Episode 6
Lexi followed Connor into class the next morning. She was about to go straight to their usual seats when Connor nudged her. "What?"
"Wes' seat is empty," he said simply. They both turned to look at the seat where Wes usually sat, only to find the trophy sitting on his desk. Lexi blinked a few times. She then tore her gaze away from it and moved to her own desk, plopping her bag down. "What do you think that's about?" Connor muttered.
Lexi shrugged. "I don't know. The quiet ones are always the ones with the most secrets, aren't they?"
Annalise Keating entered the class as she usually did, storming in and setting her bag down on her table. "Take your seats, we have a lot to get through today. Our lesson – Habeas Corpus. Which translates into 'produce the body'. Who can tell us how that applies to the case of Fay v. Noia?" As Annalise asked the question, she turned around to face the class for the first time and noticed the trophy sitting on Wes' desk. Numerous hands shot up in the air, but Annalise was staring into the distance.
"What is wrong with her?" Lexi whispered to Connor, both of them holding their hands up in the air hesitantly. "She's staring at the trophy."
From the other side of the aisle, Asher was whispering, not-so-quietly, "Someone's having a brain fart." Lexi turned and made eye contact with him. Asher winked at her and Lexi smiled back. From beside her, Connor was making faces at them both.
"Could you not be so immature?" Lexi snapped at him.
"Okay, I'm immature?" Connor demanded. "He just used the words brain fart. Or did your lovesick head not hear that? Besides, the way you eye-fuck each other is disturbing."
"I looked at him from across a room, we're hardly subjecting you to any extreme PDA."
"It's not you, it's him," Connor replied simply, but Michaela had already stood up and begun to answer Annalise's question. Lexi dropped her hand from the air and lifted her pen to take notes as Bonnie walked into the room. She whispered something to Annalise, and there was a sudden change in atmosphere. Annalise turned to face the class.
"Something's come up," she said loudly. "Class is dismissed. Keating six, stick around."
Lexi exchanged looks with Connor as the rest of the class filed out quickly. She moved down to the front of the class, where Laurel, Michaela and Asher were gathering.
"Looks like the Keating six might be the Keating five," Connor mused, his eyes landing on the trophy. Lexi rolled her eyes. She knew he was wondering if the trophy was now up for grabs, he just didn't want to say it.
"Maybe Wes is sick," Laurel said, concerned.
Michaela smiled. "I bet the pressure finally got to him and he dropped out."
Asher grinned as he slid into the seat beside Lexi. His arm went around the chair behind her and landed on her shoulder. Lexi shifted uncomfortably. She knew Connor was probably staring and she was sick of him always making faces whenever Asher said or did something. But Asher didn't even notice. "That means the trophy's in play,"
"God, enough with the stupid trophy!" Laurel cried.
"Bitch, please. You want it as much as the rest of us," Lexi pointed out. She was getting tired of Laurel's attitude too. To be honest, the only person in their group that had yet to rile Lexi up was Wes, and now he was probably quitting. Great.
Annalise got off the phone and turned to look at them sharply. "We have a new case."
"Okay, but first things first," Asher insisted. "Is the trophy in play?"
"To those of you smart enough to know when to shut up."
Lexi bit her lip to hold back a smile and listened intently as Annalise Keating told the story of David Allen.
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Lexi frowned down at the sheets in their hands. It was hard to keep herself calm. The idea that a man's life was in their hands terrified her. What if they couldn't save him? She glanced around and saw that everyone else seemed focused. This one was huge, they could all feel it.
"That's when I saw Mr. Allen run out of the apartment," Michaela read out from one of the witnesses' statements. They were taking turns reading out the transcripts of the trial. "He had a look of terror in his eyes, like he had just done something awful. I froze as soon as I saw him, scared. That's when I saw the .38 in his hands." She paused and frowned. "That's your line, Connor."
Connor looked up. "Oh, sorry. Uh, Objection, your honour, did the witness at the time actually know the calibre of the weapon, said defence attorney George Gabler," he read out.
