"Ashton!"
"What! I'm hurrying."
"Cmonnnn." I groan, my head tipping back to the tiled wall of the shower.
"Trying! I'm trying to get there as quick as I can
Ava." He mutters and adjusts my leg that's held around his hip.
He's not. He's taking his sweet sweet time.
"You're going to make us fucking late, all so you can cum!"
He thrust in hard and angered by my words. This has to be our first argument in a while.
I already came knowing we had to be quick.
Now I'm growing overly sensitive and irritated that he's drawing this out so he could feel the pleasure for longer.
We have places to be. Places like the airport to pick up his sister. Yet here we are having sex in the bathroom.
Skye, your brother hasn't got his priorities straight.
"You got yours, it's only fair I get mine." He breathes, his damp forehead pushed to mine.
"You can explain to your sister why we were late."
His face scrunches up, not appreciating that I've brought the thought of her into this situation.
"Maybe you need to give me more." He lowly seethes, narrowing his eyes as his hips slam into me.
I can barely think straight as endorphins pump through my limbs.
"Give you more?" I spit, trying my hardest to maintain my frustration as my stomach flips with sparks of sensitivity. "This was your idea, not mine."
I recall him nibbling my ear earlier whispering how he would give me a good start to the day in the shower.
"You agreed to participate baby. It takes two to tango." He strokes in hard and I squeeze his bicep, cursing out.
"Are you accusing me of not doing anything?" I take offense.
"Maybe I am? What are you gonna do about it?"
And with that said, I take my other leg and hoist myself up to wrap around him and he immediately holds me up. I demand he takes us to the bed. He questions me and I cut him off, telling him to listen.
Leaving the water still running he steps us out of the shower, water spilling everywhere and over the carpet as he strides into the bedroom.
"Talk about me making us fucking late." He sourly murmurs.
"Shut up, you'll be thanking me in minutes." I untangle my legs from his torso and my feet hit the ground.
I push him back to sit on the edge of the bed. Knowing we are very struck for time, I position myself over his lap, my knees digging into the mattress either side of his thighs.
His eyes already roll back, knowing exactly what I'm doing. I know this would make him weak very quickly.
I take his base, guiding him into me as I lower my hips down to completely sit on his thighs. I start a steady rhythm, doing all the work myself.
"Is this still not enough for you?"
"You can do better," He breathes, clearly affected by the fact I'm now riding him yet tries to hide it. "Fuck me like you mean it."
Oh boy, the irritation bubbles in my chest as he deliberately provokes me.
"Am I making you angry Ava?"
I grunt in agreement, too mad to actually say the words.
"Yeah?" He taunts and it makes me slam my hips down harder.
His eyes flutter closed briefly and a small groan slips past his lips like he tries not to show how weak I was actually making him.
"Yeah," I growl, taking advantage of his pleasure-filled vulnerability. "Getting close already huh? That's pathetic." I whisper.
He grits his teeth, the arch of his jaw becoming prominent as my comment strikes a nerve.
"Watch your fucking mouth." His hands latch harshly onto my ass cheeks to guide my bounce down on his cock.
"Hands off." I mutter and reach back to pry his grip away.
Both of us are fiery and keen for dominance. I feel a little out of place trying to be in charge. It's fun for a change but I will always favour submitting to Ash and being his good girl.
He doesn't like me telling him what to do and certainly does not like that it's about him not touching me.
"Who do you think you are?" He swiftly grips the back of my hair, wrapping the length around his wrist, yanking my head back.
A moan slips out uncontrollably and I'm humiliated at how easily pulling my hair has me crumbling.
"Oh baby," He shakes his head with a sadistic chuckle. "Talk about pathetic."
This is the position where I ride him to a high minutes later. Not without our continued argument and slandering each other but something about it is so exhilarating.
Fighting and fucking. I like it.
We get cleaned up, giggling and peppering kisses to each other every five seconds while crossing each other getting dressed. We talk about what we just did and how we both mutually enjoyed fucking our frustration out. In the moment we were both genuinely irritated but what was actually said really didn't mean anything.
I stress out in front of the bathroom mirror as we rush around getting ready to leave. I have two purple hickeys over one side of my neck. Neither Ashton or I thought about the fact his sister was going to be here the next day and was going to be staying with us. I'm going to have to keep these covered 24/7. I don't really want her knowing what we get up to.
I'm dressed and ready, I just need to cover these marks and maybe it's my impatience but I cannot conceal them.
