I sat around Aston’s house for a little over an hour contemplating what to do with myself. I’d had a little peek around the rest of the house and the back garden, even poking my head into his bedroom.
Quickly though, the newness wore away and I was bored out of my mind. I fiddled with my phone for a bit, texting my parents to tell them I’d arrived safely, and then I placed it down on the table next to the couch.
Eventually I got up and grabbed a scarf and my shoes, ready to go out and explore the area a bit, maybe find a cup of coffee somewhere too? I locked up the house with the spare key that Aston had left for me, making sure to grab the list of codes as well, and then I wandered down the street.
It was a lovely day, a nice warm breeze was blowing and everything looked vivid and green. Aston’s neighborhood was very quiet, lots of family homes with cute little gardens and children’s toys littered about. In my mind I’d always imagined Aston would live in some fancy penthouse flat in the middle of everything, not here. I liked the surprise of it all.
At the end of his street was a quiet park with a play structure and some swings. I wandered through the park and out the other end, finding myself at a slightly more busy street with shops. Memorizing the path I’d taken I wandered down the street a bit, stopping in a phone store to get a UK mobile and then grabbing a coffee at a small café. I sat outside and sipped it for a while, enjoying the lovely weather. When I was finished I stopped into another shop, grabbing some food and a bottle of wine, and then I ventured back to Aston’s.
It took a few tries to get in the gate, but finally I managed to get into his flat. I put the food away and then wandered down to Aston’s car to start getting my things out, there wasn’t that much. I spent the next hour moving my things into my new room, trying to make it as comfortable as possible. I set up my keyboard on the little desk in the room, put all of my clothes in the wardrobe, and put all of my toiletries out in the bathroom. After I’d finished I grabbed my laptop, determined to start sending demos out to London production companies.
I must have been incredibly engrossed in what I was doing because I didn’t even hear Aston come in the flat. It wasn’t until he sat down next to me and placed his hand on my back that I noticed his presence. In fact, I nearly screamed my head off!
“Oh my god Ast,” I heaved, trying to catch my breath back from the fright.
“Hiya,” he smiled cheekily. “What you so busy doing?”
“Demos,” I said simply.
“Well how about you finish up and we’ll eat something? Picked up a Nando’s…”
“Ohhhh…” I said with a glint in my eye, “Haven’t had that since I left for LA!”
“You’re joking? How are you alive?”
“Shut up,” I said, giving him a swat. “Go dish it up and I’ll be there in a sec.”
I watched him wander to the kitchen and then I turned to my laptop, typing out a few more sentences on the email I was composing and then clicking send. I snapped my laptop shut and then went back to the kitchen to see Aston standing at the counter wrestling with a corkscrew and a bottle of white wine.
“Need help there?” I smirked.
“No I got it,” he said, just as the cork popped out and his arm was wrenched back. I tried my hardest not to laugh at the sight.
“Easy there mate,” I giggled.
“Shush you,” he said, grabbing two glasses down from the cabinet and pouring out large amounts.
We sat side by side on stools at the counter for the next half hour, eating away at our chicken and chatting about our days. He told me about his time in the studio and how they’d come up with a bit of a club banger, while I told him about my little exploration of the neighborhood and then questioned how he’d chosen it.
“I liked that it was quiet,” he started as he responded to my question. “I liked that I could come here and have my own life and just be me without any pressure to be a celebrity or whatever. Yeah I’ve got the flashy cars, but I don’t need everything to be flashy. I like that this place is super comfortable, I can actually call it home.”
“Makes sense,” I said, impressed at how much he’d grown up, whilst also finishing off my drink. Eventually we placed our dishes into the sink and threw out the remaining wrappings from the food.
“Want to go get your stuff from my car?” asked Aston.
“Nah, I already got it,” I replied with a faint smile as I sat back down on the stool.
“Babe,” he whined back, “I was meant to help you!”
“Sorry,” I smirked.
“Now then,” he said sitting back down as well. “What to do…”
“What to do indeed…”
We just stared at each other for a long moment, but it wasn’t long lived as we both burst out laughing.
“I’m glad you moved in babe,” he said. “Seriously, this is going to be so much fun!”
“It better be, or I’m moving out!” I replied giggling. We sat there bantering away in the kitchen for a bit longer, finishing off the bottle of wine.
“Come on babe,” said Aston grabbing my hand suddenly.
“Where you taking me?” I asked, slightly shocked. This boy was always slightly presumptuous!
“Not where your head is obviously,” he smirked. Instead he dragged me out to the front room, pushing me down on to one of the couches and then going over to start the electric fire. “This is my favorite thing about this whole place,” he said after a minute. Just then the fire really got going, and I could tell what he meant, it was so cozy, nevermind that it was early summer.
Eventually he sat next to me on the couch, putting his feet up on the table opposite and laying me down so that my head was in his lap. Gently he stroked through my hair as we chatted away. We must have been there for hours as the next thing I know I’m being placed down in my bed gently, the covers being pulled over me. “Night babe,” a voice whispered, before a soft kiss was placed on my forehead.
“Night,” I mumbled before I fell back straight back to sleep after an incredibly blissed out evening.