Delaney


I pried my eyelids open - a light tension being relieved as the mixture of dried, crusty tears and leftover mascara that was caked over my eyelashes was pulled apart from the skin just below my eyes. I rubbed my palms over my eyes after blinking a few times, massaging the clumps and crusties free so I could open them with more ease. A yawn escaped my lips as I slowly sat up and looked around the room. I heard Jaime breathing heavily beside me and looked to see his body bunched up on the right side of the couch since I had been taking up the rest of the space available. His head was tilted back, resting on the back of the couch - his open mouth pointing straight toward the ceiling. I smiled at the sight.

I gently shook his shoulder. “Jaime,” I said softly. “Jaime, wake up.”

He took in a sharp inhale and slowly rolled his neck from side to side, working out the muscles before attempting to lift it. He winced at the change in position and lifted his right hand behind his back to gently massage the muscles that had kinked in his sleep. “What time is it?” he asked with a yawn.

I reached out for my phone that was sitting on the coffee table and unlocked the screen. “It’s close to four AM,” I said with disappointment.

“Ashlynn’s still not back?” Jaime questioned with an obvious frown on his face. “I’m sure she’s fine, Delly. Remember what she said - she’s an adult.”

“I know,” I sighed. “I can’t help but worry. Especially after the way she returned so suddenly. Like she’s running from something. I just...nevermind. I don’t want to get into that conversation right now. I want to go back to bed.”

“Right,” Jaime nodded and stood up, stretching his arms high above his head as he did so. I watched as his shirt lifted up, exposing just a bit of his stomach. I quickly averted my eyes when I felt that Jaime had noticed me staring. “I should go then.”

“Do you have to?” I whined, stomping my feet a few times in place as if to mimic a temper tantrum. “Sleepover? Please?” After the way my night had gone with Ashlynn, I really didn’t want to be alone. I hated getting into fights, even if I was the one that usually instigated them.

Jaime sighed and then agreed, following me into my bedroom. We kicked off our shoes and removed any uncomfortable articles of clothing without being inappropriately exposed. We climbed into bed and I immediately pushed my back up against Jaime’s chest, our legs and bodies curling together instinctually. Jaime slowly wrapped his arms around my middle, pulling me into his chest. I would usually push him away when he would try to do this, but tonight I needed it. I needed to feel another body against my own - not in a sexual way, but just in way that told me that there was someone there.

If Nathan knew that Jaime had been spending the night as often as he did, surely he would start another fight with Jaime, and the two of them would just have another reason as to why they hated one another. I knew that Nathan hated Jaime because he was my ex, and by default, he saw him as a threat. I also knew that Nathan didn’t approve of the band, which also meant that he disliked all of my closest friends. The only thing I didn’t really understand was why Jaime hated Nathan. Was it just because he knew that Nathan disliked him and in return just automatically decided to hate him, too? Jaime would always say that Nathan was no good for me, but that surely wouldn’t be enough of a reason to hate someone.

I felt Jaime’s breath against my ear as he nuzzled his head into the crook of my neck. I had loosened the reigns tonight, and he was taking full advantage of that by cuddling as close as possible to me. I knew that this was probably inappropriate since I was engaged, but for some reason I couldn’t bring myself to stop Jaime’s face from being dangerously close to mine, and I couldn’t stop his hands from slowly trailing their way down my sides.

He rested his hands on my hips, very slowly, as if to wait and see what my reaction would be. We laid like that for a minute before Jaime gently squeezed my hips, pulling me even closer to his body. I let out a gasp at the feeling, and Jaime’s breathing became heavier.

“Jaime…” I breathed, giving him a warning that he was starting to take it too far. I wanted my words to come out as a threat, but they were weak and my vulnerability was evident as my desire echoed through the room, chasing after my voice of reason.

He sighed in defeat and completely pulled himself away from me. He turned over to face the opposite side of the room and I moved my body so I was closer to the edge of the bed instead of being in the middle like I was before.

