Chapter 22 "Downtown" Peaches

Bright lights flooded the interior of the hybrid town car as the left door swung open. Photographers were snapping pictures. Cameras were rolling video. The warm California air carried the voices of the masses trying to get her attention.

"Ashley over here"

"Davies this way"

"Congratulations!"

"Ashley you look amazing"

"Marry me Ash!"

"Ashley I love you." Adoring fans and strangers alike spewing words, all hoping to get the brunette's attention.

The glow grew brighter inside the hybrid town car as the right door now swung open. More cameras were rolling, more pictures were snapped and more words of adoration were declared.

"Spencer!"

"Ms. Carlin this way"

"Spencer we love you"

"Damn girl you're fine!"

"Congratulations!" The blonde waved, smiled and thanked them generously for their adulation before being pulled into the vehicle by a petite hand with a strong grip.

The crowd of people swarmed the vehicle, as the doors closed and the vehicle slowly drove off.

"Congratulations Baby!" Spencer gushed at the gorgeous brunette sitting by her side.

"Congratulations Baby!" Ashley reciprocated as she leaned in and gave the beautiful blonde a short but tender kiss.

"You were amazing up there." Spencer remembered biting her bottom lip. Recalling the sweet words her girlfriend expressed during her acceptance speech.

"No. You were amazing… And you look, even more amazing." Ashley rasped as her eyes wandered over Spencer's exquisite form.

"Well, you would look amazing too if you had a throng of professionals touching you up every 5 seconds." Spencer said sarcastically.

"I do and I did" Ashley was coy.

"Yeah… you really do look … 'amazing'" Spencer swooned, even with the overuse of the word amazing. She couldn't help it; everything WAS amazing, especially her girlfriend.

"You know what would be even more amazing?" Ashley smirked.

"What?" Spencer arched an eyebrow, knowing her mischievous other half so well.

"If you were naked."

"Ash" Spencer protested, sort of.

"Oh no don't worry, I'll be naked too" Ashley deadpanned as she picked up Spencer's left leg and removed the heel sitting on her foot, kindly massaging her leg in the process. She did the same with the right one. Spencer was easily starting to cave.

"Baby… we have like a million after parties to go to…" Ashley ignored Spencer as she started undoing the zipper from her own black gown. Pulling the dress over her head, she managed NOT to ruin her meticulously crafted hair. This WASN'T her first time. "… and uhm… family…"-Spencer momentarily forgot how to breath-"…is at party…" The brunette's flawless body always impressed her. ALWAYS. Plus Ashley was wearing a sexy lacey garter belt. Spencer REALLY liked garter belts. "…Oh…" The brunette slyly made her way over and straddled the blonde. Spencer couldn't help but wrap her arms around her favorite asset on her girlfriend, gently squeezing the exposed toned cheeks. Ashley started running her fingertips down Spencer's exposed neckline. She slowly leaned in and started kissing her neck and licking her collarbone. "I haay"-her breath hitched-"...hate it… when you do that"

"I know." Ashley smirked as she slipped her hands down the side of Spencer's canary yellow dress and started working on the zipper. "…be prepared to be tortured." The brunette worked her way back up to the blonde's lips and began to convince her with her even more persuasive tongue. Spencer squeezed tighter unquestionably affected by the passion in which Ashley's tongue licked her lips. "Oh… just don't make me bleed, my next dress is white."

"Baby …we can't…" Spencer managed to breathe. Ashley looked deeply into the blue eyes, attempting to find an actual sign of objection. She didn't, so she kissed her again, sweetly and slowly.

"Yes we can."-She whispered in the blonde's ear-"We're like a 'Hollywood Hot Couple' right now… It's like EXPECTED that we have hot sex in the limo on the way to the after party" Ashley gently sucked on Spencer's lobe making the tiny sensors on her neck stand on end. The brunette was really making her case.

"Expected?" Spencer managed to spill between moans.

