It took Ashton and I less than 10 minutes to get to the pizza place on main street. When we arrived, Ender and the other boys were sitting outside at an iron table.
The smell of oregano and tomatoes filled the surrounding air as Ashton's jeep pulled up to a spot in front of the restaurant and parallel parked. We both opened our doors and hopped out.
I suddenly became extremely nervous when Ashton walked around from the drivers side of the jeep and took my hand as we walked through the little gate towards the table.
I knew the guys saw it because Calum chuckled and elbowed Luke who looked up with a cheeky grin. My cheeks flared and i'm sure I looked like a tomato. Michael was in deep conversation with Ender so Ender didn't see the action.
Ashon held the gate open for me and we walked in, I walked behind Ender and placed my hands on his shoulders leaning down to give him a kiss on the cheek.
"Hey baby bro."I smiled and he pushed me away.
"Carter!" He whined and I laughed as I took the empty seat next to him and Ashton took the one next to me.
"So how was your day?" I asked still with a smile on my face.
"Awesome! We went to the skate park and rode bikes and ate nachos and drank soda!" Ender ran through his day.
"That sounds like a blast." I smiled.
"Yeah. So what did you today?" Ender asked.
"Did some shopping and Ari stopped by for awhile." I said vaguely.
"What did you buy? I didn't make my grocery list yet." He frowned.
"I didn't go buy groceries, which by the way thanks for reminding me, I went christmas shopping."
His eyes immediately lit up.
"And don't even think about going to look for them either you sneaky little thing, I know how you operate." I pinched his cheek.
I heard Ashton chuckle at the exchange between Ender and I and I ruffled Enders hair before looking at the menu.
I was currently debating on cheese or Hawaiian when I heard my name being called.
"Well if it isn't Carter Chase!"
I looked up to see my childhood friend Joey walking up to our table. I had forgotten that he worked here.
"Joey hey!" I smiled and got up out of my seat to give him a quick hug.
"Hey little man, what's up?" Joey asked Ender and Ender greeted him with a fist-bump.
"How are you?" I asked.
"Good, been working a lot. You?" Joey smiled and flipped his brown hair back.
"Good. Busy as ever." I smiled. I noticed the four tall teenagers next to me and rushed to introduce them.
"Joey this is Luke, Michael, Calum and Ashton. Guys this is Joey, we went to school together." I sat back down.
"Nice to meet you mate." Ashton said and they each shook hands.
"Yeah, well I'm your server tonight so what would you like to drink?" Joey wiggled his eyebrows and then took our order.
When he left I noticed Ashton and Calum in a deep conversation with their heads close together, whispering their words.
I shrugged and struck up a conversation with Luke and Michael.
After a few minutes of us talking I felt a hand rest on the back of my chair, lightly brushing my back and looked to see Ashton now paying attention to our conversation with his arm behind me.
Joey came back for our order and to bring us our drinks and we chatted again for a few minutes about Ari and her fiancé Jason before he left again to place our order.
The group of us began talking about life in the harbour and the town for a while until our food arrived and we all shut up to eat.
30 minutes later with full stomachs and a paid bill, we all sat there at the table chatting about the cars I was looking at to buy for myself.
They were recommending models and telling me stories of their first times driving and I couldn't help but smile and laugh at my newfound friendships.
I took a sip of my soda and sighed, leaning back in my chair. I looked to my left and noticed Ender leaned back in is chair, his eyes closed and his shoulders slumped.
"Looks like someones exhausted." I chuckled lightly. "I should probably take him home now."
"Alright." Ashton smiled and we all stood up. I went over to Ender's chair and lifted him out of the chair, grunting slightly at his weight and holding him close to me. His arms went around my neck in his sleep and he snuggled his head onto my shoulder.
We walked towards Ashton's jeep and I said bye to all of the boys and then placed Ender in the back and got in the front with Ashton.
"I'll bring his stuff from our place over tomorrow." Ashton said to me as he started the car and pulled away from the curb.
"That'd be great thank you." I smiled.
He reached across the compartment between our seats and took my hand in his as he drove back to the marina.
We rode in silence, his thumb occasionally stroking the back of my hand.
When we got back to the lot I climbed out of his jeep and carefully drug the sleeping ten year old boy out of the back seat, hoisting him up onto my hip. We began to walk to my house and I looked up to see the moon casting a beautiful glow over the water.
When we reached the house I shifted Enders weight a little to take the house key out of my back pocket.
"Would you mind unlocking the door?" I asked Ashton and he took the key from my fingers.
"Sure." He smiled and slid the key into the lock, easily letting us into the house.
He hit the light switch on the wall as we entered and followed me as I went upstairs. Ender clutched onto my neck tighter as I took each step.