Laurel picked up her sheet for her line. "Sustained, said Judge Mill- Wait. Millstone?"
Lexi frowned and turned to look at Asher, who seemed unimpressed. He made a face at Laurel. "Haa, very funny."
"I'm not kidding," Laurel insisted. "Your Dad's William Millstone, right?" Asher frowned and closed his file, walking over to Laurel.
"Let me see that," he muttered. He took the sheet from Laurel and confirmed that what she was saying was true. "What the-" he glanced up at Bonnie, who was near the other side of the room. "Did you know about this?"
"No idea," she replied.
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Lexi grunted as she lugged a huge box of files across the floor of Annalise's living room. David Allen had been on death row for god-knows-how-many years, which meant his files were enough to fill a house. And damn, were they heavy. When she straightened up, her back was sore.
"This is nice," she muttered loudly. "Leave all the heavy lifting to the tired, out-of-shape girl, let's watch her put her back out." Lexi turned around and looked pointedly at Connor. He was sitting in an armchair with his feet up. "Hello? I'm all for feminism, but a little manpower would be appreciated here."
Connor glanced up briefly from what he was reading. "I offered you help when we were bringing it in, you said no. You're gonna dig your own grave, you gotta lie in it." Lexi shot him a dark glare and turned back to lift the box when a pair of arms reached around her and grabbed it. She felt Asher press against her backside and whisper in her ear.
"You're in great shape, baby, I wouldn't worry about it," he kissed her under her ear and pressed hard enough against her that she could feel his erection. She grinned. Asher picked up the box and set it on the table before returning to her seat. "There you go." He smiled at her, before he saw Connor's expression. "What?"
"You guys were literally dry-humping right there!" Connor cried. "That has got to be the most disgusting thing I've ever seen, can you just not?"
"How about you keep your eyes on your own work, you lazy pig?" Lexi snapped back. She ignored Connor and sat down next to Asher, pulling the first file out of the box. He scooted closer to her and lowered his voice.
"Wow. Someone's being bitchy. What's his problem?" Asher asked.
"Nothing. He's a bitter ass because the only guy he's ever genuinely liked kicked him out, and now it hurts him to see other people even remotely happy," Lexi muttered. She leaned back against the sofa and opened the file. "I have bigger things to think about. Speaking of which, did you really have no idea that your Dad was the judge on this case?"
Asher's face dropped slightly, but he was prevented answering by Annalise entering the room. Wes was trailing behind her. "I'd like Mr. Gibbins brought up to speed," Annalise announced. "Now."
Lexi glanced at him just as Asher quickly got up from his seat and followed Annalise to her office door. "Professor Keating, I-I know you're busy. I just wanted to ask – Did you know my father presided over the original David Allen trial?"
Annalise gave him a look before closing the door in his face.
Asher turned back and looked at Lexi with a 'what-the-fuck-was-that?' expression. Lexi shrugged in response. This whole thing with his Dad presiding over the case seemed to be bothering him. She gestured for Asher to sit back down and slipped her hand into his.
"So Wes, you're not contagious, are you?" Michaela teased.
"That depends," mused Connor. "Is lying contagious?"
"Ignore them," Laurel replied, shooting both of them smug looks. "They're just mad because they know that if they ever missed class, Annalise would not care."
Wes shrugged uncomfortably. "So, what do I need to know about this case?"
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"My neck hurts," Lexi muttered, rubbing her neck absently. Wes and Laurel had gotten to go meet the defence attorney, George Gabler, and Michaela and Laurel had gone to have a word with the state's attorney in the case. Even Asher had gotten to go out with Bonnie to meet a witness, but Annalise had kept Lexi indoors with the files all day.