"Yup…" Ashley kissed Spencer again, this time with a little more fervor. "And you know how much I hate to disappoint people…" Ashley put on her best pout. She started grazing Spencer's features with the soft tips of her fingers, her index finger landed precisely on her lip, partially in her mouth. "…Besides you totally turned me on up there with that speech and I didn't get to see you the whole night after that… you owe me."

"I owe you?" The blonde sucked on the finger before Ashley pulled it out and kissed Spencer again, this time Spencer pulled the brunette closer.

"Yup…" Ashley started sliding Spencer's dress off of her body. "Plus… don't you think you'll have more fun at the party after you've had an 'Ashley Davies special' with a mind blowing orgasm on top?"

Ashley let her expert hands work the dress off while her equally talented tongue followed closely behind, trailing the length of the blue eyed beauty's body. She managed to unhinge the dress off her without hassle and the brunette found her head perfectly nestled between long smooth legs.

"Awww I found my heart." Ashley kissed the tiny red heart that was imprinted right below the blonde girl's hipbone. It had recently been altered to house a small script 'A' within it. She allowed her lips to linger in the smooth area before slowly sliding her lips to the blonde's center.

"Ash." The blonde's breath became erratic as the brunette worked her magic, biting and nibbling just the way she liked it. "Ash…" Spencer's pitch went up a little higher as she aggressively forced her girlfriend's head a little closer, making the contact between her tongue and the silky material more invasive. More exciting. More orgasmic. "Ash. Ashley…"


"Ash... Ashley!" Spencer finished.

"Hmmm" Ashley was finally broken from her trance.

"Honey, Ms. Couric is asking you a question."

"Ms.? Oh no Spencer. Call me Katie?"

"Oh I'm sorry, how rude of me… is there a Mr. Couric?"

"Oh no. Not for a long time." Katie blushed again.

"Babe. What the hell!" Ashley was fully alert now.

"Ash, Katie was asking you a question." Spencer was oblivious to her very own charm.

"Yeah and you were flirting." Ashley whispered huffily at Spencer.

"Baby I wasn't… and she can hear you."

"I'm sorry. Do you need a moment?" Katie apologized. Spencer gave Ashley one of her special 'behave' stares and the brunette quickly reconsidered.

"No. Sorry Katie. I'm just a little flustered right now. What were you saying?"

"I was just explaining that in the next segment we're going to come in with a clip of Spencer's speech at the Academy Awards and I was hoping you would share with us how you felt when she addressed you."

"Oh right. The speech. Yeah it was… hot. I was totally turned on" Ashley's mind reverting back to the thought of them in the limo as a result of that speech.

"Ash!" Spencer was now the one flustered.

"What! It's true. You remember don't you?" Ashley asked smugly.

"Maybe you shouldn't ask that question." Spencer suggested.

"Yeah probably not. Ok we'll just come back from the clip and Spencer you can continue telling us the story. Does that sound good?"

"I think I can handle that."

"That and a lot more" Ashley added as she winked. Spencer just shook her head not phased by her girlfriend's overtly sexual innuendos.


"… and most importantly I want to thank MY girl. My rock. My love… Baby look, I got one too! …I love you. I need you and I'll always want you… Thank you." Spencer was standing on the stage of the Kodak theatre. The lights were shinning on her as if she was glowing. Ashley swore she looked like an angel. The crowd stood up and gave Spencer a standing ovation. The camera cut to a quick reaction shot of Ashley as she mouthed 'I love you' back.


"That was a clip of Spencer Carlin's speech at the academy awards. Welcome Spencer, thank you for joining us."

"Thank you Katie"

"Yes. Welcome Dear" Ashley chimed in.

"Thank you Dear." Spencer smiled at her often-dorky girlfriend.

"Before the commercial break Ashley shared with the viewers at home that you professed your love for Ms. Davies in front of a inebriated crowd of people and even managed to punch someone along the way. Why don't you tell us a little bit more about that?"

"Oh my god! That's so embarrassing. For the record I apologized like a million times to Sandy after that. She's actually a good friend of ours. Thank god! Otherwise she probably would've sued or something… But she does use it to her advantage on game board night like all the time."

