I pull the door open, the cold air hitting me. Asher stands tall in front of me. He has on full black. Black jeans, black shirt, and an oversized black leather jacket. His hair looks perfectly fluffy and messy, too.
Fuck.
He didn't even try to dress up and he's still hot.
The wind blows by causing his scent to drift right towards me. My head gets woozy as I take in his smell.
His jaw drops a little and his lips turn into a hungry little smirk. His eyes roam down my body, stopping once at my chest, and then they keep going down to my bare legs.
"You look," he steps in front of me. He places his hands on my waist, pulling me closer. "So sexy," he whispers.
I smile, my cheeks burning a bit. "Thanks, not so bad yourself."
He looks down at me with a smirk on his face. "Oh, love, I don't compare to you."
He tilts my chin up, pulling my face closer to his. "You made a mistake looking like this tonight. You won't be able to get rid of me the whole night."
I smile a little, trying to look down and hide my reddening cheeks. But Asher pulls my face back up and connects our lips.
He kisses me and pushes me against the doorframe. My judgment instantly clouds, but some part of me knows we need to stop. We agreed to not kiss until the party.
And here I am, giving into him again.
It's not my fault. He might be slightly annoying but he also happens to be a really good kisser. His lips are, oh my gosh.
I muster up the strength and pull away. "No, no, no. I told you, we're not going to kiss till later," I breathe, barely able to open my eyes.
He has my lipstick all over him now.
He groans and ducks his head into my neck. "You should have thought about that when you decided to look like that," he breathes.
He begins kissing my neck and I close my eyes involuntarily, curving into him. His soft hair tickles my face as his lips move against my skin.
"Wait, wait. Stop." I pull him off of me.
"Why can't I kiss your neck, you let me last night," he whines.
"That's exactly why. I have makeup on my neck because you left hickeys all over me."
He smirks a little. "Oh."
"Is my makeup messed up," I ask, turning my neck towards him.
"A little, but don't fix it. I want everyone to see that you're mine."
My stomach drops to my toes when he says that. My whole body turns molten. I am so sick of him saying things just to make me nervous.
"Here, you have my lipstick on you," I reach up and start wiping it off with my thumb.
"Stop, I want people to see that you kissed me," he swats away my hand.
"Asher, c'mon, it looks messy. Just let me wipe it off."
He sighs. "Fine, but only if you leave a lipstick mark on my cheek." He grins.
I roll my eyes as I wipe his mouth. "Fine."
I finish cleaning it off and pull him down so that I can reach him. My lips press to his cheek for a moment before I pull back and look at the mark I left. I smile a little. "There."
He looks at me with a pleased grin. "Thanks, babe."
I roll my eyes and we start walking to his car. It's quiet for a minute as he starts driving. But, honestly, I don't want it to be silent. The silence is eating me up. The tension could be cut with a knife.
"Do you, um, do you think the outfit is .. too much," I ask anxiously.
I don't wear skirts this short or shirts this revealing usually. I never really feel comfortable, not after I dated Jones anyways.
But, this is a party. And I'm not going with Jones, I'm going with Asher. The same Asher that just told me I'm 'so sexy' and got my lipstick all over his mouth.
"Are you kidding? You look amazing. I'll have to fight every guy there just to keep them off of you." He glances over at me and smiles. He has one hand on the wheel and the veins in his arms are flexed, showing off.
Something must be in the fucking air tonight, because Asher looks really good.
I look away quickly. I'm staring. Hopefully, he didn't notice. "Thanks," I mumble.
"Why do you do that," he asks.
I look back at him. "Do what?"
He looks over with a slight grin on his face."When someone compliments you, you get embarrassed. Like you don't know you're obviously beautiful, or something," he states.
I look down at my lap. He just called me beautiful. The way he said it, was that an insult or a compliment?
"I don't- I don't know what you mean," I mutter.
He chuckles softly. "Yes you do," he says softly.
I don't respond. I mean, what do you say to that? We stay quiet for the rest of the drive. Until, eventually, we arrive outside of a house.
It's pretty big, and there are people all around the lawn. I take a deep breath. I don't know if I can do this.
What do people even do at parties? What if Jones tries something? What do I do when it's time for Asher and I to kiss? I'm scared out of my ass right now.
"Hey," Asher's voice breaks through my thoughts.
I snap my head over to him. "Yeah?"
"You ready?"
I look back at the house. "I think so," I say quietly.
"Hey, it'll be fine. I'll be there the whole time. Okay?"
I look back at him and meet his eyes. I can tell he cares. There's softness on his face."Okay," I whisper back.
He smiles sweetly at me. "We're gonna have fun."
