Ashton's PoV:
Well that hadn't gone how I'd expected it.
I didn't know Carter was going to be so mad at me.
Just by the look in her eyes I knew she wasn't pleased with how the evening had ended and neither was I, and that's probably why I didn't sleep.
Gracie and Carter had fallen asleep fairly quickly, Gracie's head turned to Carters chest while the little girls back was against me.
This was what I was going to miss when I left for tour. And this was what I wanted to take with me.
Gracie turned around in Carters arms and faced me, her thumb in her mouth and her little brown eyes shut tight.
Carter was passed out behind her, her eye brows furrowed in her sleep.
Over her shoulder the alarm clock said 3:43 A.M and I shut my eyes again, angry at myself for putting Carter in this position, and sad because she wouldn't come with me.
I laid there for two more hours until the alarm went off and Carter moved to turn it off while I pretended to be asleep.
Carter stood up and I listened to her as she moved to the closet and then went to the dresser where her slippers were and put them on.
Gracie turned back over in the bed.
"Mommy." I heard her say and then sensed Carters presence as she came to the bed and lifted Gracie up.
"Come here baby." Carter whispered and then whisked her away, both of them leaving the bedroom and Carter shut the door quietly behind them.
I heard the coffee maker start downstairs and then the opening of Enders bedroom door as he woke up and then went downstairs.
Was Carter going to act like none of this happened or was she still going to be mad?
I didn't know but I had to find out.
I got out of the bed and stretched my back before taking a deep breath and opening the door to go downstairs.
Gracie was asleep on Carters shoulder and Ender was standing behind her as she stood at the counter trying to wake Gracie up while Carter swatted him away.
When my foot hit the creaky step Carter glanced up, her eyes freezing on me and then dropping down to look at the counter.
She was still upset.
But despite the fact we were upset with each other I still loved her and I knew we'd get past this like we did everything else.
"Morning Ashton." Ender said when he saw me and I told him good morning back before sitting at the bar, Gracie looking up when she saw me.
"Daddy, you didn't kiss Mommy good morning." Gracie's small voice said and Carter and I both looked up.
"It's okay Gracie." Carter said softly but Gracie frowned.
"Nope you're right, I forgot." I said and slid off the bar stool, Car watching me with careful eyes as I approached.
I pressed myself to her, despite Gracie's leg that was wrapped around Carters waist and tilted my head down to attach my lips to hers in a sweet yet passionate kiss.
I felt her body become less tense as she accepted it and then pulled away just enough so that my lips rested against hers.
"Good morning." I murmured against her mouth.
"Morning." She breathed back, and I brushed my lips against hers before moving away to kiss Gracie's cheek and pull her into my arms.
Carter looked away after I kissed her and went to pour her coffee and mine, setting the cup in front of me without a word.
Breakfast was silent and awkward and I knew I had really screwed things up.
Yes I knew it was a lot to ask of her but I had a plan, she just didn't want to listen.
I'm sure if we just sat down and talked it all through she would change her mind...but then again this was Carter, and I had chose the most stubborn girl alive to love for the rest of my life, and it would take all of the convincing in the world for her to agree.
"Are you guys fighting?" Ender asked suddenly and both mine and Carters heads snapped up.
"No." We both said at the same time.
Ender rolled his eyes and looked away.
When breakfast was done everyone went their separate ways to get ready.
Carter went upstairs and I turned the television on for Gracie so she could watch her morning cartoons.
I took a deep breath as I made my way up the stairs and into Carters bedroom where she was looking through her drawers to find something to wear.
When she moved away I went to go get my clothes, staying by the dresser while she stood by the bed.
I looked up as she slipped off her pyjama shirt and put on a different bra, her back facing me.
"Carter." I said.
She didn't turn around and continued to put on her shirt.
"Car." I said a bit louder, knowing she had heard me.
I sighed before walking up to her, and placing my hand on her shoulder.
"Carter."
"What?" She whipped around.
She looked like she was about to cry.
"I'm sorry...okay? I'm sorry. I didn't mean to upset you last night." I sincerely apologised.
"I just don't understand how you could ask me to do that...you know how important the business is to me and my family." She said back, her voice about to break.
"I know, and I'm not asking you to sell the business, I'm asking my fiancé to come on tour with me so we can be together."
"Ashton." She whimpered and I pulled her into my arms.
"Just please Carter...please..." I whispered as I held her to me.
"I can't." She said back, her voice thin and broken.
We stood there in the middle of her bedroom, my arms around her as she shook silently in my hold.