When we reached his room, Ashton opened the door and we quietly entered. Ashton flipped back the blankets on Ender's bed and I laid him down gently, unlocking his arms from around my neck. I carefully took off his shoes and socks and placed them in the closet before tucking in the blankets around him and giving him a goodnight kiss on the forehead. Ashton watched from by the dresser.
When I was done, we crept out of the room quietly and went downstairs. I walked to the fridge and grabbed the carton of orange juice while Ashton leaned against the counter by the sink.
"Do you want anything to drink?" I asked sweetly.
"Sure." Ashton smiled.
I grabbed two glasses from the cupboard and poured us some orange juice and then handed him his glass.
"Thanks for suggesting Ender hang out with the guys today. He had so much fun, i'm sure that's all i'll be hearing about for days." I laughed at the end.
"Yeah the guys really like him." Ashton took a sip from his glass with a smile on his face.
"He really likes you too." I smiled.
"You know who else I really like?" He asked with a smirk.
"Who?" I took a sip of my drink with a small smile.
Ashton set his glass down on the counter and took three steps to close the distance between us. I set down my glass as he came closer.
When I looked up he was standing so close to me that we were almost touching but not quite.
"You." He said in a voice so cool and smooth it sounded almost sexual.
I gave a little smile and he used his long fingers to brush some loose hair behind my ear.
"Oh yeah?" I said in a quiet voice.
"Mhmm."He leaned in a little closer.
"I really like you too." I almost whispered.
"Yeah?" He chuckled lightly before pressing his lips to mine in a firm kiss. His lips were gentle yet hard against mine, like he was being soft and sweet just for me but also showing that he could be rough if he wanted too.
Our lips moved in ways that were foreign to me and I felt myself getting lost in the feel of them. His hands were now resting on my waist and I let mine land lightly on his chest.
We were running out of air and I hesitantly pulled away.
He rested his forehead against mine when we broke apart and when his eyes met mine I laughed a little.
He smiled at me before glancing down at my lips again and connected them once more.
I lost myself again as this time his tongue swiftly swiped across my bottom lip. I didn't know what to do but he seemed to notice my confusion and hesitance as he said against my lips "Just open your mouth."
I did as he said and parted my lips slightly and his hot breath that tasted like peppermint gum that he had been chewing flowed into my mouth. I almost gasped as his tongue slipped between my lips and touched mine.
He used his tongue to explore my mouth, swiping it along my tongue, teeth and the roof of my mouth. I was just gaining the confidence to so the same to him when his hand that was resting on my waist moved across to the small of my back. I let my hand travel to play with his hair.
"Car." I heard mumbled behind me and Ashton and I jerked away from each other.
Ender was standing at the bottom of the stairs (where Ashton and I would've been in clear view), a blanket wrapped around his shoulders and his hair was sticking out in a weird direction.
"Yea baby?" I asked.
"I had a bad dream." He rubbed at the corners of his eyes.
"Okay, i'll come tuck you in." I gave him a little smile.
He nodded and began to walk back up to his room.
"Wait here." I turned and said to Ashton.
He nodded and gave me an awkward smile.
I quickly followed Ender up to his room where he was just now laying down.
"Was it the same dream?" I asked him and he nodded sleepily.
"Different ending this time?" He shook his head no.
"Well maybe one day." I patted his cheek softly.
I pulled the blanket up and tucked it in around him. He snuggled in the bed deeper.
"Goodnight Ender. Love you." I kissed his forehead and then cheek.
"I love you too." He said tiredly.
I began to walk out of his room when his voice stopped me.
"Carter, were you kissing Ashton?" His little voice asked and I immediately blushed.
"Goodnight Ender." I said evading the question.
"Car!" He whined. "I won't go to sleep until you tell me."
"Oh my god yes I was now go to sleep." I laughed embarrassed; I could see the cheeky smile he had on his face.
I left his room and closed the door before jogging down the stairs. Ashton was looking at a picture on the fridge when I walked into the kitchen. I noticed it was one of my family when my parents were still alive.
"We had taken a vacation to the beach that weekend and I had dropped my ice-cream in the sand about a minute prior to that photo and Ender gave me his. My mom snapped the photo of Ender giving me his ice-cream and my dad holding him." I walked up next to Ashton.
"You were a cute little kid." He smirked and I blushed fiercely.
"Thanks." I laughed awkwardly.
"Was Ender alright?" He asked.
"Yeah, a bad dream. He has them occasionally."I shrugged.
"I used to be that way when I was little. Always the same dream." Ashton said.
"Yeah that's how he is. It breaks my heart." I frowned a little at the end.
"He will get through it. Once he gets older they will become less and less frequent." Ashton assured me.
"Thank you." I smiled lightly and he moved to wrap his arms around me in a hug.
