Ashlynn
I sighed as I pushed open the front door to the apartment, stepping through the threshold and dropping my keys to the ground before I even took my shoes off. I stomped over to the couch, flopping down on it face-first and giving an audible groan.

I had just gotten back from the new bank that I got transferred to, going over paperwork and signing a ton of releases and writing my signature at least a total of fifteen times. I did everything I needed to, and then my new boss broke the news that my transfer would take at least a month to process. With Delaney being at work right now, and me not being in work at the moment, I would be sitting in the apartment by myself for a good portion of the day. That time alone would give me the chance to wallow in my thoughts and all the bad memories, and at this point, that’s not what I wanted or needed.

“I hate life,” I mumbled into the pillow. I immediately felt like an idiot, because no one was home to hear my complaint, I was basically just talking to myself. I rolled over, staring at the ceiling and trying not to let my thoughts get to me. Thinking about work just made me go back to one of the few reasons why I left the town I was in. They weren't good memories, to say the least. I shuddered at the thought, trying to chase away repressed memories.

I had to look at the bright side of things; I had a job, no matter how long it would take to transfer, I have plenty of money to last me until I do get transferred, and I have Delaney back in my life, regardless of how weird things were between us at the moment.

At that exact moment, my phone chimed, indicating that I had received a text message. I looked at the screen, expecting it to just be Delaney confirming dinner plans. Ever since the night I cooked her dinner, she liked to have me cook, and I couldn’t really complain. Ramen and beer every night wasn’t really for me. Normally, I made what I would usually make, and then just add some sort of meat to it for her, which I didn’t mind one bit and she didn’t seem to either. But tonight, I wasn’t feeling so ambitious. I was going to reply “Pizza okay? My treat?” but then I actually looked at the screen.

What are you doing tonight? - Tony (Nighthawk)

My heartbeat increased to rapid speed before I could even comprehend what he actually meant. I felt a smile tugging at my lips and a blush creeping into my cheeks before I replied.

Hmm, I don’t know. I’ll have to check my schedule. - Ashlynn

I had been playing hard to get for a week or so now, trying to avoid the complication. I’m sure it was starting to get on his nerves. The truth was that I didn't have shit going on tonight.

I huffed before pushing myself off of the couch and maneuvering my way into my bedroom, which was currently not the cleanest. I had various articles of clothing strewn across the floor, books scattered on my bed, and a whole bunch of other random things littering the floor. I felt bad for that, considering it wasn't really my room. I picked up a few things as I awaited a response from Tony. After I had picked up all of my clothes and tossed them into a hamper, I sat down on the edge of my bed and looked around the room. The room lacked a personal touch. It looked like the only thing a person did in it was sleep, and that's not what bedrooms are for. Bedrooms are your own little space. So within those quick few minutes, I decided what I was going to be doing for the rest of my day; shopping for things for my bedroom.

Let me just remind you; I have seen you naked, and also the expression on your face when you reach climax. Don't you think you're a little late on the 'Playing Hard to Get' game? - Tony (Nighthawk)

I was blushing and he hadn't even said that to me in person. Tony Perry was going to be the bane of my existence.

Darn you, Nighthawk. Fine, I'm not doing anything tonight, to my knowledge. But I am going shopping at IKEA in about ten minutes. - Ashlynn

While I awaited his response, I dug around in the clutter atop my bed in search for a notebook and a pen to jot down the things I would like to buy while I was out. I chewed on the pen cap, looking around the room and noting the lack of color. I made a mental note to text Delaney and see if paint was acceptable, if I found a color that I liked while shopping.

Need some company? - Tony (Nighthawk)

I smiled at the screen, thinking about seeing Tony again. Although I shouldn't be interested given the circumstances, I couldn't lie to myself and say that I wasn't. Not only was he still making the effort to communicate with me after a supposed "one night stand", he was also very sweet to me, which was a breath of fresh air to say the least. The tension in mine and Delaney's relationship was still there, even if it was fading. When Tony was around, there wasn't any tension-except for sexual tension, of course. But being around him came naturally, even if it was awkward in the group at first. That wasn't necessarily the ideal situation.

I thought about things for a minute more before typing out a response to him.