I felt like I had just barely shut my eyes when I heard someone walking into my room. I opened my eyes and looked around the room. The sun was blaring through the windows, illuminating the white walls, blinding me as I tried to adjust to the light. I turned over, expecting to see Jaime, but he was gone - the blankets neatly pulled up and tucked under the pillow on the side that he had slept on. I sat up entirely and groaned when I looked at the alarm clock that was blinking red numbers at me on my nightstand. It was nearing eleven in the morning. I felt as if I hadn’t slept a wink.

My bedroom door was wide open, and I realized that I must have woken up when Jaime opened the door to leave. I swung my legs off the bed and slowly curled my toes -one by one - into the shag carpet before slowly rubbing the bottoms of my feet back and forth to warm them up.

"Oh good, you're up."

I looked to my right to see Ashlynn standing in the open doorway. Her hair was slightly damp from a shower, but her makeup was done to perfection and she was already dressed from head to toe as if she was just about to walk out the door. "Where are you going?" I asked.

"I think you mean where are we going," she said with a smile that slowly stretched wide to display her straight teeth. "Come on, get ready. Breakfast is almost done." She flashed me a full, toothy grin before turning around and heading back into the kitchen.

I remained sitting on the edge of my bed for a few minutes to try and understand what had just happened. Why was she being so nice to me after our fight? I was certain that she was going to want nothing to do with me after the way she had stormed out, but yet she was cooking me breakfast and planning a day for us. I didn’t dare question it, though.

I showered quickly and changed into a simple, maroon tank top and my favorite pair of black, studded shorts. I threw on a skull necklace, pushed in my black, jewel plugs and slipped into my newest pair of combat boots before quickly applying some make-up - a white, shimmery eyeshadow with gray, blended corners and black eyeliner. I dropped my hair from the towel and decided to go out and eat breakfast while it dried.

Ashlynn was already sitting down at the kitchen table, munching away at the meal she had cooked up. A plate was sitting across the table, already dished out, for me. I took a seat and stared at the food in confusion. “Where did this come from?” I asked as I looked down at the bowl of oatmeal and the side of toast. “I’m pretty sure the only thing I have in the pantry is Top Ramen. Maybe some Macaroni and Cheese.”

“Yeah and the only thing in the fridge is beer and water,” Ashlynn chuckled. “After an hour of raiding your kitchen I decided to head out and do a bit of grocery shopping.”

I groaned and slouched my shoulders a bit. I hated it when people would buy things for me. “You didn’t have to do that.”

“I did,” Ashlynn disagreed. “But don’t worry, I mostly bought food for myself since I’m a vegetarian. I only bought you a couple of things. Don’t whine about it.”

I smiled a bit at the way she told me what to do. Only Ashlynn could ever be like that with me, if it were anybody else I would snap at them, but she was different.

The table fell silent as we both ate, and I could feel the awkwardness rolling in once again as we both tried to think of something to say. I wanted to apologize for the fight, but I also didn’t want to bring it up in fear of starting another fight. I couldn’t just leave it alone, though. I needed her to know that it was bothering me.

“I’m sorry.”

I looked up from my oatmeal and looked over to Ashlynn who had her gaze down, staring into her own oatmeal as she slowly stirred it around. I was shocked that those words had come for her mouth and not my own.

I shook my head dramatically. “No, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have started that fight.”

“It’s okay. I’m sorry for more than just the fight though,” she said. Her voice was slowly growing more confident as she spoke. “I shouldn’t have left the way I did. I’m extremely thankful that you are letting me stay here when I know that I don’t deserve your kindness after I had been such a...well, a bitch.”

“I guess it’s okay,” I said with a shrug. “I still don’t understand why everything happened the way it did.” I wanted her to tell me what had gotten into her all those years ago, but I didn’t want to press her about. I decided that maybe if I brought it up without necessarily questioning her, she would eventually give in and tell me about what was happening in her life.

My plan had failed, though. She shook her head. The gesture was more geared to herself than to me, however. I could see her expressions change as her thoughts clouded her mind, glossing her eyes over as she tuned out of reality and got lost in her head. I knew by the darkness in her eyes that she was exploring the dark corners that shouldn’t be mulled over for too long, and I wondered if I should let her think or pull her away from the demons that were dragging her under.

She pulled herself away from the darkness before I could save her, though. I was shocked at how quickly she was able to switch off her thoughts - or maybe just silence them for the time being. Either way, I envied that talent.

