"Yello. . ." her face drops all of a sudden, ". . .what. . .just calm down. . .let me explain. . ."
AJ walks over to the bedroom, taking a seat on the edge of the bed as she holds the phone to her ear. I rush after her, sitting on the bed beside her. She looks as though she is in incredible distress.
"Mac, why are you freakin' out? . .but I--. . .Mac. . .Mac, you're not letting me speak. . ."
So she was speaking to Big Mac? Or, I guess, shouting at him.
". . .at Rainbow's. . .yeah, Rainbow Dash. . .what do you mean I have to come back?"
He wants her to go back? Like, to Sweet Apple Acres? I'm so confused. . .and worried. I really don't want AJ to go back. . .not now.
". . .but I'm here for a break. . .I need a rest, Mac. . .you can't just say that. . .I thought you said I could stay in Canterlot for a while. . .I don't understand. . ."
She looks flustered as she gets up from the bed and starts to pace around the room. I walk up to her, hearing faint murmurings from Big Mac over the phone, he sounds as though he's shouting. I tap AJ on the shoulder and shrug, non-verbally asking her to explain the situation she seems to be caught up in.
She cups the phone's speaker with her hand as she looks at me, "It's Big Mac, he wants me to come back to Sweet Apple Acres immediately but he's not telling me why."
Why wouldn't he tell her? Was this the universe trying to tell me how much it hates me or what? I can't let AJ go, I can't. I mean, if she goes now, how do I know how long it'll be until she comes back? I could go so all the AA meetings in the world, get all the external help possible, but if AJ left me, I have no idea what I'd do. There would be no one here for me to love, nobody to rely on.
I feel a rising anger inside me, an anger I need to let out. I'm not too sure why I feel so infuriated all of a sudden, the thought of AJ leaving just made me feel so. . .unprotected, I guess my head is used to feeling those two emotions at the same time. Often if I am angry, I'm usually letting it out alone. A way for me to let my emotions out, my guard down completely, a kind of freedom I usually love. But this time, I hate the feeling. I try to push it down as much as possible, my heart rate increasing rapidly causing my chest to tighten.
Oh God, I'm driving myself insane. . .
I have to do something.
AJ puts the phone back up to her ear, "Mac, listen to me, I--"
Before she could continue, I grab the phone from AJ. My grip is tight, any tighter and it feels as though the phone would crush in my hand. AJ attempts to take her phone back, but my rage-fueled strength leaves her with no chance in stopping me.
My anger finally releases as I say, raising my voice slightly, "What makes you think you can tell her what to do?"
"Dash, what are you doing!" AJ says, at a quieter volume than mine, still attempting to retrieve her phone as she reaches her hands up at me, frantically.
A pause is held as Big Mac notices the change in voice over the phone, realising he is no longer speaking to his sister, ". . .Rainbow, is that you?"
"Yeah, it's me. Why are you ordering AJ around? What's your deal?" I reply sternly, demanding answers out of him.
"I'm not ordering her around, what are you on about? Put Applejack back on--"
"No, I'm talking to you now. Tell me what's going on." AJ continues to fight for the phone, so I push her back by holding my hand up to her forehead. She scowls at my motion.
"This has got absolutely nothin' to do with you Rainbow Dash, pass the phone back to Applejack, now."
"Why not just tell me why you need her back?"
"It's something I need to tell her in person, something important. I need her back here so I can--"
"If you want her back so bad, why won't you come and get her yourself?"
"Stop with the questions Rainbow, this is ridiculous!" He becomes audibly more infuriated.
"What's ridiculous is the fact that you're not answering any of my questions!" I say, copying his tone. My grip on the phone strengthens, as if I was holding on to AJ herself and refusing to let her go.
"No, no, no, Rainbow, you don't understand! I--"
"She's not going back to the farm right now, Big Mac. She's taking a break with me. That's how it is and that's how it's gonna stay for a little while longer."
The line goes silent. . .until a small sigh is heard from Big Mac, sounding to me as though he has settled for my requests.
