Emilia's POV

It's amazing how a single person can make me forget such simple necessities that should be a priority, but oddly enough, they didn't even come to mind last night. I was too concerned with coming home to a peanut butter cup and seeing Ashton again that I forgot to bring a change of clothes and now I'm stuck once again, wearing oversized clothing that fits comfortably, but makes me look like a child who decided to play dress up in their parent's closet.

I should really just keep some clothes over here so that I don't have to worry about forgetting them.

"Why don't you then?" Ashton asks, pulling his grey t-shirt down over his head and shoving his arms through the sleeves.

My eyes widen as I sit cross-legged on his bed, watching him slide his arms through a red plaid flannel shirt and leaving it unbuttoned to reveal the grey shirt underneath. "Did I say that out loud?" I ask.

He chuckles, showing off the small indention in his cheeks. "Yes," he says. "You do that a lot actually. You talk in your sleep too. You were mumbling something about eating all the Reese's in the world last night. It was pretty damn cute."

"You know I would have liked to know that I speak my thoughts without knowing it as well as sleep talk," I say, crossing my arms over my chest.

"But then you would be all cautious when you think around me and where's the fun in that?" he teases, walking over to the edge of the bed and putting his warm hands on either side of my face. "I like hearing you talk in your sleep as well as your obliviousness to speaking your thoughts aloud. Like I said, it's cute." He pecks my lips softly, lingering momentarily before pulling away and winking at me.

"It's not cute." I pout and he squishes my cheeks together.

"I beg to differ." He giggles and drops his hands from my face. "So back to the question at hand: why don't you leave some of your clothes here?"

Because it would make me feel like I'm living here. "Because I don't want to take up space in your closet."

He raises an eyebrow and gives me the 'you-can't-be-serious' look. He takes my hand and pulls me up off the bed and guides me over to his closet where he opens the door and shows me the rather large space. "There is more than enough room for you to keep some stuff here," he says. "Babe, I'm not asking you to bring your entire wardrobe, just a few things to keep here as back-up."

I look up at Ashton and then glance back inside the closet. It wouldn't hurt to keep a shirt or two in here. Maybe even a pair of jeans?

"You don't have to if you don't want to, Emilia," he says, placing both hands on my shoulders and shrugging. "It's just a suggestion."

I crane my neck to meet his face. "No, I'll bring some the next time I come over," I say, shocking not only myself by my quick response, but also Ashton.

"Really?"

"Yeah, I mean why not? You have clothes at my place, even though technically they're mine because you gave them to me, but if you really needed to, I'd let you wear them if you came over."

He narrows his eyes and smirks. "Really?" he asks skeptically and just by his tone, I know that he doesn't believe me. I don't even believe me.

"No," I squeak, pulling my lips back and trying as hard as I can to resist smiling.

He chuckles and rubs my shoulders before placing a kiss to the top of my head. "I thought so."

I look back inside the closet and in the corner, poorly hidden by his clothes hanging on the rod is a rectangular object wrapped in a black sheet. By the shape of it, it looks like a canvas. "What's that?" I ask, walking towards it, only to be pulled back by Ashton.

"Oh," he says, quickly shutting the door and standing in front of it with a goofy grin on his face. Way to not be suspicious. "That's just something that I've been working on for our communication's project."

Oh, crap. I completely forgot about that. I push the idea of having to work on something that "paints the picture" of my partner, as Professor Ross would say, and get back to the current issue at hand.

"Is that that canvas you had covered on your easel on Halloween?" I ask. I remember it being covered with a black sheet But as I was about to lift it up to see what was under it, Ashton stopped me.

His eyes turn solemn as he stands before me with a pained expression. "Yeah," he says with a crack in his voice.

It takes a moment before I can figure out why it is he's acting so strangely until I recall the events that occurred that night. Ashton was shit-faced. Ashton yelled at me (well, not at me, but he yelled nonetheless). Ashton kissed me. Ashton confessed to liking me. Thinking about it now, it's like the snowball effect. One thing led to another and as each event happened, our relationship grew more and more.

I sigh and very lightly, I slap his cheek. "You're an idiot if you're still upset about that."

"I don't particularly like being called an idiot," he says.

"Well I don't particularly like having to call you an idiot," I say. "What happened on Halloween turned into something good if you've forgotten?" I wave my hands between us, referring to the development of our relationship.

