Emilia's POV
Other than telling Ash that my parents died in a train accident and that my dad took me rock climbing, he knows absolutely nothing about them. In all our conversations, not once have we ever brought up the topic of my parents, and now that I think about it, why haven't we? We talk about basically everything else, so it's weird that it never came up, but I'm glad it did. I haven't talked about my parents to another person in a long time and I want Ash to know more about them and what they were like.
I press the heels of my feet into the grooves of the boulders and keep my hands firmly grasped onto the ones on either side of my chest, holding myself still as I focus on Ashton. "My parents were very...enthusiastic to say the least," I say. "Basically the exact opposite of me."
Ashton pulls himself up higher than me, flexing his biceps as he reaches for another boulder and climbs farther up the wall. "Please, I happen to believe that you are a very enthusiastic person. You're practically bouncing off the walls," he says, referring to when we scaled down the wall just minutes ago. He laughs to himself before missing the next boulder with his foot, causing him to slip and let out a loud gasp.
I'm not really worried about him since he's safely secured and the worker holding the other end of the rope is keeping him from falling. I catch up to his struggling body, laughing at his effort to regain his balance on the rocks. "That's what you get for making a lame joke," I tease, giving him a smug grin.
He regains his balance and keeps his pace steady with mine. "Yeah, yeah. Continue."
"My mom's name is Grace and my dad's is Bennett. They got married right after my dad finished graduate school and received a degree in marketing. He managed a small advertising company while my mom was a house wife—she never liked the idea of working. They were both very social people and loved participating in different community events and whatnot. They liked to do anything that would in some way benefit others."
We reach the arched part of the wall and maneuver our way up it. With the small amount of upper body strength that I have, I reach up and grab onto two of the rocks that are at the top of the arch. My body hangs in mid-air as I try to hoist myself up, but my stupid, weak, twig-like arms can't pull up my weight. Ashton has no difficulty progressing past the arch while I continue to hang in the air.
"Help," I squeak, tossing my legs back and forth even though it does absolutely nothing to help me get over the stupid arch.
Ash chuckles and climbs down a little. "How is it that you've been doing this for years and somehow for my first time, I'm better than you?"
"Hey, I weighed a lot less when I was little," I say. "It was easier back then to do the more advanced walls than it is now. Plus, you have muscles and I have arm flab. It doesn't take a genius to see who has the advantage here."
He flips his hair out of his face and looks down at my dangling body. "I told you that you needed to get some meat on those bones of yours."
"Are you going to help me or not?" I whine, knowing that my arms are going to give out soon. Although, if he does try to help me, he would most likely end up in the same predicament as me. He may be strong, but pulling someone up as well as holding onto the wall is difficult.
Before he even has the chance to reach his hand out, my fingers slip from the rocks and my body sways away from the wall. The worker who hooked up the ropes to my harness keeps me steady in the air and pulls the rope down, lifting me up past the arch and allowing me to latch myself back onto the wall. I thank the man, but he doesn't respond.
"You all right?" Ashton asks.
"Yeah, I'm good," I say, giving him an assuring smile before I continue climbing. "Where did I leave off?"
"You were saying how your parents were good Samaritans."
"That's an understatement." I laugh, remembering how much time and effort they put into helping others. "They were selfless. They always put others before themselves in any situation and I admired that." We stop as we reach the end point of the wall and position ourselves to scale down. "They could be so embarrassing sometimes though." At the same time, we push ourselves off the wall, going down just like before.
"How so?"
"They always found a way to embarrass me at some social setting. Like this one time, we were in Target and my dad started shouting 'Marco' down the aisle and then my mom would yell 'Polo' back at him. Everyone would stare at us, and I would tell them to stop but they loved to mess with me."
Ashton giggles at my short story, probably getting the idea to do that to me himself one day. I just might accidentally run over his foot with a shopping cart if he does.
Our feet touch the padded mats, and we take the hooks off of our harnesses. Ashton suggests that we get some water and take a short break which I agree with. I sit on one of the benches and wait for him to return from one of the many vending machines scattered around the interior of the building. He comes back with two water bottles in hand and gives one to me.
I watch as he twists the lid off and takes a drink, his Adam's apple bobbing up and down with each gulp. A light sheen of sweat covers his face and his hair sticks to his forehead. Is it possible for someone to look attractive while drinking water? If so, Ashton takes the gold. I take a sip of my water, letting the cold liquid slither down my throat and cool me down in an instant.
"They sound like good people," Ashton says, pushing his damp hair to the side, making his forehead visible. "Your parents, I mean."
I am silent for a moment, reminiscing about my parents' kind behavior and smiling to myself. "They were," I say. "They were amazing.—so loving and caring." Memories of my mom and dad flood through my mind, almost like a filmstrip running through a projector. Scene after scene, the curvature of my parents' lips never fell. I can still hear the sound of their laughter and ebullient voices as I think of all the times we spent together as a family.