"Found anything useful?" Asher asked her. He was leaning against the mantle a few feet away and he bent down to her level. "Considering you've been indoors all day…"
"Shut up," Lexi muttered. "This is so stressful. I mean, I'm sick and tired of going through this stuff but I feel guilty for complaining because a man's life hangs in the balance, and if I manage to find something that can stop-"
"Whoa, chill," Asher said. "If you find something, you find something, otherwise you don't. His life won't be on you, it'll be on the people who sentenced him, and-" he stopped suddenly, seeming to realize that it was his own father who had passed the sentence. Lexi bit her lip. She didn't know what to say. He hadn't really said much about his father being the judge in the David Allen trial, but he was clearly thinking about it.
"Asher-"
He cut her off sharply. "Besides. We're still heading to the country club this weekend. Trust me babe, I'll get you to relax," he whispered, in a slightly failed attempt to be seductive. He had leaned closer to her ear and kissed her cheek, but Lexi could feel how forced it was. She shifted away slightly.
"Yeah, that's great. But Asher, if you want-"
They were cut off by Connor and Michaela returning from the state's attorney's office. Lexi straightened up and moved away from Asher so nobody could start whining about their PDA again. Annalise was called and Michaela began to explain what had happened.
"Travers won't admit to any of this on record, but, apparently he was tipped to there being perjured testimony on the David Allen case," Michaela began slowly. "He didn't know who it was, but he sent word to Judge Millstone to look into it, and…" she trailed off.
Lexi turned to Asher and saw that he had moved away from her and was leaning against the mantle again, eyes wide. His mouth was slightly open as he waited for Michaela to finish.
"And?" Annalise demanded.
Michaela opened her mouth, but she couldn't seem to finish her sentence. Lexi watched with an increasingly sick feeling in her stomach as she and Connor exchanged looks. "And apparently Judge Millstone did nothing about it," Connor finished bluntly to break the awkward silence.
"What?" Asher demanded. He had one hand in his pocket and was trying to look cool, but Lexi could see how tensed he really was. "Okay, this Travers guy is clearly a whack job."
"Go on Miss Pratt," Annalise said firmly. Asher's hand stopped mid-air and he looked stunned.
"Travers was reassigned to a different case by the DA. He said he thought there was pressure to convict, maybe even motivated by race," Michaela finished.
Asher stepped away from the mantle. He was starting to look angry and Lexi tensed. She could see this getting ugly. Why was Annalise such a bitch? Did she have to get Michaela to say all this in front of Asher? "Okay, seriously, my father isn't a sleaze!" Asher cried. "He was not a part of some racist scheme."
"Really?" Laurel asked, making Lexi clench her fists to resist from slapping her. "Where is it you summer again?"
"It's not just white people who go to Kennebunkport!" Asher insisted, before turning to Annalise. He was clearly making an effort to calm down and he forced a smile on his face. "My father wrote the book on judicial conduct. Literally. He's a highly respected federal judge. You don't get to where he's gotten by burying evidence of perjury. Believe me, my Dad wouldn't do this," he insisted.
"Looks like we have a new target," Annalise said calmly. She was giving Asher a hard look. "Judge William Millstone. You wouldn't be the first person in the world disappointed by your father."
There was a short silence as Asher's face turned furious. He glared at Annalise for a few brief seconds before heavily throwing the file in his hand down on the sofa and turning to grab his jacket. He stormed out, leaving the others staring after him.
"Shit," Lexi muttered. She quickly pushed her files aside too and made to follow him, but she stopped abruptly when she heard Annalise call after her.
"Sit down, Miss Grey. We have work to do."
Lexi shot Annalise Keating a dark glare before returning to her seat. Storming out after Asher wouldn't help. She needed to find some other way to fix this.
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Asher wouldn't answer his phone. Lexi had left Keating's early, unable to stand the tension and the stress that hung in the atmosphere of the house. Besides, she'd been working all day. She deserved a break. She stepped off Keating's front porch and dialled Asher for the tenth time that day.
"Hello?" his voice said calmly.
"Asher, what the fuck? I've called you so many times, why haven't you been answering? You had me worried after you stormed out on Keating like that!" Lexi cried. She sighed and stopped in front of her car. "She wouldn't let me follow you."