Meet me there? - Ashlynn

I decided that since Tony kept my mind off of things, and we seemed to have great chemistry and I could not deny the sexual tension that bubbled whenever he was present, that I should just go with the flow and let things happen. I wasn’t going to play hard to get, because as he stated, I was a bit late on that one. Especially now that I was back in San Diego after all these years of leaving things behind. I needed a familiar face around, no matter how new that person’s face was.

Absolutely.

I smiled down at my phone, coming to terms with the fact that I couldn’t deny what I felt. I grabbed my keys and my purse before heading to the front door.

***

Twenty minutes later, I had arrived at Ikea, pulling up next to Tony’s familiar SVU. He sat in it still, and I could see the car shaking slightly from the bass coming from his speakers. He looked up then, a smile ever-present, placed on perfect, supple lips. It was almost sickening how close to perfection he was. I put my car in park and killed the engine. Tony rolled down his window and signalled with his hand for me to do the same, so I did with a small smile.

Only when I rolled down the window did I hear what music was playing from his speakers. The thumping beat of ‘Boyfriend’ by Justin Bieber flooded my ears and I noticed how Tony was mouthing the words and rocking back and forth in his seat, bobbing his head to the beat. The sight cracked me up and I couldn’t help but to let out a loud laugh.

“I told you!” he shouted from inside his car. “I’m quite fond of the Biebs.” He let the song continue for a few more beats while I stopped to catch my breath from laughing so hard. He took his keys out of the ignition and rolled up his windows before getting out of his car and casually strolling over to the open window next to my seat. He propped his arms up on the car door frame before sending a soft smile my way that rattled every emotion inside me and made my heart flutter as if it had wings. I gulped down that feeling and looked at him until he decided to speak.

“So do you have a kinky fantasy of fucking on the pre-made beds in Ikea or something?” he smirked, content with himself and what he had spoken.

I gasped, letting a slight laugh elicit as well before playfully slapping his arm.

“Tony Perry!” I screeched, shocked at his response. “You are crude. No, I want to get stuff to decorate my new bedroom with,” I answered.

“Damn, I was hoping my theory was correct,” he huffed and I just shook my head at him, chuckling all the while.

“Who says that’s not a fantasy I have though?” I winked at him, sending what I hoped was a sexy smirk his way.

“I guess I’ll have to test that out,” he cocked his head to the side, giving me a skeptical glance while a smile danced on his lips that now seemed to be dangerously close to mine.

“I guess you will,” I took my lower lip in between my teeth as he reached his hand up to tuck a stray lock of hair behind my ear. With his hand close to my face, he took this as his opportunity to bring me in for a kiss, and I didn’t deny it. The kiss was soft and gentle, and though it only lasted for a few short seconds, it still had the ability to take my breath away. The affect Tony had on me was ridiculous.

“Don’t distract me, I’m on a mission to find new bed sheets.” I said as I pulled away from his lips, leaving him with a slight pout. He backed away from my window so I could hop out of my car -literally hop, the seats were pretty high up- and onto the ground of the parking lot.

“You’re so-” Tony began, but I quickly cut him off.

“DON’T EVEN SAY IT.” I placed a finger over his lips to quiet him and he grimaced. He stuck his tongue out to lick it and I drew my hand back instantly. “Ew!” I squealed and giggled, giving him an elbow to the gut. He mocked pain by clutching his belly, laughing himself.

“Fine,” he said as he straightened out and we began to walk to the front doors of the store. “You’re so tall. Is that better?”

“Yes. And thank you. What can I say? It’s in the gene pool.” I shrugged, my sarcastic tone evident.

We entered Ikea, where Tony grabbed a cart and insisted on pushing it for me. Which, to my dismay, meant him pushing it twenty-five percent of the time, and running really fast and then jumping on it so it would send him flying down the aisle the other seventy-five percent of the time. He was such a little kid at heart, and although it was amusing, I wanted to settle him down half of the time.

We entered the aisle that held the bed sheets and comforters and I was in heaven. I stared up at all of them, embracing the beauty.

“They’re so beautiful,” I whispered, causing Tony to chortle.

“You are literally the only person I know that gets excited over bed sheets,” he said, running his hands over a display of multicolored duvets.

As I was deciding between a gorgeous comforter and sheet set with various shades of purple, and a white and black cheetah print set, I heard a clicking noise that sounded much like an iPhone camera. I whipped around to see Tony taking a picture of me, mid-decision face, with a wide smile on his own face.