"Oh, I haven't forgotten." He smirks and places his hand on my hips and pulls me forward until I am firmly against him, causing me to giggle.

"Then act like it. I don't like having to switch roles and be the positive one in this relationship. I'd rather be the anti-social, doesn't-talk-a-lot, silently-judging one. You, know? Like how it used to be."

He shakes his head with a smile shining brightly at me. "I hate to break it to you sweetheart, but I don't think you're ever going back to not talking as much as you do now. You won't shut up," he teases.

Do I really talk that much now? "I feel like I should take offense to that."

"I feel like I should take offense to you calling me an idiot," he fires back.

"You're both idiots if this is how you guys argue." Our heads snap over to Luke standing in the doorway with his arms crossed over his chest.

"Were we arguing?" I ask Ashton.

He shrugs. "I don't know."

"Wow," Luke breathes, shaking his head at us.

"Is there something that you needed, Luke?" Ashton asks, slightly irritated as he snakes his arm around my waist and spins me around so that my back is to his chest.

"Yeah, I need to borrow your car," Luke says.

"Why?" he asks.

"I'm going out. Julia and Calum are in his room doing God knows what and I'd rather not be here to listen to them."

"Seriously? This early?"

"Dude, it's like noon."

"Oh."

So noon is considered an acceptable time to go at it? Male logic is such a mystery to me.

"So give me your keys," Luke says, holding his hand out.

Ashton huffs and grabs his keys off the nightstand and tosses them over to Luke. "You know the rule," he warns.

Luke sighs. "Yeah, yeah. No eating Mexican food in the car."

"Why no Mexican food?" I ask.

"Because the last time someone ate Mexican food in my car, he threw up all over the backseat," Ashton explains, shuddering at the vivid memory of it.

"That was one time!" Michael shouts from down the hall before appearing in the doorway next to Luke, carrying a backpack over his shoulder.

"One time too many," Ashton mumbles, causing me to giggle.

Luke eyes Michael's backpack and gives him a puzzled look. "Where are you going?" he asks.

"With you," Michael states. "Even though he's two rooms down from me, these walls are too thin and I've had enough of hearing Calum's bed squeak."

"Oh my god," I groan, covering my face with my hands. "Can we not talk about this? I'd rather not know of my best friend's sex life if that's okay?"

"Aw, is Emmie getting embarrassed?" Michael teases.

I drop my hands from my face and glare at the red-head. "Shut up."

"Your face is all red," Luke says and I cover my face again to hide my flushed cheeks.

Sex is a topic that I'd rather not casually converse on. I can make sex jokes and innuendoes, but when it comes to the actual act of it, no. I don't want to know who's doing who, how they're doing it, and I definitely don't want to hear it. It's like how some people don't like to talk about death or spiders. Well, I don't like to talk about sex.

"Guys, quit being dicks and leave her alone," Ashton scolds, moving out from behind me and confronting the two. "You have my car keys, so go out and do whatever the hell you were going to do and stop embarrassing her."

"Geez, we were just playing around," Michael says. "Sorry, Emmie."

"It was mostly Michael," Luke mutters. "I was just making an observation, but I'm sorry, Emmie."

It's like Ashton is the father and they are the children. Except ninety percent of the time they don't listen to him.

"It's fine," I say.

"Alright, well, we'll see you guys later," Luke says, waving goodbye. "I'd suggest getting out of here too. I think they're getting louder."

"Thanks for the warning," Ashton says before closing the door on the two boys.

Faint mumbling can be heard of the other side of the door and I'm pretty sure Michael just called Ashton a hormonal asshole. I guess it's a term of endearment.

"You didn't have to kick them out like that," I say, moving to sit on the edge of the bed.

"Yeah, but if I didn't they would have never left." He comes over to sit next to me and pulls me onto his lap. "Plus, now I can do this." He cups my cheek with his hand and pulls me in until our lips meet.

I will never get over the feeling the sweeps through me every time he kisses me. It still gives me goosebumps and I think Ashton realizes this because he always rubs his hands up and down my arms as if to warm me up and relieve the prickly sensation.

Just as he brings his other hand around the back on my neck to deepen our kiss, a loud moan followed by Calum's name causes for us to pull apart and stare at each other wide-eyed with disturbance.

Dammit, Julia. Learn to use your inside voice.

"Maybe we should leave?" Ashton suggests and I hop off of his lap.

