Chapter 6
Friday afternoon was slowly coming to an end – but more importantly it was going even slower for a blonde music store worker who just wished it would go faster. Ashlyn was moving about the place with her gaze always going towards the clock on the wall or the watch that was on her left wrist, praying that it would be the end of her shift already. Ella and Whitney had both noticed her gaze often drifting to the clock from time to time, but they didn’t say anything for the time being, they only said something when the flicker of her gaze started to become more frequent as the afternoon trickled on by.
“You look like you’re about to just rush out of this place as soon as it hits six,” Whitney said with amusement.
Ashlyn quickly turned her gaze from her watch to her best friend and sheepishly smiled. “It just seems like the time is going for forever, I just want work to be over already.” “Why? You finally sick of us?” Ella teased.
Bringing her hand up, the blonde began to nervously rub the back of her neck. “Uh…” she breathed out – apart of her had completely forgotten about telling her roommates slash best friends about her date with Ali, but a major part just kept putting it off because she pretty much had an idea of how they’d react. “No, I have a date…”she said slowly as she eyed them carefully.
Their eyebrows quickly shot up in surprise as they turned their gaze to one another in a knowing look. A smirk danced across both their faces which only made Ashlyn groan at the sight. Ella turned back with a now curious expression. “Oh? And who is the lucky girl this time?”
Ash continued to nervously rub the back of her neck as she ducked her gaze to the floor and shuffled on the spot. “It’s Ali…” she mumbled out quietly.
Ella was sure she heard her best friend say Ali, but she needed her to be clearer. “Who?”
The blonde sighed as she raised her gaze and pursed her lips together while tilting her head to the side a little. She crossed her arms across her chest. “It’s Ali.” She said a little more clearly. “Yes, I finally asked Alex out, so no need to say it.”
Whitney grinned as she raised her eyebrows quickly and then turned to Ella to hold up her hand, in which Ella immediately high-fived the girl. “Only took you about ten years.” Whit chuckled. “More like fifty,” Ella joined in with the teasing.
Ashlyn rolled her eyes as she let out a tiny grunt in frustration. “This is the reason I never told you!”
Ella laughed and quickly made her way over to the blonde, instantly jumping onto her in a hug. “All jokes aside, we are really happy for you, Ashlyn. You and Ali are so adorable,” she reassured her best friend.
Ash quickly wrapped her arms around the shorter girl to keep them steady. “Yeah, yeah…” she whispered out as an involuntary blush spread across her face.
“Blushing are we?” Ella teased as she hopped off Ashlyn and poked her rosy cheeks.
Ashlyn quickly swatted the girl’s hand away and gave her a pointed look. “Stop it,” she rolled her eyes and turned around to head down an aisle to fix up anything that needed to be, just to avoid and ignore the two up front, she could still hear them giggling away.
---
Work was finally over and Ashlyn made sure not to rush out of the place as soon as it hit six – she was getting looks from her two best friends who thought that’s exactly what she was going to do, however, she stayed back to help them close up and couldn’t help the soft laugh that escaped her at the looks she had gotten from them because of it.
The three closed up and quietly made their way to their apartment, Ella would often ‘bump’ into Ashlyn and smirk as the blonde would rub her hands together as a sign of nerves, she would eventually get a glare back in return which only caused her best friend to laugh and tell her to relax.
“’m going to go get ready!” Ashlyn quickly called out as she entered the apartment and darted straight to her bedroom before either of her best friends could say a single thing. Pulling out her phone she quickly sent Ali a text message.
Princess <3
[18:24pm]: Hey, just got home and about to get ready, I’ll come pick you up about 8?
[18:26pm]: Of course! No worries. Can’t wait! Xx
[18:26pm]: Me either
[18:27pm]: Are you going to tell me where we are going yet?
[18:28pm]: Nope, it’s a surprise. ;)
[18:29pm]: But what am I supposed to wear?
[18:30pm]: You could wear anything and still look beautiful, no but seriously, just wear something casual, nothing too fancy, okay?
[18:31pm]: Alright, fine! I will see you soon. ;) xx
[18:31pm] Yep. ;) x
Ashlyn threw her phone onto her bed with a massive smile on her face, turning around she headed towards her closet and opened it just staring into it for a good five minutes, she then began to rummage through it trying to pick out an outfit for her date.
About forty minutes later, she finally walked out of her room and into the lounge room freshly showered and dressed in a dark blue button down short sleeve shirt, rolled up once by the sleeve, black skinny jeans with a red; bowtie, belt, and converse shoes.