Asher sighed on the other side of the phone. "I'm fine. You don't need to worry."
"Don't you dare shut me out, Millstone."
"I'm not shutting you out," Asher snapped. "I was just pissed off at that bitch, okay?"
Lexi frowned. She didn't believe him. She could imagine how she would feel if someone accused her father of cheating and then declared that they would target him to expose his secrets. Of course he didn't want to talk. She took a deep breath and sighed. "I'm sorry, I… I'm meeting Grace and a few friends for drinks tonight. Why don't you come? It'll help you relax."
"I'm not really in the mood to go out."
"Okay, then I'll get a bottle of wine and we can order takeout or something, I can even-"
"Not tonight, Lexi," Asher muttered. "I have something to do."
Lexi sighed. "Asher, I'm nobody to tell you what to do, especially regarding your Dad. But I really don't think you should confront him when you're this angry. I know Keating's being a bitch, she's always like that-"
Asher cut her off. "Just go home, okay? I'll talk to you tomorrow."
"Come on, don't-"
He hung up before she could say anything more.
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When Asher entered his apartment that evening after leaving his father's house, he noticed that the lights were on in the living room. He stopped when he saw Lexi curled up on the sofa, her head on the pillow and her eyes closed. As he dropped his bag in an armchair, her eyes fluttered open.
"You're back," Lexi said, quickly sitting up. She frowned when she saw the look on Asher's face. His face was set tight and he frowned down at her, looking exasperated. She could tell that he was holding in a lot of emotion. "Asher? What happened?"
"I told you to go home," he muttered. He sat down in an armchair and ran a hand over his face. He let out a frustrated sigh. "What if I'd decided to spend the night at my parents'? It would be nice if you would just listen to me sometimes."
"Okay," Lexi muttered slowly. She hated that he didn't want to talk to her, but now was not a time to push him. Clearly he'd just confronted his father. She picked up her bag and stood up. Lexi had almost made it to the door when Asher's voice stopped her.
"He did it," Asher said quietly. He was looking at the floor, his fists clenched tightly. "He's the reason that David Allen is about to die. My father sentenced an innocent man in exchange for a federal appointment."
Lexi sighed and set her bag on the floor before moving over to him. She sat on the arm of his chair, and let him nuzzle his head into her neck. Her fingers moved through his hair and she could feel him trembling slightly. His shaky breath tickled the skin at her collar. "Asher, nobody's perfect. We all make mistakes," she whispered.
"My Dad was perfect," he muttered. "At least, as a judge he was. He might not have been there for me as a father all the time, but I always told myself that was because he was so amazing at what he did. I wanted to be him." Asher shook his head, his arms moving around Lexi's waist and taking comfort in her closeness. "I've been admiring my father and attending fancy parties every day of my life while a man rots in jail, fearing the day they will execute him."
Lexi sighed and pulled his head away from her neck so that she could look down at him. One of her hands moved from Asher's hair to his cheek. "Asher, look at me. You are better than him. You're better than your father."
Asher closed his eyes, leaning into the comfort of her hand. "I feel like he cheated me. And now Annalise is after him. I don't even know what to do." Asher looked up at her, his eyes filled with anger and fear. "I can't let David Allen die because my father wanted a promotion. But I can't see him go down either."
"Then don't," Lexi whispered. She leaned down and pressed her forehead to his. His grip around her waist tightened and Asher could feel Lexi's thumb tracing his face. "Neither of these things have to happen. Not if you can find a way around it."
"Annalise is set on targeting my Dad," Asher replied. "And I can't stop her unless I want David Allen die. I'm not having that on my hands."
"Then we find a way to get David off without throwing your Dad under the bus." Lexi looked down at him, her eyes determined. "Asher, the others might think you're an idiot, but we both know that's not true. You're a grown man. Show Annalise that she can't mess with your family."
Asher took a deep breath and nodded.