I nod. "Agreed. My place good?"

Calum's voice comes through the wall and we both cringe at the sound.

"That's fine. Anywhere is good actually. Let's just get the fuck out of here," Ashton rambles.

We quickly gather our things together and I grab the Reese's on Ash's desk that I didn't eat last night and shove it in my mouth, throwing away the wrapper in the waste basket by his desk before we make haste out of the house and take Julia's car over to my apartment.

After the short drive that consisted of us trying to erase the sounds and sadly, the images that we created in our heads of our best friends sleeping together, we make it to my apartment.

"What time are we going to Skype your mom?" I ask, shoving the key into the door and unlocking it.

"She'll be calling around four," Ashton says. "I had to do the math to figure out the time zone difference and choose a time that would work for both of us. It'll be about ten in the morning in Sydney at that time."

"Oh, okay." I push the door open and flip the light switch on which is a terrible mistake because the living room is a complete mess.

Clothes are scattered throughout the living room. They're mostly Julia's but there are a couple pairs of jeans of mine that lie on the ground from the days when I stripped out of them after getting home from Ashton's or school. Julia and I haven't spent much time at home since we have been at Ashton's house pretty much all week, and the days that we were here, we didn't bother to clean.

"Damn." Ashton laughs as he walks past me and into the messy living room. "And I thought our place was a mess."

I close the door behind me and lock it and kick my shoes off before telling Ashton to shut up. "I normally try to keep it clean, but with it being the end of the semester and not actually being here, it's kind of hard to clean up."

"It's okay, Emmie," he says. "Do I look like the type of person who really cares about what my girlfriend's place looks like?"

I think about it for a moment before answering. "Not particularly."

"You are correct." He smiles and tosses one of the shirts on the couch onto the loveseat before sitting down.

That does make me feel better, but I still don't like how much of a mess it has gotten in here. I can stand somewhat of a mess, but this is too much for me.

"What time did you say your mom is calling again?"

"Four."

Okay, so that gives me a little over three hours to clean this mess up, do laundry, and try to make a good impression on his mom.

"You're thinking out loud again," he snickers. "And why do you think you have to impress my mum? She's going to love you."

"I've never had to meet someone's parents before. I don't want to screw up and say the wrong thing or something." I fiddle with the hem of Ashton's sweater and keep my head low as I focus on the thin fabric in my grasp.

The couch squeaks as Ashton stands up and I turn around and begin picking up the clothes off of the floor to avoid him. I know he's going to say that I'm over thinking things and that there's nothing for me to worry about, but it's normal for me to feel like this. I was nervous when I met his douche of a dad, but the nerves have grown twice as strong now that I'm going to meet his mom. When he talks about her, it's easy to see that she is one of the most important people in his life. A genuine smile always surfaces when even the slightest mention of her is brought up. I guess since he had to grow up without a father-figure, he grew extremely close to her.

He's a mamma's boy...that is so cute.

"Hey, Em?" Ashton calls and I turn around so see him holding up a black bralette that I only wear in the comfort of my own home. "Is this yours?" A large smirk plays on his lips as he dangles the thin fabric in the air.

I drop the large pile of clothes that I have collected in my arms and practically leap over the loveseat and snatch the bralette from his grasp. "Not cool," I say.

"So it is yours," he assumes. "First a lace bra and now that. I will say that you have good taste in lingerie."

"Please shut up."

"You're so modest, it's adorable."

"Are you making fun of me?" I cross my arms over my chest.

"No," he says. "I'm lightening up the mood for you. I get that you're nervous and there's nothing I can do about that. I can say every inspirational and motivating thing there is, but it won't calm your nerves."

"That's comforting to know."

"Sarcasm?" he asks and I nod. "Well, what would you like for me to say?"

"I want you to say that I'll be okay."

"Will that help?" he asks.

"Probably not."

He holds his arms out and I don't hesitate to walk straight into them. "You'll be okay, Emilia."

Okay, so maybe it does help a little. "Thank you." I pull back away from him and he pinches my cheek.

"So shall we get working on cleaning this place up?"

"As long as you don't pick up any more of my bras, then yes."

"No promises."

Even though Ashton said that I'll be okay, as each hour passes, I can feel the nerves building up and growing stronger.

