Shinigami Haken High School (Black Butler)

Chapter Thirty Five: Eric's Guilty Pleasure

I sighed, I can never say no to her puppy dog eyes. "Fine. But just don't stress yourself out over me." Her mood instantly brightened up. and she tackled me. Ashlyn kissed my nose quickly before hopping up. 

"Good!" She exclaimed cheerfully, "because I already have the solution!" I groaned as I realized that she had played me for a fool. Of course she already had a plan. Even though I felt stupid for falling for the puppy dog eyes, I couldn't help but chuckle at how cunning my innocent little girlfriend had gotten. 

I sat up in the grass of my front lawn. "Spill," I said smiling.

"Ashton!" Ashlyn yelled. "You can come over now!" I looked around wildly to see Ashton stalking over to Ashlyn and I from the other side of the street. "Say hello to your new tutor!" Ashlyn said happily. "I was trying to think of people smart enough to tutor you while keeping up with their own work; all I could think of was William and Ashton."

"Why not Will?" I grumbled. 

Ashlyn sighed, "Will was my first choice, but he's got a lot on his mind right now. What with Grell, Sebastian, and graduation. I hope you can live with Ashton as a tutor."

"I'm right here, y'know. I can hear what you're saying," Ashton muttered to us. 

"Please, don't kill each other," Ashlyn begged Ashton and I. "And get some work done. Don't forget to eat lunch."

Ashton and I both chuckled at her fussiness. "I'll live with it," I said "But the second my grades are out of the gutter, angel boy is getting lost."

"Who you calling 'angel boy'?!" Ashton jumped forward to hit me, but was stopped by Ashlyn.

"Stop!" She ordered. "Just please, get along. I don't want to see my family and my boyfriend fight!"

"Sorry." Both Ashton and I sighed. Ashlyn had us wrapped around her pretty little finger.

Ashlyn smiled and hugged Ashton. "Thank you for doing this," She said. Then she turned to me and gave me a light peck on the lips. "I'll be back later babe. Grell and I are going shopping for prom dresses. Love you!" She went to leave but I grabbed her wrist and gently pulled her back. I kissed her forehead gently before telling her to stay safe.

Ashlyn smiled and waved before starting off on the walk to Grell's house. I sighed happily. Ashlyn always makes me feel giddy, warm, and happy. 

"Done daydreaming, princess?" A deep voice woke me out of my thoughts. I looked up to see Ashton glaring at me.

"Hey! Who you calling princess?!" I ran up to tackle him but he held me away from him. I struggled in his grip. "Angel boy!" I yelled as I kicked him in the groin. Ashton shoved me and we began a wrestling match that lasted a good five or ten minutes. 

Finally, we both plopped back on the grass sweating and exhausted. "Truce?" I asked him. Ashton nodded as he panted for breath. We waited to catch our breath back before we went inside the house to study. 

"Hey Ronald." I stopped untying my sneaker laces to look at Ashton. 

"What?" I asked.

"Don't ever hurt Ashlyn," Ashton said forcefully. "If you make her cry one time, I swear I will kill you. But that will be after I beat the crap outta you, skin you alive, pluck out your eyes, rip out you tongue, an-"

"I get it," I muttered as my stomach turned. "I would never hurt Ashlyn. She means the world to me. She is the best thing that happened to me!" 

"Good." Ashton said, sighing in relief. 

For that one moment, I actually saw eye to eye with Ashton. Neither one of us wanted Ashlyn to get hurt. Both of us just wanted to keep her happy.   

Eric's Point of View

I grinned when I saw Grell and Ashlyn walking to the mall entrance. They were going to be so surprised. "Hey!" I yelped as I ran up to them. 

"What are you doing here?" Grell asked politely. She and Ashlyn were looking at each other, then me, in confusion. 

"Alan couldn't make it. So I offered to help," I said, shrugging.

"That's fine," They sighed in unison. The girls walked through the doors and motioned for me to follow. I followed them to the first shop. we made our way to the racks of prom dresses and they dove in immediately.  

"What about this one?" Ashlyn asked. She held up a dress for Grell and I to inspect. It was a grape-purple dress with a hem that was high in the front and low in the back. The bodice was decorated in silver sequin. 

"I like it," I confessed. "Why don't you go try it on while I help Grell find something?" Ashlyn nodded and raced to the dressing rooms. Grell and I dug through hangers filled with red dresses. I noticed a strapless red gown, with a full skirt and immediately pulled it off the rack. "Try it on," I said as I pushed it into Grell's arms. 

I followed her back to the area in which the dressing rooms were placed. As I had promised Alan, I waited outside the rooms, and didn't try to peek in once. Ashlyn came out first and I twirled my finger. She spun in a circle and bowed playfully.

"What does the critic think?" Ashlyn asked, laughing. I hummed and stood up, I walked around her and inspected the fit of the gown. I shook my head 'no'. "What?" 

"I like the dress," I admitted, "I just think that there might be another one that will look better."

"Choose the next gown wisely, young one," Ashlyn teased as she walked back into the fitting room.

"Wait? You're letting me pick?!" I smiled when she nodded 'yes'. I rushed back to the rack and searched through the dresses until I found three that I thought would look great on Ashlyn. Then I grabbed a few dresses for Grell to try. 

The girls played dress up and tried on gown after gown before they had decided on 'the one'. I asked if I could send a picture of them in their dresses to Will and Ronnie, but the two made me promise to not tell anyone.

"Its a secret!" Grell chirped. "We want to surprise them!" 

"Don't worry, my lips are sealed."

We left the dress shop to stop for ice cream. As much as I hate to admit it, I enjoyed helping them chopse dresses. It felt good to be carefree; even if it was only for an hour or two. 

-Nat