A week had gone by like everything was normal again. Ashley would wake up, fix coffee for the two girls; wonder if she should walk down to get the paper. But Ashley somehow always ended up on the couch instead watching morning cartoons waiting for the sleeping body in her bedroom to wake up. By eight, Spencer was sitting next to Ashley- today was Saturday. The two girls fought playfully over the remote by nine and then by ten, Spencer was in the shower while Ashley made French toast, finally retrieving the newspaper.
Ashley swung open the door and was hit with cold air; she shivered as she stepped outside to search for the missing paper. Standing there puzzled with her hands on her hips, she noticed a light brown haired girl watching her from inside of the coffee shop. Suddenly she realized she was still in the outfit she had fallen asleep in the night before; her short neon pink running shorts and white tank top.
Finally, she spotted the newspaper- half soaked lying in a puddle next to the flower pot which was empty. Ashley groaned loudly as she picked the paper up and studied it for a moment. Suddenly, the door to the coffee shop opened up and the light brown haired girl stepped out, "Here, I'm finished reading it," She spoke in a soft tone, handing her newly used newspaper out to Ashley.
"Well hold on there," Ashley held up her index finger before flipping the paper around to reveal a smudged crossword puzzle on the back. Her shoulders slumped forward before taking the dry paper away from the girl standing in front of her, "Thanks," She smiled, "I'm Ashley by the way, I live upstairs," She shook the girls hand.
"Anna," The smile fell off of Ashley's face and was quickly replaced by a blush. She studied the girl quickly, she looked similar to Olivia but built taller. She had an athletic body, like a runner. Her jeans hung loosely around her waist and her red and white striped razorback top hung loosely from her shoulders, showing her well prompted collarbone. The look on her face though showed that her sister never mentioned Ashley's name, "Have we already met? I'm known for doing that, I'm so forgetful." Her head tilted to the left some, "But it's weird,"
"What's that?"
"I'd remember a pretty face like yours," Anna smiled slightly as she studied the brunette in front of her. "Have fun with the cross word, 9 down was tricky," She smiled fully then before turning around and leaving. Ashley continued standing there slightly dumbfounded as she watched the girl walk and then lost sight of her whenever Anna turned the corner.
Ashley made her way back up to her apartment, laying the newspaper on the table before starting on the French toast. She heard the water running still but she heard the bathroom door open. Ashley turned around to see Spencer standing in the doorway with nothing on. Her mouth fell open as she took in the sight of her girlfriend, dripping with water.
"How about instead of French toast today, I switch it up and have you for breakfast instead?" Spencer purred walking towards Ashley.
Ashley swallowed hard, "You're getting the floor wet you know," She tried hard to not get distracted like Spencer wanted.
"Stop playing hard to get, Ash and let me get you just as wet," Spencer purred deeply in the brunette's ear, and like that, Ashley lost control. She let Spencer pull her back into the bathroom where her clothes were quickly thrown to the floor. Her previous thoughts about Anna were quickly replaced with thoughts she hadn't had in a while about Spencer. Without a warning, both girls were wrapped up inside of each other's arms, with more than passion. There was guilt, sadness, loneliness, desperation also wrapped inside of the two girls. Both girls tried hard to not show their real feelings, and both either succeeded or both ignored the obvious signs.
Ashley stepped out of the shower first, her wet feet hitting the cold tiled floor sent chills through her body. Spencer quietly turned the water off, leaving the room in a quiet that was comfortable. Handing Spencer a dry towel, Ashley quickly dressed.
As Ashley stood there in front of Spencer, she turned around slowly with tears in her eyes. "Did you touch her like that, Spencer?" Her voice broke as the worst thoughts came pouring into her mind.
"Ash," Spencer spoke quietly, scared suddenly as she wrapped her arms around the girl to only be rejected.
"Answer me, Spencer. Did you touch her like you touched me," It's funny how a moment can go from being so wonderful to so heartbreaking in such a quick time.
Blue eyes casted down to the ground, ashamed of everything that had gone wrong in the weeks before, "It didn't mean anything-" Before Spencer could even finish her sentence, Ashley had opened and slammed the bathroom door. Spencer quickly followed but only to see the brunette walk out of the front door with her shoes in hand.