"So did he see us?" Ashton said into my ear.
"Oh yea." I laughed. "He won't let me live it down."
"Aww." Ashton giggled into my ear before kissing it.
"So do you want to come over for breakfast tomorrow? You can spend the day with us, i'm teaching Ender how to drive the boat." I suggested.
"Sure!" He smiled widely. "What time?"
"We'll be up at 8 so whenever you wanna get here." I shrugged.
"Alright, well then I better get some sleep for tomorrow." He smiled and we began to walk to the door.
"Goodnight Carter." He smiled before turning around to give me one last goodnight kiss.
"Night." I blushed and closed the door behind him.
I sighed happily. Things seemed to finally be looking up.
-
I turned over in my soft sheets while soft rays of morning sunshine flowed past my curtains.
I stretched my limbs and arched my back, trying to shake away the sleep.
My alarm beeped annoyingly next to me and I slammed my hand down on the black box, shutting it up.
It was 7:45. This was sleeping in for me so it felt nice after the late night last night. I fumbled out of bed and made my way towards the bathroom.
My hair was dry from the shower I took before bed so I brushed out all of the tangles and braided it back. I washed my face and then brushed my teeth, ridding myself of morning breath.
After I was done in the bathroom I padded across the cold wooden floor back to my room and got dressed, putting on a navy blue t-shirt and light jean shorts since we were sailing today.
I slipped on my matching navy blue flip-flops and headed down the hall to Ender's room.
"Wake up!" I yelled as I walked to his door, walking in and flipping on the lights.
"No." He grumbled, throwing the covers over his head.
"You do want to sail today don't you?" I smirked and he shot out of the bed like a rocket.
"Yes! I'm up!" He said louder, and began to get out of bed.
I chuckled as I walked downstairs into the kitchen, flipping on lights as I went.
Immediately I headed towards the coffee maker, pressing the heat button and taking the pot to fill it with water. Once that was brewing I grabbed the pancake mix out of the cupboard and some eggs and milk and began to mix the batter.
Ender came down stairs in a t-shirt and shorts.
"Grab the pan from the cupboard please." I told him as he walked in to the kitchen.
"Kay." He said, doing as I said and then walking into he laundry room.
"Carter did you start the laundry yet?" He asked.
"Um no. That's not on my chore list." I shrugged as he frowned. "Better get started." I sang as I placed the pan on the stove.
I heard Ender tossing a basket full of clothes into the washing machine as I placed a pad of butter into the pan.
"Car we need more laundry soap." He called out to me.
"Add it to the list. We can go shopping later today." I called back and he sighed, starting the washer and then writing down laundry soap on the notepad that was stuck to the fridge.
A knock at the door sent the butterflies in my stomach fluttering.
"Ender door!" I called at him and he ran to the door, flinging it open.
"Sup mate!" I heard Ashton's cheery voice greet Ender.
"Hey! Are you here to watch me sail?" Ender asked as Ashton walked in.
"Of course, I wouldn't miss it!" Ashton smiled. "I brought your board and stuff from yesterday."
"Thanks!" Ender said and I heard him drop the stuff onto the floor. Yay, something else to trip over.
I poured the batter into the pan in a circle and held my spatula in the other hand ready to flip the pancake.
"Morning!" I called over my shoulder.
"Morning." Ashton said as he walked closer to me.
I felt his hands on my hips and looked back at him. He leaned forward and gave my lips a sweet good morning kiss.
"Ew." I heard Ender say behind us.
Ashton moved back and I rolled my eyes.
"Shut up." I stuck my tongue out at Ender who just gave me an attitude filled expression.
"Hey Ender, I know you said the chain on your bike was messing up the other day, why don't I go take a look at it while breakfast is cooking?" Ashton suggested.
"Kay." Ender said, hopping down from his stool and walking out to where his bike rested against the side of the storage area.
Ashton gave me another kiss before walking outside.
I shook my head with a little laugh as I flipped the pancake.
After I had finished making all of the pancakes I walked outside and called for the boys to come in. Ashton and Ender seemed to be in deep conversation when I walked out and when they heard my voice they looked up with wide eyes.
I lowered my eyebrows in confusion and Ashton quickly gave me a charming smile.
"We'll be right in." He grinned.
I shrugged and walked back inside.
In a few moments they came inside and took their spots at the bar counter while I passed them their plates.
"So what were you two talking about?" I asked before taking a bite.
"Nothing." Ender said quickly, too quickly.
I raised my eyebrows. "Oh really?"
"Mhmm." He nodded and ducked his head down to take another bite.
"I'll tell you later." Ashton mouthed to me and I nodded before he winked and then took a bite of his food.
"You guys are weird." I shrugged and I heard nothing but giggles from both Ashton and Ender.
My two boys.