"Is there anything I can do to change your mind?" I asked her and she shook her head no.
"Well do you still want to be engaged?" I asked and she nodded yes.
"I think we need to take a break." She said finally and her words shot fear through my system.
"What?" I pulled away so I could look at her.
"Just for a day or two. Everything with us has been happening so fast and I think we need to just give each other a little space."
"I don't like that." I shook my head.
"Well I don't like it either, but I think it's necessary." She said and I ran my hand through my hair, my fingers curling into a fist around the strands.
"Hey." She said and moved forward to place a hand on my arm and one on my chest. "Ashton I still love you and I'm still going to marry you...but I think we need this."
I exhaled a pent up breath.
"Just go spend a day or two with the boys, have some guy time and then come back home." She added.
"Okay but I don't want to spend time with the guys, I want to spend time with you." I said.
She pulled her bottom lip between her teeth and I shut my eyes.
"Ash..." I heard her sigh before I felt her lips touch mine.
She was trying to make me feel better.
I didn't open my eyes but I kissed her back, my hands leaving my hair to find her hips.
"Just two days?" I asked her between kisses.
She nodded.
"What about the kids?"
"I can handle it." She said.
"I hate this." I said and she let out a little laugh.
"You need the space too."
"No I don't." I shook my head as I moved my head to rest in the crook of her neck.
Her hand went to my hair and she ran her fingers through it, trying to soothe me.
"I love you." I heard her say.
"I love you too." I put my arms around her waist, squeezing her tightly.
She kissed me once more before we finished getting dressed.
The morning passed by slowly and after I took Ender to school I went back to the house where Carter helped me pack a bag.
When I got downstairs with my bag Gracie jumped up, her eyes scared.
"Where are you going?" She asked me as she ran up to me.
"I'm just going to spend a few days with uncle Luke, and uncle Calum, and uncle Michael." I smiled softly at her.
"Can I go?" She asked.
"No baby, you've gotta stay here with Mommy. But I'll be back before you know it." I placed a hand on her hair.
Carter appeared next to me and placed a hand on my chest that I covered with my own.
"I'm going to miss you." She said quietly.
"I'll miss you too." I pulled her into a tight hug.
"Are you going to miss me?" Gracie asked, jumping up and down.
"I'll miss you so much." I smiled at her and let go of Carter so I could pick up Gracie and hug her.
"Love you Daddy." She cuddled up to my neck and I let out a sigh.
"I love you too baby girl." I kissed her cheek and then set her down on the ground.
"Bye." I turned to Carter to kiss her as well, her lips seeking out mine. "I love you."
"I love you too." She said and placed her lips back on mine in one of her more passionate kisses.
I left the house sad, making my way to the jeep and then to the villa the guys were staying at.
They were in the living room when I opened the door and all turned their heads to look at me.
"Hey look who it is." Michael exclaimed as I walked in, dropping my bag on the floor.
"How's engaged life?" Luke asked with a smirk as I flung my self down on the sofa.
"I don't wanna talk about it." I huffed.
"Uh oh, in a fight with the Mrs.?" Calum asked.
"I asked her to go on tour with me and she said no." I answered. "And then she got mad at me for asking her."
"Then why are you here?" Michael asked.
"Because we made up but then she said she wanted us to take a few days to ourselves and have some space." I said moodily.
"Dude you probably just freaked her out. A lot has happened in the past couple of weeks, I think you just had your timing wrong." Calum shrugged.
"Maybe." I sighed. "I don't know, I just hate that she wants this space thing. I mean when we leave we're going to be gone for a while and I want to spend as much time with her as I can before we leave."
"And I'm sure she knows that and wants to spend all her time with you too, but I have to agree with her on this. You guys have taken this relationship so fast, you both just need to take a deep breath before continuing." Luke said.
"If you want what's best for her and for your relationship, give her some time to settle into all of these new changes and then you can go back and do whatever lovey dovey shit you guys do." Michael commented.
"Lovey dovey?" I raised an eyebrow.
"Yes! You two are always hugging or kissing or hand holding or having sex or cuddling or like talking to each other all cute or whatever." Michael rolled his eyes. "It's gross."
"We are not!" I defended us.
"Yes you are!" He exclaimed.
"So how is the sex with Carter?" Calum asked me and I widened my eyes.
"I'm not going to divulge you in the details of my sex life." I rolled my eyes at his question.
"But you guys have done it?" Luke checked.
"Yes we've done it."
"And?" Michael pressed and I sighed.
