- Pandora -
By the time Lauren had abruptly thrown open the door, Ashton had managed to successfully roll off his bed, chuck his used cöndom into his bin, yank on a random pair of boxers and run a hand through his messy hair, taming it ever so slightly. I - however - had barely managed to pull the covers over my sweaty body before she entered, failing to fix myself enough to even attempt to appear innocent. As if by instinct, her attention immediately fell upon the unfamiliar presence in the room, her eyes widening at the sight of me.
I could only imagine what I must have looked like, my hair messy, face flushed, shoulders nude to the world - and we all know how sexüal shoulders can be, ladies. I felt ashamed, attempting to pull the covers higher as if to protect myself from her judgemental glare. The room was uncomfortably quiet, the only sound emitting from the plastic baby held carelessly in Lauren's hand - the plastic baby that I had completely forgotten about until now.
The silence stretched on until Ashton finally chose to speak, his voice tight with annoyance at his sister's unwanted presence.
"What the fück are you doing here?"
"Good morning too you too," she retorted, shooting him a large, sarcastic smile "nice to see you're as cheerful as ever."
"Fück off, Lauren." He groaned, tiredly rubbing his palm up and down his sweaty face "What do you want?"
"I want rid of this stupid thing." She hissed, abruptly dropping the baby down onto his desk. I winced at the unhealthily cracking sound it made, her cries only intensifying.
Ashton told me Kira was safe with Lauren. This did not look safe.
"Why?" He questioned, his eyebrows drawn down into a disapproving scowl "I thought you liked dolls?"
"I do," she muttered, shooting me an embarrassed sideways glance before returning her attention to her half-naked brother, seeming completely un-phased by his lack of clothing "but this- this isn't a doll."
"Of course it is."
"No, it's not. It's fücking Satan in disguise."
"Hey, don't swear!" Ashton quickly scolded, his hazel eyes meeting mine as if to say 'do you hear this shít?'
I lightly nodded, assuring him that yes, I had heard. I didn't wish to get involved in their sibling feud, so I remained quietly cocooned in his bed, ensconced in his thin woollen duvet. The tension between Lauren and Ashton was almost palpable, her small teenage body shaking with rage as he attempted to hand Kira back over to her, shoving her time and time again against his sister chest. I wished I could just run over and cradle the plastic baby to my chest, yet I couldn't, limited by my lack of clothing.
"Ashton, I don't want it anymore!" She exclaimed, harshly shoving his hands away before taking a disgusted step backwards, attempting to avoid anymore of his futile attempts.
I felt bad for her, I really did.
"C'mon Lauren," he begged, lightly shoving her shoulder in his best 'sibling banter' type of way "only for another week or so."
"I. Don't. Want. It." She repeated slowly, to make sure he understood "It cries and poops and leaves mysterious stains in its diapers and I'm sick of it! I don't want to care for it anymore, no matter how much money you give me."
"You were paying her?" I coughed, raising my eyebrows questioningly. Ashton shot me a small glare while Lauren nodded, her hands places firmly against her hips.
She was so small compared to him, yet possessed a lot of attitude, enough to make her just as intimidating.
"How much?"
"Nothing."
"A dollar a day."
"Ashton!" I exclaimed, my lips pursed with disgust "I thought your sister wanted to look after Kira?"
"She did- does- will... I don't know. Shut up." He blushed, sheepishly running a hand through his sweaty locks.
"No I didn't!" She cried, her eyes wide with annoyance "I never wanted that baby!"
"You did so!" Ashton gasped, dramatically turning to face his sister "You said you would love to!"
"That's before I knew that it could pee!"
"All babies pee!"
"Fake ones don't!"
"Well I guess mine is just a little more realistic." He huffed, cradling Kira to his chest defensively. I bit back a laugh as Lauren shot me a sceptical glance, her eyebrows raised as if to ask 'you're dating this?'
"Just keep the baby, Ash."
"I don't want it."
"It's your project!"
"It's hers too!"
My eyes widened as Ashton pointed an accusing finger towards me, his lips drawn back into a childish scowl. I felt slightly embarrassed, trying to use his blanket as a protective shield as Lauren glared at me, clearly annoyed by the both of us.
If I were her, I'd be angry too.
We had basically forced her to do our homework without even realising it.
