twenty eight
"Shannon?"
I was quickly awaken by the sound of Ashton's soft voice.
"It's 7:15," he mumbled into my hair. I slowly sat up, rubbed my eyes and stretched my arms. He was sitting behind me with his hands grasping my waist. I felt myself turn around to see him staring at me intently. His eyes hung low while the slightest bit of stubble was forming on his cheeks.
"How long was I asleep?" I yawned.
"About an hour and a half," he replied as he brought his fingers up to my neck to fix my scarf.
"I'm sorry, I was so tired," I frowned.
"It's alright, I figured that would happen," he smirked as he stood up. "We should probably leave though, we have a half hour drive to the airport."
"Thank you for bringing me, it was beautiful," I smiled. He just flashed me a grin and wrapped up the blanket we sat on.
He was quick to stand up and start to walk down the pathway we took to get here. It was quite pretty. The trees hung above us while the wind blew softly. My mind began to wander as I watched Ashton walk in front of me. He seemed so content with the fact that I was here with him. I never thought we'd get to a point where he felt comfortable with me coming to see his mother. It was strange, he was afraid of his feelings but somehow he's been able to let me in and it certainly felt good.
Once we reached the car he stopped.
I watched as he completely froze.
"I don't know if I can do this," he whispered. His eyes fell as he looked down as I reached for his hands.
"Yes you can Ash," I said slowly as I intertwined our fingers. "When was the last time you saw you're mother?"
"When we sent her to rehab in Idaho after the fire last year," he sighed. "I'm nervous she'll try to come back into my life."
"Well, is that such a bad thing?" I asked softly.
"We'll see."
-
"Her flight landed at eight? Where the hell is she?" I heard Ashton snarl from the chair he was sitting on.
"Ashton, it's 8:03," I chuckled. "She's probably getting her luggage?"
"Whatever," he spat. I took a seat next to him and placed a hand on his forearm.
"You need to calm down, she'll be here any minute," I said in an understanding tone.
"Ashton!" A screechy voice called in our direction. I turned my head to see a rather small blonde woman walking towards us. Ashton slowly stood up and pulled me up beside him. She gave him a quick hug and handed him her luggage. "Let's get the hell out of here." She scuffed as she stared down at her manicure.
She was rude.
Very rude.
"Who the hell are you?" She quickly spat as soon as she noticed my presence.
"My name is Shannon, I'm a friend of Ashton's," I said politely. She looked me up and down and spoke up.
"He's screwing you isn't he?" She chuckled with a devilish smirk on her lips. Ashton slowly looked up and brought his hand to his forehead.
"No, I'm not," he rolled his eyes and picked up her bags from the white tile floor.
"What? I know my son, and he has never had 'friends' as pretty as you dear," she smiled. I was torn between feeling offended or flattered.
"Stop," Ashton mumbled under his breath. She was quick to slap his arm and scold him.
"You act like this every time I visit, cheer up." She spat.
Ashton rolled his eyes and lead us to the car.
"Seriously? No sex?" She laughed as we walked through the parking lot.
"No," Ashton mumbled sternly as we all took our spots in his truck. His mother sat in the passengers seat while I took the small seat in the back.
"Oh come on? Nothing?"
"Yes, nothing. She has a boyfriend" he said calmly. I sat back in my chair and widened my eyes. I tilted my head in confusion and shot Ashton a quick look of confusion through the rear-view mirror. He stared at me straight in the face and practically begged me to go along with his plan.
"I don't believe you," she chuckled under her breath. Her eyes quickly widened as she stared at me through the rearview mirror. A smile quickly spread onto her face as she immediately turned around and looked at me. "I knew it!" She cheered as she pointed at my neck. I was confused for a moment before I looked into the mirror to see a small hickey at the base of my neck. My face flashed a bright red before I instantly remember what happened between Ashton and I earlier this morning. I nearly wanted to scream. This was certainly not the way I wanted his mother to think of me after all. In order to avoid the embarrassment, I sat back in my seat in attempt to ignore the whole situation.
"That's not my work," Ashton lied as he began to back out of the parking spot. She rolled her eyes as she turned around and shot me a quick wink through the rearview mirror.
"So Shannon?" She mumbled as she stared down at her fingers. "Where are you from? You have one hell of an accent you know?"
"I was born in France," I smiled slightly at her comment. "I moved to America a few years ago."
"Well it's nice to see some culture in this godforsaken town," she chuckled as we drove down a street filled with typical shopping centers and stores. "Ashton's Grandma is from Australia," she grinned.
"Oh really?" I questioned as I looked up at Ashton. He nodded his head and kept his eyes on the road.
After a few minutes, he pulled into the driveway of his house and escorted his mother to the front door. I tried to grab one of her bags from the truck but Ashton quickly snatched it from me and followed after us until we reached the door. Jenna came and let us in as soon he set the bags down.
"Jenna!" His mother cheered as she pulled her into a hug. Jenna sighed and nodded her head as Ashton and I stepped inside.
"Hello Ann," she practically groaned. Suddenly I looked up to see the time on the clock. 8:36. I checked my phone to see my father was reminding me of a surgery he wanted me to attend this morning. I felt bad leaving so suddenly to take part in such an unnecessary activity.
"Well it was nice to meet you," I said softly as I walked over to his mother.
"Where are you off too?" She said nicely.
"Her boyfriend is taking her on a date," Ashton interjected as he walked closer to me. "Right Shannon?" I mentally slapped my own forehead and nodded slightly.
"I didn't know you had a boyfriend, dear?" Jenna asked softly with a look of confusion in her eyes.
"Well actually I'm off to the hospital to-" I was suddenly cut off by Ashton's calm voice.
"To see him, he is related to one of her father's patients," Ashton said hastily as he nudged me in the back harshly.
"Oh well I'm sure he's lovely," Jenna mumbled as she stared at Ashton with a cocked eyebrow. "Any man lucky enough to have you as a girlfriend must be pretty special." She smiled forcefully as she continued to stare at Ashton. She clearly knew he was lying.
"Goodbye sweetie, hope to see you soon!" His mother said kindly as Ashton and I slowly began to head out of the house.
"You as well," I smiled softly as the large door shut behind us.
-
sorry for not posting, i honesty have had so much going on and writers block was really bringing me down.
please forgive me :(