ῼ Ash Castillo ῼ
“Don’t fall asleep,” I muttered, under my breath. Crap. She was asleep.
I shifted around awkwardly, her body leaning heavily into my shoulder. Ella mumbled something and I froze, terrified I’d woken her. I found myself staring at her sleeping face.
She was pretty. No doubt about it. I wondered if she even knew. It wasn’t the obvious, almost plastic beauty that resonated in all teenage girls, if they tried hard enough and had splashed enough money. Ella’s beauty was more elegant. Her skin so clear, that it was almost translucent under the moonlight. Hesitantly, my fingers reached for her cheek. They lingered there for a few moments, just over her skin, her body heat warming my cold fingers. I was even too scared to touch her – it felt like if I did, she might break and shatter into a thousand pieces.
I watched her breathe in and out, her chest rising and falling, the tips of her long hair wrapping around her face in the cold breeze. I felt a shiver run through her body and I suddenly realized she’d been curled up into a little ball. She must’ve been cold. I immediately pulled off my jacket, and draped it around her shoulders.
Slowly, I felt Ella’s muscles relax as she snuggled into the jacket. I watched her, enthralled. She snored softly, shifting and suddenly the alluring smell of her coconut shampoo filled my nostrils. Her lips parted as she mouthed as she dreamed. Watching her sleep was fascinating.
I’ve been with a lot of girls. I’ve held them, kissed them and even done more.
But none of that experience could prepare me for the electrifying experience that was simply watching Ella. We weren’t even touching. Just observing the gentle movements her delicate shoulders made, the corners of her cherry red lips that curled up into a smile, even the soft snoring that came from the back of her throat, was more magical to me than anything else I’d ever experienced in my life.
How can she mean so much to me? How is this feeling even possible?
I don’t know how long I sat there, on the cold balcony, just watching her. Time had stopped and for me nothing else existed, apart from the silver moon, the pitch-black night sky and Ella.
I only moved when smoke filled my lungs.
Moving as little as possible, I shifted to try and see what the smell was. My eyes widened when I saw the cloud of grey smoke. I cursed under my breath. The food Ella had been making earlier…
I stood up slowly, keeping Ella’s head up with my head. Her head fell, banging against my knee. She didn’t wake up and I silently thanked God that she was a heavy sleeper.
Regarding the scene before me, I tried to figure out what to do. On one hand, I really didn’t want to leave Ella lying on the cold, hard floor. What if she got sick or something? On the other hand, the stuff in the pan was probably on fire right now and I didn’t want to risk burning myself to death.
I had to get my priorities right. Ella being cold for a while was certainly the lesser evil.
Right. I had to get a move on, or we’ll both be dead. The fire alarm wasn’t sounding. Maybe something was broken. If I didn’t go know, I could be burnt alive. And I was too important to so.
So why wasn’t I moving?
I stood there, Ella’s head resting against my leg, waiting expectantly for my body to move. But I couldn’t just leave her there. That would be unchivalrous of me. She could get cold.
In the end, I positioned my hand behind her back and another under her knees. On the count of three, I stood up, pulling her weight with me. Ella was surprisingly light. I stared at her face, waiting for her to wake up and yell up me for being a “pervert”, or whatever else she called me. But the thing is, if she did wake up, I would have trouble denying it. I was enjoying this position – Ella’s dainty body pressed against mine – a little too much.
I shook my head, ignoring those thoughts. Right now, I was on a mission. I had to stop the penthouse burning down. I shifted my foot forwards, trying to keep my weight even. My movements were slow, until I inhaled a lungful of the gas that was floating through the open balcony doors.
Once I was in, a thought flitted through my mind. I’d just carried her over the threshold. In normal circumstances brides and grooms did that as soon as they came back from their honeymoon. But these weren’t normal circumstances. I’d blackmailed her, made her sign that contract and live with me. The threshold thing hadn’t happened after we came back from our honeymoon, because one, we hadn’t had a honeymoon. Two, if I’d did, she would’ve probably knocked me out. Three, this wasn’t a real marriage.
I almost wished it were normal. I would’ve wanted to do the normal stuff with Ella – feed some pigeons, watch some bad movies and go out to restaurants. It would’ve been nice.
I gently lay Ella on her bed, pulling the covers up, high enough to cover her torso. I gazed at her face for one last second, before turning around and breaking into a sprint.
Everything was surrounded by grey smoke. I choked, as I pulled out a fire extinguisher and made my way towards the place I thought the smoke was thickest. My eyes watering, I blasted the burning pan, cursing. Foam sprayed everywhere, coating the surfaces, but I saw that the fire had gone out. A few seconds later, most of the smoke surrounded the pan had diffused away and I was left blinking and surveying the damage.
White bubbles covered the kitchen, sliding down the walls and expanding on the counters. The smell of burning in the air was now only slightly tinged with the sharp sting of fire extinguisher foam. Coughing, I made my way to the stove and stared in horror at the black charcoal mess that was left in the pan.
Suddenly, I was struck by a thought.
Had she been hungry? Was that why she’d been making the stuff?
I ran my fingers through my messy hair, mentally cursing at myself. I was so self-absorbed. How did I not notice that my own wife was hungry? Now that I think about it, normal people eat dinner, right? I’d thought I’d seen her eat something every so often, but I’d never thought she actually needed to eat… I mean, I eat breakfast and lunch, but I’d never thought…
I hit my head with the back of my head, suddenly feeling incredibly guilty. I was such an inconsiderate idiot.