"I'm not keeping it anymore."
"Lauren-."
"You don't have to." I quickly interrupted, peeking over the tops of the covers to send Ashton a disapproving look, silencing his objections "I'm so sorry we made you look after her and we'll take her back now."
"No we won't!" Ashton exclaimed, shooting me a wide eyed glare before abruptly turning to face Lauren "No we won't."
"Yes, we will." I pushed, my eyebrows furrowed with annoyance "It was unfair of us to put this much pressure on you and we are sorry."
"No we're not."
"Yes, we are."
"May I speak to you for a second?" Ashton hissed, glaring at me expectantly. I shot a reluctant glance down at the sheets before back up to the angry boy in front of me, raising an eyebrow sceptically to which he returned a small frown, clearly not catching on.
"She's naked, Ash." Lauren finally answered, seeming pretty fed up with the both of us.
I felt my cheeks burn painfully red at her blunt statement, my lips opening to protest but quickly shutting again, thinking better of it.
It was clear I was naked beneath these sheets. No amount of objection could change that.
"No she's not." Ashton spluttered, wafting his hand about randomly as he forcefully laughed, only making the situation even more awkward "What made you think that?"
"Ashton..."
"Shut up, Ash."
"Don't tell mum."
Lauren let out an exasperated sigh before exiting his bedroom, slamming the door shut behind her. I remained motionless in his bed, glaring at Ashton like a condescending wife, my eyebrows ticked upwards judgmentally.
"What the fück was that?"
"I panicked."
-
One argument, two showers and three apologies later, we sat downstairs, eating our breakfast silently. Ashton mum had been kind enough to make us pancakes, yet I couldn't fully enjoy them, the constant attention from all three members of his family causing me to feel uneasy.
Surely, they knew.
"So," Ashton began, awkwardly stabbing at his half-eaten pancake "these are good."
"Why, thank you." His mum blushed, a large smile growing on her already cheerful face "I used that recipe your aunt showed us, the one with the bananas. You remember, Ashton?"
"Yeah, I do." He mumbled, slowly nodding his head.
The room soon fell back into an uncomfortable silence, the only sound coming from the occasional scrape of cutlery against plates. I could tell by the quizzical glances his mother would constantly send that she wanted to ask us questions, yet remained quiet, obviously respecting our privacy. I appreciated that, yet his sister didn't seem to get the memo.
"So, when did you two become a thing?" She questioned, motioning between the both of us with her fork.
Anne shot her a scolding look, yet her lips pulled upwards into a hint of a smile, clearly pleased by her daughter's nosiness. Ashton glared at the both of them, his jaw clenching as he slowly set his cutlery down.
"Mum-"
"Quite a while ago." I quickly answered, my hand reaching underneath the table to squeeze Ashton's knee. He shot me displeased glance which I countered with a smile, attempting to calm him down "We only became official last week."
"Oh, that's lovely!" His mum exclaimed, slightly too enthusiastically "I have always wondered when Ashton would finally bring a girl home."
"I brought Jenna home." Ashton frowned, causing my blood to boil.
Fücking Jenna.
"That was different." Anne sighed, her smile slightly faltering at the mention of another girl. She shot me a concerned glance - as if to see if was okay - to which I replied with a nod, forcing myself to smile.
I would not let them know this bothered me.
"We didn't even get to meet her." Lauren scoffed, causing my jealousy to slightly subside.
At least she hadn't met the family.
"Meet who?" Harry frowned, his voice muffled by a large mouthful of pancakes.
Ashton just rolled his eyes, slumping back in his chair as his mother giggled, clearly affectionate of her youngest son. She shot him a loving smile, cleaning up a piece of syrup on his chin before returning her attention to myself, her eyes wide with curiosity and wonder.
"So," she began, causing my body to tense. God was I bad under pressure "how long have you known Ashton?"
"About my entire life." I chuckled, causing her smile to falter
"Oh?"
"This is Pandora, mum." Ashton sighed, seeming extremely embarrassed "Y'know... Pandora Hemmings."
"Wait- This is Luke's sister?"
"Yes."
"Luke Hemmings?"
"Yes."
"Liz's daughter?"