He gets out and opens the door for me, taking my hand. He pulls me to the door and I can already hear the loud music.
As we walk in, the strong smell of alcohol hits my nose. There's music blaring, people everywhere.
We get a lot of looks, but I notice most people are looking at me. In ways I'm not comfortable with. Asher holds tighter onto my hand and pulls me through the crowd.
"You doing okay?" He has to shout over the music.
I nod but I guess he can see the terrified look on my face. "C'mon, let's dance." He pulls me by my hands through the crowd.
"Wait, no, Asher I don't want to," I say, trying to pull back but he has too good of a grip on me.
"C'mon, it'll help you loosen up. I'll dance first, if you want." He grins as he lets go of my hands. He looks at me mischievously and I shake my head at him, knowing he's about to do something embarrassing.
He starts dancing in a stupid way, and I can't help but laugh. He's dancing as if there isn't a ton of people around us. But he just doesn't care, he dances and smiles at me the whole time. "Now your turn." He grabs my hands and pulls me into him.
"No, no, no," I complain.
"Yes, yes, yes." He smiles. He takes my hands and starts twirling me recklessly around. Throwing me out and pulling me back in. I laugh at how ridiculous he's being. I mean, I have to admit, I am having fun. I laugh and my limbs start to turn into jello.
"See, not so bad," he laughs.
"You're so stupid," I remark, but it comes out in a laugh.
We keep dancing for a little while longer, but not once does his energy tone down. Eventually, my mouth is dry from smiling so much. "Hey, I'm going to get a drink. Wanna come?" I still have a stupid grin on my face.
"Yeah, let's go," he smiles back.
We make our way through all of the people and eventually get to the kitchen. There are a couple of people in here, but mostly just the drinks that litter the counter, and floor. I get a cup, but there is only really alcohol in there, and I don't like alcohol.
It scares me. I don't know, maybe I'm overreacting, but I just don't want to turn out like my dad.
I put the cup back down. "I don't like alcohol," I explain to Asher.
"Well, I'm not going to let my girlfriend be thirsty," he grins. He opens the fridge in the corner. "Pick what you want," he says.
"Asher, you can't just raid their fridge."
"Oh calm down, no one is seeing us doing it or really cares."
I shrug and look at the selection. There are a couple of different soda choices. "Ooo, I want Fanta," I exclaim. He chuckles as he gets it out and pours it into my cup. "Of course you would like Fanta." He smiles.
"It's a good drink," I mutter, taking a sip.
"Good?" He grins at me.
"Yep," I chirp.
This isn't so bad. I am actually having a pretty nice time.
He leans against the counter as I sip on my drink, but something catches the corner of my eye. Jones is standing off to the side, staring at me. He looks really furious. "Asher," I say through gritted teeth.
"Hm?"
"Jones is staring over at us."
Asher immediately looks over and sees him. Asher's face turns mad, too. "Come here," he mutters, pulling me by my waist in front of him.
He pulls his eyes off of Jones and focuses them on mine. His hands take my drink, sitting it on the counter behind him and finding my waist again.
"Permission to kiss you?" He whispers.
My heart sinks. This is it, our first public kiss. And in front of Jones, too. But, not only that, but for some reason I want to kiss him.
I nod nervously. He smiles softly, glancing over at Jones before smashing his lips on mine.
But this kiss is more passionate. More dramatic. Like he wants everyone here to see what he's doing. He cups my jaw and I feel his tongue slip into my mouth, eager to explore every part of it.
I put my hands on his neck and pull him closer to me. Everything drifts away. Suddenly the music is gone. The alcohol smell, gone. The people, gone. It's just him and I.
But, I snap back to reality when something bumps into me hard. It makes me stumble over and pull away from Asher.
I turn around to see Jones, he looks livid. Asher pulls me closer and he, himself, looks ludicrously angry too. "Excuse me, but my girlfriend and I are doing something. Watch where you're going," he growls.
Jones steps closer and I hold onto Asher tighter. His menacing eyes look deep into mine. "Surprised she's already putting out for you," he says to Asher but looks at me. Chills go down my spine and tears prick my eyes.
Don't cry, don't cry, don't let them see you cry, whatever you do.
"What did you just say," Asher growls in the most murderous tone I've ever heard.
"You know what," I step between them. "I have to go to the bathroom. I'll be back, babe," I say to Asher. I know I'm about to lose it and I have to get to safety before I can.
His eyes stay on Jones. "I'll be waiting for you," he mutters.
With that, I walk as fast as I can to the bathroom. I've never been here, so it takes a minute for me to find it. But eventually, I do. I burst through the door and lock it behind me, sliding down the door.