Once downstairs, Ashley took off running towards the park 3 miles away. She didn't walk her usual 5 blocks for a break, she pushed herself hard. She felt as if she was running so hard and fast, that she was flying. She thought she was sweating badly but she was crying she was losing her breath. She collapsed to her knees once she had reached the outline of the park. She felt the wet grass soak through her grey sweat pants. She cried out towards the grey sky, threatening to open back up and soak the entire town with its own tears.
People walked by the brunette, staring at her as if she were crazy. Some turned the other way, acting as if they didn't just spot a crying vulnerable girl kneeling in the park. But two girls did spot her and ran by her side, "Ash, honey what happened?" Olivia quickly brought the brunette into her embrace as Anna kneeled quietly next to the two girls. With no strength to answer, Ashley continued to cry in Olivia's arms.
Eventually, the air was silenced and Ashley pulled away. She sat crossed-legged, facing the two girls with tear soaked cheeks. Olivia quickly looked up whenever she heard Ashley start laughing quietly to herself, making Olivia speak up, "What are you laughing at, Ash?" She studied her newly broken friend sitting beside her.
"I'm just being hysterical," She shook her head, staring at nothing but the cool wet grass. "I should have seen the signs, you know?" Suddenly, her cries continued as she fell into Olivia's arms where she sat comfortably.
Anna looked at the two girls and saw how broken Ashley was and it pained her heart for some reason. She studied the broken girl and saw how weak she had been beaten too. "Would you like a muffin?" She asked out of the blue which brought a confused smile onto Ashley's face. "I have blue berry and poppy-seed," She offered over the white bag that had been resting on top of her bag.
"No, no I'm okay, thank you though," Ashley kindly smiled back to the girl, "You must be the sister?" She looked back from Olivia to Anna, seeing the obvious resemblance.
"No, my parents had picked her up when they had bought our house we live in now, it was more of a package deal," Olivia teased lightly, letting go of Ashley who seemed to had gained control of her emotions for now.
The younger girl looked from her sister to Ashley, "She's just jealous our mother loves me more," She smirked, teasing back.
"Wait a second here," Ashley held up a finger, looking at Anna, "Why do you have an American accent?" Completely confused, she stared at the younger girl patiently.
Laughing, both sisters started talking at the same time, "I'll tell her," Anna cut her sister off kindly, "My parents sent me to a boarding school in the states in second grade and I'm stuck with this god awful accent for a few weeks until I'm adjusted back to my original accent,"
Olivia couldn't help but chuckle, "Yeah, like she said, our mother loves her more unfortunately."
The three girls continued to sit there in the park for another hour or so, consumed up with each other's stories about school, life, and pasts. That's when Mia came into Ashley's mind and from then on for the rest of the day, that girl was stuck on her mind. When Ashley arrived back at her apartment, Spencer wasn't anywhere to be seen and frankly, Ashley couldn't have cared less at that moment in time. She walked into her room while Olivia and Anna made their selves at home in the living room and the food in the fridge.
Once she walked into her room, Ashley sat down on the edge of her bed and stared at her cell phone. Without thinking much more, she dialed a number she had long ago memorized. It went straight to voicemail and the sound of Mia's voice saying 'hey y'all! Couldn't reach my phone in time- leave a message, I'll call you back! Chow!' Ashley smiled and froze whenever the beep actually came. She sat there in silence, not knowing what to say but it had gone on way too far to even begin to speak. Before she had gotten the chance to hang up the phone, her bedroom door swung open, "Hey Ash, you want to call in for some lunch?" Olivia watched Ashley quickly shut her phone, hoping that it didn't pick up on her name being said.
"Yeah sure I don't care," Ashley placed her phone into her back pocket and walked out of the bedroom, following her friend back into the living room.
The three girls continued to stay in the apartment the entire day, since the storm was beginning to hit rather hard. After ordering in for lunch, they ate left over's for dinner and continued their movie marathon. Eventually, they all three fell asleep in different parts of the living room. The front door swung open then, startling Ashley from her slumber. She stared at the blonde who stared cautiously back at Ashley.
"Hey," Spencer quietly whispered, shutting the door behind her. Seeing as the other two girls were still fast asleep, she went ahead and locked the door.