"What did they look like?" Ashton asks.
"I have a picture of them in my room," I say. "I can show you later if you'd like?"
He nods. He stands to his feet and holds his hand out, waiting for me to take it. "You ready for another round?"
My arms begin to throb after he questions me, almost like they're telling me that they're not ready. I ignore the aching feeling and take his hand which pulls me up off of the bench. "As ready as I'll ever be," I say.
We continue climbing the different levels, each one getting harder as we complete it. During this time, I tell him more about my parents. I tell him about the first time my dad took me rock climbing and how I almost broke my arm after ramming into the wall when I was rappelling down. As a child, my pain tolerance was through the roof and it didn't even faze me when I hit the wall. My dad freaked out and basically smothered me until I had to sit him down and tell him that I was okay. He was always so protective of me and overreacted every time I got hurt. It was as if every cut and bruise was like a severed limb to my dad.
I tell Ashton about the time that my mom forgot me at the store once and found me in the toy aisle completely content and unaware that she even left me. I was about five or six when it happened and my mom panicked. I was playing with some stuffed animals on the floor, not paying attention to anyone around me and consumed in making the animals talk to each other. Ashton laughs at how oblivious I was as a child and tells me that I still am in certain situations.
I tell Ashton as much as I can remember; from what my parents' did on my birthdays to the way they teased me for liking elephants so much. Every memory, every story, every little detail; I tell him everything. Ashton listens intently to every word I say, making sure that he doesn't miss a single detail. It's heart-warming to know that he cares about what I have to say—that there's importance behind every word that slips off my tongue.
____
I fall onto my back on the padded mat, completely exhausted and out of breath. After going around and climbing basically each wall that the place has to offer, I am completely worn out. And by the look of Ashton's red cheeks and labored breathing, he is too. We may have overdone ourselves and spent a little over two hours here, racing each other and seeing who can make the best time going up and down the walls.
"Please don't make me move," I whine, covering my eyes with my arm. "I'm too tired."
Ashton crouches down next to me and brushes one of the loose stands of hair that has fallen out of my ponytail. "Well, unless you wait to spend the rest of your day on the floor, you're going to have to," he says.
I groan and reluctantly get up, stumbling a bit due to the fact that my legs feel like they no longer have bones.
"You ready to go home?" he asks, standing up straight and wrapping his arm around my shoulder to keep me balanced as well as for his own benefit, I assume.
"Yeah," I say. "I think that's enough physical activity to last the month."
We go over to the front desk where we return all our gear and put our shoes and jackets back on. As we pass through the automatic doors, exiting the building, the only thing that is spinning around in my mind is how thankful I am of Ashton. It's only a little past twelve and he managed to start my day off in the best way possible during those two hours. We walk the short distance to his car and get in.
I don't give him the time to start the engine as I give him my appreciation. "Thank you for bringing me here," I say. "This isn't at all what I expected for us to do today. I thought that we were going to go out to eat or something like stereotypical couples do. You knew that I would like this better than some dinner date, even though I love food. But I'm glad that you chose to do this because I couldn't have asked for a better first date, Ash."
Any other outing that he could have chosen wouldn't compare to this. This was something that he put thought into and made sure that everything would be to my liking. He even made sure to take me at a time where there wouldn't be a lot of people which I find extremely considerate. Even though he made me wake up early and exert physical strength, it was worth it. Any chance that I get to spend time with him is worth it, no matter what we do.
His eyes squint, forming little creases at the corners as his cheeks rise, displaying the most radiant smile that I have ever seen. That expression can make anyone smile, even if you're having the worst day of your life.
"I'm glad you enjoyed it," he says sincerely. "It wasn't anything extravagant, but I think it fit us. I can't picture us going to some fancy restaurant or sitting in a movie theatre. It's too practical."
I can't argue with him there. We're both very laid back people and even sitting on the couch and talking would suffice for a date.
Ruining our little moment, my stomach growls loudly, causing Ashton to throw his head back and hit the headrest as his contagious laughter fills the car. I didn't have time to eat breakfast this morning, so no wonder the growl sounded like a lion who wants out of his cage.
Ashton starts the car, his laughter slowly coming to a stop. "Let's go feed the beast," he says, obviously enjoying himself.
"But we're all sweaty," I remind him. "We can't really go out looking and smelling like this." One thing that I do not enjoy is being sweaty. I don't like the texture of it on my skin and I most definitely don't like how dirty it makes me feel.
"I never said anything about going out."
I give him a puzzled look as he backs the car out and drives out of the now-full parking lot. I didn't realize that more people came here. I was too focused on Ash to notice that the place has filled up.