He suddenly adopts a soft tone of voice, "But, Rainbow. . ." I bring the phone away from my ear, ready to press the red button to hang up.
"It's Granny. She--"
I hang up the phone, ignoring whatever it was Big Mac just said, not having heard it anyway. I assume it's not important.
I hand the phone back to AJ, who grabs it immediately. She has a smile on her face, a faint 'thank you' smile, opposing my cheeky grin. I feel proud that I've managed to resolve the situation. . .to my best knowledge anyway.
All that matters is that AJ is here with me right now, and I hope beyond hope that this is where she'll stay.
"See, that wasn't so hard was it?" I say.
"What did Mac say before you hung up? Did you hear him, it sounded urgent, I should—"
"Hey, I'm sure it was nothing. Aren't you glad you get to stay?" I take the girl by the waist.
After a breath, AJ replies, "You know what, yeah. I am."
"Don't worry about Big Mac, they've got everything handled over there."
"I guess so. . .I worry too much don't I." AJ scoffs at her own lack of trust. I jolt my head and raise my eyebrows at the girl's realisation, finding it adorable as ever.
"That's why you have me around."
"What, to snatch things out of my hands?" AJ laughs.
I look down at the phone in her hand, wanting to mess with her. AJ notices my eyes drift and immediately holds the phone away from me. I reach for it, turning our tender moment into one of our usual play fights.
"Hey! I knew you were gonna do that!" AJ says, now running around the room flailing the phone in her hand.
"Oh stop, you know you love it." I tease her, one of my favourite activities.
I climb onto the girl as she stands a few inches away from the edge of the bed. I push her onto the bed, now on top of her. My positioning makes our play fighting calm down, my arms hook around hers, pinning her to the bed. I love my right hand away from her arm, AJ stops resisting and leaves her arm where it is. I move my hand to hers, removing her phone out of her grasp and placing it next to the both of us on the bed. Our eyes lock, time seems to freeze.
"Why don't you just stay here forever? That way every day could be like this. Just you and me." I say in a whisper.
AJ chuckles, "You, me, Sunset and Pinkie. . ."
"I meant when she's gone." I say laughing along with her.
"That'll take years knowin' her." AJ continues chuckling.
"She'll figure something out, I'm sure of it."
"Then, yeah. Yeah I'd like that. But it ain't that easy, Dash. I've got my family to think about, Applebloom and Granny, and—"
I put my finger to her mouth, shushing her, "You're doing it again. You're worrying."
My finger traces down her lips, everything else in the room seems to disappear. My eyes are only on one subject in my vision. . .
AJ pushes her lips up, crashing into mine, she grabs the back of my head, pulling me closer and causing me to travel further up the bed. She follows, her legs sliding up one by one in an attempt to keep up with my hands, also crawling up toward the headboard, into which her back eventually crashes. My hands push up against the bed, either side of the girl whose hands start scrunching my hair. I hold my crawling position as AJ's legs spread out, making their way either side of me, weakly bent.
AJ breaks the kiss for a moment, pushing her lips away but keeping my head close, "I'll stay as soon as I can. I promise—"
I silence her once again, pushing our lips together, continuing our kiss. Her pillow-soft lips feel so warm and comforting. My arm appears at the girl's thigh, I pull it up until she has no choice but to wrap it around my waist, her second leg follows.
I keep the girl close, as close as I can. The thought of her leaving me, especially when things were beginning to look up for me, was absolutely undeniably terrifying. AJ is the girl of my dreams the only girl in the world that I give a shit about. I don't want to think about what it'd be like if she'd have to go back all of a sudden. . .what I'd do. . .
The more I think about AJ's hypothetical absence, the more intense I make our kiss.
Wanting it to never end.
Wanting her to never leave.
A/N
Shorter chap today but hope you liked it nonetheless!
I just pulled an all nighter planning out 10 chapters of an appledash-catradora crossover fic I want to write lol
You're all amazing and I love each and every one of youuuuOkay byeeeeeeeeeeeeeee 🫶