Chapter 24 "Mine for Life" The Sounds
"Spencer I have to tell you something."
Ashley's eyes were no longer gleaming like they were just minutes ago, when life seemed to be falling into place so perfectly. They were sullen now, filled with ache and a slight hint of insanity. She wondered why life was this complicated and fucked up, maybe someone up there didn't like her very much. She didn't think she'd been that bad though.
"What?" Spencer sat up and braced her self. It was never a good sign when Ashley started with 'I have to tell you something'. Last time she muttered those words they ended up not talking for a week. This time was no different; in fact she took it as a bad sign when Ashley started shaking and sweating as she tried to find the right words to continue. Spencer silently cursed herself, she'd know all along this was too good to be true. How could she even allow herself to ever think otherwise?
"You remember my agent right?"
"Yeah. Ethan... Oh my god is he ok?" Spencer's beautiful mind once again jumping to absurd conclusions (he had NOT in fact been disfigured in a violent gang fight between the Jets and the Sharks.)
"Yeah he's fine… Actually right now he's probably still doing the running man in his living room… He's very excited."
"Did you sleep with him?" Apparently there was no room for tact in Spencer's world. She couldn't help it, she was panicked and petrified and up until a few weeks ago she wouldn't even have doubted it.
"Ewww no! Spencer!" Ashley was incredulous but not really. Spencer always jumped to ridiculous conclusions. She was used to it.
"Sorry." Spencer's eyes fell, she looked like a little sad pup and Ashley was such a sucker for the distraught puppy eyes. She couldn't stand to hurt the beautiful girl anymore.
"I can't do this."
"Do what?" Spencer looked up preparing herself for rejection.
"This…"-pointing at Spencer-"I can't tell you this while you're naked looking super sexy between my sheets… " The brunette smirked attempting to lighten the mood.
"Ash!" Spencer wasn't having it though.
"I know. I'm a sick, sick person" Ashley tried anyway.
"Ashley what did you do?" Spencer was done beating around the bush. If she was going to be heartbroken again she might as well get it over with. Quick. Like a band-aid or a Kate Hudson relationship.
"I'mGoingToNewYorkToRecordASongForStefani'sNewAlbum…" Ashley blurted out in one breath.
"What?! Oh my god! …You're going to sing?!" Spencer's eyes widened in disbelief and excitement.
"Yeah." Ashley smiled unable to fight the contagious smile spread on Spencer's lips.
"Ahhh! Oh my god! This is incredible!" Spencer flailed her arms around Ashley's neck hugging her tightly.
"I don't even know who Stefani is… But I'm sure you'll make her a superstar!" Spencer was beyond thrilled.
"Oh I'm sorry. Stefani, you know Lady Gaga."
"Oh my GOD!!! I LOVE LADY GAGA!!" Spencer freaked out, in a good way.
"I know." Ashley was still very calm, but loving how excited Spencer was for her.
"Oh my god!! This is huge!" Spencer couldn't even begin to wrap her brain around it.
"Yeah well, they want me to have major hype before my debut album comes out next year." Ashley delivered the life changing news as if talking about the weather and not the kind that brings storms.
"WHAT!?!?!? You're recording your OWN album? AAAAAAHHHH! That's amazing!!! Ashleeeeeey!!! …"Spencer's pitch reached new heights. She might've broken the sound barrier with that squeal. If Ashley had any neighbors, she was sure they would complain.
The blonde couldn't contain herself as she tackled the brunette and squeezed the life into her. Ashley didn't mind that position at all. She liked it when Spencer was on top.
"Wow I should get record deals more often…" Ashley smiled coyly and wrapped her arms around the gorgeous blonde's petite waist.
"Uh huh…" Spencer leaned in and kissed her sweetly. "I have a thing for hot rocker princesses"
"Oh… Then you might want to reconsider…"
"Never" This time the blonde kissed her with a little more fervor. With a little more passion. With a little more tongue. Spencer definitely had a thing for hot rocker princesses. Well, maybe just the one.
"Spencer, your making it hard for my brain to work when you do that…" Spencer was lightly kissing Ashley's neck. She'd recently learned how to get the brunette worked up. Apparently it didn't take much.
"Don't worry, what I'm about to do to you doesn't require your brain at all…" Spencer sucked on Ashley's earlobe. Damn that beautiful evil genius.
"Oh…but I… oh… thought you… Mmmm… wanted me to tell you?" Ashley managed between shivers. The blonde was beautiful AND talented.
"Tell me what?" Spencer mumbled, too busy taste testing a Davies to look up.
"…That I'm moving to France…"
"You're moving to France!"Spencer yelped right in Ashley's ear.
