Chapter 32
***Liliana's POV***
"Ashton we match." I said as he walked out of his bedroom.
"So? It's cute."
I couldn't help but smile at him. "Dry your hair so it doesn't look like we just showered together."
I threw him the damp towel that was wrapped around my head and began shaking out my hair.
"Where's my brush?"
"Bathroom counter." He said as he sat beside me on the couch.
I stood up and walked to his bathroom. The mirror was still foggy, so I wiped it off with my hand and began to brush my hair.
It was very difficult to shower without getting my cast wet. I wrapped my right arm in a towel and kept it out of the shower.
"Lily we have to go." Ashton yelled from the living room.
I grabbed a hair tie from the counter and walked back to the living room.
"Can you put my hair up?" I asked him.
"I don't know how."
"I'll teach you." I handed him the tie. "Put that on your wrist."
"It's tight."
"Well it's not going to stay there for too long." I stood in front of him and turned my back. "Okay so get all of my hair together. Make sure there's no bubbles."
"What the hell are you talking about?"
"No weird lumps or anything. And be sure to get it all."
After a minute of him struggling to get my hair to look okay, he was finally ready to tie it up.
"Hold it with the hand that has the tie on it."
"Okay."
"Now use your other hand to pull it over and put the hair through it but don't let go yet."
"Alright now what?"
"Twist the hair tie in half and pull the hair through it. And then do that again."
I could tell that he was struggling with everything, but he eventually got it.
"Okay now you're done. Just split the hair in half and pull it sideways."
"Why?" He asked.
"So it's tighter."
He stepped in front of me and looked at his work.
"I'd say I'm the hair master now. That'll be a thousand dollars." He smirked. "I will also accept ten kisses."
I stood on my toes and kissed his cheek. "You'll receive the other nine after dinner."
He placed his hand on my cheek and kissed my deeply. He took my lip between his teeth when he pulled away and let it snap back into place.
"Okay let's go. We're already late." He grabbed my hand and began walking toward the door. "I have your phone."
"I wasn't even thinking about it."
When we stepped into the elevator, there was already a woman in there. She had, who I assumed to be, her grandson with her.
"What happened to your arm?" She gasped.
"Oh. I uh fell."
"You better start drinking your milk. Your bones are weak if they break when you fall." She joked.
"I'll be sure that she drinks plenty of milk." Ashton said as he wrapped his arm around my waist.
When the elevator door opened, we walked through the lobby and into the parking lot.
"Who all will be joining us this evening?" He asked.
"All of my family and Shaylin, but I need to warn you about some stuff." I said.
"I think I'll be fine." He said once we got to his car.
"No. You won't be."
When Ashton saw that I was struggling to get the seatbelt he leaned over and got it for me.
"Your mum, Charlie, Caleb, and Shaylin love me. It'll be fine."
"Those aren't the ones I'm worried about."
He gently pressed his lips to mine for a sweet kiss. "Stop worrying. I don't like it when you worry."
I took a deep breath. "I'm sorry. I just don't want you to not like them and vice versa."
He started the car and began driving.
"They're going to judge us for matching." I sighed.
"So we're both wearing white shirts. It's not that big of a deal."
"We're also both wearing black skinny jeans."
"But I have boots on and you have Vans."
"Yeah thanks for telling me that I left them at yours. I yelled at Shaylin a couple of days ago because I thought she lost them."
"I honestly didn't know I had them until thirty minutes ago."
I plugged my phone into the auxiliary cord and shuffle my music. After the intro to the song played, I began singing along.
"What is this?" Ashton asked as he pulled up to a stoplight.
I ignored his question and kept singing.
"If you want to destroy my sweater, pull this thread as I walk away. Watch me unravel. I'll soon be naked. Lying on the floor, I've come undone."
He laughed at me and turned his attention back to the road.
When the song was over he grabbed my hand and held it in his lap.
"You listen to weird songs."
"I do not."
"Pull on my sweater so I'm naked." He sang.
"That's not even the right lyrics."
"But I got the basic concept." He giggled.
I skipped over a few songs before I found one that I liked.
"The situations are irrelevant now. She loves the way that I tease. I love the way that she breathes."
"Well this one is a one eighty from the naked one." Ashton giggled.
"Yeah my music taste is kind of everywhere."
"What got you into this song?"
"I dated a girl that liked this band." I gasped at the words I said. The hand that was previously holding his covered my mouth. I didn't want to tell him yet, but it just kind of slipped.
"Girl?" He turned down the music.
"What?"
"Lily you said you dated a girl."
"No I don't think so."
He laughed at me. "Lily you don't have to lie. I don't care if you're into girls."
"You don't?"
"No." He laughed again. "As long as you still like me then I don't care. Did you think I was going to freak out?"
