MAGNETIC [H.S.]

12. god is a woman*

The rest of my shower was quick, my body was relaxed and ready to finish off the day. I toweled off and shook my hands through my hair before picking out a simple outfit for the day. I threw on a pair of shorts and an old Rolling Stones t-shirt that I'd had since high school.

I decided to spend a few hours in the studio, at least to start a few projects if not finish one. I kissed Evie on the head, slipped my feet into my worn-out vans, grabbed the stupid blue hat that Niall bought for me at a Florida gas station, and was ready to leave.

I opened the door with keys in hand and jumped in surprise at the sight of a mass of brown hair bent over in front of me.

"Jesus, fuck! Are you trying to kill me!?" My heartbeat was hammering in my ears as the adrenaline passed through my body.

"Why did you open the door so aggressively? Chill the fuck out." Ashton stood in front of me in a pair of sweats and a tiny white tank top. At her feet, she'd set a few small bags of what looked to be groceries.

"Why are you leaving groceries at my door? How do you even know where I live?"

"Louis."

"Lovely. And the answer to the first question?" She went a bit quiet then, bit the inside of her lip like she does when she's nervous.

"Also Louis. He said he was going to pick you up a few groceries before you got home because you'd cleaned out your fridge before your trip. It seemed stupid that he had to do that for you when he needs to be working, the man has to make money yanno? He can't just be your errand boy."

"Mhm, so why exactly are you the one dropping off groceries at my house then?"

"I offered to do it for him so he could work! I didn't have anyone booked for this afternoon so I had time, it just made more sense."

"Just so we're clear, I didn't ask him to buy me groceries. I'm fully capable of picking my own food, he just doesn't think so."

"He's always worried about you. God only knows why, you treat your body better than the rest of us. Lou is a walking advertisement for lung cancer, for god's sake."

I let out a short laugh before answering her, "You're not wrong."

"Where are you headed? Wait! Let me guess...grocery shopping?" She asked.

"No, the studio. Was going to get a head start on the extra workload this week."

"Mmm, sounds boring. You should cook me dinner instead."

"Why would I do that?"

Her face fell flat and she raised a snarky eyebrow at me. "Because I'm hungry and I bought you fucking groceries, it's the least you could do."

"No, the least I could do would be nothing, which sounds pretty appealing, but you're going to whine if I don't invite you in aren't you?"

"No. I'm not that desperate to hang out with you, don't flatter yourself. I'll just take myself out, I'm sure the people of New York would love to watch me eat some greasy pizza with my nipples showing through this tank top."

"You have terrible taste in pizza, that's an awful idea. You'll drop that oily shit all over yourself, embarrass yourself, and you won't have anything to cover up with on the train ride home so you'll just be a raging bitch to anyone who looks at you."

"You know what? That's a stupid fucking hat."

"Don't recall asking for your opinion. What does that have to do with your dinner plans?"

"God, I hate you. I'm leaving." Her cheeks were flushed like they always got when she knew I was right. She turned to head for the stairs as I picked up the bags.