"Actually, she forgave Spencer because I hooked her up with Lily that night. They've been together ever since." Ashley corrected.

"Oh. So you didn't leave the bar with Sandy?" Katie asked trying to get to the bottom of things.

"No way. I mean I was mad at Spence sure, but I couldn't do that. Still it was pretty cool that Spencer thought I did."

"Yeah super cool" Spencer added sarcastically.

"Oh that's a relief." Katie was actually relieved.

"Well yeah, now, but for like three days I kept thinking about Ash and Sandy all naked and sweaty in her bed. That wasn't fun." Spencer cringed.

"So what did you do?" Katie's curiosity took over her once again.

"Well I kept calling her and texting her and IM-ing her, but nothing. She'd either ignore me or tell me she was busy."

"Oh that must've of been heartbreaking?" Katie Couric concluded.

"It was, but after three days I decided to take matters into my own hands."

"Pshh! Three days?! No way! It was more like a week, a whole week. Work days and weekends included." Ashley defended.

"Baby it was three days."

"Nah-uh. I remember I held out much longer than three days."

"Whatever… So, 'FIVE' days went by and she finally picked up her phone…"


"Hello?" Ashley answered her phone after ignoring Spencer for six days.

"Hey!" Spencer was shocked to actually hear her voice

"…Hi" Ashley was trying her hardest to play it cool.

"So… do you have time to talk to me today? Or are you busy again?"

"Actually… I… uhm was just getting ready to leave… "

"oohh… that's funny…"

"What?"

"It's just that you always listen to Kelly Clarkson when you get ready and … well you're not… So…"

"What!? Don't you dare ever repeat that to anyone! …and how do you…?"

"…I'm right outside you're door."

"What?" Ashley got up from her nest on her bed (where she'd obviously been hibernating for six days) to open the door for Spencer or check to see if she's bluffing. She wasn't.

"Wow this is a little creepy stalker-ish don't you think?" Ashley was sarcastic and mean when she was sad.

"Yeah well you're being a little Asshole-y avoider-ish don't you think?"

Ashley let Spencer in and they both stood awkwardly in the middle of the loft.

"Why didn't you just use your key?" Ashley asked the sullen blonde in her apartment.

"Well I didn't want to…"

"…seem like a stalker?" Ashley concluded.

"No… walk-in on you or something… with Sandy or whomever" Spencer cringed at the thought.

"Ohh" Ashley smirked, impressed that she made the blonde jealous again.

"I thought you were leaving?"- Spencer quickly changed the subject-"Not that I oppose those short…"-Spencer gulped when she looked down to inspect the rest of Ashley's get up-"short… shorts as actual outerwear…"

"We'll I was but… I'm having a bad eyebrow day"


"Bad eyebrow day?"

"Yes Katie Couric, it's a thing"

"Yeah it's her thing. She's actually had this eyebrow complex since high school. She wouldn't leave the house if her eyebrows weren't perfect."

"Babe!" Ashley protested.

"What?" Spencer asked innocently

"You're making me sound crazy."

"You are baby, but that's why I love you." Ashley blushed and quickly rolled her eyes to overcompensate for her mushy concession.

Katie Couric looked at both girls in admiration. How two people could still be so smitten even after five years was beyond her.

"… just tell the story..." Ashley pressed.

"so anyway…


"What? … You're eyebrows are fine. Let me see." Spencer walked over to where Ashley was awkwardly standing in her short-short shorts and tank top. She held Ashley's face between her hands and softly began to caress the arches above her eyes. She'd done this plenty of times before. Except this time it felt different. This time there was a forbidden sensation to it. Ashley was quickly turning into putty. She let the sweet scent of Spencer overwhelm her. She let the soft tips of Spencer's long fingers envelop her. She let the bright blue eyes penetrate her brown ones. Damn those blue eyes and the death they would bring her.

"No." Ashley said, resentfully shaking her head.