"Mum-"
"Where does the time go?" His mum sniffled, catching us both completely off guard. I was expecting some rant about how different Luke and I were, not an emotional look down memory lane "I haven't seen you since you were about Lauren's age!"
"Really?" Ashton frowned, his eyebrows drawn together with confusion "Not even at Luke's soccer matches?"
"Well... Yes." His mum mumbled, her hands clasped to her chest as she looked me up and down, absorbing my dramatic change in appearance "But it never clicked that this was Liz's baby, Little Pandora."
"My mum calls me Little Pandora?" I cringed, receiving an amused snort from Ashton.
"I think it suits you."
"Fu-"
I quickly stopped myself from swearing as I realised I was at a table with his family, clamping my mouth shut as Ashton's laughter grew louder. Lauren slightly smirked - noticing my mistake - while Anne remained transfixed by my appearance, Harry too concentrated on his food to notice.
"You're so tall now."
"So is Ashton," I added, attempting to divert some attention away from myself "he's really tall."
"Not as tall as the boys." Lauren stated, receiving a sharp kick to the shin from her brother.
I watched as they glared at each other, reminding me of myself and my brother's back home. I hadn't seen Jack or Ben in a while, and was really beginning to miss them. Since Ben had moved back into his house, our household had become too quiet, and the only drama came from occasional pointless fights between myself and Luke.
It was almost pathetic how silent our household was right now.
"I always knew you two liked each other." His mum continued, causing both of us to stiffen, our eyes widening at her statement.
Since when did we ever like each other?
"You were always so close with one another, constantly teasing and play fighting."
Yeah, play fighting.
"Yeah, well..." I chuckled, awkwardly trailing off. Ashton remained tense beside me, his hand fumbling beneath the table before finding my own.
This was turning out to be a lot more awkward than I had first anticipated.
"Does Liz know about this?" Anne smirked, causing my mouth to dry.
Shít.
"No, not yet." I mumbled, Ashton's grip on my hand tightening afterwards, his eyes burning intensely into the side of my head.
"Oh, does she not?"
"Not yet." I repeated, returning his intense gaze.
Lauren seemed to notice the friction between us both and dramatically cleared her throat, attempting to subdue some tension. Ashton pursed his lips before finally looking away, his hand still holding my own.
In a way, I was thankful he hadn't given up all contact with me, his hand reassuring me he wasn't mad enough to ignore me.
"So Pandora, what are your plans for school?" His mum randomly questioned, causing me to slightly choke.
"School?"
"Well, with graduation just around the corner, I was wondering if you have anything planned. Unlike this boy," she shot a disapproving glance towards Ashton who lightly shrugged, shovelling a large forkful of pancakes into his mouth "who thinks he can just walk through life with his eyes closed."
"Mum, don't start."
"I'm just saying, applying to a few colleges wouldn't hurt."
"I know, I know."
Lauren and I exchanged a hesitant glance as Ashton bitterly stabbed at his food, clearly angered by his mother. Harry remained completely oblivious, tucking into his syrupy goodness without a care in a world.
I'm pretty certain he knew what was going on, he just didn't care.
"Have you applied to any colleges?" Anne finally asked, attempting to appear casual as she fiddled with her bracelet, her lips pressed into tight smile.
I nodded, nervously chewing at my bottom lip. This was a topic that I had attempted to avoid for the past few weeks - hoping to wait until the last conceivable second before telling Ashton - yet hadn't been able to keep it off my mind. It wasn't that I didn't want Ashton to know, it was just that I didn't know how he would react, and that scared me. He could become angry, or bitter, or happy, or violent.
So many things could go wrong.
"You have?" Ashton frowned, his eyebrows drawn together with confusion.
I nodded again, my chest tightening as he slowly released his hand from my mine, distancing himself from me.
Way to fücking go, Pandora.
"Where?"
"Why don't we talk about this later?" His mum suggested, noticing my obvious discomfort.
I shot her an appreciative glance which she replied with a supportive smile, bashfully tucking a piece of hair behind her ear. Ashton scowled, crossing his arms grumpily across his chest before slouching back in his seat, clearly píssed off with the world - correction, clearly píssed off with me.
"Ashton, what about your breakfast?" Harry asked, his eyes set hopefully upon the half eaten pancake on his plate.