Around one forty-five, Ashton and I finished clearing the living room of all the clothes and sorted them by color and put them in the wash. At two-thirty, I noticed that my hands began to shake uncontrollably as I folded the clothes that came out of the dryer. Thankfully Ashton was in the living room watching TV while I was in the small laundry room in the kitchen so he wasn't able to see the effects of my anxiety.

By three o'clock, I finished all the laundry and had Ashton help me put everything in my closest and dresser. He even took it upon himself to lay out Julia's clothes on her bed for her to put away whenever she comes home. I would have done it myself, however, there was more cleaning to be done. I vacuumed the carpet in the living room as well as both mine and Julia's rooms. Not even the sound of the vacuum could drown out my pounding heart which in my head sounds like a fucking bass drum being hit repeatedly.

Now having finished cleaning the apartment to the point where it's spotless, Ashton and I sit together in the living room and all I can think about is what I'm going to say to Ms. Irwin. Can I even call her Ms. Irwin? She's divorced from Ash's dad, but did she keep his last name? What if she didn't? What's her maiden name? Oh God, what the hell is her name? Ashton never told me. Fuuuck.

"Emilia," Ashton says, snapping me out of the whirlwind of questions that leave me on the edge of my seat.

"Yeah?" I jump at the sudden touch of his hand being placed on my bouncing knee.

He looks down to my knee and then back to me, noticing my shaky hands and labored breathing. "Holy shit, are you alright?" Concern engulfs his face and he turns his entire body to face me and takes my trembling hands in his.

"Yeah." My breathless answer begs to differ. I am not okay. I am far from okay. It's just a simple call with his mom. I'm sure nothing will go wrong. I'm sure she'll like me. I mean what's not to like? "No," I say, shaking my head. "I'm not alright. What's your mom's name?"

"Anne-Marie," he says. "What's wrong? I haven't seen you this freaked out since-" he pauses briefly, "-you know."

Despite the fact that it has been a few months since the business party incident as well as knowing that Jared is behind bars, Ash still feels like he has to filter himself and avoid mentioning that bastard. Jared is the equivalent of 'He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named' to Ashton. He might as well just say his name. There's no harm in doing so anymore.

"Emilia," Ashton says, his voice growing louder. "Look at me."

I turn my head slightly, just enough to see him out of the corner of my eye, however, that's not good enough for him. Ashton removes his hands from mine and uses his finger to gently turn my chin to face him completely. In one swift motion, he holds the back of my neck with his hand, tilts his head to the right and glides his lips over mine.

My body stills from his sudden action, but I slowly let my eyes fall, relax, and take in the sweet taste of spearmint mixed with the chocolate from the Reese's I had. Weird combo, but it's actually nice. Or I'm just weird.

The soft smacking sound of Ashton pulling away is barely audible over the TV playing some rerun of a sitcom that I've never heard of. How I Met Your Father or some shit.

"Do I have your attention now?" he asks softly, brushing his nose against mine and I nod. "Good. Stop worrying over nothing. It's not like you're meeting her face-to-face, just face-to-screen. In my opinion, meeting your parents was a bit more daunting because I don't know whether or not they accept me as your boyfriend. You don't have to worry about my mom. I know her and from what I've told her about you, she already likes you."

"What have you told her?" I whisper.

He smiles, his eyes half-lidded as he leans me back until I am flat against the couch and uses his forearm to keep most of his weight off of me. "Enough to get her to love you already," he says, his lips brushing lightly against mine and I just want to close the space between us.

So I do.

Our lips move in sync once I connect mine with his and my no longer shaky hands make their way to his neck where I play with the short strands of hair at the nape. His free hand roams up and down my side and slips underneath my shirt, grazing my bare skin. I wrap my legs around his waist as he nips at the skin below my ear, causing me to squirm underneath him. Ashton pulls us up until we're sitting up straight—my legs still wrapped around him—and he tugs at the hem of my shirt before pulling it off completely and tossing it behind him. He attacks my lips once again and stands up from the couch, holding me tightly as he carries me the short distance to my bedroom.

My arms latch around his neck and I pepper kisses along his neck before harshly sucking at the skin by his collarbone. I've never done this before and I don't even know if I'm doing it right, but by the sound of Ashton letting out a throaty groan, I must be doing something right. Before I know it, he drops me onto the bed and strips off his flannel shirt and t-shirt underneath before hovering over me again and pressing his hips into mine. I let out a gasp and let my hands roam his smooth back, my fingers tracing over each muscle while he gropes my breast.