"No?" Spencer asked a slowly retreating brunette.

"No… Ugh! …"-Ashley crossed her arms petulantly-"…You know, Pat Benatar warned me about you… 'Heartbreaker!'" Ashley said seriously.

"…Yeah well… Pat Benatar said 'Love is a Battlefield'…. so deal with it…." Spencer deadpanned knowing how to counter her friend's musical references.

"Yeah and she said 'We Belong Together'… what do you think about that?"

"I think Pat Benatar needs to make up her fucking mind" They both can't help but laugh at the turn their conversation took. "This is stupid!"

"I KNOW! ….Pat Benatar IS a genius" Ashley was serious again

"Aaaaash…"

"Speeence"

Spencer walked over to where Ashley was standing and took hold of her hand. This time Ashley didn't flinch or retreat.

"It's true though. We do belong together. I love you."


"… And that was it. She forgave me and we've been happily ever after since"

"Oh that was easy…" Katie was surprised.

"Ugh… As if!" Ashley scoffed at the prematurely ended tale.

"What?" Spencer asked bewildered.

"I believe you're lying" Ashley stated matter-of-factly.

"What?" Spencer scoffed at the accusation.

"Are you saying there are discrepancies in Spencer's version of the story?" Katie urged.

"No. I'm saying she's lying." Ashley defended.

"Baby?"

"Babe! If you're going to tell the story of the best night of my life you better tell it whole. None of this 'I'm a big loser crap'… plus hello you're forgetting about the THING."

"Honey we talked about this, and we agreed that we would OMIT a few details." Spencer reminded her.

"I'm not talking about the sex… Although Katie let me tell you if was… Amazing!" Ashley gushed.

"Ashley! My mother is going to watch this."

"Spence your mom's a doctor. She's hip to human nature. She knows we have sex."

"We can cut this right?" Spencer asked Katie as professionally as possible.

"Yeah sure. My producer is telling me he wants to re-shoot this segment anyway. Technical issues. Why don't we take a five minute break and we'll come back and start the segment over?" Katie lied a professional lie.

"Thank you Katie" Spencer was grateful for such an understanding host.

"Of course." Katie smiled perceptively. It had been a long time since Mr. Couric, but she still remembered the lovely bickering,

"You're lucky this isn't live." Spencer admonished Ashley once Katie was out of hearing range.

"I'm lucky? If you weren't a big fat liar we wouldn't have to re-shoot this thing in the first place."

"Ash what are you talking about?"

"Oh don't play dumb with me. We've already established that you're a genius. Why didn't you tell the story right?!"

"I did." Spencer defended.

"Yeah and you left out the best part."

"Did I?" Spencer feigned ignorance.

"Jerk."

"You don't like it either do you?"

"Seriously? You're getting back at me for that whole Barbara Walters thing now? I've already apologized my brains out… and yours too." Ashley smirked. Spencer shook her head and ignored the sexual comment.

"…I know… This was actually supposed to be funny though."

"Well it wasn't funny." Ashley pouted.

"I know. It was the producer's idea… It would've worked though... but you had to go and overreact and start acting like a big baby and ruin everything… Ruiner."

"I'm not a ruiner"

"You're a ruiner. You ruin people's lives …and interviews."

"Ha Ha very funny 'Mean Girl'" Ashley rolled her eyes but was already affected by her girlfriend's smirk. Ashley couldn't help but smile back.

"Are we ready to re-shoot?" Katie asked once she saw the two girls smiling.

"Yes." Spencer nodded.

"Not until I get some sugar." Ashley demanded.

"Oh sorry." Spencer kissed Ashley on the lips "Oh and don't say sugar… you sound weird."

"Yeah I know..."

"Ok. Let's try this again…" Katie Couric said as she took her seat across from the couple in the love seat. They were all eager to get the show on the road and share the inevitably happy ending


Next time on 'The Sweetest Thing': "Why the hell are you wearing a trench coat? It's like a hundred degrees out!"


A/N: Thanks again for all the kind words. You guys rock.