“Are you done?” she asked as she stood up. I nodded and she cleared my bowl for me, bringing them over to the sink. “Don’t even try to stop me from doing the dishes,” she warned before I could open my mouth.

“Fine,” I huffed. “I’m going to go curl my hair and then I’ll be ready to go.”

“Good. Hurry,” she said as she rinsed out the bowls and opened the dishwasher.

“Where are we going, anyway?”

Ashlynn turned around while wiping her hands dry with the towel that was resting on the counter. “Shopping!” she exclaimed with a grin. She saw that my expression was unchanging. “Remember what I said about no whining,” she said as she wagged a finger at me.

I cracked a small smile and went to quickly curl my hair.

-

Ashlynn offered to drive us around since she was the one who needed to shop, and I was smart and listened to what she told me about whining. Plus, my car was running low on gas and I couldn't afford to fill it up until I received my paycheck in the mail. And as a data entry operator, I knew that Ashlynn made enough money to afford to fill her gas tank.

I was just about to strike up a conversation by asking Ashlynn how work had been going and if she had gotten a transfer back to San Diego, but my phone went off. I pulled it from my pocket and saw Jaime's goofy face taking up my entire screen from his caller ID picture. It was a screenshot of him that I had taken while we were on FaceTime during one of his tours. The best part was that his double chin and crooked mouth would make you think that he was making the face on purpose, but really I caught him in a candid moment - he was telling me a story about the tour and he had gotten so into it that his expressions had resulted in the horror that was now his caller ID picture.

"Hey," I answered.

Jaime laughed a bit at how I answered the phone. He always did, because most of the time I didn't say my greetings as a question. If I saw the name flashing on the screen, why did I need to sound so confused? Especially when it's someone like Jaime who calls daily.

"Hey, sorry I dipped out this morning. We were supposed to have band practice at eleven-thirty."

"It's all good. But what do you mean? Band practice didn't happen?" I asked. I looked over to Ashlynn for a split second to make sure that it didn't bother her that I was talking on the phone. She seemed to be caught up in the music of her stereo, though.

"Yeah, Tony overslept." Jaime laughed a bit. "He says that he was out pretty late at the bar last night. But we all know he was getting his dick wet."

I shook my head and let out a laugh as Tony was yelling at Jaime in the background. Something about minding his own business and leaving him alone. Jaime continued to taunt him for a moment and I waited for them to finish their childish argument.

"So, no practice today?" I asked once their bickering ended.

"Nope! What are you doing? Want to grab lunch with us in a bit?"

I looked over to Ashlynn and saw that she had, once again, been engulfed by the flames of her mind. I could almost see the fire sizzling as I caught a glimpse of her eyes from where I sat.

I knew that I needed to spend time with her because I needed to find out what was wrong. Even though she wanted to be treated like an adult and act as if everything was perfectly fine, I couldn't sit back and watch as my younger cousin slowly brought herself to her own demise. I wasn't going to let her self destruct, and I could see the timer ticking away on her internal time-bomb.

"I'm out shopping with Ashlynn right now," I answered. I noticed that Ashlynn flinched a bit when I mentioned her name. I had snapped her out of her thoughts. "But maybe later we can hang out or something."

"Okay!" Jaime said happily. "I'll text you. Have fun, Delly-Boo."

"I will, Hammy-Tam." I chuckled a bit before ending the call. Just as I slid my phone into my pocket Ashlynn pulled into a parking space close to the front of Bed, Bath, and Beyond. It looked like it wasn't too crowded, which was unusual for a Saturday afternoon, but I was thankful for that. The less human interaction the better. And my chances of seeing one of the few people that I knew from work or school was slim to none, which I was extremely thankful for.

We walked inside and Ashlynn was immediately attracted to something in one of the front displays. I followed behind her slowly as she whipped her head back and forth to try and get a glimpse of everything. A huge smile was on her face as she noticed how large the store was. She was way too excited to be shopping.

“Still don’t like shopping much, I see,” Ashlynn commented as I slowly caught up to her in one of the aisles. She had calmed down a bit and was now looking at the towels.

