The Tour - A.I.

29. Mine

An entire week went by and I didn't hear anything from Ashton. It didn't take that long for me to assume I probably wouldn't hear from him again. Until he showed up at my apartment unannounced that next Friday night.I was sitting on the couch mindlessly scrolling through Netflix when I heard a knock at the door.

"I got it." Ethan muttered, strolling into the room.

I turned my attention back to the TV as he silently opened the door. A couple of moments passed before I realized no one had spoken. I turned my head as I heard the door close and saw Ashton standing there staring at me, Ethan with a look of amusement on his face.

"Well, I'm heading out to Hailey's. I'll...see you guys later." Ethan smirked, grabbing his keys from the counter and slipping out the door.

An awkward silence passed as Ashton stood by the front door and I stood by the couch.

"Sorry for just dropping by. Are you busy?" He asked.

"Not unless you count Netflix." I joked. "I'm surprised to see you, though."

He didn't respond, his eyes dropping to the floor as he shoved his hands in his pockets uncomfortably.

"You can come sit down." I said softly.

He looked up at me and nodded, slowly making his way to the couch and sitting down beside me.

"So...what's up?" I asked curiously.

"I don't really know how to say this." He started.

I sat silently for a moment, waiting for him to continue, but he didn't. "So try." I said nonchalantly.

He nervously ran his hands up and down his thighs as he stared down at the floor in front of him, seemingly contemplating what hewanted to say.

"Just say it, Ash. Spit it out." I urged. "Whatever it is, it's okay. Just tell me."

His weird behavior gave me the feeling that he was going to tell me he wasn't interested in seeing me again. He probably is nervous because he doesn't want to hurt my feelings or confront this at all. I braced myself as he took a breath and looked over at me.

"I'm sorry I disappeared this week. I just needed to think about some things." He said softly.

"It's okay...I understand." I replied. "Is that all you wanted to say?"

He shook his head and stuck his hand out in front of me. I looked at it, completely confused before looking back up into his eyes.

"I'm Ashton. I'm in a band, sometimes my job is my life. I have a fear that I'll never be able to fix myself and I can be extremely jealous when I'm with someone. I've made a lot of mistakes that I desperately want to fix and one of those is starting over with you."

I stared at him questioningly as I processed what he said. Eventually I softly gripped his hand as if we were meeting for the first time.

"I'm Violet. I have a fear that I'll never be good enough, I can be incredibly insecure and I've never been good at communicating my feelings. I'd really like to work on that with you, though." I smiled lightly as I shook his hand, both of us staring at each other.

"I really missed you." He said quietly.

"I missed you, too." I smiled.

Ashton leaned forwarding, pulling me to him in a hug. I wrapped my arms around his neck, breathing in his scent that I craved for so long. He finally pulled back slightly, looking down at me, his eyes glancing from my eyes to my lips and back. I waited patiently until he finally spoke up.

"Can I?" He asked, glancing at my lips again. His voice barely above a whisper. Something about him asking instead of assuming he could, I loved.

I smiled lightly before pulling him to me, my hands on either side of his neck as I pressed my lips to his. He grunted and deepened the kiss as I ran my hand through his hair, tugging lightly on the ends.We finally pulled away to catch a breath and he rested his forehead against mine.

"You have no idea how much I missed that." He panted, eyes closed as he spoke.

"I have some idea." I giggled lightly, running my hands down his chest.

Now that he was here again, I didn't want to stop touching him.He pulled me into his lap, wrapping his arms around my waist. "You know, the whole time I was gone, I couldn't ever do it."

"Do what?" I asked, pulling back slightly to look at him, my arms still around his neck.

"I couldn't sleep with anyone. I tried, even. But I just couldn't do it." He muttered, shaking his head lightly.

"You don't have to tell me this, Ash." I replied.He looked up at me again.

"I wanted to think of anything else except you. You were all I could think about. Nothing worked though. Every girl I came across just didn't compare. It drove me crazy. I started to really fall apart, even during shows, and the guys eventually stepped in and told me I needed to do something about it."

I shifted uncomfortably and looked away from him. "Yeah, I understand."

"I'm sorry, I just really wanted you to know everything." He sighed.

"It's okay. If it helps, then by all means." I shrugged. "But I'm comfortable with leaving it in the past. Is there anything you want to know about what happened here while you were gone? I'm willing to discuss it so we can get it out of the way and move on."

He thought for a minute, brushing my hair behind my shoulder before settling on a response. "No. You're right, it's in the past. I'm just glad we can try this again. Nothing else that happened matters."

I smiled softly at him, touching his face. "I don't really have anything else to tell anyway. You found everything out when you were here last time."

"Don't remind me." He mumbled.

"Hey, it's only you. Don't forget that." I said, lowering my head down to his, our lips meeting.

He kissed me back softly before deepening the kiss, wrapping his arm around my waist and using the other to lower us down onto the couch, him hovering over me. He leaned down to kiss me again and as he pulled away, he sighed. "I love you so fvcking much."

I smiled at him, running my hand through his hair and pulling it away from his face, but I didn't respond.

"You don't have to say it back right now." He continued. "I just wanted you to know. I don't think I every really stopped."

"I don't think I ever really stopped either." I replied.

He sat up and I followed, tucking my legs under myself as I turned to face him on the couch.

"So...What does this mean exactly?" He asked.

"What does what mean?" I replied.

"Are we back together officially or...?"

"I don't know. Do you want to be?" I asked.

"I don't really want you to be with anyone else. And I don't want to be with anyone else." He said bluntly.

"I feel the same way. I guess we could just not make a big deal out of it, you know?" I replied.

He nodded. "I know you're hesitant, but I'm really going to work hard to prove to you that I want to make it work this time, for real."

"I know, I believe you. I just don't want all the attention. I don't want to be in the spotlight."

"We'll do whatever you need to feel comfortable. I'm just happy that you're mine again." He smiled, taking my hands. "I love you."

"I love you too, Ashton."

I know this was short, but the next chapter is extra long! It's actually the epilogue. It's already finished, so I'll be posting it soon!