Monica's P.O.V.
It's the day of the date. It's the day that I've dreamed of since I first saw Ashton walk into the garage on that first band rehearsal I attended. I've been nervous ever since I woke up this morning and all throughout the school day, I couldn't focus in any of my classes. Tatiana had to yell at me for daydreaming during our group project work day that we had and she understands, but the date isn't until later and I need to concentrate on what's happening now. Easier said than done.
I also have a hard time directing my attention on what we're doing in training. This is what I really need to be focusing on but it's hard when love takes over your brain. Time slowly ticks by and with every minute, I get more and more excited. I just want training to be over so I can go home and get ready for the date with Tatiana. She agreed to help me out tonight to look good, hoping I can surprise Ashton when he sees me. Finally, training ends and I practically rush out of the building with Michael trailing behind.
"Slow down, Monica!" he shouts from behind me.
"Sorry!" I reply, changing my pace from a fast walk to a normal walk.
"Why are you in a hurry?" he asks when he catches up to me.
"I really want to get home so I can start to get ready for the date," I answer.
"Date?" he questions.
"Wait, I didn't tell you?" I inquire, positive I did but this week has been blurry for me.
"No, no you didn't," Michael responds. "Who are you going on a date with?"
"Ashton. He asked me last week when we were at the hospital," I answer, smiling.
"Oh," he says, his face dropping.
"Hey, is everything okay?" I ask. Did I seriously miss something important in his life?
"Yeah, yeah, everything's fine, that's great," he delivers, putting on a fake grin.
"It doesn't sound fine to me. Are you sure?"
"Well, it just kind of hurts that you didn't tell me you have a date tonight. We tell each other everything," Michael explains.
"Oh, I'm really sorry, Mikey. I swear I told you, but I guess I didn't. I thought you knew," I answer.
"It's fine, don't worry about it," he mutters, avoiding eye contact and keeping his gaze on the ground.
"Michael..." I speak.
"Honestly, Monica, it's okay. Go have fun," he mumbles.
"Okay, okay," I back off. Something is wrong here but there's nothing more I can do about it, since Michael's being stubborn and won't tell me what's bothering him. I really hope he's not against Ashton or anything. They are bandmates and it would be horrible if there was conflict between them; after all, Michael was the one who knew Ashton first and invited him into the band.
Soon, we reach my house and I'm thankful that Tatiana is already here. My stomach is growling because usually I eat dinner as soon as I come home from training, but not this time. The first thing I do is race to my bedroom and begin the long process into making myself look acceptable for a date, which includes showering, doing my hair and makeup, and putting together my outfit. While I'm in the shower, Tatiana picks out one of my cute dresses and pairs it with heels and jewelry and she figures out how we're going to do my hair and makeup. I approve of her decision when I'm done with my shower and I see what she has all laid out on my bed.
Next is hair and makeup. We blow dry my hair and I get to relax as Tatiana styles it into beautiful curls, pulling some of it back and out of my face. Once my hair is all dolled up, Tatiana applies the soft, colorful powders to my face, brightening it up and outlining my eyes.
"I really hope this date goes well," I say.
"Me too because I do not want to take care of you if it goes wrong," she replies and I laugh.
"I know it's not going to be horrible, but I don't know. Things happen," I shrug. "By the way, do you know anything about Michael lately? When we were coming back from training earlier, he seemed really down when I told him I was going on a date with Ash tonight."
"I don't know," Tatiana responds.
"He just hasn't been himself these past few days. I'm getting worried," I confess.
"He'll be fine. If something's really wrong, he would have told us by now," she expresses.
"True, true," I reply, and soon she's done with my makeup and it's time for me to change into my dress.
Slipping it on, Tatiana helps zip it up in the back and I stare at myself in the mirror, remembering how good I looked in it. I haven't worn this dress in a while and I kind of almost forgot about it. It was one of my dresses for a school dance last year and I also haven't forgotten how much I love this dress, too. It's the perfect combination of cute beautiful girl with a touch of sexy, my style. Tatiana hands me my shoes and I sit on the bed to slide them on, buckling them at the ankle. She then gives me the jewelry she picked out and as I put on the earrings, she clasps on the necklace. Once we're both finished, I step back and now fully glance at my reflection.
"You might need to call an ambulance once you get there," Tatiana speaks.
"Why?" I question, confused.