“Nah,” I replied. My phone began to vibrate so I pulled it from my pocket. I was expecting to see a text message from Jaime, but instead I was getting a phone call and it wasn’t from Jaime. I blinked a few times as I stared at the name on the screen. “Nathan’s calling me,” I said in disbelief.

Ashlynn gave me a confused look. “Isn’t he your boyfriend?”

I was confused for a moment when Ashlynn wasn’t gasping or freaking out at what I had told her, but then I remembered that she didn’t even know the half of the story. She didn’t know about how our relationship started, and how I had to fight for him, and she definitely didn’t know about how we were on a ‘break’ from our engagement.

“Fiance,” I corrected without much emotion. I refused to call him just my boyfriend, even though I didn’t even know what our label was. I looked down at the tan-line on my ring finger and then back over to my phone. I wanted to answer it. I wanted to hear his deep, dynamic voice say my name in his own original pronunciation, where he emphasized the e instead of the el part of it - Delaney - just because he knew it pissed me off. I wanted him to feed me his lies and tell me that he missed me so I could spit it back out at him and pretend that nothing was wrong in our relationship - just the way he always liked us to act when we were in a fight.

“Answer it!” Ashlynn said, motioning toward the phone with wide eyes.

I shook my head, though, and hit ignore. I knew that my conversation with Nathan wasn’t going to be one that should be in the middle of a Bed, Bath, and Beyond. I was about to put my phone back into my pocket, but then Jaime texted me.

“Did he just text you?” Ashlynn asked without looking over to me. She was holding up a set of towels in the light as if to inspect them more closely. She scrunched up her nose and put them back down on the shelf. “Why didn’t you answer his call?”

“It’s a long story,” I mumbled. “And no, he didn’t text me.”

“Then who did?”

I looked down at the text message on the screen.

hola bonita (: how’s shopping? For later I was thinking we could have taco night at your place. I’ll bring the food and the guests. You provide the booze and the house. Bueno? Bueno.

“Jaime texted you, didn’t he?” Ashlynn spoke up.

I quickly looked away from my phone and saw Ashlynn standing in front of me with her body facing me. She leaned her upper body to the left and tried to pop her right hip out with attitude as she placed her hand over her pantline - her thumb gripped around her prominent hip bone as the rest of her fingers were rested just above her jean pocket where I could see them. She cocked her head to the right, her dark brown hair falling around her shoulders and slightly into her face. She was trying to give me attitude, but the way she tried to blow her hair out of her eyes ruined the entire look and she just looked...ridiculous.

I couldn’t help the laughter that bubbled up from within, and after a second of my teasing, she soon joined in on the laughter and slowly allowed her body to relax from its failed position.

“You have no sass,” I laughed as she brushed her hair back and away from her face. “Don’t even try.”

Her laugh was getting louder and it made me laugh even harder - her happiness was infectious and her laugh was enticing. It made me want to continue on with the joke forever just so I could feel the joy that was emanating from her smile.

Our laughter, unfortunately, came to an end. Each of us awkwardly cackling every few seconds as we tried to come down from the high of the moment. We each let out a sigh at the same time, causing us to let out a few more awkward laughs at the synchronization of our actions. I hated how things had to become so awkward after finally sharing a moment that reminded me of the times we used to have together. I really couldn’t even pin-point why we had ended our fit of laughter so awkwardly - it just seemed kind of out of place with the tension that was still between us. Not tension from our fight, but the tension that came from the realization that we hardly even knew each other anymore. I decided to embrace the awkwardness instead of thinking about how little we really knew each other.

She returned her attention back to the towels with a choppy turn toward the shelf, and I looked back down at my phone to type a reply.

Sounds perfect, Hammy. I’ll let you know when we’re on our way back to my place and you can head over.

After hitting send, I noticed that Ashlynn had finally decided on a set of towels for the bathroom and had already started to trek on over to the next aisle. I quickly started after her as I racked my brain for something to say. We were spending this time together, so I figured I might as well utilize it and try to get in some conversation to ease the tension a bit.

I caught up to Ashlynn as she was claiming an abandoned cart for herself by tossing her black and white towel set into it and placing her purse in the child’s seat. She scanned the store for a second before she locked eyes on something and began to push the cart toward her new destination. I walked beside her, placing a hand on the side of the cart like a child who didn’t want to separate from their mother.

