"pip!" i exclaim as pip walks into my bedroom.
it's been a few days since my party, and i've been counting down every hour for her to come back. mostly because she said she would get me a present, but i also missed her.
"you can skip the small talk" she smiles, tossing a bag on my bed. "here's what you were waiting for."
i open up the bag and see a whole bunch of souvenirs she bought in the bahamas. a bracelet, magnet, jacket, sea shells, and snacks.
"anyways, we have business to discuss" she mentions, throwing herself into my bean bag chair. "what the fuck happened at your party. i want to hear the story from a sober aria."
oh shit. i did call her about that, didn't i...
caught in 4k.
"um... which part do you want me to explain?"
"well," she starts, "i wanna know if you were planning on breaking your little promise to jules and i. what happened to no sex stuff? not that i'm complaining... but you're the one who promised not to do anything like that."
i set my bag aside and sit on the floor in front of pip with a sigh. "we were drunk, pippers."
she raises an eyebrow and rests her feet on my lap. "aria" she smirks, "you wanna fuck him, don't you?"
"hear me out-"
"all ears" she interrupts.
i take a deep breath and run my fingers through my silky hair. how do i even explain this shit. i don't even know what i want myself...
like yeah, that night i was very willing to fuck him if he was down. i can come to terms with that. but i can't tell if i feel the same lust when i'm sober as well. because i really, really wanted him that night. it's almost embarrassing.
he's hot. if there wasn't a bet on the line, i'd probably let it happen in a heartbeat.
but i made a promise.
and to think just a couple months ago i would gag at the thought of fucking asher. this is ridiculous.
"i think we need to clarify the bet again."
"go on" she trails.
"the original bet was that i make him fall for me to see if he'll get a soft spot for me and potentially treat me like an actual girlfriend, and not like all the girls in his past" i start. "the promise i made was that i go about this in a way that doesn't involve making out, having sex, shit like that. touching is on the table, but we made it very clear that there would be no sex."
"yeah? and?"
i guess i'll just fucking say it.
"i don't know if i can stick to that promise much longer."
pip chuckles and takes her legs off my lap, leaning forward. "so what you're saying is you're gonna cheat and win the bet?"
i slap pip's knee and furrow my eyebrows. "of course not."
"so you don't want to fuck him?"
"well, i didn't say that..." i admit.
pip holds onto my chin and forces me to look into her eyes, trying to pry every truth out of me. "look at me aria." i nod in response. "are you going to fuck asher?" she asks slowly.
according to him, no.
according to me, oh i'm definitely working on it.
"because you know that would be cheating and breaking your promise, correct?" she adds.
yes. obviously.
and if i did that, the whole point of this bet would be thrown in the garbage. the goal is for him to fall for my personality, not the sex. and we can't give him the chance to do that if we're having sex.
"yes. you're right. but realistically, do you actually want me to stick to my promise?"
pip releases me and goes quiet.
i think we both know the answer.
"but what about juliet?"
juliet is the only reason i haven't tried to fuck asher.
well, the only reason i haven't tried it while sober. you wouldn't believe how horny i can be when i'm drunk.
"that's the issue. i can't go behind her back like that" i sigh.
pip smiles evilly, "i could cover for you?"
"please don't tempt me, pip" i whine, stressfully pinching in between my eyebrows with my eyes shut. "it wouldn't be right."
"so talk to her about it" she shrugs.
"there wouldn't be a point. i'd be rigging the bet."
pip looks down and hums, finally stumped. "guess you'll just have to hold back, then."
"hold back until what? until he confesses his undying love for me? until he tells me he doesn't feel the same way? until he treats me like shit? how will we know when it's been enough time to confess my feelings and finally settle the bet?"
this. this is why we need to ask juliet how the bet is gonna go. because i've come to the realization that we never clarified how we'll know it's been enough time to finalize that he doesn't have a soft spot for me.
because i don't know how much longer i can keep this stupid fucking promise.
"maybe we just keep rolling with it. you've made a shit ton of progress, haven't you?"
i nod. "i have. so we'll just keep going like this until we come across the end of the bet?"
"mhm" she hums. "but just... don't tell juliet about your little affair, alright? you were both drunk, it was just a one time thing. we'll never acknowledge it again."
"right."
but how the hell am i supposed to pretend it didn't happen? i'm even more fired up now than i was before. i'm not gonna be able to stop myself next time something like that happens even while we're sober.
