The whole chapter is set on the timeline when they were still together.
-Shay's POV-
It's our first anniversary and I wanted to do something special for Ashley. I still remember the talk Sasha, Troian and I had. It's not that I'm tired it's just that everything's more of a routine now than acts of love but it's not stopping me from loving her even more. For our first anniversary I bought 2 tickets to Las Vegas since it kind of started there well at least the plan.
"Babe where are we going?" She asked as we arrived at the airport. She didn't have any idea to where we were going I packed her suitcase for her so she wouldn't even get a hint.
"It wouldn't be called a surprise for nothing" I finally reached for the boarding passes inside my bag and grabbed her hand. I didn't let her take a peek to it. We went through the usual process of checking in and getting our bags weighed and security check. People were already boarding on the plane when we got to our gate. I booked a business class flight so it's not crowded and we could have a much comfortable seat on the flight. She didn't know we were headed for Las Vegas until it was announced that we taking off already.
"Aw babe we're going to Vegas?" She said excitedly.
"Happy Anniversary" I gave her a quick peck.
We both slept the whole flight. When we arrived at the airport the hotel car was already there waiting for us.
"Thank you for making this special" She says to me holding my hand that's resting on the table. We were having dinner at a fine restaurant inside the hotel.
"Anything for you." I squeezed her hand gently. I wasn't sure if it was the right time to talk to her about what I felt about our relationship. I mean who's insane enough to worry about her relationship getting serious. Your crazy Mitchell.
"This is for you" she slides a small black box on the table. It looked like a box for a ring. Shit is she proposing? Maybe they were right. Maybe she wants to get married already. Don't panic Shay.
I slowly opened the box trying to control my nervousness. I was relieved when I saw the content of the box; it was a heart shaped pendant with my name engraved on it.
"I remembered what you wrote at the back of our book, 'look inside your heart and I'm there' so I'm giving you my heart. There's no one else I would want to give my heart to but you" I stood up and went to her side and gave her a lingering kiss.
"I love you Ashley Victoria Benson" I whispered to her
"I love you more Shannon Ashley Mitchell" once again our lips connected and the night ended with us exhausting ourselves showing each other how much we love each other.
-Ashley's POV-
Most people think I'm the jealous girlfriend but truth to be told Shay's the one. Sometimes it's hard to distinguish if she's jealous or not. She easily gets jealous of small things like when I exchange messages with Tyler or any of the PLL boys or when she sees old pictures of me and Ryan. She doesn't like it when I show too much skin but I don't even want her to too. Just like any other couple we have our own fights. We argue about small things like Chinese or pizza. And now we're fighting like hell because she caught me smoking, I don't really smoke but I just want to piss her off because she insisted that we go to this party of her friend. We've been screaming at each other for a while. She usually says sorry first even if I'm at fault but it seems that word is a stranger to her right now.
"Maybe we need space Ash" She says in a low voice
"Space? Here I'm moving. Is it enough now?" I moved few inches away from her. She rolled her eyes at me "oh it isn't enough? Okay. I'm going to our room that way you could have all the space here in our living room" I made my way to the stairs trying to fight back the tears. I know what she's saying but I try to pretend that I don't.
-Shay's POV-
Sometimes Ashley could be so stubborn. How could I live with her forever if I couldn't even handle her antics. Forever? It's too soon to tell. I followed her to the stairs pulling her roughly on the arm.
"Ashley are you even listening to what I'm saying?" I yell at her frustratingly. She wipes away the tear that escaped her eyes.
"I am Shannon and I know exactly what you mean." She says breaking down. She sat down at the staircase with her face buried on her knees.
"Baby please don't cry. I'm sorry" I lowered myself to her level
"Why would you even go there Shannon?" My anger disappeared the second I saw her in tears and now I feel bad for making her cry.
"Forget what I said. Please stop crying" I hugged her and she sobbed on my chest.
"I love you Shannon. I'm sorry for pissing you off" I rubbed her back in circular motion.
"It's okay babe. Hush now." When she had stopped crying I guided her to our room and laid down. The room was filled with silence, neither of us wanted to break it until she decided to talk.
"Do you realize there are only 2 options for us in the future? It's either we get married or we…I can't even say it" she said looking at the ceiling.
"I haven't really thought about it. Do you want us to get married?" I asked her keeping my eyes up too.
"I would love to. I could even marry you right now right here. Just a small ceremony with the people who mean most to us. We'll have our own kids, little me and you running around and we'll go to Canada more often but we will be staying here in L.A. If ever we don't want to act anymore I could put up my own dance studio and you could be a model or put up a flower shop or anything you want. Why? Don't you want us to get married?" I thought for a while.
"I do" That's when I realized that I didn't really know what I want. I surely don't want to break up with her but I'm not sure if I want to marry her either. I love her and I couldn't imagine anyone else with me but her but I'm not sure yet if I'm ready to settle down with. She knows what she wants to do if ever she wants to stop acting, she's been in the industry since she was young so it's reasonable enough but me…I just started. That's the problem here; I don't know what I want.
I've pondered over the conversation I had with Sasha and Troian and the one I had with Ashley for a month now. I love Ashley but I still need time for myself…alone. I'm not sure if it's a mistake to want to find myself and to love myself a bit more.
It's the 10th of September, just 5 days away until our tenth month. I've been sitting on the couch for a long time shuffling through photo albums and taking one last look at our love book. Ashley had been out for a photoshoot. I already have my suitcase packed inside the trunk of my car, it's not everything I have but most of the things I need. You have to do it Shay, for her and for yourself. She arrives 30 minutes later bringing take outs. The minute she comes in that door I know I would break her heart.
"Hey babe I got us some take…" she paused seeing me in tears on the couch. "What's wrong?"
"We need to talk" she silently placed the food on the table and sat across me.
"What's wrong babe? Tell me" How can I say this? How can I look at her in the eye and tell her it's time to let go?
"Ash what if I want to give up on us?" Wow! Couldn't you have a better intro Shay?
"Then I'd persuade you not to give up. Are you?" I answered her with my tears "Shannon? Are you giving up on us?" her voice was about to break.
"I love you Ashley but we need this. I need this. I don't know if I'm doing the right thing but what I know is that I need to end this." Tears are starting to fall from her eyes. I want to tell her its okay but I know it's not. "Let me go Ashley"
"NO" she said firmly. "You're asking for too much. You want me to stay out of your life." She stood up from where she was seated and walked back and forth. I walk to her and tried to pull her for a hug but she pushed me away.
"I hate you. I hate you so much. I hate you" she yelled at me drenched in tears.
"Ashley listen to me. I love you but…" I try to get hold of her arm but she waved me away
"But what? Why can't you just say you love me without the buts? I will never understand." She went crashing on the floor. I bent down wrapping my arms around her and this time she didn't resist. "Stay" she said to almost a whisper
"I'm sorry" I said and kissed her cheek gently before leaving. That was the last time I was able to talk to her or see her or hold her.
A.N. As promised here's another chapter. This was a sad chapter but I hope you liked it. Thank you for reading the story. Keep reading :) Few chapters left.