We ended up in front of more bathroom accessories and I watched Ashlynn as she peered her eyes a bit, scanning the shelves for something in particular.

I decided that it was the perfect time to speak up, but I didn’t really know what to say. I knew that I couldn’t just ask her, straight-up, about what was wrong and why she was running, even though that was the only thing that I seemed to have on my brain.

“So, what happened between you and Jaime?” Ashlynn caught me by surprise by speaking up first. “You guys used to be so cute together.”

I blushed a bit at her words. “Yeah, we were pretty cute. It had to of been obnoxious.” I dodged her question entirely, not really wanting to get into the reasons as to why we broke up, because I still didn’t quite know them myself.

“Avoid it all you want,” Ashlynn said as she shook her head. “I’ll get it out of you eventually.”

I just laughed and continued following her down the aisles as she picked up a rug to match the towels she had grabbed. It seemed that she was going for a modern, minimalistic theme for the bathroom - chunky patterns in black and white with a subtle accent of royal blue. I was glad that someone could finally decorate the bathroom, and someone with taste at that.

“So, what about you?” I asked. “Any boys in your life?”

Ashlynn tilted her head back and laughed loudly. “Hah, no,” she said after she brought her head back down to look at the soap dispenser in front of her. She placed it in the cart while continuously shaking her head. “No boys.”

“Oh, come on,” I said. “There has to be someone, Ash. You’re a pretty girl. No dating? No flings? No random fucks?”

Her body tensed up and she quickly turned to place a black toothbrush holder into the cart. Her actions were forced and her elbows moved roughly. Her movements reminded me of a robot. A robot with rusty hinges and jerky movements. She quickly pushed the cart down the aisle and away from me. I couldn’t help but wonder if I had hit a nerve. Was she running from a boy? Was that why she had returned to San Diego in such a rush? It didn’t seem like Ashlynn to run away from problems like that, though. Ashlynn had only had a few serious relationships that I knew of, but never was she one to run away from them when something went wrong.

After the check-out line, we made our way back over to her jeep. She shoved the bags into the backseat before she clambered in - it seemed like a bit of a struggle for her to jump up into the vehicle since she was so short, but she had clearly gotten a system down that allowed her to jump into her seat without making her look mismatched to her jeep’s height. I smiled a bit when I noticed how tiny she really was.

“What are you over there smiling about?” she asked as she started the car. She placed one hand behind my seat so she could easily look behind her as she backed out of the parking spot. A small smirk was on her lips as she waited for my reply.

I internally let out a sigh of relief to see that she wasn’t angry at me for pestering her about her love life before I answered. “I was just admiring your midget-ness.”

She scoffed and shook her head as she placed her jeep back into drive. “Fuck you,” she said with a laugh. She pulled back out onto the main street and made her way back toward my house. “I wanted to go get some furniture for my room, but I’m starting to get hungry. Want to go out to eat?”

“Oh!” I said, realizing that I had forgotten to tell Ashlynn about Jaime’s plans. “Actually Jaime and our friends were going to come over and cook us dinner.”

“Oh,” she said with a smile. “Have I met these friends before?”

I tried to think back to the times that I had spent with Ashlynn. Since most of our get togethers were family oriented, she had never actually met Vic, Mike, or Tony. I was certain that she at least knew who they were. She had to at the very least know that they were all in a band together. “I don’t think so, actually. I don’t think you’ve met any of my friends except for Jaime.”

“Oh,” Ashlynn said with a pout. “So, they’re coming over?”

“Yep! I hope you’re okay with having a fiesta with a bunch of white-washed mexicans." I furrowed my eyebrows a bit when I realized that I didn't live alone anymore. And that meant that everytime I wanted to have company over, I would most likely have to consult Ashlynn first to make sure it was okay.

"Yeah!" Ashlynn exclaimed. "I'm really excited to meet your friends. The ones in the band, right?"

I smiled widely at her excitement. "Yeah, the ones in the band."

"So they're going to cook for us? Do we need to stop at the store for anything?"