"What's wrong baby?" Ashton comes in after making Calum's bed with new sheets for Skye to stay in.
"I can't even cover them, you can still see them!
We don't have time for this." I sigh, giving up and dropping my makeup sponge on the sink.
I had some makeup, particularly concealer, color corrector and foundation to cover the bruises I used to get from my parents. Now it has a different use. Covering up love bites.
"Here. It's only right I try and help. I did create them after all." He lifts me up to sit on the counter.
He takes a makeup wipe, taking off the coverage I attempted. He's bold, wanting to start from the beginning.
"Now what are these for?" He picks up a small palette which has four different circular pans of pigment; lavender, yellow, green and peach.
He stares at it as he tries to think of how these odd colors would be used on my skin.
"They're color correctors." I chuckle. "You use the opposing color to cancel out the color you have on your skin. It makes concealing much more flawless." I explain.
"You know your stuff." He takes the sponge and contemplates which one to use.
Well I've had to cover some crazy marks in my time and concealer alone wouldn't cut it.
"So I should use the yellow one? Yellow is opposite of purple on the color wheel?" He checks with me before dipping into the color.
I nod.
"Maybe a little bit of green around the outer where it's red." I suggest.
How is he going to do anything different to what I just did?
I watch his large fingers fumble with the pink sponge, swiping it over the yellow pan picking up a hell of a lot of creme pigment.
I wince at how heavy handed he is. I'm so delicate with my palette but he just doesn't hold back. I try to refrain from saying too much and letting him just do what he thinks.
"That's a lot." I can't help it.
"Maybe that's the issue, you weren't putting enough." He presses the sponge to the skin of my neck, patting the color over my bruises.
I can't believe my boyfriend is doing my makeup.
He's so careful and focused, tilting my head to get a better view of his working area.
"This is cute." I pinch his cheek while he's concentrating on painting my neck.
"Well if I'm gonna give you hickeys I may as well learn how to cover them up." He talks while picking up some green on the sponge to tap into the skin.
Next he's picking up my concealer, unscrewing it to take the wand out. As he does so I turn around to see my neck in the mirror. He's used more product than I did, blending it further over my skin where my marks are so half my neck is covered in a mix of green and yellow. I'm not sure if this will work. It looks like a mess and we've got about ten minutes to get out of the house before we will be late.
He takes my jaw between his thumb and index finger and pulls me back to face him. He puts a few dots of concealer on my neck and blends again.
"Holy shit, I've actually done a good job." He steps back and inspects his work.
I turn and take a look. My faith is restored from just moments ago when I saw how yellow my neck was. It's a very clean job.
"You've done great, thank you but we really need to get into the car." I peck his lips.
It's an hour to get to Sydney airport as it's located in the city.
The thought of the city is a little triggering for me as we both know what happened last time we were there.
I'm restless in the leather passenger seat, sitting on an angle to face Ashton driving. His eyes are fixed on the motorway, clearly not having the time to deal with my constant wriggling around.
I'm bored out of my mind for no apparent reason and literally cannot sit still. Restlessness is something I've come across since starting my anxiety medication. Kat read out a bunch of side effects that it could cause and that happens to be one of them.
"Are you hungry?" Ashton questions as I try to solve the issue I have with sitting in the one spot.
"No." I whine, flopping sideways over the middle console so my arms land on his lap.
"Ava I'm driving," He chuckles, briskly glancing down at me dramatically, laying my upper half over the middle of the car. "We're halfway babe c'mon."
I huff, sitting up obediently.
"Are you nervous? Is that what this is?" He peers over to me.
My head snaps in his direction.
"No. No, not at all." I shake my head.
I've been looking forward to meeting Skye in person. A female who's been through a very similar situation to me and someone I can see myself becoming very close with. I've spoken to her over the phone a few times and even though she's only a year older than me she's so mature. Like she's been on earth for many years and experienced just about everything. I find comfort in that.
"How long has it been since you last saw her?"
"I haven't seen her since she left at the start of the year." A grin forms on his face, clearly excited to see her now that it's been nine months.
He speaks to her everyday but that's nothing compared to actually hugging her and seeing her face in person.
After what feels like a lifetime, we are finally driving though the city and down the busy multiple lane road towards the airport. There are many different road signs and directions relating to different parts of the airport and car parks, drop offs, different gates. I cannot understand how Ashton is navigating where we need to be to pick up Skye.