"You can have it." He muttered, bitterly pushing his plate away from him. Harry didn't hesitate to grab it, dishing himself up yet another helping of pancakes. I could already feel his small eyes on me, judging if I were going to eat my own. Luckily for him, I wasn't in the mood to eat, my hand automatically pushing the plate out towards him.
"You can have mine too, if you want?"
"Oh, don't." Anne chuckled, softly shaking her head "He'll end up being sick, eating this many pancakes."
"No I won't!" Harry exclaimed, jumping up and down excitedly in his seat - the syrup already beginning to take effect on his small eleven year old body "I promise I won't! Please mum, she said I can have them! Please? Please? Please?"
I grimaced at how adamant he was and shot his mother an apologetic glance, attempting to ignore his constant begging. Anne let out an exasperated sigh, rising from her seat to collect all the dirty plates.
"Fine, Harry. But if you're sick, I'm not helping."
"Whatever."
He rolled his eyes in the usual 'pre-puberty I can do what I want I'm nearly 12' type way before taking my pancake off my plate, quickly shoving it into his mouth. For a small boy, he had quite the appetite, and I couldn't help but feel slightly proud.
You go, Harry.
"Thanks, Anne." I mumbled, watching a she carried our dishes through to the kitchen.
"I'll help you, mum."
I bit back a groan as Lauren hastily rose from her seat, shooting me an apologetic smile before following on after her mother, leaving just myself, Ashton and Harry in the dining room. I could usually handle them both, but with one overdosed on golden syrup and the other too angry to communicate, this could be slightly difficult.
"So," I coughed, scratching nervously at my forearm "how's school, Harry?"
"School?" Ashton snorted, raising an eyebrow questioningly "That's your opening line?"
"Well, do you have a better idea?" I spat, my chest tightening angrily.
Education was important and Ashton could go suck a díck
"Um, school is fine." Harry hesitantly answered, his eyes nervously darting between myself and Ashton, noticing the obvious friction between us "I passed my writing test yesterday, so my teacher's giving me an award today."
"Oh, that's cool!" I beamed, slightly cringing afterwards.
I sounded like his mother.
"Wait- Today? We have school today?" I frowned, my eyes darting frantically around the room as I searched for a clock, disappointed to find none. Harry just nodded, shoving his last piece of pancake into his mouth before rising from the table, stalking off into the hallway to collect his school bag.
"Shít Ashton, we have school-"
"I know." He replied calmly, casually picking at a tear in the table cloth. I frowned, confused by his suddenly chill attitude.
"Well, we need to get ready."
"No we don't."
"Yeah, we do."
"No, because we're not going." He stated slowly, a slight smirk tugging at his perfectly pink lips. I froze, my eyes wide with horror.
Was he insane?"
"Are you insane?"
"You bet, babe."
Apparently, he was.
"Ashton, we have our English test today."
"Fück English."
"How dare you."
He rolled his beautifully hazel eyes, his arm draped lazily against the back of my chair. With his freshly washed, fluffy hair, casual clothes and calm composure, he looked like a model - yet I didn't dare tell him that.
His ego was big enough already.
"I'm sure Gatsby can go a day without you."
"He needs me."
"I need you."
"Stop," I groaned, brushing away his hand as he teasingly trailed it up my inner thigh, my chest heavy with worry "Ashton, I'm serious!"
"And I'm serious when I say we're not going." He retorted, shooting me a stern glance "You're hung-over, Pandora."
"So?"
"So, your body is weak. You're not fit enough to go to school."
"My body isn't weak!" I argued.
"It should be."
I felt my jaw slacken as he cheekily winked, completely disregarding the fact that his mother and sister where literally just next door - probably eavesdropping. I would have scolded him, but I'm pretty sure that would just draw more attention towards us, and that's something I didn't want.
I already felt awkward around his mum, never mind her knowing I was sleeping with her son.
I think I would literally die if she knew - scrap that - I know I would die.
"We're not going, Pandora."
"Ashton-"
"I'm doing this because I love you," he stated bluntly, wrapping his arm tightly around my shoulder before hauling me to my feet, placing an abrupt kiss to my temple "now, go grab your things. We're going on an adventure."
******************
So many have you suddenly became so obsessed with my eyebrows and idk what to say except thank you. I pluck them myself *flips hair*
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