"Yeah. Why else would everyone be speaking French in my dream? ...and by 'speaking French' I mean reciting phrases and landmarks I'd learned after reading those French books my assistant sent me..."
"... and by 'books' she means French Vogue and Cartoon Network" Spencer teased.
"Oh... " Katie Couric stifled a chuckle.
"I picked up the language rather quickly though..." Ashley defended.
"Yes my little Einstein…" Spencer proudly kissed Ashley's cheek. Ashley was so whipped.
"What do you mean you're moving to France?" Spencer asked befuddled no longer indulging in her new favorite flavor: Ashley's neck.
"Only for a little while…" Ashley cringed from underneath the hovering blonde.
"Why?" She still didn't get it.
"…Well with the shitty economy the record company doesn't really want to invest in a finger picking acoustic album… They want to make stuff that's popular, that people will flock to the stores and buy. They want more Britney's and less Sia's"
"…but Britney didn't move to France."
"I know and I DON'T want to be Britney. Except for the part where I'm working with Madonna in France, I'm NOTHING like her." Ashley stressed.
"Oh my god!"-The news hitting as quickly as it was delivered-"You're working with the Material Girl!?" Spencer enthused. Only Ashley could get someone like Madonna to work on a debut album.
"Spence I can't take you serious when you talk about Madge that way…"
"Oh my god! That's freaking incredible!!" Spencer was in awe.
"Well not really, did you forget I know people?" Spencer glared at Ashley unconvinced. "Ok I'm lying, it is pretty awesome!" The brunette grinned triumphantly.
"Wow you're going to be famous!!!" Spencer gushed, still very excited.
"Maybe…"
"Are you insane!? Working with Madonna definitely guarantees you a VIP booth at Applebee's and probably even T.G.I. Friday's." The excited blonde teased the way-to-cool brunette.
"Yeah and working with M.I.A, Lily Allen and Yelle will definitely get me in the front of the line at the DMV" Ashley added.
"WOW! … You're going to make the hit pop album of the year!!!…"
"I know, isn't that terrible? I drew the line at Fergie though, but I'm pretty sure my dad is going to be tossing in his grave anyway." Ashley actually looked distraught.
"Are you kidding? Your dad would be soooo proud of you…" Spencer squeezed Ashley's face before kissing her reassuringly. This was way better than she'd anticipated. Making a hit pop album would hardly qualify as bad news.
"I was able to convince the record company to let me work with Tegan on one song though… so that's not a total loss."
"Refresh my mind… What's a Tegan?"
"Awww Spence you're so cute…"-Ashley kissed the tip of the blonde's nose-"…you know Tegan, from Tegan and Sara? Remember we went to go see them at the Henry Fonda?"
"You take me to see a lot of bands…" Spencer reminded.
"Yeah but you really LOVED them… remember they are the twins? …Who are lesbians? …and then Sally said that was freaky and maybe they should be in the circus…"
"Oh right. I do love Tegan and Sara … And Sally is such an ass."
"She's harmless… she just loves attention."
"So when do you leave?
"Two weeks…"
"Oh Wow… That's soon…"
"Yeah Stefani, I mean Lady Gaga, has a really tight schedule… so we're squeezing in sessions between shows and photo shoots…"
"So… how long are you going to be gone?" This was the question that neither girl actually wanted an answer to. Spencer hesitated, she knew she might not like the answer, but she had to know.
"Six months…" Ashley cringed.
"Six months…?" Spencer felt that familiar lump rising in the back of her throat.
"Six months…" Ashley muttered as if trying to convince herself it was true.
"Oh." Spencer couldn't hide the blatant disappointment written all over her face. She tried but she was terrible at facades and Ashley could see her heart was aching.
"I'll cancel it. I won't go." Ashley was haste; she would do anything to prevent the girl from hurting again. Then again her reaction was not one hundred percent selfless, the thought of her being away from the blonde pained her too.
"No! Don't be ridiculous. You have to go. This is your dream." Spencer was haste too. She would never want to hold Ashley back, even if she did silently curse the universe.
"You are my dream." Ashley corrected sincerely.
"…And I'll be here when you get back…" The blonde leaned in once again. She was definitely addicted to those beautiful lips.
"Come with me."
"I can't."
"Why?" Ashley pouted capriciously.
"I have finals and I'm starting my senior project… but I will definitely come visit."
"…But I just got you… I can't let you go just yet…" Ashley was so cute when she was being a brat.
"You're not… I'm not going anywhere… I love you too you know?" The blonde reminded and kissed those pouty lips again. Spencer would probably end up in rehab because of those lips.
"Wow what terrible timing!.. And Spencer I can't believe you took it so well." Katie commented.
"Actually..." Spencer admitted.