I clapped my hands together when Ashlynn's words reminded me that we needed to stop at the grocery store. I told her to stop anywhere that sold beer and we ended up pulling into the gas station that was just a stoplight away from my apartment complex. I was in and out in a matter of seconds - I cleared the cooler of its corona and even grabbed a thirty-six pack of Bud Light.

"Hope you like beer," I said as I piled the boxes of beer into her trunk. "Because I sure do," I mumbled under my breath as I Iifted the last box into the trunk.

We arrived back at my - our - apartment complex and immediately began with unloading the beer to get it in the fridge. It took each of us two trips to get everything cleared out.

"I'll go ahead and start putting the beer in the fridge," I said. "You go make the bathroom pretty."

Ashlynn jumped up a bit and ran into the bathroom holding her bags of towels and whatever else she bought while nearly screaming out an "okay" as a response. I could hear her quickly bustling around in the bathroom as she hurried to get everything set up before our company arrived.

Jaime was going to be so happy to see that the front bathroom was finally decorated.

Just as I thought about Jaime, the front door swung open, nearly crashing into the wall behind it, but luckily Vic reached out to stop it from hitting so hard.

"Jeeze, Himes," Vic said. "Take it easy."

"La gente del partido ya están aquí!" Jaime exclaimed loudly, followed by a loud holler with an over-exaggerated break in the syllables as he called out, "ay-hi-hi-ay," complete with his Mexican accent.

"What the hell did he just say?" Ashlynn asked. I looked over to see that she had finished her decorating in the bathroom and even had enough time to touch up her makeup before meeting the guys.

"He said the party people are here," Vic spoke up. He walked toward the kitchen counter and set down a grocery bag that he was holding. He stuck his hand out to Ashlynn. "You must be Delly's cousin. I'm Vic."

"Ashlynn," she greeted with a smile.

"Vic's the singer and plays guitar," I explained with a smile. I looked at the way that Vic glanced over Ashlynn's tiny frame and then looked at how he was still holding her hand. "Vic's single," I blurted out. I immediately covered my mouth and then turned my attention back over to the rest of the guys. "And that's Mike. He plays drums," I said quickly to try and cover my slip-up. "And that's...wait a minute. Where's Tony?" I asked as I tried to look around Mike's lanky figure that was standing in the doorway.

Ashlynn dropped Vic's hand and then turned to look over at me. "Tony?" she asked with slightly wide eyes.

I opened my mouth to ask her what was wrong, but was interrupted by Tony as he made his way inside.

"Did someone say my name?" he asked as he entered. He had a large grin on his face and I noticed that his edge seemed to be off and he wasn't as quiet and cranky as he was the day before. He scanned the room and when his eyes landed on Ashlynn he immediately looked over her entire appearance, very slowly, and with hungry eyes. I didn't like the way he was looking at her.

"This is Tony," I said with an unintentional amount of bitterness to my words. "He plays guitar."

Ashlynn slowly walked forward and stretched out her hand. "Ashlynn," she said.

I felt a sudden wave of awkwardness entering the room and I knew it was because of the fact that Ashlynn was new to all the guys. Bringing in a new member to a group of such close friends was always difficult. Especially when all of those friends were single men and the newest addition was a single woman.

"Hey, why don't I get a handshake?" Mike asked as he watched Ashlynn slowly shake Tony's hand.

She released Tony's hand and moved it over to shake Mike's but she continued to sneak a few glances over at Tony, causing Mike to shoot me a confused look about the apparent tension that was in the room. Mike looked Ashlynn over and then looked back over to me with an approving nod as if to say that he enjoyed the sight.

"This is going to be interesting," Jaime whispered into my ear, followed by a deep chuckle that rattled my bones.

The awkwardness continued to plague the room as we settled around the couches and cracked open a few beers to unwind.

This was definitely going to be an interesting night.

Notes

Delaney's Outfit

Hey guys! Elise (eliseypoo) here! Here's another update for you guys. We're just barely getting things started here - I can't wait for the rest of the story line to unfold.

What do you guys think is going to happen with Ashlynn and Tony after their scandalous night together?

What about Delaney's fiance? Why is she avoiding him?

I love you guys so much! Thanks for reading and subscribing!