"Then where are we going?" I ask.
"Your place," he says nonchalantly, turning onto the street that leads to my apartment. "We're going to go shower and eat there. Before I woke you up this morning, I told Julia what we were doing today and she offered for me to use her shower afterwards since she doesn't want to come home from work to a smelly house while we stay there," he explains. "I figured after rock climbing, the best thing to do next on this date is to just relax."
As long I get to shower, I'm okay with this plan. "Wait, are you going to cook?" I ask. "And what about clothes? Do you have anything to change into?"
"No, I am not cooking," he says. "I'm going to order a pizza for us. You know that I don't cook well. As for clothes, do you still have the ones that I let you have?"
"Yeah," I say softly, a little sad that he's asking for them. I had planned to change into those after my shower. They're comfortable and perfect to lounge in.
He turns his head quickly over to me, noticing my upset demeanor before returning his eyes back to the road. "It's okay if you don't want me to wear them," he says. "I figured you would want to wear them so I brought some extra clothes with me anyway. They're in the backseat."
I twist my body to look at the backseat, and lo and behold, there are his clothes sitting neatly folded. I turn back to my original position and furrow my eyebrows. "If you have clothes, why did you ask for the ones that you gave me?"
His mouth curves into a smirk. "I just wanted to see your reaction." He gives me a side glance, his smirk growing wider. "I told you that you can have those clothes. You don't have to let anyone wear them except for you. They're yours." His reaches over and places his hand on my thigh. A simple gesture, but it's one that makes me feel safe.
We sit in a comfortable silence for the rest of the ride to my apartment. Ashton grabs his clothes from the backseat before running up the stairs, meeting me at my front door. I didn't wait for him while he was getting his stuff just because I am eager to hop into the shower. We enter the space and remove our shoes, placing them by the door.
"There are towels in the small closet in Julia's bathroom, but you're out of luck with using any products for men, so if you end up smelling like a bowl of fruit or a flower garden, don't blame me." I say, taking off the jacket Julia let me borrow.
He chuckles under his breath. "All right," he says. "I'm going to order the pizza now so that by the time I get out of the shower it should be here."
I nod and walk over to my room, closing the door behind me. I grab Ashton's clothes from my dresser and head into my bathroom. I pull a towel out of the small closet that sits in the exact same place as Julia's bathroom before turning on the shower and removing the form fitting clothing from my body.
Stepping into a hot shower after rock climbing or any physical activity has to be the best feeling ever. The warm water hits every sore muscle on my body, relieving some of the pain. The sweat that was once stuck to my skin washes off and trickles down the drain. On the other side of the wall, I can hear the shower in Julia's bathroom switch on. Ashton must be done ordering the pizza. Hopefully one of us will get out in time before the delivery guy arrives. Guys take shorter shower anyway so it shouldn't be a problem.
As I am rinsing out the conditioner from my hair, the sound of the water spewing from the shower head ceases and a soft hum can be heard on the other side of the wall. These walls are way too thin for my liking. It's awkward enough to have me and Ashton showering at the same time, and to be able to hear what the other is doing behind the wall the separates us makes me a bit uncomfortable. I try to focus on lathering my body wash onto my skin, but the tune that he is humming keeps distracting me.
As if on cue, the doorbell rings and I quickly rinse off the suds from the soap, turn off the shower, and wrap a towel around myself. I can already hear Ashton leaving the bathroom, his heavy footsteps jogging through the apartment and to the front door. I don't think my downstairs neighbors will appreciate the loud thuds that he creates as his feet hit the carpet. I dry myself off and put on Ash's—my clothes and wrap another towel around my wet hair. I walk out and go meet Ashton in the living room where he is shutting the door and standing in only a pair of navy sweats.
He turns to face me, pizza in hand, and I can't help but trail my eyes down from his wet, shaggy hair to the V-line right under his abdomen that is being revealed far more than it should be due to his sweat pants hanging dangerously low on his hips. My eyes grow wide and my eyebrows are raised high, making it completely obvious that I am checking him out. I've seen him shirtless before, but I wasn't really paying attention then.
Boy, do I wish I could have seen the expression of the delivery guy's face when Ash opened the door.
"It's not nice to stare, Emilia," Ashton teases. He walks over into the kitchen and places the pizza box on the counter before treading past me and back into Julia's room. He comes out seconds later with a shirt hiding the beautiful view that I had just moments before. His expression is hard to read, but I'm pretty sure there is a hint of satisfaction twisted in it.
"Nice hairstyle," he jokes, referring to the towel on my head. I shove him lightly on the shoulder before going back into my bathroom and rubbing off any excess water that the towel didn't manage to soak up. I toss the towel into my laundry basket and head over to the kitchen where Ashton is already putting two slices of pizza on a plate for me. He grabs his serving and I lead him over to the living room where we sit together on the couch.