"Uuuuuuuu! Someone's finally back.... and she's glowing…" Sally gasped feigning incredulity. Spencer had been gone all weekend and Sally was dying to hear the details.
"Yeah, nothing like Early European Cinema to make you glow..." Spencer said sarcastically.
"No my friend, this is definitely NOT the 'I just watched the Bicycle Thief for the hundredth time' glow... this is totally the 'I fucked my incredibly hot best friend all weekend and she gave me the best orgasm of my life' glow... I KNOW that glow... I've HAD that glow..."
"Yeah?" Spencer asked condescendingly. Like she hadn't heard the racy details of Sally's nightly glows. Although they would hardly be considered glows, compared to Spencer's moon like luminescence, Sally shined like the feeble light of an energy saving light bulb. It wasn't her fault though; she just wasn't in love yet.
"Yeah." Sally retorted knowingly "So spill it blondie! ... Give me the gory details... Did you guys scissor all weekend or what?"
"What?"
"Isn't that what lesbians do... scissor each other?"
"...Sometimes I feel like I'm being Punk'd when you say things..."
"I know, aren't I the best... so are you going tell me or what?" Sally was very self-indulgent.
"No."
"Spencer! With the amount of work I put into your lesbian lovefest I at least deserve to know the extent of your girl's skills... "
"Uh... sorry" Spencer was really enjoying making the girl squirm. Of course she was going to tell her, she was dying to, there was no way she could keep it to herself. Ashley was like the Holy Grail of conquests, if of course the Holy Grail were a gorgeous 22-year-old sex goddess and NOT a memento from the Last Supper. It was kind of like the same thing.
"Come on! I know you're dying to tell me... Look at your face… you look like a happy ass clown who just got peed on with rainbows and bunnies and shit… It's sooo gay and obnoxious…"
"Wow you're quite the word smith…"
"God damn it! Tell me…Please?" Sally pouted. It was amusing to see the usually brusque girl be so girly.
"Hmmm… It was INCREDIBLE!" Spencer gushed uncontrollably. "God Ashley is just soooo… beautiful and sweet and funny and absolutely… perfect" Spencer's eyes twinkled at the memory of her immaculate love.
"Yuck… I suppose you're going to start singing or tap dancing now?" Sally was kind of grossed out by Spencer's absurdly surreal happiness; she didn't know people could smile like that. It was so heartwarming even her usually egotistical cold heart melted for someone else's happiness. The feeling was actually troubling the strange brunette.
"I might." Spencer teased.
"So it's NOT a phase then?" Sally was in therapist mode all of a sudden. Spencer rolled her eyes. Sally could be bipolar sometimes. "…Because you know I'd have sex with Ashley too, and I'd probably enjoy it… but there's nothing like a big fat juicy co-"
"COULD we talk about something else?" Spencer interjected. She really didn't want to hear the rest of that sentence. Sally was a terrible therapist.
"So you're saying you have doubts? You wanna come back to the god fearing good side? … You still wanna ride the bologna pony? Put some meat in your-? "
"Eeww… No. Been there. Done that. Returned the T-shirt…"
"Really?"
"Doesn't even compare…" Spencer stated nonchalant, but the huge satisfied grin that trailed after gave her away.
"No shit! … We're talking Patrick here…he couldn't even get a sperm whale to ejaculate"
"Gross"
"By the way how did the loser take it?"
"If you mean 'how did Patrick take the break up?'… then fine."
"He cried didn't he?"
"No." Sally glowered at the terrible liar that was Spencer "…a little." Spencer cringed, she felt bad. Really she did, but not bad enough to keep him around.
"What a little bitch"
"Don't say that." Spencer defended Patrick only because she felt awful for harboring feelings for her best friend when she was clearly still in a relationship with the boy. Kind of.
"Why? It's true. He tells the lamest jokes and he thinks he's smarter than me… douche bag"
"Wow! Did anybody like Patrick?" Spencer was incredulous, she knew Ashley wasn't a fan, but to find out no one liked him was boggling.
"I doubt his parents even like him. You're a fucking saint…"
"Are we done with the inquisition?"
"Hey. It's my duty to question everything…"
"I thought you gave up psychology?"
"I'm looking into counseling."
"It's about time." Spencer mocked.
"Ha. Ha. Funny girl… and what about you? Are you going to be a professional clit licker once the semester is over and you leave me for the good life?"
Finally the realization struck Spencer; once the semester was over Ashley would be gone. She would have nothing to distract her from her absence. She would be Ashley-less, she would be incomplete and she would be devastated. Again.
Spencer's light and chipper demeanor was evidently grim now. She'd pushed the thought of Ashley moving away so far in to back of her brain she momentarily forgot her obscure future. But now it was right in front of her and this time her gorgeous brunette wasn't there to brighten it up.