"Because he's going to have a heart attack when he sees you!" she smiles.
"You really think he's going to be impressed?" I inquire.
"Oh yeah, definitely," she agrees. "And if he's not, you walk right out of there, honey!"
Rolling my eyes at her, I laugh and now it's time to leave to go to the restaurant. My mum agreed to drive me there, so I say goodbye to Tatiana and climb in the car, my mum getting in the driver's side. We make sure Tatiana gets home safely before my mum pulls out of the driveway and speeds off.
Minutes later, we reach the restaurant and my mum drops me off, not forgetting the usual motherly talk about not letting the guy take advantage of you and stuff, although I've explained to her many times that Ashton's not like that. Finally, I get rid of her and enter in the mildly fancy restaurant.
I've never even been inside of this building before and it certainly is elegant, definitely one of those restaurants you feel like you need to dress up for. I'm glad Tatiana chose this outfit for me because I don't feel out of place as I dot my eyes around the room and notice many other people wearing their Sunday best.
"May I help you?" asks a server who is standing behind a podium with a sign that says Please Wait to be Seated.
"Um, I have a reservation with Ashton Irwin," I tell her, approaching the podium. She looks down at her list of reservations and comes across his name.
"Ah yes, this way, please," she replies and leads me through the restaurant. It isn't long before I spot his straight, dirty blonde hair already seated at a table, his back to us. He looks up as I slide into my chair and the server walks away.
"Wow, you look stunning," Ashton breathes, not taking his eyes off of me.
"You clean up nice, too," I answer as I glance at him in a dress shirt with a tie.
"Oh, thanks. I had to look everywhere to find this. I haven't worn something like this in years," he replies, chuckling. I smile and we both fall silent.
"Hey, um, just so you know, I'm actually a little bit nervous because I've never been on a date before," I admit.
"Good, because neither have I!" he confesses. "So if you think you mess up, I wouldn't even know. Besides, I wouldn't even care if you 'mess up' or whatever." We exchange grins and another server approaches our table with two menus.
"Hello, how are you both doing tonight?" she questions as she hands us the menus and we nod. "Can I offer you some drinks to start out?"
"Um, I'll just take a water," I answer.
"I'll do the same," Ashton copies and the server writes it down.
"Alright, I'll have those out soon!" she says and walks away. In the meantime, we open our menus and glimpse at our choices, telling each other what all looks good. Our server comes back with our waters and we order our meal, passing her the menus and she heads to the kitchen once we've ordered.
"So how is your mum doing?" I ask.
"She's doing alright, better than before. I've been noticing that her skin is starting to heal and she's able to do a few chores," he responds.
"That's good," I reply.
"Yeah. And there's more good news: we got our kitchen back," Ashton replies with a smile.
"Oh, that's great!"
"Mmhmm. Some guys came in this week and redid the whole kitchen, so we're able to use it again."
"Awesome," I nod. "And how are your hands doing?"
"They're a lot better. I will be free of bandages sometime next week."
"That's awesome!" I exclaim.
"I won't be able to start drumming for at least another week, though. Just because the bandages are coming off doesn't mean my hands are back to normal," he informs. "It sucks because I'm really itching to play. This is the longest I've gone without playing in years and my hands won't stop moving. I need to be doing something with my hands when my drumsticks aren't in them."
Giggling, I respond, "You'll be back on your drums soon."
We continue talking about his passion for drumming until our food arrives. Once our server sets them on the table, the conversation switches over to me.
"So what about you? I know you said you don't do much because of your Galaxy stuff," Ashton speaks after taking a bite of his food.
"Mmhmm," I reply with my mouth full. Swallowing, I take a sip of my water before continuing, "I'm not really interested in anything, anyways. I mean, I would love to maybe do something with music, but I don't know. I would just feel weird since that's kind of Michael's thing and I wouldn't want to take that away from him."
"Ah, gotcha," he responds. "But now I'm kind of confused. You said you can't do any activities because of your training or whatever, but how does Michael do it, then? He's a Galaxy too, right? How is he able to do training but also be in the band at the same time?" Wow, why have I never stopped to think about that?
"To be quite honest, I actually never thought about that," I deliver. Ashton shrugs and gives me a small grin before going back to his food.
The rest of the date is spent in conversations like this, getting to know each other better and even touching on some of our darkest secrets, although we've sort of already gotten to that. This date has taught me that he is exactly who I want and if nothing comes out this, I might just die.