Every ounce of anxiety that I felt just minutes ago has diminished into thin air. They only emotions present are pleasure and contentment. Pleasing his mom and making a good impression on her is the last thing on my mind right now. All I care about is being here with Ashton. Being alone together, being this close to him—it's like I'm swimming in joy and ecstasy and I honestly wouldn't mind drowning in it.

When Ashton presses his hips against mine again, my back arches and he takes this opportunity to reach underneath and unclasp my bra. I don't stop him as he slowly slides the straps down my shoulders before ripping it off my body.

He stares and takes in the full view of my exposed chest for the first time. His eyes grow wide and so does the obvious bulge in his pants. "Damn," he breathes.

My brows knit together and I cover my chest with my arms. That was not the reaction that I was expecting.

He chuckles and moves my arms away. "No, I didn't mean it like that," he assures. "You're beautiful. No matter how many times I see you, I still get surprised by how beautiful you are and I can't get over it. It's one of the many things that I love about you." He grins and pecks my lips before moving to my neck and simultaneously massaging my breast.

The distinct default ringtone for Skype beings to go off in the living room where Ashton's laptop sits on the coffee table, and he ceases his actions. We look to one another, his hand still on my boob while my hands are tangled in his lengthy hair.

"Is that your-" I don't even have to finish my question as Ashton nods and climbs off of me.

"Shit. We finally get to be alone somewhere, and yet we still get interrupted," he mumbles, looking for his shirt on floor. Once finding it, he pulls it over his head and quickly inspects himself in the mirror in my bathroom. "Good job, Emmie," he says. "You're lucky this shirt covers this." He pulls down the collar of his shirt and points to the deep red bruise on his collarbone; the result of my handy work.

Contemplating whether or not to ask him the only thing I'm thinking of, I decide to keep my heightened confidence level at the moment and go for it. I sit up straight and let my legs dangle over the edge of the bed and ask, "Did I do a good job?"

Ashton grins and strides over to me and presses his lips softly against mine for a short moment before retracting. "You did amazing—better than amazing actually," he says. "Now hurry and get dressed while I answer the call." He pecks my forehead and jogs over to the living room where he ends the annoying ringtone and greets his mom. "Hey, Mum," he says cheerfully.

I cover my chest and scrounge around my room to find my bra which happened to land on one of the stuffed elephants that I have displayed on my dresser.

From the living room, another voice comes through the laptop speakers. "Hi, Ashton!" his mom says. "Where's Emilia?" The sound of her voice sounds way too familiar to be true. I know it's not her; she's been dead for several years, but his mom's voice sounds almost exactly like my mom's.

"She's uh, in the bathroom," Ashton lies.

I hurry and slide the bra on in just a matter of seconds before looking around for my shirt until I remember that Ashton took it off in the living room. Dammit Ashton. I peek out my bedroom door and Ashton glances quickly over to me and notices my shirtless appearance while I notice one of the pillows on the couch is now placed on his lap. He discretely looks around the living room for my missing top and finds it on the other side of the loveseat and points me in that direction.

"Ashton? What are you doing?" his mom asks.

He brings his attention back to the screen. "Oh, nothing. I was just looking for the remote to turn off the TV so I can hear you better."

"You could just get off your ass and turn it off manually," she jokes.

He chuckles. "True."

I crouch down onto the ground and crawl over to the living room, making sure that I can't be seen on the webcam. Once I get to the side of the loveseat, I grab the balled up shirt on the ground and swiftly pull it over my head. I smooth out my hair as best as I can before standing up and coming over to sit next to Ashton, finally seeing his mother's face on the screen.

"Mum, this is Emilia," he says, introducing me to the beautiful, blue-eyed blonde on the screen. Ashton doesn't look much like his mom except that they share the same smile, but he really looks more like his dad.

She gasps loudly. "You are so much prettier than what Ashton described! It's so nice to finally meet you, Emilia."

"Your voice sounds exactly like my mom's," I blurt out and cover my mouth with my hand as if that's going to do anything. "Sorry! I mean it's nice to meet you too Ms. Irwin." Crap. No. I should have called her by her name. What if I offended her? I can't just straight up call her Anne-Marie; that's rude.

She chuckles just like Ashton, her eyes crinkling at the corners. "Just call me Anne, sweetie," she says.