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"We still don't know who falsely testified in David Allen's trial, but we do know it was to satisfy this man," Annalise explained as Bonnie handed them a large photo. "Art Trucco is a state senator who, for reasons we need to find out, needed David Allen to go down for this murder. So much so that he convinced someone to lie on the stand. If we can find out who this was, we stand a good chance of seeing his conviction overturned. We have 12 hours till court. Let's make David proud."
"This isn't my-" Michaela muttered, placing a pencil in her mouth. "This isn't mine. Who's on Trucco's taxes?" she called out.
Lexi didn't even glance up from her desperate searching of the table. "Connor's on taxes," she told Michaela curtly. "Damn it, did anyone see the yellow file that was right here? It had all the documentation of his personal assets…. Laurel! Did you take it?"
Wes, who was on the phone, desperately held up a hand, telling her to keep silent. Lexi sighed and marched over to Laurel, who had taken the file accidentally and snatched it from her. She was marching back to her seat when she ran into Asher, who was muttering something about how much teachers were paid. "Whoa," Asher cried, holding an arm out to stabilize Lexi while she caught the file. "Nice save."
"Thank you," she replied with a smile, ensuring the papers were still in order. She grabbed his arm and lowered her voice. "Hey. I don't know exactly what you did in there with Keating, but… It worked. Well done."
"I'm da man," Asher agreed, leaning down to kiss her quickly on the lips. Lexi giggled as his hand snaked around her waist and slapped her quickly on the ass before walking away. Luckily, Michaela had been too busy scribbling down phone numbers to notice.
Pots and pots of coffee were made and ideas rolled around the room. Lexi hardly noticed the time as they all worked into the night. Her neck ached and her eyes drooped but sleep would come later. These few hours could save David Allen's life.
"Okay, that's it. My skills are effectively being wasted on coffee duty, somebody else is making the next pot," Lexi declared, as she handed around mugs of coffee. She gave one to Connor and then shook Wes awake. "Get up, lazy. Nap time's over."
Wes groaned and opened his eyes as Lexi set his coffee down on the table beside him. He noticed Connor staring at him and sighed before closing his eyes again. "What do you want?" Wes asked Connor. He sounded grumpy and he'd been that way since Annalise brought him back. His usually sweet and complacent demeanour had disappeared. Maybe it was the lack of sleep.
"The real," Connor said to Wes simply. He lifted his coffee mug to his lips with a smug smile. "About you and Rebecca. You tapping that ass or what?"
Oh God. Was this really the right time? Lexi shot Connor an irritated look as she clutched her hot mug of coffee. "Can we chit chat about sex lives later? A man is about to die, Connor."
Laurel turned around from her computer. "I agree. Besides, it's none of your business."
Wes groaned and turned over in the sofa, ignoring the cup of coffee Lexi had set down beside him. "She's right, it's not," he replied, not even noticing the dirty look Lexi was giving him because of the wasted cup of coffee she'd made. It would go cold and he wouldn't even drink it. See if I ever do anything for him again.
"Evasive. Interesting," Michaela muttered, reaching for a new file. Lexi raised an eyebrow. She didn't particularly enjoy the timing of the investigation, but she was curious about what Wes was hiding behind that puppy-dog face too. She didn't care about his sex life, but what was going on with him and Annalise?
"You guys, stop," Laurel insisted.
Lexi rolled her eyes. "Wes isn't a kid, Laurel," she pointed out. "If he has a problem with what people are saying, he can defend himself."
"And it must be hot," Connor mused. "Sleeping with a murderer."
There was a pause as Asher landed back on earth from whatever planet he'd been on. "Wait, you're screwing our client?" Lexi bit her lip. His obliviousness was both adorable and disturbing. One would think a future lawyer would be more observant.
"No," Wes replied, his tone rising a little. He was on edge. "And the guy with the corrupt dad doesn't get to say crap to me right now!"
Asher froze and stared at Wes, closing the file in his hands. "Take that back."