"I love how after all that exercise we decide to replenish ourselves with pizza of all things," I say, turning on the TV and taking a bite of my pepperoni and mushroom pizza.
"There's nothing wrong with rewarding yourself with fatty food, even if it is after working out," he says with his mouth full. I laugh and agree with him. We may be eating all the calories that we lost while rock climbing, but the mouthwatering taste of this pizza is worth it.
____
All afternoon, we sit, talk, watch TV, occasionally go into the kitchen to find more food, and sit again. For my first relationship, it feels so easy and that could just be because it's with Ashton. We joke and play around, teasing each other like we always do. He even cuddles with me, wrapping his arm around my waist while I rest my head on his shoulder as we watch whatever is on TV. It still feels like we're just hanging out like friends but with more physical contact. I thought I would be scared or at least hesitant of touching him and vice versa because of my experiences with Jared, but he has yet to do anything that makes me feel uncomfortable yet.
I push the mere thought of him doing anything to make me uneasy out of my mind and focus on tracing the calluses scattered on his palm. For a first-time climber, his hands don't look as bad as they should.
Ashton pulls his hand away from me and sits up straight. "Didn't you say that you were going to show me the picture of your parents?"
"Oh, yeah," I say. "I forgot about that."
I take him to my room where I pull a photograph from the bulletin board that hangs above my desk and sit on the middle of the bed to show him. He sits next to me takes the photo from my hand.
"That's my mom," I say, pointing to the pale woman whose face takes up the left side portion of the photo. Her dark brown hair—similar to mine—was pulled back into a bun with her straight-cut bangs covering her forehead. Her large green eyes stand out brightly in contrast to her fair skin. "And that's my dad." I point to the tall man with his arm wrapped around my mom's shoulder. He had a darker complexion in comparison to my mom, but only slightly. His black hair looked somewhat fluffy by the way it swept across his forehead.
"You look a lot like your mum," Ashton says. His eyes observe the details of my parents' physical attributes as he scans the picture.
"I've been told that a lot." I'm the spitting image of my mother, there's no doubt about that. The only traits that I inherited from my dad were my long arms and almond-shaped eyes.
"How is it that you have grey eyes while they have green and brown?" he asks. "That doesn't really make sense."
"I think some distant uncle from my mom's side of the family had grey eyes like me, so I'm guessing it's just some rare gene that skipped a generation and ended up in my DNA. That or it's just a genetic mutation."
"That's actually pretty cool," he says, crisscrossing his legs.
"You know, this is actually the last picture that was taken of them," I say. "It was taken the day that they died; before they dropped me off at Julia's house. They loved taking pictures, especially ones of us together. I was actually supposed to be in this picture with them, but I wasn't having it that day. I regret it now, but there's nothing I can do about it." If that's not a mood killer, I don't know what is. Ashton doesn't say anything; he just looks at me with sad, sympathetic eyes. "Please don't look at me like that," I beg. "In a way, I'm glad that this is the last picture of them together because this is how I want to remember them; smiling like they always did."
The sadness leaves him, but the sympathy is still visible. He startles me by grabbing my hips and pulling me to sit on his lap, wrapping his arms tightly around me.
"I really miss them, Ash," I whisper, and he buries his head in my hair.
He says the only thing that he can say. "I know."
There's not really a lot anyone can say in these types of situations. You can only sympathize and comfort the person which is exactly what Ashton is doing now.
"They miss you too," he mumbles into my hair, his breath tickling my neck.
We stay in this position for what seems like hours, but it is only until I start to feel myself drift off to sleep. It has been a long day and I deserve a bit of a rest. In my half-conscious state, I can feel Ashton stretch his legs from beneath me and slowly lean backwards until his head hits the feather pillow. Without thinking, I turn to my side and pull myself closer to him and rest my head against his warm chest. Even through his shirt I can feel his body heat radiating off of him. With his hand still around me, his thumb rubs small circles under my shirt on my hip and hums the same tune that I heard earlier. After a few minutes, I hear him mumble a few words, but I lose my sense of consciousness before I can make out what he says.
_______
A/N:
I really love Ashlia's relationship so far, but they can't stay in the honeymoon phase forever, so expect some drama between them in the near future (maybe within the next two chapters...I don't know, but it will happen).
Thank you guys so much for 6.7k reads! I don't know why you guys like my writing, but thank you! I really appreciate every read, vote, and comment. I love hearing what you have to say and what your opinions are. If you don't like something, tell me. If you like something, tell me. I am willing to improve on this story for your benefit.
Please continue to vote, comment, and share this story. It means so much that you guys have gotten it this far and it would be even greater if more people stumble upon it. Thank you guys again; I love each and every one of you! –Rebecca xoxoxoxoxo