Ella was the first to notice her as she turned her head at the presence walking into the room, she quickly smirked and then whistled in appreciation. “Looking good, Ash,” she winked and turned to Whitney who also joined in.
“Yes, looking mighty fine, Ali will surely faint at the sight.”
Ashlyn rolled her eyes slowly as she puffed out some air. “Right, thanks but really shut up,” she shook her head as a faint blush ran across her cheeks.
The other two just turned towards each other and giggled to themselves as they watched their best friend move about the place, grabbing what she needed.
“What’s on the agenda for your date, Ash?” Whitney asked curiously once the giggles had slowed down.
“That’s none of your business,” Ashlyn smirked as she turned her attention back to her friends.
“Nah, come on tell us!” Ella whined.
Ashlyn laughed and shook her head. “Fine, a candlelit picnic at the park.” “That’s so cuteee!” Ella squealed.
“Alright, calm down, I am going now, don’t wait up.”
“Oh, please! That’s all we will be doing, we are going to need details!” Whitney laughed.
All Ashlyn could do was groan as she quickly darted into her room to grab a jacket and her phone. She then made her way back out and towards the door. “Who said I was going to even give you details!” She called out. “Byeeeee!” She continued as she opened the door and began to head out.
“Rude!” The duo called out and all they got in return was laughing from the blonde as she made her way out of the door and closed it.
Ashlyn made her way to her truck and jumped in, started it and began to head towards Ali’s place. The closer she got the more nervous she became and by the time she stopped out the front and turned the car off, she was a wreck, her hands gripped the steering wheel as tightly as she possibly could that her knuckles slowly started to turn white.
Letting out a shallow breath she gave herself a pep talk. “You got this, Ashlyn. It’s just Ali, you’ve known her for years. But also you’ve had a crush on her for just as long, maybe this wasn’t a good idea, what if it’s horrible? What if it ruins the friendship? Ugh! No stop thinking like that she said yes to you, she kissed you back last week, she likes you as well. You got this, now come on!” She finished as she slowly released the grip and got out of the car, she gingerly made her way towards the building, making her way inside, she headed towards Ali’s apartment.
Stopping just inches from the door, she closed her eyes as she drew in a breath and slowly letting it out as she reopened them, raising her hand she let her knuckles rake across the door in a knock.
Her breath stopped in her chest as she heard movement on the other side.
----
Ali was nervously waiting, she had gotten ready with a smile on her face after the texts from
Ashlyn – still unsure as to where they were going, but the blonde was determined not to tell her. As she sat on her couch with the TV just as background noise, she still had half an hour to wait and for her that went as painfully slow as it possibly could have gone.
Finally it got closer and soon enough she heard a knock at her door which made her heart leap out of her chest. Getting up, she grabbed what she needed and made her way to the door to open it.
Once she did, her breath hitched in her throat at the sight of Ashlyn and what she was wearing.
“Hey, Ash,” she smiled sweetly once she got her composure back.
As soon as the door swung open, Ashlyn’s mouth fell open slightly as she stared at Ali, momentarily stunned for the time being. Ali was wearing navy skinny jeans with a plain white shirt, covered with a white washed denim jacket and black boots to finish the look off, it wasn’t too flashy, but Ashlyn could have sworn she was looking at an angel. Ali’s hair was down and curled slightly falling over her shoulders, with a little make up on, but nothing too crazy and it rendered Ashlyn speechless.
Ali giggled at the expression and tried once again to get the blonde’s attention. “Ash?” But Ashlyn was still in her trance and couldn’t respond.
Ali laughed softly this time and shook her head. “Ashlyn!” She quickly said as she raised her hand and snapped her fingers in front of the girl’s face.
This had gotten Ashlyn’s attention and she quickly shook her head out and came back into reality. “Wh- what? Hi… wow…” she stammered out as she shamelessly looked Ali up and down and grinned brightly once she met the brunette’s eyes.
Ali ducked her gaze as a blush crept its way onto her face. “You’re not so bad yourself, Stud,” she winked as she raised her gaze again.
Ashlyn smirked and held out her hand, finally getting her composure back. “Shall we, Princess?”
Ali nodded as she stepped out of her apartment, closed the door and took hold of Ashlyn’s hand to allow her to lead her to the car.
Once settled and the truck rumbled to life, Ash pulled away from the curb and began driving to their destination. Ali stared out the window for a good ten minutes in silence and finally her curiosity once again got the better of her, so she turned to the girl in the driver’s seat.