"Why should he?" Laurel demanded. "Your Dad sent a guy to death row for no reason."
"Okay, wow, this is great," Lexi snapped. She was sick and tired of people targeting Asher. Could they not see how much shit he was going through right now? "Particularly for you, Laurel. Are we suddenly judging people based on their families now? You're Italian, isn't your Dad a mob boss or something?" Lexi snapped.
Laurel raised an eyebrow. "That was terrible."
"But honestly, I'm curious," Michaela began thoughtfully, looking at Asher. "How does it feel knowing that your charmed existence came at the expense of another man's life?"
Lexi's grip on her coffee cup tightened as she noticed Connor about to speak. She set her cup down sharply and glared at him. Laurel and Michaela's snarky comments were one thing, but she refused to let Connor rile up Asher. She knew what he would say. "Connor Walsh, there is a very thin line right now and if you even think about saying what y-"
Connor ignored her and smirked. "I'm sure it's not the first time the Kennebunkport Millstones have profited off other people's misfortunes."
"Congratulations guys," Lexi snapped, turning to face Laurel, Michaela, Wes and Connor. I mean they weren't exactly friends, but… "Looks like you've all managed to reach a new low today. I can't even-"
Lexi was cut off by a loud crashing noise. Her hands flew to her mouth as she realized Asher had tried to charge at Connor and slipped on one of the many boxes lying around, resulting in his face-planting on the floor. She hurried to help him, vaguely hearing Connor sound pleased with himself.
"Fuck off, Connor," Lexi told him sharply before kneeling on the floor beside Asher. "Asher, are you okay? How did you-"
"What the hell is going on here?" Annalise Keating was standing at the door, furious. "Man's life hangs in the balance and this is how you spend your time? Get off the floor, Miss Gray and Mr. Millstone, now."
Lexi flushed red and hurriedly got to her feet but Asher didn't move. Instead, he picked up a sheet of paper and rolled over so he could hold it in front of his face. "Wait," he groaned. "What is this?"
Michaela raised an eyebrow. "It's mine, it's from Trucco's real estate group."
"I've seen this logo before," Asher insisted as he stumbled to his feet, not even noticing the hand Lexi had extended towards him to help him up. "In Linda Morelli's parking garage." His eyes widened as he turned to look at all of them. "People. The key eyewitness lives in a building owned by Senator Trucco!"
"So… it's the teacher."
"Always the one you least expect," Annalise agreed.
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They were all tense the next day. The next few hours determined David Allen's life and Lexi couldn't stop fidgeting in the courtroom. It was a miracle that Annalise Keating managed to get Senator Trucco subpoenaed and brought into the court. She sat him on the stand, and, in classic Keating style, awed the entire courtroom. Lexi could only stare and wonder what it was like to be her. To have to power to command the attention of an entire room with just words.
"Miss Keating, we are beyond dismayed by the conduct you've exhibited here today," the judge began. Lexi's heart sank. That did not sound good. She glanced to the side and noticed that both Connor and Laurel were sitting frozen in their seats. Lexi was squeezing Asher's fingers tightly and he was returning the death grip. The judge continued, "You've operated with blatant disrespect for this court and it's protocols and your argument, when isolated from all the bluster, seems to consist entirely of speculation."
"I don't like where this is going," Michaela whispered. Lexi turned to glance at her and saw the worry in her eyes. None of them wanted David Allen to die. They'd put in too much effort to prove his innocence and gotten too far to let him slip away now. Lexi exchanged a sympathetic smile with Michaela before turning her attention back to the judge.
"Now, Mr. Allen. We have no choice but to vacate the judgement, conviction and sentence of death and prohibit a re-trial. You're a free man."
An audible gasp escaped Lexi's mouth as she saw the tears in David Allen's eyes. She wondered if she would ever again see the face of a man who had been given a chance to live after being condemned to die. He pursed his lips and Lexi felt warm tears slide down her own cheeks. They'd done it. Lexi's throat closed up as she watched David run up to his family and hug them. They were all half sobbing and half laughing. For a moment, she was reminded of her own parents and how she'd been putting off seeing them again. There was a painful tug in her stomach as she realized how much she missed them.