"Uhmm yeah… probably…" The sudden change in mood was not lost on Sally though; she was a future counselor for crying out loud.
"Is that before or after you take the midnight train to Georgia?"
"Yeah." Spencer was obviously not paying attention.
"Ok. What the hell is wrong with you?" Sally demanded. The brunette was the only one allowed to be crazy in that room; no way Spencer was stealing her crazy thunder.
"Nothing…"
"Oh yeah then why'd you suddenly get all lifetime movie of the week on me? … Staring off into space looking like you want to cry. What happened did you realize you hate fish?"
"It's nothing. I'm fine… I've got homework to do…" Spencer was fighting it. She was battling the selfish frustration that was boiling inside of her. She felt so guilty for being so greedy and not wanting to share Ashley with anyone. For being so needy and wishing Ashley would stay and be with her. For wanting to live in a bubble where only she and Ashley existed.
"Ok first of all, you're not allowed to ignore my blatantly sneaky lesbian jokes. And second of all we've discussed this… you were present when we all agreed you couldn't lie to save your life… so tell me what's bothering you before I beat it out of you woman."
"Nothing." The fear, jealousy, anger, frustration and sadness were breaking down her walls. They were ready to burst out of her and strike her down, way before Sally even had a chance.
Why did life have to be so unfair?
Why couldn't Ashley just live in her pocket?
And when did she become so clingy?
Was this a sick twisted joke from the man upstairs? She knew her mother had connections but never to this extent.
"I'm getting the belt…" Sally threatened.
"She's leaving." Spencer finally blurted. The walls suddenly broken.
"Who's leaving?"
"Ashley. She's moving to France to become famous and make pop hits and hang out with Madonna and meet beautiful people and forget about me." The tears she didn't know were threatening finally spilled. She felt so helpless; she didn't even realize she was crying.
"Awww Spencer…" Sally cooed before wrapping Spencer up in a hug. She thought it was cute how Spencer could get so frantic so quickly.
"It's not fair!" Spencer sulked childishly.
"I know… I'm sorry" Sally comforted the blubbering blonde.
"…She can't leave… She's mine! … I don't wana share…" Spencer sobbed harder. She felt ridiculous for feeling so childish and acting on it, but she felt just like she did when Glen would take her brand new toys and use them for target practice. Once she let her guard down her emotions started spewing, flowing freely from the broken walls.
"You know she probably feels the same way… She loves you too, like crazy loves you… You know the kind of love that needs a restraining order?" Sally joked trying to make the miserable blonde feel better.
"You're stupid…" Spencer half sobbed, half laughed.
"You're not going to be saying that when you're dragging my ass to the police station to fill out paper work while I'm bitching at you telling your ass 'I told you so'…"-Spencer's laugh slightly over powered her sobs-"you know six months is really NOT that long of a time if you think about it… I mean after a lifetime of Ashley's conceited ass you're probably going to be longing for the days when she was gone… Sex can only take you so far… I say this from experience my friend... Plus her boobs are eventually going to sag and it's not going to be pretty." Spencer laughed again. This time she wasn't interrupted by her sobs.
"Ashley would never let that happen." Spencer giggled from inside Sally's arms; picturing a wrinkly Ashley in booty shorts with perfectly perky breast. Somehow she even found her beautiful then too.
"It happens to the best of us?" Sally conceded to her fate.
"Wait. You knew she was leaving?" Spencer looked up. Face red, mascara smeared and not at all surprised. Nothing surprised her anymore.
"Yeah Ashley told me that first night. She was so heartbroken over you not wanting to talk to her she actually agreed to move out of the country. That's when I knew she was crazy… That's kind of why I started getting all up in your business. I knew you guys needed to get together. You're Spashley for fucks sake! … and you bitches are really fucking stubborn."
"Awww you do care." Spencer smiled through her twinkling eyes.
"Don't let it get out though." Sally threatened.
"I'll do my best… Thank you." Spencer thanked her sincerely and hugged her gratefully.
"Oh you've got to do better than that... I worked hard for you hoes ... How about you give me publishing rights on your sex tape with Ashley and we call it even..." Sally grinned. She really thought she was clever.
"How about I don't send YOUR sex tape to your mother?" Spencer countered.
"I see how it is... You're playing dirty... That's cool! I like dirty." Sally arched her left brow teasingly.
"You know I liked you better when you used to just throw up on the couch and not talk to me... "
"Yeah me too."
"You're going to be a terrible counselor, if you get this involved with all of your patient's lives." Spencer noted.
"I know. I think I'm going to look into kinesiology" Spencer couldn't help but laugh. Sally was weird but a surprisingly good friend.
A/N: Wow you guys are so awesome. Seriously. Thanks for all the love. I dig it!
