With shaking hands, and tears threatening, she walked back into her own room. It took her three tries until she managed to push the button on her phone to ring Ash. She wasn’t sure whether she was going to kill him or kiss him like crazy when she next saw him, but she knew that she had to talk to him.
“Hello?” Ash answered, and there was silence for a long second.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” Lucy managed to whisper.
“Damn! Are you mad?”
“I’m not sure what I feel right now, but are you at home?” She replied.
“Yes,”
“Stay there, I’m coming over,” she muttered.
“No, I’ll come to you.” He sounded very worried.
“No, Penny’s here.” She whispered abruptly.
“Okay, I’ll see you soon.” He told her, before hanging up.
“Isn’t that the most awesome song? You know whoever he wrote that about, you can tell that he loves her,” Penny said dreamily, as she dropped into Lucy’s desk chair and spun around.
“What? What do you mean?” Lucy asked, while trying to catch her breath and sound normal at the same time.
“Didn’t you listen to it? He loves the person he wrote that song for. I wonder who it is.” Penny mused with a smile, and Lucy felt her heart rate skyrocket again.
She could only wonder what her sister would say if she ever found out that Lucy was the songs recipient. He wrote and released a whole song about her that the entire world could hear. She floated away on bliss for the first, and trepidation for the last half of her thoughts.
“I’ve got to go and see Ash,” Lucy muttered.
“Do you think it's Mindy Taylor?” Penny asked, and Lucy shrugged, not really hearing her. “Wow, that is one lucky girl, whoever it is,” Penny’s dreamy voice intruded on Lucy’s thoughts.
“Yep, I definitely have to go.”
She grabbed her keys and handbag, only to wander in a daze out of the house. With her mind careening, and her body tumbling with crazy emotions, she drove over to see Ash. He was sitting on his front steps when she first got there, and it didn’t help her any that he looked anxious.
This guy, this fantastic guy had now written her two songs. The latest one, he had obviously been working on for a while now. She glanced at him, feeling special, and so wonderful that he thought that she was worthy of such beautiful words.
She couldn’t even express everything in her own mind, but she got out of the car to face him. She didn’t even realise she had tears streaming down her face, until he rushed up to her, seeming all blurry.
“Oh, Belle, I didn’t mean to upset you.” His words cut off, as she wrapped her arms around him and kissed him.
It was intense, crazily passionate and mind altering. It wasn’t until she ran out of air that she broke away from him, only to take in a quick breath and kiss him again. Deep, open-mouthed, breath stealing kisses followed, as Ash pulled her closer, and revelled in the sensations enveloping him. When they eventually moved away an inch, breathing uncontrollably, and staring at each other intently, silence ensured.
“So you're not mad?” He asked hopefully.
“No, you dopey idiot, that’s probably the only thing I’m not,” she answered smartly.
“Thank, God,” he said in utter relief, as his thumb swiped across her lips gently.
“So, when were you going to tell me?” She asked with a raised brow, and he bit his lip with uncertainty.
“I was going to tell you today. They released it last night. That’s what I’ve been working so hard on.” He explained quickly.
“Then why did I hear it from my sister and not from you?” She demanded in a soft barely there voice. He let out a sigh, and wiped the remnant tears from her eyes.
“Because I chickened out. I tried to tell you, but it just wouldn’t come out.” He said with a frown.
“So, that’s what you actually wanted to say? Nothing about your ex?” She asked curiously.
“Yeah, that stuff just slipped out, but it's probably better that you know the truth now anyway,” Ash told her, as he rubbed his hands along her arms. “What did you think of it?” He looked at her seriously.
“Now, after everything you want an opinion, huh?” She shook her head in mock horror at him.
“Yes, please.” He asked, looking both anxious and excited.
“It was beautiful, and way too flattering towards me, but I didn’t get to hear it all.” She told him, and was surprised when he frowned.
“No, it was the truth about you,” he insisted, which made her blush. “What do you mean that you didn’t hear all of it?”
“I sort of freaked out, before it even got to the chorus. I didn’t think hyperventilating in front of Penny was a great idea, so I decided to call you instead.” She explained, and he stared at her with guilt in his eyes.
“I’m sorry, I should have warned you.” He muttered.
“Yes, you bloody well should have.” She sent back in agreement, as she poked him to emphasise her point.
“I’m sorry, Belle. I’ll tell you next time.” He tried to appease her.
“And you had better.” She pointed her finger sternly at him.
“Do you want to hear all of it?” He asked softly, as he rocked her from side to side, finally able to smile at her.
“Will you play it for me?” She asked keenly. He nodded, and pulled her towards the house.
He sat her down on the couch, and went to fetch his guitar. Lucy recalled the second time that she had been in his house, when she first noticed his guitar. A memory struck her, and the revelation startled her. He walked back in, saw her perplexed expression, and felt apprehension instantly grab him.
“You started writing this song the night you met me,” Lucy stated, and Ash smiled in relief.
“Yeah, I did. How did you know that?” He asked, surprised by her observation.
“You left the music sheet here with that title. I remember reading it, before Nick came in. I never connected it.” Lucy mused rather wryly, and he just grinned at her.
