Confiding in You ϟ a.i.

Chapter 36

== Ashton's POV ==

My hand is quick to move from its place at my side to the back of her neck as I pull her closer to me and deepen the kiss significantly. Maddie had jumped at the sudden contact but it isn't long before she is returning it. My entire body feels like fireworks again, but I force myself to break away before I can even indulge in the feeling. I may not have thought before kissing her again, but I know better now than to let it get even close to as far as it did earlier.

Maddie's cheeks are a bright red and judging by the heat I feel building up in my face, it probably resembles hers exactly. I release my grip on the clothes and she takes them entirely into her own grasp. When the exchange is made, I look down at my feet, embarrassed.

"Sorry," We both say at once and I clear my throat.

I still haven't looked up, but I watch her feet while she turns and moves away from me to the door. At the sight of another pair of small feet in the doorway, I snap my head up. Harry is standing there with a bewildered grin, watching Maddie's every move while she exits. I can tell, even from behind, that she is trying not to make eye contact with him.

Once she's out of his sight, he turns back to me with the same smile. I rub the back of my own neck awkwardly, waiting for his young mind to come up with something to say. He still looks perplexed and I'm surprised that this is the first time he's ever caught me kissing anyone.

"What were you doing that for?" He scrunches his face up. I let out a breath and shake my head at him, turning again to my dresser to pull out a pair of sweatpants. I'm in the middle of peeling off my shorts when he speaks up again, "Why did you guys say sorry?"

"Shouldn't you be asleep?" I ask, tugging the waistband of the sweats up to my hips. I don't wait for his response and pull my jersey up over my head.

"I was coming to say goodnight," he only pauses for a millisecond, "Are you guys going to do the deed?"

I can't help but laugh at his remark, my eyes bugging out at the sound of his words. It's quite difficult to scold him while I'm attempting to stifle my chuckles, but I try anyway. "Harry! You're seven, do you even know what you're talking about?"

"Jacob told me," he smiles proudly and lifts his chin just as his smile begins to falter a bit, "And I'm seven and a half, Ashton!"

"My bad, little man," I make my way toward him to ruffle his hair and pull him against me. He groans but I keep him there to look out and make sure Maddie isn't on her way back from the bathroom yet. I know that, even in her intoxicated state, overhearing this conversation would make her uncomfortable.

She isn't coming back just yet, so I let go of the back of Harry's head and he tilts it to look up at me. Just by the look on his face, I can tell he is going to say something he shouldn't and I brace myself for it. He looks to the left, thinking, before opening his mouth, "Do you love her?"

My stomach falls and I look out into the hallway again, keeping my eye on what I can see of the bathroom door. She still hasn't come out, but she could any second and with where this is going, there is great potential for everything, if I even stand a chance tomorrow, to be fucked up.

"What?"

"Jacob said that his mom told him that people do it when they love eachother," He looks at me as if I should have understood in the first place, putting his hands on his hips. I'm not sure if his euphemisms for sex make this conversation more or less uncomfortable.

"Well, I mean, y--" I stop myself, hearing the bathroom door finally squeak open.

Maddie walks out slowly, seemingly unaware of the conversation my brother and I had just had as she pulls her bangs out of her face. Her focus isn't even on me or Harry, but rather on whatever she has been thinking about. I can't keep myself from taking the opportunity to stare, admiring yet again the way my clothes adorn her body. My Captain America shirt hangs loosely on her and she's evidently rolled the boxers up on her waist, exposing part of her thighs. I struggle to catch my breath, as stupid as that sounds.