"Um, okay, Anne." I hesitate saying her name, but I do so anyway with a small smile.

"So I sound like your mom, now do I?" she asks. The familiarity of her voice makes me smile and it is almost unreal how much she does sound like my mom.

I nod. "Almost exactly like her actually. Just with an accent."

"Well, that kind of comes with living down under," she says and I smile. "Ashton has told me a lot about you."

"Good things, I hope?" I chuckle nervously and glance over to Ashton who looks uncomfortable as he keeps shifting around in his seat and adjusting the pillow on his lap—oh. ­Oops.

Anne's voice coming through the speakers brings me back to our conversation. "Nothing but good," she assures. "Also, I hope it's okay, but Ashton did tell me what you have gone through. Nothing specific, but I'm aware of the misfortunes with your parents and that Jason guy."

I don't attempt to correct her; Jason actually sounds like the name of a good guy, and my parents, well, that was years ago and I've had plenty of time to cope with their death. I'm not really bothered by the fact that Ashton mentioned those things to her. It's not like I asked for him to keep it a secret or anything.

I turn to Ash again and he mouths the word 'sorry.' I shake my head at the two of them and smile. "It's alright. I don't mind that he told you. I'm over all of that and have been for a while now."

"That'd good to hear, Emilia." Through the pixilated screen, Anne grins widely for a short moment before her smile drops instantly and she narrows her eyes at me. "I don't mean to pry or anything, but Ashton, is she wearing your clothes?"

My head drops and I forget that I am dressed only in Ashton's clothes. I literally just did laundry a couple hours ago and I could have gotten one of my own shirts instead of crawling on the floor looking for his. Why does logic seem to disappear at the worst moments?

"Yes," he answers. "I let her wear them."

"We didn't do anything, if that's what you're thinking," I add. "I swear I'm a virgin!" It's our first meeting and I'm already digging a hole for myself.

"Emilia, I was just joking!" she says, laughing. "You guys are adults. I can't really stop you from doing what you want to do. Just make sure whenever you do, use protection."

Is today 'Embarrass the hell out of Emilia' day?

"I think that's enough, Mum," Ashton says. "She's already been embarrassed enough for one day."

"I'm sorry, sweetie," she apologizes to me.

"It's fine," I say and she nods and looks over to Ashton.

"Hey, Ash? Can you give me and Emilia a moment to talk alone?"

Is it possible to feel like your heart just stopped for a split second? Because after hearing her request, I just may have died for a short moment. I look to Ash who notices my discomfort and he places his hand on mine that sits on my lap and he curls his lips.

"You'll be fine," he whispers, soft enough that it doesn't pick up on the microphone on his laptop. "Don't keep her for too long," he jokes with his mom before standing up with the pillow still hiding his crotch and moving around the couch before tossing the pillow next to me and scurrying off into my room.

"Emilia, can you make sure Ashton isn't hiding behind a door and eavesdropping?" she asks. "He likes to do that a lot."

"Um, yeah, hold on a second." I walk from the living room and over to my bedroom and swiftly twist the door open, making Ashton yelp from the other side. "So you were eavesdropping," I say. "I guess whatever she wants to talk to me about, she doesn't want you to hear so go do something productive or try to get rid of your little problem down there." I point to the bulge in his jeans.

"Hey, this is your fault," he says, referring to the happy guy in his jeans.

"Well, go fix it while I talk to your mom."

He huffs. "Fine." He walks over towards my bathroom and once he shuts the door behind him, I close my bedroom door and walk back over to the living room where Anne is waiting patiently for me.

"You were right about the eavesdropping thing," I tell her.

"That boy never changes." Anne shakes her head and chuckles. "Don't think that you're in trouble or anything because you're not. I just want to say thank you."

My brows knit together. "For what?"

"It has been a couple years since I've seen Ashton this happy. You know about Natalie, right?" I nod. "Well, after things ended with her, it's like he lived in this bubble and isolated himself from the female species. I honestly believe that he hated all women at one point. As much as I liked Natalie when they were together, what she did was repulsive and I'm glad that things ended between them because if not, he would have never met you.