“Well sit and listen. I seriously want to get your opinion,” He said, so she propped herself back on the couch comfortably, as he strummed his guitar.
Lucy was mesmerised as soon as he began, and by the end, she felt overwhelmed with emotion again. Penny had been right; the girl this song was about had totally beguiled the singer. There were words in there that Lucy would have never considered a description of herself, but Ash still saw her that way. Silence surrounded the room, and Lucy felt utterly stunned.
“You love me,” she blurted out. Ash sent her a sheepish grin, as he set down his guitar.
“I didn’t think it was that obvious, but, yeah, I do,” he told her earnestly.
“Ash, that whole song says it loud and clear.” She said softly, and his surprise endeared her.
“Is it… um.” He cleared his throat, and looked down at the floor.
“Ash?” She asked, wondering why he looked so distressed. She reached out a hand to touch him, but he pulled away and clutched at his guitar.
“Is it a problem, Belle?” He forced the words out through a dry and uncomfortable throat.
“No, why would it be a problem?” She asked him in confusion, and he just shrugged, but appeared pale and devastated.
“I’ve gotta go.” He muttered, before running up the stairs two at a time, and leaving a baffled Lucy behind.
“What the hell?” She mumbled under her breath, before following him. She heard his door slam just as she got to it. She banged her forehead against it, and shouted through the door at him. “Ash, you had better open this door. Don’t you dare make me pick this lock again!”
There was nothing, but silence and Lucy grumbled. She couldn’t understand why he just ran off. He’d looked so torn and hurt. She racked her brain trying to think through the turmoil of the last hour or so. She quickly fetched her tool kit from her handbag. There was no way that she was letting him hide away from he
r like this.
With shaking hands, she swore softly when the lock didn’t open on her first attempt. When it finally did click open, she pushed the door ajar to find Ash staring out the window. He didn’t turn to face her. He seemed almost frozen in a heart breaking dejected position.
“Look, I don’t know what that was about just now, and I need you to talk to me,” she told him firmly, but he never moved. Silence once again surrounded them, clinging tightly to the tension in the room.
“I just bared my soul to you, and you didn’t return it, Lucy,” he said starkly. It felt weird to hear her name come from his mouth. He had been calling her Belle for so long now that she was used to it.
“That’s what this is about?” She asked in amazement, before letting out a quite laugh.
She walked over to wrap her arms around him, and lean into his back. She took a giant sniff of his glorious smell, and rested her head in the middle of his shoulder blades. He didn’t move away, but neither did he loosen his stiff posture.
“You're such an idiot sometimes. This is just like the girlfriend question,” She hugged him tighter to her.
“What do you mean?” He whispered.
“Ash, if I didn’t love you do you really think that I would cry over a song? By the way, I love that song as I love you. Stop being so bloody melodramatic.” She told him honestly.
For a moment, he stayed still, almost as though he couldn’t believe her words. Then he turned in her arms, and crushed her to him, never wanting to let her go again.
“Say it again,” he whispered in her ear.
“I love you, Ashton Martin James,” she told him, as she looked him in the eye.
His lips smothered hers in a sweet kiss that swept her away. His hands roamed up her back to tighten in her hair, and Lucy moaned, as he bit down gently on her lower lip. She opened herself to him, thrusting her fingers in his hair, as their tongues danced together.
“You love me?” He asked almost breathlessly.
“Yep, I’m pretty sure I just told you that.” She replied with a small shake of her head at his denseness.
“Just need to make sure,” he whispered, before his lips slid down her neck nibbling on her skin. Heat overwhelmed her sweeping all thoughts from her mind, as she tilted her head. “Your skin is so soft, Belle.” He murmured, and Lucy felt herself melt away into a world that was just Ash.
In the quiet of the house, she first heard it and let out a moan as her sensual world pulled away from her. Ash captured her lips for another blazing hot kiss, but she knew eventually that they would have to deal with the real world.
“Ash phone,” she muttered, as she slid her hands along his chest, and he shuddered.
“Doesn’t matter,” he mumbled, continuing to kiss her.
“Yes, it does.” She tried to insist, even as she leaned into his kiss.
“Belle, stop talking,” he caught her lips again, only to hear his mobile start ringing. He let out a groan, and fished in his back pocket, not even once taking his lips from hers. “You are disturbing me, so it had better be good.” He growled into the phone.
She went to move away to give him more privacy, but he refused to let her go. When he sent her an anxious look after a few quick exchanges, and then ran a hand through his hair, she knew that something was wrong. He let out a frustrated grunt, as he leaned his head against her shoulder as if he needed the support. When he did hang up, and took a deep breath, Lucy prepared herself for the worst.
“Get it over with, tell me what that was about,” she ordered unflinchingly.
“Mindy is claiming that your song is about her,” Ash said with a frustrated sigh.
“Okay, that’s not the end of the world.” She said, as she reached up to run a hand along his cheek.
“No, I wrote that song for you, and I’m not going to have it cheapened by anyone. It’s well overdue that I ‘break up' with Mindy anyway.” He said determinedly, and Lucy agreed wholeheartedly.
“How are you going to manage that when you're all the way down here, and not in the big city?”
