Arranged •{ONC 2020}•

《 Chapter Nine 》

Wesley grunted in response. Ashlynn blinked. What am I supposed to do with this??

María chuckled at their obvious confusion and discomfort. Stepping forward, she plucked the frame from their hands and set it in the center of Wesley's dresser, which was otherwise bare. "There," she said, stepping back to observe the placement. "¡Es perfecto!"

The couple simply stared. Something had definitely short-circuited in Wesley's brain. Or at least, something was wrong with him. Why? He thought it looked kind of hot. He also felt kind of hot. He made a mental note to talk with Arnold about getting a thermostat installed in the room.

Ashlynn recovered first and bit her tongue to hold back an onslaught of complaints. She returned to stacking notebooks on the desk and putting her own pictures around the room, her lips pinched together in a frown.

Wesley snapped out of his daze and went back to helping rearrange furniture.

An hour later, Ashlynn's stuff had been completely integrated with Wesley's. The drawers were organized, their clothes were hanging in the closets, and their toiletries were mixed together in the bathroom. Had she been doing this for a friend, she would've felt proud of herself. However, the sight of their toothbrushes next to each other in a cup made her skin crawl, and Wesley kept stubbing his toe on her dresser because he wasn't paying attention.

This was going to take some getting used to.

《♡》

The clock in the hall chimed eleven times.

Wesley lowered his book from his spot in the armchair. "It's getting late."

Ashlynn hummed.

"We should go to bed."

The 'we' made her anxiety worse. She'd spent the better part of her day wondering how this new arrangement was going to work out. Did Wesley have some weird nightly routine? How were they going to share the bed? Were they supposed to say goodnight to each other?

"Ash."

She hated when he called her that, although the reason for that had changed dramatically. "What?"

Wesley felt a little surprised when she didn't correct him. He dismissed his thought as to why and continued, "We have work tomorrow. We need to sleep."

Ashlynn hummed again and flipped to the next page of the magazine.

He sighed and closed his book, placing it on the end table next to him. Stretching, he rose to his feet and approached the couch where she sat. "Come on."

She jumped when he poked her shoulder playfully. He did it again and she slammed the magazine shut. "Fine! Quit poking me; you're such a kid."

He just grinned and left the room. She had no idea how he was being so calm about this.

Wesley almost fell down the stairs because he was shaking so much. He was undeniably nervous, partly because he feared for his life and partly because Ashlynn finally seemed to hate him less. Of course, she could have been playing nice so she could beat him up later. That wouldn't surprise him in the least.

Upon reaching his room—their room—he dug around in his drawers looking for clothes. He usually slept shirtless, but he figured Ashlynn would definitely beat him up if he continued doing so. He found an old Revengers shirt and some shorts to wear and went into the bathroom to get ready for bed.

When he came out, Ashlynn was perched on the edge of the bed, tapping away on her cell phone, a smile on her face as she sent a message. He hoped it wasn't for Dylan.