Ashley said nothing in returned, just continued to watch Spencer's movements. She could see that it was starting to make the blonde uncomfortable as she shifted her weight between feet. "Hey," She said coldly finally. It was as if that word had released Spencer from her previous location, now Ashley watched the blonde walk down the hallway and into the bedroom, closing the door almost completely.
She knew what and how Spencer's mind thought usually. Her thinking process was easy to catch onto- usually. Ashley continued to lie on the couch, snuggled up beneath the blanket and stared at the light that escaped from underneath the door. She watched the light until it had gone out, but she found herself still watching the door, waiting for it to swing open and reveal Spencer who would stand there in the doorway laughing because everything was a joke.
Her heart jumped though at the sound of thunder outside, which made her close her eyes just in time before the lightning struck. Silently, a tear escaped from her sad brown eyes. She realized that slowly her world was crashing around her, even before she realized it, her world had begun deteriorating. Moments before Ashley was going to close her eyes, she saw the bedroom door swing open, causing Ashley to stiffen.
Brown eyes continued to watch the blonde's movements. Or well, the black figure which Ashley immediately assumed was Spencer's body. Within seconds, the black figure stood in front of Ashley, grabbing her hands in a silent cry. She didn't fight it, Ashley let the blonde drag her back into their room. She let Spencer lay her down on the bed and she let the blonde cry. And neither girl held back anymore, silent cries turned into many minutes spent having Spencer cry and apologize.
Ashley never spoke though; all she did was continue to hold the blonde girl and soothe her. When Spencer finally got control of her breathing, Ashley quietly slid out from underneath the blonde and stood up from the bed. Blue eyes stared at her questioningly and quickly formed a whole new set of tears, knowing exactly what she was doing- walking away. Which Ashley did strongly, without looking back at the broken girl lying in their bed. She made her way back out into the living room and accompanied her previous spot back on the couch and within the next hour; she had fallen fast asleep to the sound the beating rain that was pounding sideways against the window.
The following morning, Ashley had woken up to the Olivia and Anna gone but a note was left on table, saying that they both went home and then to work. Another note was lying next to it from Spencer, saying that she had went into work early and that she wouldn't be back until late that evening which she wanted to talk about something. She crumbled up both pieces of paper and threw them both into the trash before turning and making her own way down the hallway to gather up fresh clothes before jumping into the shower.
While in the shower, a vibrating noise had caught Ashley's attention. Shaking her head, thinking nothing of it, she let it go on. The shower wasn't long; she had learned to take fast showers since she had moved into the apartment because the water heater never lasted more than ten minutes. Once she was dressed, she picked up her phone and revealed the message '1 missed call'. She clicked a few more buttons and then Mia's name popped up onto the screen, indicating that she had just called a few minutes before.
Suddenly, her heart began racing and her palms became sweaty. "Shit," Quietly escaped Ashley's mouth.
Ashley gripped her phone tightly, staring down at it, wishing that it'd all just disappear. She shouldn't have ever called Mia; she knew that it'd open up something. She knew that she had just dialed Kyla's number like she had originally planned. But before Ashley knew what she was actually doing, she dialed the same number and the phone rang this time instead of instantly going to voicemail.
"Hello?" Her voice came onto the phone line which only made things worse for Ashley.
"Mia," Ashley spoke softly, loving the sound of her old friend's voice.
"Ashley," She could hear the smile that appeared in Mia's voice then.
"Hi," Ashley laughed nervously. "Um, I'm sorry that it was so random to call last night," She started off strong but then she had remembered why she had actually called her in the first place, "Spencer cheated," Without thinking, Ashley blurted out the truth.
At the studio, where Spencer worked quietly alone again, her thoughts had become too mixed up to even process for work. She had closed the shop up early, decided to take a personal day and order in for lunch. When Spencer grabbed her cell phone to call for lunch, she punched in a number and instead of making a lunch order, she spoke completely different words, "Hi this is Spencer Carlin, you had asked me a couple of weeks ago to fly out and document this tour. Um, just give me a call back, I understand that the trail run is in two weeks but plans had all changed on my behalf so I'd love to officially join your team. Thank you, my number is 555-9852."