"Kind of. My family doesn't know about that, so if we could keep that on the down low that'd be great."
"What's it like being in the closet?"
"You've been in it longer than I have."
"I'm being serious." He giggled. "What's it like?"
I thought for a moment.
"I don't know. I've never really considered myself to be in the closet. Quite a few of my friends knew and I didn't necessarily hide anything from them. I just didn't want my family to know because Charlie's half of the family is very religious and they don't like that kind of stuff."
"Well that's dumb."
"Yeah. I need to warn you about some stuff."
"Go for it."
"For Charlie it's Cardinals, not Royals and Rams, not Chiefs. Football before baseball, but neither compare to hunting and fishing. Don't initiate conversation with him, things are easier that way."
"Since I don't follow American sports, I don't think I can remember all of that."
"Try your best. Once you win Charlie over, you're good with the whole family. Speaking of family, it's my dad's birthday and anniversary of his death, so if my mom, Blake, and Caleb are acting a little strange that's why."
"Anything else?" He asked as he pulled into the parking lot.
"When Caleb asks you, because I know that he will, say team Jacob. Oh and if Charlie offers to pay, let him do it. He already feels bad for letting you pay for their hotel suite."
"He shouldn't."
"But he does, so let him pay if he says he's got it."
"Okay." He parked the car and looked at me. "Ready?"
"Yeah. Are you?"
He leaned in and pecked my lips. "Now I am."
We got out of the car and he grabbed my hand.
"Just be yourself and everything will go fine."
"I'm not the one that's worrying." He giggled.
"And please don't get upset when they talk about me going home."
We stepped inside the restaurant and were greeted by the hostess.
"Hi welcome to Buffalo Wild Wings. Table for two?"
"We're meeting people." Ashton answered and we walked by her.
I spotted my family sitting in the corner at a very large table.
"Hey guys." I said once we were by them.
My mother stood up and hugged me tightly.
"Mom. Ribs!" I groaned and she let go.
"Oh sweetie I'm so sorry. How are you doing?"
"I'm good. My ribs are pretty sore though."
"How about you Ashton?"
"I'm great. How are you?" He said politely.
"I'm just fine. Thanks for asking. Your chairs are over there. We ordered you two water and we got a bunch of wings for the table. They shouldn't take too long."
Ashton followed me to the end of the table which was by the wall. I sat next to Shaylin. Blake and Caleb sat in front of us.
"Hey Shay."
She looked up from her phone. "Your hair is wet."
"So?"
"So I wasn't aware that you could shower without assistance." She whispered and gave me a knowing look.
I rolled my eyes and took a sip of water.
Ashton leaned close to me and whispered into my ear.
"Are your ribs sore from what we did earlier?"
"No."
"Don't lie to Daddy, Princess."
A small gasp escaped my lips.
"They're sore from earlier, but it's not that bad."
He sat back in his chair and put his arm on the back of mine. His fingers gently massaged my shoulder.
"Ashton I've been meaning to ask you something. Are you team Edward or team Jacob?" Caleb spoke.
Ashton laughed lightly before answering. "Team Jacob all the way."
"Good choice." He nodded in approval.
Jake and Lance sat at the other end of the table. They were still extremely mad at me for a reason that I was unsure about. I had a feeling that it wasn't just about having to come to California.
"Annie." I heard my mother's voice.
"Yeah?"
"We have your plane ticket. We'll have Blake bring it to your apartment after dinner."
"You aren't staying with me?" Ashton frowned.
"I was going to, but you can stay at my place if you want. I washed some of your clothes last night."
"Annie I'm not going to be home tonight." Shaylin said.
"Where are you going?"
"To a friend's."
"A friend huh?"
"Yes. A friend." She said and then started talking to my mom.
"Caleb can you invite your friends Jack and Jim over tonight? You know, the Canadian ones."
"What?" He thought for a minute. "Oh yeah. Yeah sure. I'll bring them over when Blake brings your ticket."
"Can you bring Jake and Lance too?"
"Yeah. It's gonna be fun tonight." He said before turning to talk to Blake.
"Who are Jack and Jim?" Ashton asked.
"No one that you need to be concerned about." I answered honestly. "And you'll meet them soon enough."
I smiled at his frown.
"What?"
"You're cute when you're jealous."
"First, I'm always cute. Second, I'm not jealous."
"You aren't?"
"Nope."
I leaned closer and whispered in his ear. "Daddy why are you lying to me?"
"I'm not."
I put my hand on his leg. "Promise?"
He took my hand and kissed my knuckles.
"I don't make promises that I can't keep, Princess."
My heart fluttered at the name.
"I like that."
"Like what?"
"When you call me Princess."