He pulls into a short term parking spot specifically for picking up arrivals. We just made it in time. Her plane landed five minutes ago which Ashton said realistically she wouldn't get off for another ten minutes while they park the plane and connect the tunnel. Then once she disembarks it will take her another five minutes to get to the luggage carousel where it could take ten minutes for her bag to come out. I've never been through the process of flying so I don't know this stuff.
So even though she just landed it will probably be another twenty minutes of waiting before she gets to us.
Ashton's hand intertwines with mine, locking the car before we cross the busy lane where taxis and cars line the curb for pickup.
I'm wearing the little red sundress he bought me a little while ago when we first went shopping and now I finally have the chance to wear it.
Ashton is in an all back outfit, nothing out of the ordinary for him. Black T-shirt, belt, jeans, sunglasses and boots.
"C'mon baby." He tugs on my hand, pulling me along as my legs can't quite keep up with his pace.
He's clearly eager to see Skye the moment she walks out with her luggage.
The automatic doors slide open for us where we are met with the large arrivals area, the hall-like space littered with some seating for waiting family members and tv screens updating rows of incoming flights and arrival times. There is such a unique range of people here, each with their own life and reason for travel.
So this is an airport huh? Cool.
There's many travelers from other flights pouring out. Some look like they have their whole life packed into their suitcase, others seem as if stepping off a plane was something they do every single day.
I hope to go on a plane trip one day.
"Are we going to be able to spot her?" I question, peering through bodies standing throughout arrivals.
"If we keep an eye open in the direction of the corridor we will." Ash replies as we wander around in search of a seat.
She was still going to be at least twenty minutes.
There's a single seat between two people in sight making Ash look back at me to see if we are on the same page. I know what he's thinking and I shake my head at him. I'm not sitting on his lap on a crowded row of airport seating. That's probably a little uncomfortable for those around.
Instead, he guides us a little further, finding a vacant space to stand amongst reunited families and others waiting around.
"C'mere." Ash smiles, tugging me in front of him, pulling my back flush against his chest.
His heavy arms drape loosely around my neck and his chin rests on the crown of my head. He's so relaxed, his heart beating steadily into the back of my shoulder even as he holds me so openly in public.
His phone is held in his hand and it buzzes against my skin. One arm extends out in front of me, turning the screen of his phone on so he can peer down at the new message. My eyes skim the words.
Skye: just got off the plane, about to go wait for my bag.
We both smile, even though I can't see his face I know his grin is ear to ear.
I watch his thumb swipe out of messages and scroll across his apps. He only has one single game on his phone and honestly it's a bit funny because Ashton doesn't seem like he'd ever play it. Calum's phone on the other hand has a whole folder of games.
He clicks on Subway Surfers. It's definitely the only iPhone game he has ever downloaded.
"When do you ever play Subway Surfers?"
"When I'm bored and have nothing to do."
"What about me?" I scoff.
He can talk to me.
"Well I certainly can't do you right now." He whispers into my ear.
I roll my eyes.
"That's not what I meant."
"Well that's what I meant."
Honestly I wouldn't put fucking me tonight past him. Skye might be here but I don't think that will be stopping him. She will be sleeping down the other end of the apartment in Calum's room so as long as we are quiet we could definitely get away with it.
God we are bad. I knew once we started we wouldn't stop.
The game starts up, the colorful screen illuminating in front of my face. Just when I'm surprised he even knows how to play let alone have the game, his character pops up spray painting the train. He has Spike. From playing this game when I was younger with Chantelle, Spike is won by acquiring 200 guitars.
I chuckle to myself. Just when I think I know everything about this man I learn more and more each day. He clearly has some experience in Subway Surfers.
The character starts running and Ashton wastes no time in swerving rail blocks and jumping from carriage to carriage. What on earth am I witnessing right now?
With arms still around me playing his game, I watch intently as it speeds up and becomes harder to control. It doesn't phase Ashton though and he continues to do oddly well.
"You're scaring me at how good you are at this." I giggle as his thumb speedily skims across the screen in different directions.
"Oh fuck." He mutters, his chin moving against my scalp as he speaks quietly so only I can hear.
His character slams into the train as he's not
quick enough to dodge it.
"You jinxed me baby." He chuckles, holding the phone closer to my chest as a signal for me to have a go.
I take his iPhone making it seem much bigger than what it was in his large hands. I start, not nearly as strong as Ashton as I have a few close calls. It picks up momentum faster than I can process and my fingers react in a delay to what my brain is seeing.
"Quick baby, you gotta go quicker." He chuckles softly. His hand comes up to curl around mine that holds the phone, using his own thumb to swipe the screen.
