asked, not sure why she had just assumed that for some reason getting drunk was not something possible on the In Between.
"Of course you can, if you want to. As long as you aren't working or on call." Kegan explained, "Though I don't drink, I don't see the point."
Ashley snickered, how could he not see the point? The point was to let loose and have a good time. To forget about the stress of the everyday and just live for the moment.
Though I guess I have a lot more moments now than I did before, Ashley pondered.
"That's just because you're my little anal retentive pookie bear." Brandi teased, mussing up Kegan's curls and then giving him a kiss on the cheek.
Kegan rolled his eyes and playfully pushing his girlfriend away. "One of us has to behave in this relationship."
"Oh, please, you love it when I'm bad." Brandi purred seductively.
Kegan turned bright red, quickly looking around to see if others were paying attention.
His eyes caught a very amused Spencer's with Ashley standing next to her smirking.
"Ah, so why don't we go grab a table?" He grabbed Brandi's hand dragging her towards the back where he had seen some empty tables.
It was still early so the club wasn't too crowded but within the hour it would be packed. Grey was one of the few neutral clubs in the city, opening it's doors to all; fates, reapers, muses, whoever. Most other clubs specifically targeted a certain type of crowd and if you didn't fit that criteria, you weren't welcome.
"I'm going to get a drink, do you want anything?" Brandi asked the others once they had secured a table and were sitting down. Just because her boyfriend didn't drink, didn't mean Brandi wouldn't. In Kegan's opinion, she drank enough for the both of them, but luckily she was one of those drunks where it was hard to tell if she was actually drunk or not.
"I'll just have a mineral water." Kegan requested.
As usual, Brandy thought.
Sometimes Brandi wondered how in the universe she and Kegan had ended up together. He could be the most boring guy around, which was saying a lot when it came to Light Fates. But then, he would look at her in that way that made her heart feel like it was bursting out of her chest.
Or he would say the sweetest thing without even trying.
Turning her to putty every time. And then she'd be completely appalled at herself for ever thinking she could do better.
"Thanks, can you grab me a coke." Spencer replied, earning herself a raised eyebrow from the brunette sitting quite close to her.
"Only a coke?" Ashley asked, amusement swirling in her dark caramel colored eyes.
"Yes, only a coke, I'm really not that big of a drinker."
At all. Spencer met Ashley's gaze, daring her to say something.
Brandi snorted with laughter, "Not a big drinker is an understatement, Spencer is the worst drinker ever. A couple wine coolers and she's bombed. I bet elves have a higher tolerance than Spence."
"Elves are real?" Ashley inquired genuinely intrigued. Hey, with everything else, why couldn't they be real? She reasoned.
"No, Brandi's just messing around." Spencer grinned, noting incredibly cute Ashley looked with her eyebrows wrinkled in concentration. "And not everyone has the tolerance of a 200 pound Viking like you, Brandi."
"Whatever, lightweight. Hey, Ash, you want to come with to help carry the drinks?"
Ashley nodded and stood up.
"I'll be right back." She sweetly smiled at Spencer before rushing to follow Brandi's rapidly disappearing form.
"So, Spencer, how are things going with Ashley?" Kegan asked as soon as the girl in question was a few feet away from the table. "Any clue on what side she's leaning towards?"
"Things are going fine." Spencer cautiously replied, not wanting to lie but obviously unable to tell the complete truth. "As for what side, I have no clue. It's only been a week. She's still getting settled in."
"That's good, I'm glad she chose you over Madison and Aiden to show her around."
"Yeah, me too. She's fun to be around."
"Not to mention easy on the eyes, huh?" Kegan winked at Spencer.
"I, uh, hadn't really noticed." She stammered
"Sure…." Kegan laughed, "because I didn't notice you checking her out all day when ever she was trying on clothes."
"What?!" Spencer exclaimed with forced outrage, "It's not considered checking her out when she asked for my opinion on every single thing she tried on."
"Funny that, she never asked Brandi's opinion…" Kegan continued to push, enjoying teasing his far too serious friend, which, coming from Kegan said a lot.
"Err, maybe she just doesn't like Brandi's fashion sense?" Spencer lamely offered, willing herself not to blush…and failing miserably.
Really what could she say? That she knew Ashley was trying to get a reaction out of her by trying on outfit after outfit that got progressively skimpier. That little episode finally ending when Spencer had to rush out of the shop to "go and uh...buy a book" so as to avoid seeing Ashley in a very very small two piece bikini.
God. Not that she didn't want to. She just didn't want to make a spectacle of herself by ending up in a puddle of her own drool.
"Here you go babe."
Their conversation thankfully interrupted from Spencer's perspective as Brandi suddenly reappeared to hand Kegan his drink. She wasn't sure how much more red her face could have gotten before it spontaneously combusted.