Once we're completely finished, Ashton pulls out his wallet and pays for everything, even leaving the tip.
"Wait, I don't mean to offend you or anything, but how are you able to pay for all of this?" I inquire, understanding his family's financial situation
"Oh, this is the money we made at the gig," he informs, leading me out of the restaurant.
"You spent your gig money on me?" I gape.
"On both of us. It's okay, Monica," he answers.
"Alright," I say. He pushes open the doors of the restaurant and starts walking down the sidewalk. "Hey, where are we going?"
"I'm taking you somewhere special, a place that means a lot to me," Ashton smiles, taking my hand and pulling me next to him.
"How far away is it?" I ask.
"You ask too many questions. Just go with the flow."
So we walk hand in hand down the block and over a few more and I really hate myself for wearing heels. If I had known we would be taking a hike somewhere, I wouldn't have worn them, but I can't take them off because we're in the city and there's glass and other sharp objects lining the streets. Soon, we're in an open field with a hill and I force Ashton to stop while I kick my heels off and carry them.
"Do they really hurt that bad?" he inquires.
"Uh, yeah, do you want to try?" I remark.
"No thanks, I'm good with mine," he chuckles. "Just so you know, we're going up to the top."
"Are you serious?" I halt in my tracks as he takes a few more steps and when realizes I'm not next to him anymore, he stops and turns around.
"Monica, just trust me. You won't regret it," Ashton replies, holding out his hand again. Sighing, I take it and he leads me up the hill. I'm out of breath by the time we reach the top, but when I turn around, he was right: I will never regret doing this. The view of the city we have is breathtaking and what's even more beautiful are the twinkling stars shining down on us.
"Oh, my God," I breathe, not being able to take my eyes off of this.
"I told you," he shrugs.
"How do you know about this?" I question.
"We used to live in a neighborhood that's literally right down there and I discovered this hill one day. Even though we've moved several times since then, I've always come back here because it reminds me that even though my life keeps changing every time we move, this hill won't. It's like my rock in this insane world."
"Wow," I respond.
"Yeah," he replies, bending down and lying on the ground. Oh, shit. I'm in a dress.
"Okay, I don't want to sound like a girl, but I don't want to get grass stains all over my dress," I realize.
"Oh, I totally did not even think about that when I was planning on coming up here," Ashton says. "Um, here, sit on my jacket." He pulls off his jacket and lays it down on the ground next to him, to which I follow his directions and place myself on it.
"You don't mind me sitting on it, do you?" I ask.
"No, no, I wouldn't have given it to you if I did," he answers, lying back down with his arm out signaling me to cuddle with him and I oblige, resting my head on his chest again. We lay silent for a few moments, listening to the sound of the city that never sleeps.
"Monica?" he inquires.
"Hmm?"
"Do you remember when you asked me if I believed in love at first sight and I told you it depends on the person? And then I said that it only happened with one other girl?"
"Yeah," I respond, remembering the conversation. He pauses.
"That girl is you."
What?
He continues, "When I first laid eyes on you at that band rehearsal, I knew you were something special. I couldn't stop thinking about you from that moment on and then at the after party for the gig, when we were sitting outside, I really felt a connection with you and I knew I needed to get to know you better. You helped me through a tough time then and even though it's only been like, what, two weeks? ...you've been there for me for so many things, including my depression, which no one else has bothered to help me with. I really like you, Monica, but it's more than that. I...I need you."
This isn't happening, is it? Am I really hearing what he's saying? Sitting up, I turn around to look at him and he looks straight back. I don't even realize what's happening until my eyes begin to close, feeling his soft lips connect with mine. I can even feel the warm sparks bursting from each of us, lighting up our insides and assuring us that this is right.
We both pull away at the same time and we're smiling when we open our eyes.
"I know we haven't known each other for long, but..." Ashton starts, pausing. He takes in a deep breath and finishes, "w-will you be my girlfriend?"
I nod and lean forward again to kiss him, sealing the deal. Yes, it hasn't been long, but it sure feels that way, considering all of the time we've spent together. And now I know it paid off, seeing as how this date ended perfectly without a single thing going wrong. This is the best thing that's happened to me in a long time and I'm not going to let it go, ever.
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So, um, yeah, if this chapter didn't give you Ashton feels, I don't know what else will. I pretty much died while writing this.
Rachel :)