“Hey!” I cried, stomping my foot and crossing my arms across my chest. “Why are you taking pictures of me? This is a stressful situation,” I motioned toward the rows upon rows of bed sheets and spreads.

“I just thought you looked cute, all transfixed on your bed covers and spreads or whatever,” he chuckled, taking a few steps closer to me and putting a hand on the small of my back. I stiffened at the action, mentally freaking out because we were in public and anybody could see us. Tony and I hadn’t discussed on whether or not anything was necessarily a secret, but it went without saying that Delaney was not going to be made aware of it, nor anyone else for that matter. So, I suppose it was a ‘secret’. But Tony and I hadn’t even spoke of what we ‘were’. There was no label on anything, and no stress on needing one. I liked it that way.

He took out his phone and went to his Instagram app while I finally decided on the purple set.

“Do you have an Instagram?” he asked me.

“What are you posting?!” I exclaimed rather loudly.

“The picture I took of you, of course,” Tony grinned and before he could do anything further, I swiped his phone so quickly out of his hand that he didn’t know what happened.

“What?!” Tony questioned, throwing his hands into the air. “I’ll show you the picture first if it’s such a big deal,” Tony pouted his lower lip, sinking his head low like a scolded puppy.

“No, stupid. I’m not talking about the picture.” I laughed and he gave me a confused expression. “Does Delaney have an Instagram? And wouldn’t all of your band mates, one of them being my cousin’s best friend, see the picture and ask about it?” I explained myself.

“Delaney never uses her Instagram. She hates social media. And if they ask me about it, I’ll tell them not to talk about it in front of Delly. No big deal.” Tony shrugged, putting his hand out as to ask me for his phone back. Hesitantly, I set the cell phone back in his hand before taking the package of sheets off of the shelf and placing them into the cart. “Now what’s your Instagram name, you poophead,”

“It’s AshAdela, you poophead,” I mocked Tony with a giggle before pushing the cart forward.

“I tagged you!” Tony declared. “Look at the caption,” he spoke before running to catch up to me and took the cart from my control.

I shot him a strange look before taking my phone out of my cardigan pocket and going into my Instagram feed. I saw that I had some notifications and I clicked on the button to look at them. I saw the picture that he had tagged me in. I was standing in front of the rows of sheets, staring intently at them with my mouth slightly agape. My hair was slightly messy, I noted. And I looked abnormally small next to the tall racks. He had captioned it: “They’re so beautiful” @AshAdela is the only person I know that gets excited over bedsheets.

I laughed out loud and liked the picture before my eyes ventured to the comments displayed underneath, and the amount of likes that the picture already had. I furrowed my eyebrows and showed my screen to him.
“Why does a picture of me looking at bedsheets already have 1,532 likes?” I asked before locking my phone and shoving it back into the depths of my pocket.

“The fans, man,” Tony shrugged, a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. “Why are you dressed all fancy? I meant to ask that earlier.”

“I had to sign papers for my transfer at the new bank,” I made a fake gagging noise while I fell into step beside him in an aisle that contained little knick-knacks. Some caught my eye, and I turned to look at them, but I was quickly pulled back by the arm, Tony having spun me around completely and brought my body close to his.

“Hi,” he spoke in whisper, a sexy smirk displayed for me to see.

“Hi,” I whispered back, raising a brow at him.

He looked to either side of him, checking to see if the coast was clear, before he hoisted me up by my hips and set me on a shelf with ease. The way it didn’t even put strain on him to physically lift me up and set me down on something turned me on almost immediately.

Before I knew what was happening, his lips were attached to mine in a heated kiss. The kiss was all too steamy for being in the middle of an aisle of Ikea, but I didn’t do anything to stop it. His lips trailed down to my neck, where he planted kisses along the soft flesh, the feeling of his lips branded into my brain. His hands slowly traveled up my sides, where he lifted the hem of my shirt to reach his hands underneath and trace circles in the skin that rest there. I grabbed the back of his neck and tugged his face back to mine, kissing him until I felt like my lips were going to go numb. I bit his lower lip and pulled back slightly, and even though I had only done it a few times, I knew it drove him crazy. He groaned softly into my mouth and I couldn’t help but smile into the kiss that was slowly escalating.