"When he called me a few months ago to tell me that he met someone, I cried. You were all it took for him to give women another chance. I know that everything started out as a friendship between you two, but by the way he talked about you to me, I knew that it would turn into something bigger and I am so glad it did. I've only talked to you for what? Fifteen minutes? And you are the exact type of person who I can see Ash with. You're humble and modest and real. You're everything Natalie isn't and between you and me, I like you better." She winks and I giggle.

"I don't know what to say," I reply. Even though the video quality on her webcam isn't the best, I can still see the gratitude that shimmers in her light blue eyes. Ash was right. She really does like me. I knew that I had made an impact on Ashton, but I never once thought of how that would affect his mom.

"You don't have to say anything. Just know that I care about you and I am so happy that you've become a part of Ashton's life. I couldn't have asked for a better person for him to be dating."

"So you approve of me?" I ask.

"I have no reason not to," she says honestly.

"Thank you."

"Do you love him? I know he loves you, but he said that you haven't said anything back. I hope I'm not stepping over any boundaries by asking you this."

"No, you're not. But, yes, I do love him." For the first time, the words finally slip off my tongue and I can't believe I said them. I didn't think twice before saying it—it just flowed out.

Anne's smile couldn't get any wider. "Even though I'm on the opposite side of the globe from you, I can tell that you do. Are you going to tell him?"

"Eventually."

"Eventually might be a bit sooner than you think," she says, pointing to something behind me.

I turn around and I expect to see Ashton, but there is no one. He's still in my room. I turn back to face Anne and she is laughing up a storm. "That's not funny," I whine. "You seriously had me scared there for a second." I see where Ashton gets his sense of humor from.

"Sorry, I just had to see your reaction. You're not ready to say it to him just yet and that's okay. At least you know that you do love him. Ashton is very patient and he'll wait forever if he has to until you're able to tell him."

"Thank you, Anne. That really makes me feel better about all of this."

"You're welcome, sweetie. I hate to cut this short—I really want to keep talking to you, but I should probably go. I have to go to work soon and I haven't even gotten ready yet."

"Oh, okay. I understand." I turn my head and yell, "Ashton, your mom has to go! Come say goodbye!"

Since the door doesn't open straight away I take it that he wasn't standing against it to try and hear in on our conversation. When he comes out, he stands behind the loveseat and bends down to where he's in the camera frame.

"Even though you kicked me out, it was nice seeing you again, Mum," he says. "Will you, Harry, and Lauren still be coming down for winter break?"

Anne's face drops and her eyes turn sad. "I'm sorry honey, but we can't afford to come down this year. I really wish we could."

"I understand. I know the flights aren't cheap."

"We'll see each other soon," she says. "I really have to go now. I love you both!"

"Love you, Mum," Ashton replies and I just smile at Anne.

"And don't forget to use protection!" Anne says.

"Goodbye, mother," he groans and leans over and clicks the 'End Call' button.

After a few seconds of silence between us, I finally speak up. "Your mom is really something. I like her."

"I knew you would," he says, swinging his long legs over the couch and plopping down next to me. "So what did you guys talk about?"

"That's a secret."

"Oh, really?"

"Mhm."

"Knowing you, you're not going to tell me anytime soon are you?"

"Nope."

"Fine." He sighs. "So only one more day until the break is over. How should we spend out last day tomorrow?"

"Can we not do anything and just stay here? Just you and me?"

Any alone time that we've had during this break has been interrupted, but since we're at my apartment without anyone to disrupt us, we can just enjoy our time together.

His hazel eyes stare at me intently as the corner of his lips lifts up. "We can do that."

__________

A/N:

Longest chapter yet. It's been a while since I've updated and I hope this chapter was worth the wait. I won't be able to update again until Thanksgiving break which really isn't a break, but more like a 4-day weekend with finals the following week. :/

I'm going to keep this short because I have a lot of school stuff to work on. Thank you guys for continuing to read and enjoy this story. I love you all dearly. Please continue to vote, comment, and share (that includes you, my silent readers!! It's okay if you don't though, I still love you).

Also, please go vote for PYW and POC in the 5SOS Watty Awards: Underdog Edition for Best Plot and Best Ashton Irwin! It would really mean a lot to me. :)

And follow me on tumblr if you'd like. It's basically all 5sos and I plan to post my stories on there as soon as I edit them. It's rdysasi-official :) Ask me stuff, talk to me, and send in your edits and whatnot. I'm always on there because I love to distract myself while studying.

I love you all and that you for your continued support! –Rebecca xoxoxoxoxo