"plus, we don't even know yet if he'll fuck me" i add. "he always says it's forbidden. i'm not gonna try to convince him to change his mind when it goes against the bet anyways."
and that's a valid fucking point. i can't force him to change his mind. that would be fucked.
but i sure as hell can fuck with him until he breaks. wouldn't be my fault he's weak. it's all his decision to change his mind.
he said it himself, it's too hard to resist me.
"...so how do you and asher act around eachother now?" pip asks quietly, shifting in her seat.
"wanna come see for yourself?"
pip and i instantly shoot up and go downstairs to find asher with no specific plan in mind.
he's in the kitchen, still baking christmas cookies.
"what's up big man?" i greet, to which he turns around and smiles.
"still working on these" he answers, gesturing to the cookies on the cooling rack. "did you finally decide to help?"
i walk around to the other side of the island and inspect the cookies. "you need my help? how cute" i tease.
he scoffs, "i can do it myself. but if you wanted to help..."
"fine, if i must" i sigh, "but it'd probably be even quicker with two extra chefs."
we both look at pip, who looks both confused and disgusted.
"i'm good" she says, sitting at the kitchen table.
it was worth a shot... no it wasn't.
"you're making even more than this?" i ask skeptically, pointing to the entire cooling rack of cookies.
"uh, yeah" asher responds with sass. "but if you aren't up for the challenge, i understand" he smiles.
"what's he making so many cookies for anyways?" pip questions, "please don't tell me you're throwing another party."
"well, kinda. when we go home to visit during break, our families are getting together to see each other for the holidays. we're in charge of cookies, apparently."
pip nods, clearly not actually that interested, and goes back to whatever she was doing on her phone.
i look back at asher who's now focusing on putting icing in a plastic bag to cover the cookies with. he's wearing a black t-shirt, and there's some flour stuck to his chest.
"you're a dumbass" i chuckle.
"why's that?" he asks, not taking his focus away from the icing.
i reach over the island and drag my finger across his chest. "you decided to bake cookies while wearing a black shirt. you can see the flour all over."
asher covers his hand in flour and leaves a hand print on his chest in the minimal amount of space left that wasn't already covered in flour. "what, like this?"
he then collects more flour on just his pointer finger and slides it onto the tip of my nose. "or like that?"
i grab some flour in my hand and chuck it at him, dousing him in white. "yeah, but more like that" i laugh.
he decides to do the same to me, but aims for my face instead. "oops" he smiles, tilting his head to the side.
"you wanna go?" i dare, grabbing a handful of flour, followed by him doing the same.
asher launches another handful of flour at me and nods with his eyebrows raised. "sure, but don't start something you can't finish."
i giggle and throw more flour at him, which turns into a battle of this back and forth. i grab a baking pan and hold it up like a shield, but asher runs around to my side of the island and slips it right out of my hands.
"you bitch" i insult playfully, jumping and slapping my hand across his face with a handful of flour.
he coughs a cloud of flour and glares at me before sweeping me off my feet and throwing me over his shoulder.
he always does this shit.
"what are you gonna do now?" he taunts.
"how about this?" i smirk, before reaching for a wooden spoon on the island countertop and smacking his ass with it.
pip chuckles from her seat and finally gives an eye to us.
"pip, please take that from her" he pleads, walking towards her. i smack his ass with the spoon again, and his grip on my thighs tightens significantly.
maybe the reason he does this to me so much is so he can get a piece of my mouth watering, mind blowing, irresistibly perfect thick thighs.
i mean, it sure seemed like he loved them when he was on top of me and sinking his fingers into th-
"why should i?" she asks, setting her phone down on the table and turning in her seat to face us.
thank god pip doesn't care about third wheeling. i'd be screaming at both of us right now if i were her.
"i think you can control your girl yourself" she adds. my eyes widen as i look at pip and silently mouth 'what the fuck.'
"i already have her, just take the damn spoon" he snaps.
did he... did he just fucking agree that i'm his girl?
this is too much for me.
"what happened to not starting fights you can't finish? this is all you, big foot."
lol. big foot.
i smack his ass with the spoon again and cackle, so he finally decides to set me down on the island and rip the spoon from my grasp, holding it in the air above his head so i can't take it back from him.
"boooo party pooper" i complain, crossing my arms instead of pointlessly attempting to get the spoon back. i'm not letting myself look more helpless than i already am.
wait.
"guess i'll leave the cookies to you" i sigh, lowering myself back to my feet and grabbing pip, dragging her towards the stairs with me.
"you aren't gonna help clean?" he calls out from the kitchen.
before i can respond, jack and juliet walk in from the front door.
"hey, we're-" jack starts before freezing in place. "what the fuck happened?" he asks as he runs his fingers through my flour-filled hair and looks at the kitchen over my head.
asher and i both point at eachother.