His hands ventured down to my hips, where they stayed for a few moments while he continued to kiss me. Eventually, they got restless and chose a new destination. He began to trace the hem of my waistband, the feeling sending shivers up and down my spine. Just as he was about to push his hand all the way down, I grabbed his hand and broke the kiss.

“Not here,” I managed through my shortness of breath. We were lucky that we hadn’t gotten caught as it was. I was not about to chance anything further.

“Then let’s get out of here,” Tony whispered breathlessly and it was enough to make me nod in agreement immediately. His voice when he was turned on got husky, raspy, and very deep. It was the biggest turn on ever, and I couldn’t get enough of it.

Tony picked me up off of the shelf and carried me over to the cart while I squealed and giggled, shaking my body and trying to get out of his grasp.

“I would like to purchase one Ashlynn, please!” he shouted while setting me into the cart, where I sat and pouted up at him. He looked down at me and flashed a smile. I felt like a child that was at the grocery with their mother.

Within a few minutes, and a few sharp turns and random running bursts just to scare the shit out of me, we had finally reached the checkout counter. The lady that stood behind the register gave a nasty look our way once she saw that I was sitting in the cart. I guess such things are frowned upon. I stood up and hopped out, lacking grace, I am sure.

“Did you get everything you wanted, babe?” Tony asked, my head quickly snapping up. “A-Ashlynn,” he stammered before putting some of the things in the cart onto the conveyor belt. I let a small chuckle escape from my throat and I nodded back to him.

“Yeah, thank you.” It wasn’t that I didn’t want him to call me that, it was just a strange feeling. It was all so surreal still, really. I mean what are the chances that you are actually going to have to be around your one-night stand? It was kind of odd, the whole situation in itself quite peculiar. But I was getting used to it. I would be lying if I said that I didn’t enjoy Tony’s company. And the way that he just knew every single place to touch on my body. Yeah, that was nice too.

The woman bagged my purchases, I stood at the register, getting my wallet out.

“That will be $312.54, ma’am,” the woman spoke stoically. I handed over my credit card, not even flinching.

“So your job pays well then?” Tony asked from my side, picking up the box that held the pieces of my new bookshelf. I grabbed the remaining bags and set them in the cart and we began to walk towards the door out to the parking lot.

I swallowed the lump that was forming in my throat, the autonomic response to mention of my workplace.

“Yeah, I live comfortably.” I shrugged my shoulders. The rest of the walk to my car was silent, and there really wasn’t much to say so it wasn’t awkward.

Tony helped put everything into the backseat of my car. When everything was finally situated, I shut the door.

Almost immediately after I had shut the door, my body was pinned up against the side of my car, my hands held firmly behind my back by one of Tony’s.

“Did I tell you how sexy you look when you’re dressed for work?” Tony breathed in my ear, kissing the spot on my neck just beneath it. I closed my eyes, finding such an immense amount of pleasure in the way his lips lingered there.

“No, I don’t think you have,” I smirked, and he brought up his face from my neck so he could look at me. He released my hands, and moved one of his own up to gently stroke my cheek.

“Mmm, well you are. And you’re just as sexy with them off.” He smiled the crooked, sexy smirk that he gave me whenever he was turned on. I was beginning to think that I needed a name for that smirk. Mentally, I decided that I should refer to it as his ‘fuck-face’.

“Is that so?” I breathed, and this time it was me who initiated the contact. I tugged on his belt loops, causing his body to crash into mine. In one swift movement, my hands weren’t at his belt loops anymore, but rather tracing the hem of his boxers.

“Let’s get in my car,” he suggested, his tone a low growl that could tempt just about anyone. I nodded in response and he tugged me over to his SUV, unlocking the doors and opening the one that led to the backseat. I maneuvered my way in, Tony right behind me. Once we got in, I noted how vacant the parking lot was. I was thankful for that fact once I turned back to look at Tony, whose fuck-face was on full gear.

His movements were rushed, but not sloppy as he wasted no time in getting me out of all of my clothes. At this point, his shirt was off, and his jeans were barely clinging to his hips. He looked down at me, seemingly scanning over my entire body. I hadn’t felt uncomfortable at all with him so far, but I felt very scrutinized at the moment. He smiled slightly at me.

“What?” I asked, the sound coming out harsher than I intended for it to be.

