Starving

Chapter 51

"I want you to meet my girlfriend, come with me." Hailee said, dragging him into the living room.

"This is Ash. Ash, this is Griffin, my big brother." she said with a smile.

"Nice to meet you." I said and stuck my hand out and he shook it with a smile.

"You too. Hailee can't shut up about you." he said with a smirk, making Hailee blush.

"Good to know." I said and smirked at Hailee.

After chatting for a while, getting to know Griffin, we heard Cheri call out that food was ready. I sat down next to Hailee, who put her hand on my thigh drawing small patterns with her thumb.

"Thank you so much for coming, we've been looking forward to meeting you." Cheri said and smiled at me.

"Thanks for having me." I said and returned the smile. After eating we sat around chatting for a while, getting to know each other. Then the dreaded question came.

"So Ash, what are you gonna do after the tour?" Peter asked and took a sip of his wine. Hailee must have felt me tense up, cause she grabbed my hand and squeezed it tightly.

"Well, I'll go back to London.. but we've talked about it, and we're gonna do everything we can to make it work.." I said with the smallest smile, like you could barely call it a smile.

"I think that's great. You two seem to really love each other, so I believe in you. I'm sure you can make it work." Cheri said with a soft smile, making my smile grow.

"I'm not giving up on her, that's for sure." Hailee said and moved a strand of hair behind my ear, I smiled softly at her.

After dinner Hailee dragged me upstairs to her childhood bedroom.

"This is my old room." she said and opened the door for me. I walked inside and looked around, it was just so Hailee. I looked at the pictures on the wall, which was of her family and friends. I spaced out, which she quickly noticed. She wrapped her arms around me from behind, making me come back to reality.

"You okay, baby?" she asked and placed a soft kiss on my neck.

"Yeah.." I said and leaned into her touch.

"You sure?" she asked again. I shrugged my shoulders and she turned me around so that I was facing her.

"Is it the long distance thing?" she asked, I nodded. She knows me so well. She hugged me tightly and rubbed my back.

"Come here." she said and pulled me over to her bed and sat down.

"It's all gonna be okay. I'm not letting you go, you know that right?" she asked.

"I know.. it's just gonna be really hard, going from seeing each other every day, to not knowing when I'll see you again." I said and she pulled me into another hug and I quickly leaned into her embrace.

"I know, baby. But how about, we schedule a visit, then we have something to look forward to." she suggested and combed through my hair with her fingers.

"That's a good idea." I said and looked up at her with a smile.

"I love you so much." she said and stroked my cheek softly.

"I love you more." I said and kissed her softly.

"Let's go back downstairs." she said and stood up. I got up as well and took her hand in mine.

"There you are. You're just in time for dessert." Cheri said and placed a beautiful home baked chocolate cake on the coffee table. We sat down on the couch next to each other and each took a slice.