“Easy, you're just as good with videos as photos, I hope.” He sent her a cheeky wink, and she shrugged, feeling a bit puzzled.
“You want me to record it?” She asked a bit dubiously.
“Yep, let's go.” He tugged her out of the room enthusiastically, and down into the lounge room to stand in front of a wall.
“Okay, if you’re going all psychopath on me, I will be worried.” She told him with a strange look sent his way.
“Trust me, Belle.” He waggled his eyebrows looking slightly ridiculous, and Lucy let out a laugh.
When he moved a small table out of the way, Lucy just watched humouring him. He turned a door handle that was painted the same colour as the wall and barely noticeable. A huge space opened up behind the door, and she let out a gasp.
“Wow, this is… how did you find this here?” She looked over at him.
This looked like a haphazard junk room with things scattered everywhere. There were boxes piled messily around, which obviously still needed unpacking, as well as expensive looking furniture that sat collecting dust.
“I actually found it when I first looked at the house. The real estate agent let Nick and me wander around, and I was curious,” he shrugged, before smiling. “I have big plans for this space,”
“I think you need to clean it up a bit first,” she told him sarcastically.
“I’m going to completely sound proof it…”
“So nobody can hear your victims scream?” Lucy interrupted teasingly.
“No, you cheeky thing,” he pulled her close to him. “I want to make my recording studio in here,” he replied a bit dreamily, and she smiled at him.
“Does that mean that you’re thinking of sticking around?” She asked, unable to keep the hopeful tone from her voice.
“Yep.” He muttered, as he let her go to scramble through some boxes.
“You know that I’m probably going away to university next year.” She whispered, and he stopped what he was doing to glance at her worried looking face.
“I already figured that, but don’t worry my schedule can be incredibly flexible, except when I’m on tour. Plus, my next tour won’t be for a year or two.” He assured her, and she let go of the breath that she had been holding at his words.
“Good, now why don’t you tell me what you are looking for?” She enquired, as he went back to the boxes.
“The video camera, obviously,” his voice came out muffled, before a triumphant noise came from said box. “Got it,” he pulled an expensive looking camera, along with a bunch of cords from the box. “I knew I’d left it in there.”
"If it needs charging, then we can’t do it today.” Lucy mused, and he looked at her with a shrug.
“Tomorrow after school.”
“I guess so,” she agreed with a smile. “Why you don’t just get George to make a statement that denies all this stuff.”
“Because nobody would believe it.” He told her, as he headed out of the room. She stood there puzzled for a minute, until he reached out a hand to grasp hers, and drag her along with him.
“How is a video going to make it real?” She asked, still baffled at his plans, as he sent her a cheeky little grin.
“It’s going on my fan site. Social media can be a pain, but we are going to use it to our advantage.”
“Oh, okay, fair enough.” They walked into the kitchen, and Ash plugged the camera in.
“This has been the weirdest day,” She murmured absently. “How is your body feeling after your sort of ride this morning?” She teased.
“Hey, I will have you know that my horse riding was up there with awesome.” He squealed the last word, sending Lucy into a fit of giggles.
“Yeah, right.” She snorted, making Ash frown ruefully, and pull her up against him.
“Fine, it was crape, but the song was good, right?” He finished on a serious note, as he felt stunned by her sky blue eyes.
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“The song rocked my world.” Lucy told him honestly. He sent her one of those dazzling smiles, as he leaned over to peck her lips gently.
“Do you want to come over for dinner? My parents should be expecting me home soon.” She asked, and Ash rubbed his stomach eagerly while nodding.
He was getting rather addicted to having dinner with Lucy’s family. He didn’t know if it was the family environment, or having Lucy close by, but he always thoroughly enjoyed himself while he was there. With a happy grin on his face, he led her out of the house, and found himself thankful for all that Lucy had given him today.
Chapter 18 – Videos and surprising sisters
“Wait, wait, wait! Where are we even going to do this?” Lucy insisted, as Ash thrust the camera into her hands.
“I think it’s more important that I have my disguise on, don’t you?” Ash frowned at her, as he threw the wig in her face.
“Blah!” She muttered around black hair strands. “If you’re asking me to help you get that thing on, then you are in serious trouble,” she warned him, making Ash laugh
“Nope, I’ll do it myself,”
“You must have more than one of those things floating around.” Lucy pointed to the wig with a slight expression of disgust.
“You really don’t like Martin, do you?” Ash asked curiously, and Lucy thought of how best to explain her feelings without upsetting him.
“No, it’s not that,” she walked closer to him. “Martin is almost unreal, but you… I can reach out and touch you. You are real. Ugh, okay, I know that made no sense and I’m sorry.” She frowned to herself.
“No, I can see your point. You’ve only ever known Martin as a poster on the wall, or music coming from Penny’s room. That does make him unreal.” He said thoughtfully, and she felt relieved that he understood what she was trying to say.
“Yeah, it does, but you are here with me whether you are Ash or Martin, and I just have to get used to it.” She reached up, and leaned in to give him a soft kiss.
“Hmmm, don’t go.” He mumbled, as she pulled back.
I Met Her On the Balcony Page 18