“You’re just really beautiful,” he spoke, his voice soft and his fuck-face vanishing from every contour of his face.

“Thank you,” I smiled, cocking my head to the side slightly as if to say that I was confused.

“It’s not that I hadn’t noticed it before. But that night when we came home from the bar, I didn’t really look at you. Now that you’re here in broad daylight, I see all of your tattoos, and I didn’t even know that you had your belly button pierced.” he spoke, reaching down to play with the little dangly charm that hung from my navel.

“Quit it! That tickles,” I giggled, swatting his hand away.

“I’m serious though, Ash,” he said, and I found myself caught off guard yet again at his shortened version of my name. It was a good caught off guard, I had to admit. It felt more personal. “You’re gorgeous,” he placed a hand on my side, his fingers slowly tracing shapes on the skin.

“Shut up and fuck me, Tony Perry.”

And oh, did he ever.

***

I returned home a few hours later, bags and boxes in tow and a smile so wide that I feared my face would shatter. If this was the effect that Tony had on me, I couldn’t think of any reason why I should stop seeing him.

I hummed as I walked through the door, arms full. I saw Delaney on the couch and flashed a quick smile to her. She quickly got up and grabbed something that was about to fall from my arms.

“Shit, thank you,” I laughed as she followed me into my room.

“You’re awfully happy,” she chuckled, setting down the box and leaning against the doorframe of my bedroom. I set all of the bags onto my bed and dropped my purse and keys.

“Well, I needed some retail therapy after my new boss told me that my transfer would take at least a month to process,” I sighed, shrugging out of my cardigan and heading over to the dresser that Delaney was allowing me to use. I pulled out an old Nirvana t-shirt and some spandex shorts and set them out across my bed. I kicked off my shoes and pulled my tank top over my head, leaving me in just my bra. I didn’t think anything of it though, considering Delaney was family.

“You’re kidding!” she said, a disapproving tone in her voice.

“I wish,” I laughed, shimmying out of my striped leggings. I pulled on my shorts and grabbed my glasses off of the dresser before putting my hair up into a messy bun.

“I’m sorry, Ash,” Delaney spoke, walking into my room more and taking a glance into my bags.

“It’s no big deal, more time to settle in, I guess,” I waved my hand off, praying that that would be the case.

“So what did ya get?” Delaney asked, curiosity prominent in her tone.

“Go ahead and look! I don’t mind,” I said as I got up off of the bed and started taking things out of bags.

“Ooooh, this is beautiful!” she spoke, referring to my bedsheets and comforter.

“I know! That’s what I said!” I exclaimed, referring to my earlier encounter at Ikea with Tony, where he made fun of me.

“To who? Yourself?” Delaney laughed at me, and I suddenly caught what I had said. I furrowed my brows and nodded, giving a small nervous chuckle in response.

“This stuff is all so nice, Ash!” Delaney gushed. “I am a lost cause when it comes to building things. Do you want me to have the guys come over? I’m sure they wouldn’t mind, as long as I allowed them to drink my beer,” she laughed and pointed towards my new shelves.

“Uh,” I thought about it for a moment. I liked all of the guys. Jaime was so vibrant and full of energy, Mike was a riot and always had a hankering for something to get him buzzed, Vic was so wise and welcoming, and well, my opinion of Tony was quite biased, so I also enjoyed his presence. I wanted to get to know them all more, seeing as if I was going to be around, I was going to have to be around them a lot because they were all so close to Delaney. “Sure, go ahead,” I smiled and her.

She clapped her hands in excitement and gave a ‘Yay!’ before leaving my bedroom, presumably to call them and invite them over.

I heard her voice coming from the other room, and I decided to just wait until everyone was over to take everything out of the packages.

I thought about seeing Tony again, and I felt my heart palpitate in my chest. Even though we couldn’t let anything be known, it was still exciting to see him.

I took out my phone and went into my Instagram, going back to take another look at the picture from earlier in Ikea. I read some of the comments on the picture, and some of them were very strange.

She’s so pretty, do you think they’re dating?

I heard she’s a bandwhore and sleeps with a ton of guys from different bands when they’re touring around her.

NOOOOO! Tony can’t have a girlfriend!

Holy shit, she’s so little.