"it was his fault"
"it was her fault"
after blaming eachother in sync, juliet clears her throat and starts walking upstairs. "i'll blame ash, we're going to bed."
amen jules.
***
i've been lying here staring at the ceiling for way too long now. i'm literally about to kill pip.
she's staying the night, and she just so happens to have a stuffy nose for whatever reason. and she's been snoring the entire. night.
i need juliet.
as quietly as i can, i slip out of bed and throw a hoodie over my head before making my way to jack's room.
sorry pip, i love you. but i'm losing my shit.
very softly, i knock on the door and let myself in. jack is awake on his phone with juliet fast asleep next to him.
"you good?" he whispers.
"yeah" i whisper back, quietly shutting the door behind me. "i'm good, i just can't sleep next to pip with her snoring ass. i was seeing if jules was up."
jack lowers his phone to his lap and turns on his bedside lamp. we both look at the sleeping juliet, then back to each other.
"what did you need her for?"
"was just wondering if she wanted to sleep on the couches downstairs with me, but since she's already asleep, i can go down myself."
"you can sleep next to her in here if you need to" he offers. jack's bed is large, and definitely large enough for three people.
i don't know what it is about juliet, but she's such a calm sleeper that it helps me sleep just having her company. i think jack understands that, too.
i smile and nod, making my way to the bed. "only if it's alright with you."
"mhm" he hums, "just be quiet."
slowly, i slip under the comforter and adjust myself next to juliet without waking her. she mindlessly throws an arm over my torso, and i look at jack with a devious smirk.
"she likes me more than you" i whisper, just barely audible.
jack shrugs. "probably."
after that, we both decide to settle down and crash for the night so we don't disturb juliet's slumber.
just as i'm almost out, jack mumbles from the other side of the bed. "this is like when we used to have little sleepovers as kids."
i blow air out of my nose as a silent laugh. "those were fun until you fell asleep first and kicked the shit out of me the whole night" i mumble back with a smile.
"you still slept either way" he mumbles again.
it's quite ironic that i can sleep while being kicked like a soccer ball the entire night but pip's snores are too much.
i did miss our little sleepovers, though.
without anymore energy to respond, i finally fall asleep with peace for the night.
***
i have no idea how this happened, but once i groggily open my eyes in the morning, there's five people in here.
jack is fast asleep where he last was, juliet is stroking my hair with her delicate fingers, pip is sleeping on my bean bag chair looking like a corpse, and asher is balled up at the foot of the bed.
what in the crossover episode is this?
i yawn and look up at jules, my head on her chest.
"out of anyone, i wouldn't expect you to be the first one awake" she says quietly with a giggle, sweeping my hair out of my face.
"good morning to you, too. any idea why everyone is in here?"
she examines the room, looking around at all the snoozing bodies.
"i don't. do you?"
i rub my eyes and blink a few times, curling my head back in. "i came in because pip was snoring too loud. i don't know when those two got here."
she closes up the book she was reading and pulls the blanket over me, covering me to my shoulders and carefully climbing over me to get out of bed.
"well it's only 8am, so you should probably sleep in a bit more. i'll catch you up when you come downstairs later" she smiles before putting on a pair of pajama shorts and heading for the door.
since i'm too tired to ask any more questions, i nod and curl back in on myself, falling back asleep.
the next time i wake up, the room is a lot less full.
it's only me and asher left. and he's definitely shifted positions.
it's now 11:30am and i'm stuck in this bed with asher clinging to my legs. i'm flat on my back, and he's parallel to me with his face stuffed between my right thigh and the mattress, and i guess i kicked the blanket off myself in my sleep.
when the fuck did this happen.
i try to shift, but his strong arm tightens around my legs. i can't imagine how he can be so comfortable with half his legs dangling off the end of the bed.
but he looks so peaceful.
...which isn't my problem.
i attempt to slide up the bed to sit up, but this bitch holds me down in place again.
"no" he mumbles, eyes still shut.
"no?" i ask, looking down at him with concern.
but he doesn't answer. is he still fucking asleep?
i'll have to tease him about that when he's up. refusing to stop cuddling me in his sleep.
i reach down and idly play with his hair, not really knowing what else to do. he's never been this clingy before, but it might just be from the fact that he doesn't seem to be quite conscious yet.
asher nuzzles his face into my thigh and relaxes his body more, cupping my left thigh with his hand.
i was right. he definitely has a thing for thighs.
my phone is still in my bedroom, and i really don't want to try and wake him up now, so i continue to play with his hair and wait.
he mumbles something again, but i can't quite understand what it is since it was muffled into my thigh.