Spencer glanced around looking for Ashley and caught her laughing with a guy who was carrying the rest of their drinks. He looked vaguely familiar to Spencer though she couldn't quite place him.
"Ashley seems to have made a new friend at the bar." Brandi commented
"I noticed." Spencer said casually, not wanting to make a huge deal out of it even though her stomach was all of a sudden in knots and the tips of her ears burning red.
Hey, her eyes are higher, jerk.
"And I noticed you noticing." Brandi took a sip of her drink, watching Spencer carefully. She'd suspected all afternoon that her blonde friend had a thing for the In Betweens new arrival.
Spencer reluctantly tore her eyes away from Ashley and her new 'friend' to look at Brandi.
"Yeah, well, it is my job, to make sure she's okay and everything…"
Ugh. You are so lame. Spencer internally chastised herself. Way to hide your jealousy.'
"I'm sure she's fine, it's only Liam." Kegan said.
"Liam…Liam, the Sports Muse?" The light suddenly went on as Spencer mentally placed where she knew the guy from.
"Yep, that would be him. He's a really good Muse. He was the inspiration behind quite a few Bruins wins." Kegan replied.
"Hmmm" Spencer replied turning her attention back to Liam and Ashley. He could be the best Sports Muse ever as far as she was concerned but it still didn't give him the right to stand that close to Ashley.
Brandi and Kegan shared a knowing look. Kegan had called it earlier in the week and after the day of shopping, Brandi was convinced. They both knew that Spencer was officially hooked.
Finally Ashley and Liam made their way over to the table.
About time, thought Spencer critically appraising Liam. He was better than okay looking with his broad shoulders, muscular arms and thick black hair, though he still didn't seem like Ashley's type. He had former frat boy written all over him.
"Hey, you guys, do you know Liam?" Ashley asked the group, her eyes piercing Spencer's.
Spencer felt an unspoken challenge in her stare, though she wasn't exactly sure what Ashley was challenging her to.
"Hey, yeah, Liam, how are you?" Kegan shook the large hand in front of him.
Spencer scowled at her supposed 'friend' for fraternizing with the enemy.
Well, he could be the enemy. You never knew which side those Muses were on. It has nothing to do with the fact that his stupid, hairy arm keeps brushing up against Ashley's.
"Hi." Spencer gave him her best fake smile. "I've seen you around, though I don't think we've ever met. I'm Spencer."
"Hey, Spencer, I think we might have met once a long time ago. I'm friends with your brother, Glen." Liam nodded towards her. Spencer barely suppressed an eye roll; of course he would be friends with Glen. Her brother liked being a Reaper but often talked about becoming a Sports Muse.
"Maybe, I don't really remember." Spencer shrugged dismissively. She grabbed her drink off the table from where Liam had set it before putting his hairy, meaty arm around Ashley's perfectly smooth, bare shoulders.
Spencer was really regretting telling the brunette how great the halter top looked on her earlier, she should have told her to wear a few layers of clothes if she knew some frat boy wannabe would have his paws all over her.
Ashley leaned closer into Liam, laughing as she jokingly pushed him for whatever he had just said.
Spencer angrily drank her coke, almost finishing the entire drink in one go. She suddenly realized that coke just wouldn't do. She was going to need something much stronger if she was going to make it through the night without blurting out something horribly embarrassing or rude.
'Hey! Her nose crinkling smile is only for me, moron!'
"I'm going to get another drink." Spencer abruptly stood up, stalking passed Liam and Ashley on her way to the bar.
Spencer pushed her way to the bar, barely noticing any of the people around her. Her thoughts were focused too much on the fact that Ashley was hanging all over that meat head back there and barely even looking at her. She wasn't one to be jealous, so it really bothered her how much it was getting to her.
"May I get a vodka cranberry, please?" She ordered. Her fingers drummed on the polished bar, fidgeting with annoyance at the situation she had found herself in. It wasn't' as if she could go up to Liam and tell him to get his hands off of Ashley, the last thing either of them needed was a scene at the club with everyone around sure to talk.
Unfortunately, for Spencer, she was a pretty well known Fate in Los Angeles. She'd been around long enough to know almost every Fate, Light, dark and Gray, not to mention most of the Reapers and quite a few Muses. She was well liked and people tended to expect more from her, most likely because she had always been the perfect little Light Fate since day one. In fact she had only ever let her Superiors down once. It was a mistake she was hoping never to make again. So if it got out that she was crushing on the girl she was suppose to be helping, it wouldn't look very good, at all. Especially if her…
"Aw, look, Gauge, it's Lonely Lesbian Night at the bar. We should have invited Carmen." Madison's grating voice interrupted Spencer's thoughts.