My eyes turned to unidentifiable mess in the saucepan. All of a sudden, I felt very noble and brave as I rolled up my sleeves and picked up a whisk.
***
Ͼ Ella Castillo Ͽ
I woke up with Eyelash’s huge cat eyes staring into mine. I yelped out if fright, blinked and suddenly Eyelash was gone. I sat up, bright sunlight spilling from the balcony doors and onto my face, causing me to squint. I saw a blond boy, grinning down at me.
“Ash!” I mumbled, rubbing my eyes. My head pounded furiously and I looked blearily around for a clock. “What time is it?”
“Five AM,” Ash said brightly, grinning, his hands behind his back. I stared at him suspiciously.
“Oh, God. You’ve done something, haven’t you?”
“What?” he said, taken aback. Why would you think that?”
“The look on your face. Let me have it. Did you break something? Doodle some immature messages on my schoolwork? Prank call my parents?”
“None of those things,” he snapped. “I did a good thing!”
“Show me what’s in your hands, Asher,” I sighed.
“Don’t call me that!”
We glared at each other, equally ferocious, until he finally gave up and looked away. A sly smile reappeared on his lips.
“Okay, I’ve got something behind my back. But when you see it, promise not to be too happy.”
I looked at him doubtfully. Ash looked incredibly excited, like he was a little boy about to confess to his first love.
First love? Where the hell did I get that from? Love wasn’t a word that could ever, ever be used to describe the relationship between me and Ash. I tried to ignore the blush spreading over my cheekbones and just nodded. Ash, still grinning, brought his hands out in front of him.
It was a plate with some mush on it.
“Uh, Ash… What’s this?”
“Scrambled eggs,” he said excitedly, smiling wide.
“Oh…” I didn’t know how to react. Was he kidding me? Maybe he was. I tried to keep my expression neutral. “They’re…nice. Why did you, uh, make them for me?”
Make was a bad word to describe whatever he had done to the little curdled thing on the plate he held before me. I was suddenly glad I wasn’t an egg. Ash was a dangerous guy.
“Because you were cooking something before,” he babbled eagerly, thrusting the plate under my nose. I tried not to blanch when I smelt it. “But it caught fire and burnt, so I thought you might be hungry and so I made you this egg –”
“Wait,” I said, frowning. “My food burnt?”
I suddenly noticed the acrid smell of burnt food.
“Yes. Now, aren’t you going to eat it?”
I looked at the plate doubtfully. Ash was grinning sweetly at me as showed me the fork in his hand. It was hard to say no to Ash, especially when he acted like this.
Flashing him a queasy smile, I took the fork from his hand and stuck it into the plate. I frowned.
“Ash…?”
“Hmm?”
“Why are there egg shells in this?”
“Aren’t there meant to be?” he asked, uncertain. I stared at him disbelievingly. Did he really not know, or what he just planning to pressure me socially into eating this?
“Ash?”
“Hmm?”
“Why is there a leaf in this?”
“Isn’t that an herb?”
We looked at each other for a while longer, his wide, confused eyes staring into mine. This time, I broke eye contact first. I shifted my fork around the yellow gunk. Finally, I threw down the fork. It hit the plate with a clatter.
“Ash!”
“What?” Ash look worried.
“There’s a lollipop in this. Do you know anything about that?”
“Oh…I thought you liked lollipops.”
I glared at him, crossing my arms. He was totally kidding me now. “I’m not eating that, Ash. It’s disgusting.”
Ash’s smile faded and he looked crushed. “What?”
“Throw it away. I can’t believe you were trying to force-feed me that gunk.”
His eyes hardened into a glare.
“You know, Ella,” he said, quietly. “I’ve never cooked before. You are the first person I’ve ever cooked for.”
I blinked. “What?”
“All night, I slaved,” he snapped, turning around and starting to walk away. I stumbled out of my bed and followed him, barefoot, into the kitchen. “I didn’t sleep. You know that, right?”
I noticed the dark circles under his eyes. Wow. I was dumbstruck. He’d really done that for me? My heart squeezed in my chest.
Ash stomped over to the trashcan.
“But since you won’t eat it,” he muttered darkly. He pressed the pedal and the lid flew upwards. He tilted and the mush slid down the plate. “I guess I’ll just have to throw it away.”
“No!” I said, grabbing his wrist, stopping him. “I’ll eat it! Please, Ash, I want to eat it!”
I immediately regretted the words as soon as they came out of my mouth, but it was too late. Ash stared at me with eyes suddenly filled with hope.
“Really?”
“Sure,” I said, laughing. “Give me that thing.”
I stabbed a fork into the plate, and lifted a small blob of egg. Just as it touched my lips, I saw the look on Ash’s face. His blue eyes were wide with happiness, as he watched me intently.
Ash was being so damn cute, I really couldn’t say no.
I swallowed the egg bravely, my expression not even faltering as it made its way down my throat. I smiled widely at Ash.
“Delicious.”
When Ash returned my smile with a dazzling one of his own, making my heart skip, I knew my sacrifice had been worth it. Anything to see him smile.
***
Author's Note: Some sweet Ash 'n' Ella scenes, since some of you have been complaining about how there aren't enough :)
Back to serious plot next chappie :P
VOMMENT!!!
P.S. Scraped my knee :(