"hm?" i hum.
"...sorry" he mutters again, slowly.
i brush some hair away from his face and tilt my head. "sorry for what?"
"...bad night."
oh.
i shift again so i can try to talk to him about it, but he just hugs me tighter once again.
"asher-"
"please."
i wait a few seconds before answering, just to process this whole thing. "okay" i whisper, relaxing my body and twirling one of his soft curls in my fingers. "is there something i can do?"
no answer.
i've never seen him so vulnerable. i know it's just because he's sleepy, but it's still a little concerning to witness first hand.
i watch his back rise and fall with each breath he takes, and it's all i focus on while toying with his hair for the next 20 minutes until he finally gains consciousness.
this must be how juliet feels when she wakes up to me on her chest all the time.
his eyes are open now as i can feel his lashes sweeping against my skin with each blink, but neither of us speak. we're both tired and just don't know what to say.
i move my hand from his hair to his back, scratching softly for a couple minutes before he rolls onto his back.
"good morning?" i ask questionably, still not really sure how to confront him.
"yeah" he yawns. "what are you doing in here anyways?" he asks, voice scratchy and raspy.
hot.
"i could ask you the same question, big man" i respond, looking down at him as we finally make eye contact.
he rolls back over, folding his arm on my thighs and resting his head on it. "i just had a bad night, rather not talk about it. i needed jack but all three of you were passed out in here so i made myself comfortable."
"yeah, you sure did" i tease, poking his arm with my pointer finger.
he hides his face in his elbow and chuckles breathily. "didn't mean to" he muffles against his skin, and i can hear the smile in his voice. "you think someone saw?"
oh... i didn't think about that.
well to me, i guess it doesn't matter who saw as long as it wasn't jack. he could get suspicious and that's the last thing i need from him.
"what would be the problem with that?" i question softly.
he hesitates, but looks back up into my eyes.
"dunno. your friends might think it's weird or something."
"are you embarrassed?" i smirk. "big tough asher cuddling up to me?"
"not in the slightest" he huffs. "it's not like i can control how i sleep."
i'm finally allowed to sit up, and i check the time again before looking back down at him. he looks... just as calm as he was when he was asleep.
his face is just a little more red now.
"you can't control that you came to cuddle me in your sleep?"
"is there a problem with that?" he responds instantly.
i think i'll answer this one honestly.
"not at all" i smile.
asher wraps his arm around my legs again and rests his head on my lap. "good, then i'll go get a few more minutes of sleep."
"that's not what i meant" i laugh, lifting a knee so he'll move.
"fine" he groans, "i'll go down first then."
he groggily rises out of the bed and stretches, his hands almost brushing the ceiling and his shirt rising a bit, then quietly dismisses himself from the bedroom.
so. that happened.
i run my fingers through my hair and take a big breath as i listen to birds chirping outside. the white curtains are wide open, and it's definitely a very different scenery than what it's like waking up in my own room.
my curtains are purple, and they're always shut. unless juliet opens them to blind me awake in the morning.
i end up shutting them again after that.
it also feels a lot more fresh in here, since there's a ceiling fan. kinda makes me wish i chose this room instead, but at least i have my own bathroom.
"what's up whore" pip smiles, bursting through the door and causing me to shoot up.
so much for the peaceful morning.
"whore?"
she chuckles. "did you fuck asher in here or something?"
oh my god.
"we were kinda hoping no one saw us like that-"
"so you did!" she cuts off, beaming and jumping on top of me.
i shove her off and sit criss-cross applesauce. "no, we didn't. we just woke up that way. why was everyone in here?!"
"by everyone you mean the two of us and yourself? this is jack and juliet's room."
"well technically juliet doesn't live here... but anyway, that's not what i asked" i groan, standing up and taking my hoodie off. "but especially you. i saw you in here on my bean bag chair at the ass crack of dawn."
"jules said it was 8am."
"same thing" i snap. "jesus, this whole thing is weird. i just came here for some peace and quiet and i wake up to you crashed across the room and then asher glued to my legs."
"so you didn't fuck?"
"no, pip!" i whine. today cannot be real. i'm convinced i'm still asleep.
i throw a pillow at pip, causing her to cackle into it, and make my way to the door.
***
this was longer than i expected it to be tbh
also i apologize nothing really happened i'm still on writers block but i wanted to get something out lol
asher and aria are finally starting to get their shit together thank GOD
but they're still both idiots
anyways i promise more will happen soon this was the most boring filler chapter my b
THANKS FOR READING THO XX