The tight grip on her hand released and Lexi turned to see Asher pursing his lips, his eyes red as he held back his own tears. She forced a smile at him. "You did it," she whispered. "Asher, we got him off because of you."
Asher turned to look at her. He'd folded his arms across his chest. He opened his mouth to speak but he had to stop and swallow before he could get the words out. "Yeah, well. My Dad was the one who sentenced him, so…"
"Maybe. But you got him acquitted." Lexi reached over to take his hand again and then quickly kissed him. She could feel his lips trembling but when she pressed hers against them tightly, he calmed down a little. Lexi didn't even care if Michaela or Connor were shooting them dirty looks. "I'm proud of you."
Asher gave her a tight smile as they all filed out of the courtroom. Lexi glanced back once more at David Allen and his embracing family before she finally slipped out. Connor walked up beside her. "That was a nice moment between you and loverboy there. You do know David's suffered years and years in prison because of his Dad?" he asked.
Lexi felt a sudden anger bubble up inside of her. Connor was always annoying but recently, he'd been pushing his limits. Did he have to ruin a happy moment? She whirled around to face him. "You know what, Connor? I'm done with this. If you don't like Asher or me being with him, then leave both of us alone. I don't deal with your sorry cheating ass and your drunk break-downs to have to put up with this too."
Connor raised an eyebrow. "It was just an observation, you don't-"
"No. I'm done with this. I don't have the energy for you anymore. Just fuck off and leave me alone."
Connor scoffed. "You'll regret this. You think I'm the cheater? Your little boyfriend grew up with a man who was ready to kill to get a promotion. One day something better will come along and he'll give you up for it."
"Don't predict his actions based on what you would do in the same situation," Lexi retorted. "You would have given Oliver up for a peanut. Just because you're not capable of caring doesn't mean none of us are."
"Don't talk about Oliver."
"Don't talk about Asher, then."
There was a long pause before Lexi turned around and walked away from him. Part of her was hurt that Connor was behaving that way, but he needed this. He'd been unbearable ever since she'd started dating Asher and Lexi couldn't deal with his bitterness anymore. It was just too much.
"What was that?" Asher asked as Lexi reached him. "What were you guys yelling about?"
"Nothing," Lexi muttered. She reached for the car door and opened it. "Let's go back to my place and celebrate. I'm sure Grace is in class, we can have the place to ourselves."
Asher grinned. "Hell yeah."
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"I am going to be so hung over tomorrow," Lexi giggled as Asher tried to kiss her neck sloppily. They were both reasonably tipsy, considering that Lexi had stolen her roommate's stash of alcohol. Grace was staying at her sister's, though, so for the first time, Lexi had invited Asher over to her place. He seemed to find the clean apartment almost disturbing. "Asher! Stop it. I want more alcohol, sex later."
Asher pulled away from Lexi and grinned. "As you wish, my lady." He reached over and poured her another shot before stopping at a rather ugly figurine that was sitting on a shelf next to some books. It was a dull green in colour and had an overdone red smile, making it look like a cross-over between the Joker and the Hulk. "The fuck is that thing? It keeps staring at me."
Lexi looked over at it and laughed. "What, the little doll? Grace's niece made that for her. She's five. I keep telling her to throw it out but it's got sentimental value, apparently?"
Asher grunted. "Well, it keeps staring at me. Makes it a little hard to get into the mood if you know what I mean?" He ducked his head again and kissed her neck, this time wrapping his arms around her waist. "Screw the alcohol, let's go to your bedroom. Babe, come on, we haven't spent the night together since David's trial started."
Lexi kissed Asher back as his lips danced with hers lustfully, but she put her hands on both sides of his face and pushed him away. "Well, genius, you shouldn't have ordered pizza, then. I'd rather not be in the throes of passion when the doorbell rings. Besides, what happened to spending the weekend at some country club of yours? You were so excited about it, I figured you would want to wait to have crazy sex till then."