He smiled at me. "I'll be sure to do it more often."
"If you two are done being disgusting, I would like to talk to my sister." Blake said.
I rolled my eyes before looking at him.
"What time should we come over?" He asked.
"I don't know. We should be out of here by nine, so no later than ten."
"And you're sure you want Jake and Lance there?"
"Yeah. I've barely seen them since you guys have been here."
"Alright. How are you feeling?"
"I'm better than I thought I would be."
"Good."
"Annie." My mom said.
"Yeah?"
"We're leaving on Monday, so I'd like to spend an afternoon with you sometime before that."
"What about Sunday? I can pick you up from the hotel and we can go shopping or something."
"That'll be great." She smiled.
I noticed a waiter walking over with trays in his hands. When he stopped at our table, my mother spoke again.
"The boneless honey barbecue goes to the girl in the cast. It doesn't matter where you put anything else."
He nodded and set the food in front of me.
"I'll share with you." I said to Ashton. "I'm not very hungry."
"You're never very hungry." He sighed.
"I am once a month." I mumbled to myself.
"What?"
"I didn't say anything." I smiled and pushed the basket closer to him.
"Annie I hope you still like the honey barbecue. Your mother said you might not, but I got them anyways. I'll order something else if you don't want it." Charlie said.
"I haven't been gone for that long." I laughed lightly. "Of course I still like it."
I looked around the table, at my family. I missed the feeling of togetherness that I got when I was with them. Even though I wasn't everyone's favorite person, I knew that they still cared about me.
Though Shaylin wasn't technically part of my family, I loved her like a sister. To see her interacting with my family like it was her own was heart warming.
Knowing that I had seven people that would care about me no matter what happened gave me the reassurance that I needed to know that everything was going to be alright.
@@@@@
***Ashton's POV***
"Ashton stop." Lily giggled.
"You still owe me three kisses for doing your hair even though you ruined my masterpiece."
She turned around in my arms and stood on her toes to kiss my cheek.
"And now it's two."
I picked her up and sat her on the kitchen counter.
"You're so beautiful." I said as I tucked a piece of her hair behind her ear.
"You're just saying that so I'll kiss you again."
"I do want you to kiss me again, but I'm saying you're beautiful because that's what you are."
"Can I ask you something?"
"Anything."
As she opened her mouth to say something, but there was a knock at the door.
"Later." She pushed me away and got off of the counter. "Wait in the living room."
I walked into the living room and sat down in one of the chairs that Lily bought when she got out of the hospital.
Seconds later, her brothers started walking into the room.
"Hey Ashton." Caleb said.
"Hey." I smiled politely.
Blake walked in behind him, followed by Jake and Lance. When Lily walked in, she had a wide smile on her face and two bags in her hand.
"What's that?" I asked.
"You guys sit where ever. I'll get some cups and stuff." She ignored my question and walked to the kitchen.
Caleb sat in the chair next to mine and her other three brothers sat on the couch.
"Caleb put on some music, but none of that country shit that you like." Lily said from the kitchen.
"I'll put on some of the rap shit that I like." He yelled back.
He stood up and plugged his phone into what looked like a record player. An unfamiliar tune began to play through the room.
It wasn't long until Lily came back into the living room with several cups balancing on her arm and cast. She sat them down on the table and looked at me.
"Ashton do you want coke or root beer? And there's lemonade in the kitchen too."
"Uh, I'll have coke."
She handed me a glass before picking up one for herself.
"There's one coke and three root beers there." She told her brothers.
I took a sip of my drink and nearly choked.
"Lily did you put alcohol in this?"
"A little." She shrugged.
"What is it?"
"I put Jack Daniels in the coke and Jim Beam in the root beer. We have some hard lemonade, vodka, and peach schnapps in the kitchen if you want something else. Oh and we might have a little bit of Canadian Mist left."
"You haven't taken any of your medicine have you?"
"No." She laughed. "I'm not stupid."
I looked at her brothers that were sipping their drinks as they listened to our conversation.
She walked over to me and say on my lap.
"I want you to have fun, but will you take it easy tonight?"
She kissed my cheek and whispered in my ear.
"Yes, Daddy."
________________
I don't like this chapter.
I feel like Ultraviolence by Lana Del Rey really fits the first half of this story and Home by Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros is going to fit the second half. I love both of those songs.
So I was at my friend's house all week, but yesterday I started feeling pain in my right side. My mom thinks it's my appendix but I don't know. Hopefully it's not.
FUN FACT: When I was in sixth grade, people called me a prostitute because this guy hugged me and I gave him the rest of my cereal. I was really sad at the time, but now I laugh when I think about it.
Would you say you're in L-O-V-E? Well if it was me then I would.
Stay crocs.