I grimaced at the last one and decided to stop reading them. I took a moment to ponder the comments that I did read. There were already rumors? What if we did happen to start dating, what would the fans think? Would Tony not want to date me because some of his fans didn’t want him to be in a relationship? I quickly shook off all of these thoughts, seeing as they were completely irrelevant and nothing that I should be even remotely worried about. I went to my notifications and once I saw how many new followers I had received, I couldn’t help but to let out a quiet ‘holy shit’. I had gained over 500 followers, and I had over 700 new likes on various photos of mine. I didn’t really know if I liked that attention or not.

Just as I was scrolling through my feed, I had a call come through. I didn’t even look at the screen, I suspected it to be Tony calling to tell me he would be coming over because Delaney had called him.

“Hello?” I answered, making my voice sound slightly sultry.

“Ash? Why do you sound like you’re ready to fuck? And why haven’t you been answering my calls?” the familiar voice flooded through the speaker of my phone and I felt my heart sink to my stomach.

“Eli, I told you to stop calling me,” I whispered into the phone, scared that Delaney might overhear my conversation.

“Yeah, I know Ash, but it’s just that I need-” I cut him off abruptly, walking over and shutting my bedroom door so my conversation couldn’t be heard.

“All you ever do is need, Elijah. Where did all of the money go that I lent you before I left, huh? Did that go to the doctors so you could finally get help, like you said? Or is it in your veins or up your nose?” I spoke into the phone, my tone harsh and my words seething.

“Ashlynn, you know I’m trying-” Eli pleaded, but I shot down his pleas just as easily as they began.

“Trying is all you ever do! When are you going to stop trying and start doing?” I spoke into the phone as loud as i could without it being audible to Delaney.

“Ash, just hear me out,” Eli’s tone of voice changed, and he sounded like he may cry.

It took all that was in me to speak to him. I wanted to leave everything behind when I left. I didn’t want these things to carry over. But somehow, I knew that they would.

“No, Elijah. All I have ever done is hear you out. I tried, and now I’m done.” I ended the call right after I got the last word out, fearing that if I heard his reply, I would cave in like I always did every time prior.

I threw my phone across the room. It clattered to the floor, but I didn’t have a care in the world. I forced back the tears that were threatening to come out. I couldn’t talk about this with Delaney, and I most certainly could not let her see me cry, because then she would want to know what I was crying about.

I had convinced myself that when I came back home, that it was my new beginning, just as I had wanted when I first moved. I quickly found that things hadn’t necessarily worked out as I had wished for them to. But when I moved back to San Diego, I had hoped for change. I told myself that I wasn’t going to carry any extra weight or burdens, and this was the biggest one of them all.

A knock on the door broke me out of my thoughts, and for that I was thankful.

“Can I come in?” Delaney’s warm, welcoming voice came from behind the door and I was relieved to just have her be there, in my presence. It felt good to know what I wasn’t alone.

“Of course!” I yelled, and she peaked her head in through the door.

“They’re on the way,” she smiled my way, and the smile warmed my core. I had missed Delaney so much. And as much as I thought about it, the more I meant it and recognized it. I was so very thankful to have her in my life now, and I wasn’t going to do a single thing to disrupt that new-found happiness.

“Okay,” I smiled, wiping my sweaty hands on my thighs before pushing myself off of my bed. “Pizza tonight? My treat?” I asked her, and she grinned in response.

“Is that even a question?” she laughed before going to retrieve a menu from the drawer in the kitchen.

I sat down at the table next to her, and as she read over the menu, I contemplated telling her. I contemplated telling her everything about Eli, about my job, about why I moved back, and why I had stopped contact with her. I watched as she pointed to a selection, and I just nodded in response to her, completely unaware of what she had said. She was unaware, too. She didn’t have the slightest clue what happened the past few years of my life. I wanted so badly to tell her. To just let it all out and confess to the mess that I had left behind.

But instead, I bit my tongue. Just like I always did.

Notes

Ashlynn's Outfit

Things are heating up, I'd say. (; Hehe.

What do you guys think about Tony and Ashlynn's little rendezvous? How do you think it will turn out if shit ever hits the fan? Will Delaney find out? What about Eli? Who's he? Hmmmm. Let us know what you think! We love to hear theories (:

Rate, comment, subscribe, comment away! Love you all!

Jolee xoxo