Asher shifted away from her, seeming to sober up a bit. "Well, I got kicked out of the house. I can hardly use my dad's club membership, can I?"
Lexi sat up. "What? Asher, you didn't tell me he kicked you out."
"Yeah, well. He did."
There was an awkward silence. Lexi's brain was too confused with alcohol to know how to respond and she didn't want to risk upsetting him. Instead, she searched for a way to change the topic. Her eyes landed on the ugly figurine again and she stared at it. "Connor hates that figurine too. He spent the night in the sofa once and he claimed it was trying to kill him."
Asher raised an eyebrow. "Hmm. He spend nights here often?"
"He's gay. And he's my friend, don't be an ass."
"You were arguing today," Asher pointed out. "In fact, I haven't even seen you talking to him in a long time. Unless you're arguing. Funny, because you guys seemed really tight when I first met you."
Lexi groaned. "Oh god. I can't talk about Connor right now. I'll break something. Pour me another shot. He's just a fucking hypocrite. He cheated on Oliver with that Pax guy from Trudeau's office and got dumped. It's not even the first time he's done this, I'm cool with it. But he keeps saying that you'll do something similar to me and that's what gets to me. He knows nothing about you."
Asher raised an eyebrow. "So your bff doesn't like me. Big deal."
"It is a big deal," Lexi muttered. She took the shot Asher offered her and swallowed it. "He's like… he's like my annoying older brother. Well, probably not exactly, considering it would be pretty weird to have like, vivid erotic fantasies about your brother, but-"
"Wait, what?" Asher demanded. He blinked at her through unfocused eyes. "Did you just say erotic fantasies? With the gay guy who uses too much hair gel? Are you kidding?"
Lexi flushed red as she realized what she'd said. "Oh god. I'm drunk. Ignore me, I don't know what I'm saying-"
"No, I want to hear this. Have you seriously had erotic fantasies about Connor Walsh?" Asher demanded. He sounded both intrigued and disgusted at the same time. He raised an eyebrow at the humiliated blush on Lexi's face. "Oh god, you have. Shiiiit."
"Like you haven't imagine fucking your hot female friends," Lexi snapped angrily. She sighed and ran a hand over her face. "It was one time. I was seventeen. My friend in high school came over and she saw a picture of me and Connor. And when I told her he was gay, she said that was even better because he was into other guys and I could have what she called 'my kind of threesome' with him and someone else."
Asher made a face. "Oh god."
"Yeah. And I guess it was a little too much because I later had a dream about me, Connor and a faceless guy having a threesome. Like, a really, really vivid… never mind. I couldn't look Connor in the eye for months after that. Luckily he was away at boarding school a lot so I didn't have to."
Asher shook his head and downed another shot. "That is so gross, but I'm jealous now and disturbingly turned on." He leaned forward and kissed her hard, both their tongues tasting sharply of alcohol. Lexi giggled as she kissed him back, Asher pulling her legs sharply out from underneath her and wrapping them around his waist. Once her limbs were securely around him, he placed his hands on her ass and lifted her up, both of them stumbling to the bedroom. Lexi giggled as he dropped her on the bed.
"Did you really just get hot at the thought of me having a threesome with Connor?" she demanded as Asher clambered on top of her.
"Shut up," he mumbled into her mouth as his hands reached for her clothes. Lexi reached up to run her fingers through his hair but he pinned her arms down on the bed sharply. She gasped as his teeth bit down on her neck.
"Asher, the pizza guy!"
"Fuck him."
"Are you sure you want me to do that?" Lexi teased.
Asher groaned. "Stop talking."
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A/N – Thanks for the reviews, guys! I'm loving the new episodes, aren't they great? This new tension in the group is amazing although I'm disappointed that Asher seems to be left out of it a lot.
Do review! Thanks so much for reading!