If anyone is watching us right now they would probably be sick at the sight of our cheesy couple actions.
"Ash!" I giggle and his chin drops to my shoulder, nuzzling into the curvature on my neck to get a better view of the screen.
Even though I'm still holding the phone he takes over my game, kicking my thumbs off the screen.
We are embarrassingly invested in this silly app. So much so, that we lose track of time.
I hear the rolling of plastic suitcase wheels growing closer than all the rest surrounding the building. Light footsteps distinctly travel in our direction making both Ashton and I peer up.
There she is. The dirty blonde headed girl is headed towards us, hurrying as quickly as she can with her Dr Martens, matching with the ones Ashton has.
Spike crashes into the back of a train the second Ashton's attention turns elsewhere. The grumpy train security man growls in the game audio below us as he catches the character.
Her pearly white teeth somewhat light up the room as we gaze in her direction. Her cheeks are so plump and eyes so big and full of life as her face creases with pure excitement. She wears a smile so well. You would never know by just looking at her what hell she's been through in her childhood. It's always like that. It's the ones you'd least expect it from.
The warmth of Ashton's arms vanish, taking a few steps forward to close the space between them. His eyes light up. In a different way to when he looks at me. The way he gazes at her almost makes me want to burst out in tears.
Families make me sick but these two I have a soft spot for.
"Hi." I hear her softly say as Ashton engulfs her into his chest.
Her hands grip into the back of his shirt, the side of her face flush against his chest with eyes squeezed shut. This is the first hug they've had in months.
I stand a few steps back just admiring their special brother sister bond and allow them to take in the moment and each other's presence.
He doesn't want to let go, pressing a kiss to her hair to savor this moment. I see a few tears of joy dribble down Skye's cheek as they part.
"Oh bug, don't. Don't want none of that." Ashton notices her tears but she simply wipes them and chuckles it off.
I guess it's also very emotional for her in the sense she could have lost her brother in the events of the past month's. She was so worried when he disappeared for almost a month and hearing about what we endured in that classroom has most likely rattled her.
"Look at you adulting." He inspects her up and down.
She has her suitcase beside her and a crossbody bag across the simple black tank top. It's paired with a light wash baggy jean and sweater tied around her shoulders. Even though Melbourne is only an hour flight south, the weather there always seems to be a little colder than everywhere else in the country.
"Look at you," He cups her cheeks in disbelief.
"How was your exam?" He holds her wrists but she has other plans, not paying interest in the question at all.
Her head turns in my direction at the first chance she gets. She grins brightly at me, instantly establishing our connection and showing how inviting and open she is.
"Hi." I wave and she closes the gap between us, bringing me into a hug.
Her fresh floral scent hits my nose and it smells expensive. She's around my height, surprising considering how tall Ashton is. They must have inherited height genes from the opposite parents.
"My sister. I've got your back forever." She murmurs into my ear.
Her first words to me are ones that will stick with me for a lifetime.
No one has ever said something like that to me.
We are going to grow so close I can just see it.
On that note maybe I should start seriously considering getting in contact with my actual sister. After all, she is carrying half the same genes as me. The phone number is there for me written down, all I have to do is pick up the phone and dial it.
She pulls back, rubbing my shoulders.
"I'm so glad you're ok. Both of you," She glances between Ashton and I. "You both doing alright?"
He glances his hazel eyes to mine before answering for the both of us.
"We're ok. Working on ourselves but ok." He keeps it simple considering we're in a public space.
I know I don't exactly want everyone to know my struggles and I'm sure Ash is the same.
"And Cal?" She continues. She's well aware he's been physically the worst out of all of us.
Ash glances around out of caution. I can tell he's paranoid about someone eavesdropping.
"C'mon let's walk and talk," He suggests, taking the handle of Skye's suitcase. "He's making improvements but I haven't had an update today yet. As of yesterday he's still pretty groggy."
He starts walking, dragging the black suit case behind him. Skye and I follow along, weaving our way to the exit.
"Well I hope I get to see him before I leave." Skye replies a little lower, losing the excitement from her voice
"Don't let that dampen the mood ok? You know Cal wouldn't want that." Ashton sternly says without looking back at us as he power walks out into the car park.
"He'd be pissed," She giggles and I have to remember she's known these boys far longer than I have. "If I find out that you ever worry about me-" She mimics his threat as if it was something he had once said to her.
"It would be a nice surprise for him though. He obviously has no idea you're here." Ash reaches for his keys in his back pocket as we approach the car.