Don't cry, don't cry. Your makeup will be all screwed up, everyone will know.
I can feel a panic attack coming on as my chest starts rising and falling faster. I stand up and lean my hands against the counter.
Come on, Allie. Come on. I think I'll just ask Asher to take me home. I can let it all out there.
I open the door, but my breath catches in my throat. Warren Young stands right in front of me. I close the door behind me and try to walk past him but he blocks me. "Excuse me, Warren," I mutter.
"No, stay." He has a devilish grin on his face as he corners me with his arms.
"No, Warren, I've got to get to my boyfriend." I avoid his eyes, my nerves starting to errupt.
He tutts as he pushes a piece of hair behind my ear. "You dress like this for him, sweetheart? I thought you were a good little girl."
I close my eyes as my heart starts to pound. "Please stop," I beg.
He leans down close to my ear, making me flinch as his fingers brush down to my breasts. "You know you want it too, Allie."
I start getting flashbacks and everything starts going blurry. My legs are going numb, I can't feel anything. My nerves completely consume me.
"Don't touch me." I try to push his hand away from me but he grabs it, tightening his grip around my wrist as it aches with pain.
"Be a good girl and let me enjoy you," he says in my ear. The tears start falling from my eyes as I try to squirm out of his grip.
"Please, please just stop!" I can barely breathe. Everything starts coming back to me.
He doesn't listen though, he starts kissing me. I start crying harder and I can't move, I'm so petrified. I'm completely frozen from fear.
He stops, though, much to my surprise. With a loud thump, he goes straight for the floor. I look over and Asher is standing there, his fist balled up.
I sink to the floor and can't stop the tears that fall from my eyes.
"Don't you ever fucking touch her again, do you hear me!" He kicks him hard as Warren lays on the floor, groaning in pain from the sheer velocity Asher has just thrown his foot into Warren's stomach.
"I'm going to fucking kill you!" He shouts, dropping to his knees and pummelling him with his fists.
"A-Asher," I whimper. "Please," I say through sobs.
He can't hear me though. He's punching Warren so hard, I'd be surprised if he was still alive by now.
I crawl over to him and pull on his jacket. He snaps his head over and meets my eyes. They look livid, but they soften when they see me. "What did he do to you?" He asks urgently, pulling my limp body onto his lap.
I can't respond. I just choke out sobs and wrap his arms around me. He feels so comforting. So safe.
"I'll kill him, I'll..."
"P-please, please just t-take me home," I choke.
He looks extremely worried. "Ok, ok let's go."
He tries pulling me up off the ground and holds me by my waist, my arm around his shoulders for support. I feel numb. Everything feels numb. And I can barely see through the tears in my eyes.
I keep my head in the crook of his neck as we weave through the people. My head pounds and the loud music doesn't help.
We finally get outside, the cold air hitting me. I shiver, forgetting that I'm barely wearing any clothes.
I'm so stupid.
Without saying a word, he wraps his jacket around me and immediately the warmth covers me.
"No, you'll be cold," I say quietly, my breath still rapid.
"You're taking it, I'm not arguing on this with you," he says as he continues to walk me to his car.
He opens the door for me and carefully helps me sit down. Once I am in the seat, he closes my door and strides over to his side, immediately getting in.
I face myself towards the window, tears falling down my face. I'm trying to cry as silently as I can.
"Are you... are you alright?" He utters.
I close my eyes and my lip quivers. "Just please take me home," I whisper.
Without a word, he starts the car and begins to drive away. My mind races and I could hardly breathe. How could I be so stupid? I knew if I dressed like this something would happen. But I did it anyway.
At least Asher was there. He wasn't there last time, no one was. But this time, he was. I am so glad he was.
Finally, we pull up to my house. But the front light is on, and so are the lights inside.
My dad is home.
I start getting panicky again. "No, no, no, no, no, shit, shit, shit," I exclaim as my eyes start getting teary again.
"What, what's wrong?" Asher sits up straighter.
"M-my dad, he's home. I can't deal with him right now, he'll be furious and I just can't do it, I can't!"
"Hey, hey, hey," he holds my face in his hands and my tears fall over them.
This is so embarrassing, I promised myself I'd never let anyone see me cry. And here I am, crying. A lot. "It's okay," he says softly. "It's okay. Just breathe."
I nod, closing my eyes and taking in a deep breath, sitting back in my seat. "Okay, okay good." He sits back and starts the car. "We're going to my house," he says as he starts to drive.
"What?" I say shakily.
"You can stay over with me tonight."
Oh thank goodness. I don't have to see my dad.
"Thank you," I say quietly.
He keeps his eyes on the road and smiles tightly.
What have I gotten myself into?