"Best sex I've ever had." I answered, a smile coming to my face. "She's just so innocent and perfect, and the fact that I'm in love with her makes it all the more exciting. And it's not just sex, it's making love, and it's more satisfying that way. Carter's just...she's just amazing."
They all just stared at me.
"What?" I asked.
"You're just in love, that's all." Luke smirked and I rolled my eyes again.
"Okay. I'm going to go take a nap since I didn't sleep last night and hopefully get through these next few days." I sighed and made my way to an upstairs bedroom.
I found a bed and laid down, placing my phone next to my head so if Carter called me I would hear it, and shut my eyes, praying that maybe if I slept, these next couple of days without her would go by quickly.
Shrill ringing in my ear caused me to yank my head up, ripping me away from a dreamless sleep.
My tired eyes found my phone to see Carters name on the screen and I grabbed for it, answering her call.
"Hey." I said, immediately waking up.
"Hi." Her voice came out soft. "How was your day?"
"Fine. All I've done is sleep." I answered. "What about you?"
"It's been okay. I started to teach Gracie how to ride a tricycle, and then went to Ari's for dinner, and now I'm laying on the sofa with a four year old on top of me." She said and I let out a laugh.
"Well that sounds like fun. I wish I would've been able to help teach her how to ride a bike." I said.
"Me too." She sighed. "Ash, I'm not mad at you and I'm not doing this to punish you. I just need a few days to wrap my head around everything that's happened in the past couple of weeks. I hope you understand that."
"I do. It just sucks not being there when you're so close."
"But when you come back home we'll be out of this weird place that we're in. And then we can appreciate our time together more and just move on. That's all I want."
"Whatever you want baby, that's what we'll do." I said and I imagined her smiling.
"I love you." She said, and I was right, I could hear her smile.
"I love you too Car."
There was a moment of silence.
"So how was dinner with Ari?" I asked.
"Horrible. She's pissed at me."
"Why?"
"Because of the whole engagement thing. She thinks we took this too fast and we're too young and are just stupid kids. And then she's mad about the whole asking me on tour thing and I don't know...she's my best friend and I love her but she just doesn't understand."
"I thought she was okay with us being engaged?"
"I thought she was too, but all of the sudden she just flipped out on me."
I sighed.
"I'm sorry."
"No she can just get over it. I'm in love with you and that's all that matters."
Her words kind of surprised me.
"Wow I really want to kiss you right now." I breathed.
"In due time Irwin." She laughed.
"Are the kids awake?" I asked.
"Yeah. Well Ender's currently having a pre-teen meltdown in his room over something that happened in footie practice, so I get to go deal with that later, but Gracie is right here if you want to talk to her."
"Yeah, put her on."
"Gracie, Daddy's on the phone." Carter said and I heard a shuffle of movement. "Put it up to your ear."
"Daddy?" Gracie's little voice came through the line.
"Hey, Gray." I smiled. "I heard you learned how to ride a tricycle today."
"Mommy taught me!" She said excitedly. "But I got a scrape."
"Uh oh, did you fall?"
"Yeah, but Mommy kissed it and made it better."
"You have the best Mommy don't you?" I laughed.
"Mhmm." Gracie agreed. "Can you come play?"
"I'll be back in a few days and we can play and ride bikes all day long." I said, my expression between a smile and a frown.
"Okay." She said happily and I laughed.
"Alright, well be good for your Mom, I'll talk to you tomorrow."
"Night night Daddy."
"Sweet dreams Gray. I love you."
"Love you Daddy." She chirped.
There was more shuffling and then Carters voice returned.
"Okay, well I'll let you get to sleep." She sighed.
"Yeah. I'll talk to you tomorrow?"
"You will."
"Okay. Goodnight, I love you."
"I love you too Ash. Night."
When she hung up the phone I tossed it onto the sheets and stood up, stretching.
I stomped down the stairs and into the kitchen of the vacation villa, grabbing a water from the fridge and took a seat on the sofa next to Calum.
"Feeling any better?" He asked me as he kept his eyes on the game he was watching on the television.
"Yeah. I just got off the phone with her."
"And what did she say?"
"That's she's not mad at me, she just needs a little time to think." I sighed loudly for the millionth time today.
"See. She loves you man, more than you realise, just give her a few days."
I settled into the sofa, taking a sip of my water and preparing to wait out the next couple of days without Carter.
--
so close but so far away:/
I hope you enjoyed the chapter and I'll have the next one up soon!
as always, vote and comment if you'd like(:
much love xx-M