"How long are you here for?" I ask, knowing she's busy with Uni and has classes throughout the week.
"I'm going to spend the week. It's been so long since I was last here. I'm just going to watch my lectures later, they get recorded anyway." She shrugs, clearly showing that missing class isn't an issue.
On that note, I'm not even sure what she's studying, I've never thought to ask.
"And then you're back in two and a half months for Christmas huh?" Ash smiles, finally reaching the jeep and going straight for the trunk.
"Mhm," She agrees, equaling his grin while he puts her luggage into the back of the car.
Skye goes to the back door immediately, not giving me the chance to offer her the front seat.
"I've been meaning to ask what you're studying." I hop up into the passenger seat.
"Psychology," She immediately says. "I want to become a psychologist." She speaks a little quieter, like she doesn't want to brag about it.
Becoming a psychologist is very serious and even being able to study it should be highly congratulated. She would have had to achieve a very high score in grade twelve to be able to study psychology.
"No way." I turned my body in the front seat to peer back at her, nonchalantly buckling herself into the middle.
She's very humble and I can tell she doesn't favor talking about her successes.
"That's amazing."
I don't need to ask why she wants to become a psychologist. I think her motive is very clear to those who know of her past. I'm sure she's had many psychologist appointments in her years and I guess her experience with them has inspired her to do the same. She wants to help people. People like us with trauma or people who just can't seem to get their mind in the right spot.
"Yeah," She shyly chuckles. "I'm loving it.
The workload gets intense but nothing I can't handle. I've met some incredible psychologists and I can't say I was an easy patient but they made such an impact on my life that I now want to become one."
"Psychologist Irwin." Ashton proudly states as he gets into the driver's seat, obviously overhearing our conversation.
"Not yet," She whines.
"As if you didn't tell me she was studying psychology," I scold him. "That's a big deal."
"I thought you knew!"
•
Stepping foot through the front door is very familiar to me, it's home.
To Skye though, she hasn't been to this apartment before. Ashton and Calum only moved in here at the start of the year when Skye moved out. They no longer needed the third bedroom and downsized to a smaller place with a better view.
"Wow it's so weird to see the same furniture in a different apartment." She glances around. "I like it though, the beach view is amazing." She wanders straight over to the windows
"Yeah, it's a little less depressing than the apartment on Waker street." Ashton admits, dropping his keys on the kitchen counter.
I trail over to him as Skye is mesmerized by the ocean. I guess the last apartment wasn't the nicest. I let my hand glide over Ashton's back and his arm curls over my shoulders to bring me into a side hug. He peppers a gentle kiss to my temple as we both watch Skye with her back to us and attention wholeheartedly on the waves rolling in.
"You can go outside bug, unlock the door." Ash
says and she grins back, sliding open the glass door to step outside onto the balcony.
"Why bug?" I ask, hearing the nickname for a second time.
"Don't you think she looks a little bit like a bug?
Her big green eyes are like bug eyes." He reasons and I now can understand what he means.
It feels offensive to compare someone to a bug even though it's a light hearted nickname.
"Right." I nod, not particularly wanting to agree or disagree.
I slide out from under Ashton's arm, turning around to peer into the pantry for a snack. It's nice and stocked from our grocery shop yesterday. As I'm deciding what to eat, I jump in surprise at Ashton pressing up behind me. I whip around swiftly in fear that Skye may walk back in at any time.
"What are you doing?" I scold him though a whisper while my back is now pressed to the pantry and my front up against him.
"You look really good in this sundress. Just wanted to let you know." He smirks down at me and I can't help but blush at the compliment.
But he really doesn't have to tell me this right now while his sister is right outside.
"Well can you let me know another time?" I suggest, cautiously peering around him to see Skye still facing the ocean out on the balcony.
"Tonight?" He questions with a quirked brow and I know exactly what he's hinting at.
I roll my eyes.
Horny motherfucker. Can't keep it in his pants.
"Yes." I mutter quietly.
Not wanting to admit I was secretly just as eager as he was.
"What was that? Couldn't hear you."
"Shut up." I chuckle, slapping his chest.
"Y'know sex in this kitchen is inevitable," He randomly speaks his mind. "It's gonna happen one day. Just like every other spot in this apartment."
"Minus Cal's bed or his spot on the couch." I raise a finger and state.
I know it's one thing Calum said for us not to do. Otherwise he'd put bleach in our shampoo.
"Right, but Cal still has a window and a bathroom."
"Ashton! No."