'Great and now my night's complete.' Spencer cringed as she turned around.
Standing in front of her was Madison, draped on the arm of her boyfriend, Gauge, like a cheap ten dollar hooker, with an outfit to match. "Madison. So glad to see you found the time to get off your back and get out for once."
"Whatever, puta, at least I have someone who wants me. Looks like our girl found her own fun for the night." Madison smirked as she looked over at Ashley and Liam, who now had both his arms circling Ashley's waist while he whispered something in her ear.
Spencer followed Madison's gaze, her stomach feeling like she had just gotten off a rollercoaster as she watched them flirt, apparently oblivious to anyone else around them.
"I hope he also wants that raging case of the clap I hear you have as well." Spencer snapped, irritated that somehow Madison even saw right through her.
Sherri, or was it Carrie? Whatever, one of Madison's plastic cronies was snickered off to the side of Madison. The Latina turned around and gave her a vicious glare, causing the girl to shrink back, hanging her head in deference. Gauge just stood there looking bored by the entire exchange. His dark eyes wandering around the club, no doubt looking to trade up for the night, at least that's what any other rational person would do if they were stuck with Madison.
"You better watch yourself, Spencer. You wouldn't want it to get out that you're pining over the new girl. I mean, what would mommy think if her own pride and joy was breaking some very serious rules?" Madison gloated, knowing she had scored a direct hit when Spencer flinched for just a split second before quickly recovering, a fake look of disinterest on her face.
"Please, Madison, you don't know anything. Your mouth is moving but all I hear is wahwahwah wah wah wahwah wah." Spencer pushed past Madison, roughly shoulder checking her on the way through.
"Just remember, Spencer, I'm watching you." Madison called out. "Did you see how upset she got? Oh yeah she so has it bad." She gloated to a still very bored Gauge.
"Maybe but you know Spencer, even if she does like that new chick, she'll never try anything before the 90 days is up, she's too much of a goody goody." Gauge sneered. He had no respect for people who were to afraid to go after what they wanted, when they wanted. To him Light Fates were just a bunch of scared wussies, hiding behind their council so they never really had to take a chance. They used their path as a way of depriving themselves of truly giving into their true desires, somehow thinking that made them better than everyone else.
"Then I guess we'll just have to make sure something happens between them. Alazzar made it clear that no matter what I do, Ashley can not choose to any other path but Dark."
The wheels were already turning in Madison's head.
Regardless of how, she was going to make sure that not only did Ashley choose the Dark path, but Spencer was going to be knocked down quite a few pegs in the process.
Spencer stumbled back to her table an hour later with quite a few more drinks under her belt.
After leaving Madison, she'd found herself a seat at the other end of the bar and attempted to numb her sorrows.
A couple other Light Fates she knew had come up and started chatting with her.
And whilst she had been pleasant and made easy small talk, her commitment to any conversation had been minimal as she couldn't keep her attention from straying back to the dance floor where Liam was dancing with Ashley. Although his version of dancing apparently just consisted him hanging all over her while grinding into her backside.
Finally, at the sight of Liam sliding his hand under Ashley's shirt to place it directly on the skin against her hard abs, Spencer could no longer pretend to make pointless small talk and gave up, leaving the bar. She sat down heavily in on the chair across from Kegan and Brandi, her back to the dance floor and the horror that was happening there.
"There you are. I was about to send Kegan out to find you." Brandi pretended to chastise the missing blonde.
"I ran into a couple friends at the other end of the bar." Spencer shrugged, not as drunk as she'd like to be, but definitely not sober.
"Did you notice Madison and her cronies slithering around?" Brandi asked. She was perched on Kegan's lap having deciding that spot was much more comfortable than the hard stool she had fallen off just minutes before Spencer had gotten there.
Brandi was a bit more drunk than Spencer.
"Unfortunately, I ran into her. She cornered me at the bar."
"Ewww, now you have to get disinfected, who knows what kind of STDs you could have contracted just being in the same breathing space as her." Brandi giggled. Kegan just rolled his eyes are his girlfriend.
"Tell me about it, I feel like I have to take a long hot bath in bleach."
"Now that doesn't sound like any fun." Ashley said, sitting down next to Spencer.
"Where's Liam?" Spencer coldly asked, upset that not only had Ashley ignored her all night but for some swarmy guy that couldn't seem to bring his eyes up a foot to look into her deep soulful brown eyes. How could someone be that close to Ashley and not look, let alone get lost in those eyes?
"He's getting us more drinks." Ashley ignored the less than enthusiastic greeting from Spencer.
"How nice of him, better make sure he doesn't slip something into yours."
"Ok, I have to go to the bathroom," Ashley stood up, grabbing Spencer's arm, "Excuse us." She said as she dragged a protesting Spencer from the table.
"What is your problem?" Ashley asked as soon as the door closed behind them.
"Nothing? Why do you ask?" Spencer innocently asked, or at least she hope she sounded innocent and not like the raging, jealous brat she felt like.
"Nothing? You could have fooled me. You disappear for most of the night, barely saying a word to me since we got here and then you start making snide little remarks as soon as you do seem me again." Ashley ran her hand through her chestnut curls.
"You seemed a little busy, what with hanging all over that…that…frat boy." Spencer was frustrated, not able to find the words she needed to explain why she was so upset but without actually telling Ashley why she was upset.
"Ugh, seriously, Spence, what is your problem? Jealous?" Ashley shot back, pushing the blonde.
Spencer whipped her head up from where she was looking at the tile on the bathroom floor. "What? No."
"Good, it's not like I'm your girlfriend." Seeing the hurt in Spencer's eyes, Ashley realized that she had pushed too far. "Look, I was just making a new friend, Spence, nothing more." She explained in a much softer tone.
But it was too late, Ashley had hit a little too close to home for Spencer and even though she wasn't a vindictive person, it was still too fresh to quickly brush off Ashley's comment. "Fine, you know what, make friends with who ever. I don't care. You're free to be friends with whoever you want. I'm going home. Catch a ride with Kegan or yournew friend."
And with that Spencer stormed out of the bathroom, a mess of conflicting emotions and wants.
Ashley just stood there. Her plan to make Spencer jealous had fallen into a heap around her as she realized that maybe she had taken things further than she should have.
Rashly Ashley strikes again.
Spencer lay on her bed staring at the ceiling, replaying the conversation with Ashley in the bathroom over and over again in her head
She'd been home for over an hour, having already showered and changed into her pajama's.
A part of her felt horrible at just leaving Ashley there at the club, while the other irrational part was still upset at being blown off all night.
She hadn't expected Ashley to be all over her or anything, even though they had been subtly, or maybe not quite so subtly as everyone around seemed to pick up on it, flirting all day.
'Maybe I should call her to make sure she got in okay?' Spencer contemplated when a soft knock on her door caused her to spring up off her bed in a flash. She knew the only person who would be knocking on her door at that time of night.
"Hey." Ashley softly said as Spencer opened the door.
"Hey."
Neither one knew what to say to the other. They just stood there staring into each other's eyes, waiting to see who would break the silence first.
"Can I come in?" a slight hesitation could be heard in Ashley's voice. Spencer stood back, allowing the shorter girl to enter.
"I'm sorry I left you at the club and for the completely insane way I was acting." Spencer quickly said as she closed her door.
She turned around to find Ashley standing directly in front of her, barely a couple steps away. Spencer's heart rate doubled at how close Ashley was.
"No, I'm sorry, Spencer. I'm sorry that I tried to push you, I'm sorry I wasted a second of tonight with the most obnoxious guy around when I could have been spending it with the most amazing girl instead." Ashley took a small step closer, "I'm sorry I was acting like an ass."
"Why? Why would you hang all over Liam if you weren't even interested?" Spencer's voice trembled ever so slightly, afraid of the answer.
"Because I wanted to make you jealous, so that maybe you would finally do something." Ashley plainly stated.
Ashley's words hung in the small space between them.
"I don't understand… what do you want?" Spencer whispered, though a part of her did understand and definitely knew what Ashley wanted.
It was the same thing she wanted.
Ashley took the last small step that separated them, leaning in and finally pressing her lips against Spencer's.
She wrapped her arms around the blonde, pulling her close.
It took Spencer two heart beats to fully comprehend Ashley's lips pressed against hers.
So much softer than she had imagined.
Spencer wrapped her arms around Ashley's neck for support as Ashley deepened the kiss. She was sure her legs would give out at any moment.
She had kissed plenty of people in her time but none had felt so right, so perfect as Ashley's lips did against her own. Through the thin fabric of her tank top, she could feel Ashley's heart beating just as hard as her own.
Spencer felt warm and tingly all over. All thoughts of how wrong this was or how much trouble she could be in flew out of her mind, because any amount of trouble was worth this feeling, was worth the way Ashley made her feel.
Ashley gently bit on Spencer's bottom lip, then ran her tongue over it, asking for permission to enter. She felt Spencer's velvet tongue caress her own in response. They continued exploring each other's mouths in a slow sensual dance. Ashley couldn't even compare this kiss to any she had ever had before because none had caused her heart to race as much or made her feel so incredibly safe as Spencer's was making her feel. None had ever felt as right as this first kiss she was sharing with Spencer.
Finally, reluctantly, they both pulled apart to take a few much needed breaths.
"You," Ashley whispered against Spencer's lips, "I only want you."