“Ash?” She whispered softly.
“Yeah?”
“Where are we going?”
Ashlyn laughed softly as she darted her gaze to Ali while grinning and then turned back to the road. “Not telling, it’s a surprise. Trust me you will love it.”
“Fine,” Ali huffed as she turned back to looking out the window as Ashlyn chuckled.
Another fifteen minutes had passed and Ashlyn pulled into a car spot near the park, making sure to park out of sight of the picnic area.
“The park?" Ali asked curiously.
“Close your eyes,” Ashlyn said ignoring Ali’s curious question as she pulled out her phone and quickly tapped out a message to Pinoe.
[20:32pm]: We are here finally, thanks so much for the help! You’re the best, Pin!
“What why?” Ali asked curiously as she eyed the blonde tapping away at her phone.
“Close them! It’s a surprise!”
[20:33pm]: No worries, Lovebird! The pair of you are going to flip when you see what I’ve done with this area.
“I’ve seen the park before, Ashlyn.” The blonde sighed.
[20:33pm]: I owe you.
“Please, Alex? Just close them,” Ashlyn begged a little as she turned to the brunette.
[20:34pm]: Duh! Have fun, babes. ;P I’ll get the goss from Ali tomorrow. Haha Ali huffed again. “Alright, fine!” She finally agreed as she closed her eyes.
Ashlyn smiled in victory and sent one last text to Pinoe.
[20:34pm]: Yeah, yeah!
After getting out, she made her way around to Ali’s side and opened the door, she gently took hold of Ali’s arm and led her out, swinging the door shut behind her as she then led her towards the picnic area.
“Keep them closed, no trying to peek,” Ashlyn said again just to make it clear. “Actually,” she whispered as she moved around and covered her eyes with her hands.
“I wasn’t going to,” she hummed as she felt butterflies fill her stomach at the closeness. “But if you leave me here and ditch me, I swear, I will never forgive you.”
Ashlyn laughed as she shook her head. “I promise…” she trailed off as her eyes widened at the scene in front of her. Damn it, Megan. This is beautiful. “I won’t, Princess. Just a little further,” she quickly let out to cover up her surprise.
They finally came to a stop and Ashlyn slowly removed her hands away. “Don’t open them yet,” she whispered as she moved to stand beside her, so she could see the girl’s complete reaction.
“Okay, you can open them.”
Ali slowly opened her eyes and pretty much had to blink a few times to get her vision correctly.
For a second time that night her breath caught in her throat as her mouth dropped in astonishment.
“Oh my god…” she whispered out. Turning to Ashlyn, she shook her head in disbelief. “Ash.. wha… how?” she mumbled out and then turned back to the scene in front of her which consisted of all kinds of flower petals which filled the gross in a red carpet sort of way towards the picnic blanket, which has some more petals scattered around it. A few pillows and blankets to keep them comfortable and a whole load of candles in glass scattered around the area. But what really got her was the sign; ‘Nothing but the best for my Princess,’ Ali started to tear up a little at how gorgeous it all looked, she focused mainly on the ‘my’ aspect of the sign.
“I kinda had this planned way before I even asked you out and during my break I rushed to your apartment and got everything sorted with Megan, she then helped me put it together after her shift at the café, because I still had work, so basically you can thank her for all of this,” Ashlyn shyly told her as she nervously rubbed the back of her neck. “I mean I could have thought of something a little better I guess,” she mumbled out.
“No wonder she didn’t come straight home, and no, you deserve a thank you as well, because you were the one who thought of this,” Ali chuckled and then turned to Ashlyn without another word, she moved towards her and wrapped her arms around the blonde’s neck, instantly drawing their lips together in a gentle yet passionate kiss. “No, this really is amazing, Ash. Way better than I ever imagined.”
“Nothing but the best for my Princess,” she whispered out against her lips repeating what the cheesy sign had said as she wrapped her arms more securely around the brunette.
Ali grinned into the kiss and then pulled back only a little to look at Ashlyn. “Is this your way of asking me to be your girlfriend?” She giggled.
Ashlyn laughed softly and then turned a little serious for a moment. “Will you be my girlfriend,
Alexandra Blaire Krieger?”
“Absolutely,” Ali responded without hesitation as she pressed her lips against Ashlyn’s again. “I will absolutely be your girlfriend, Ashlyn Michelle Harris,” she mumbled against the girl’s lips.
“Yeah?” Ashlyn asked through a grin.
“Yeah,” Ali whispered as she quickly pecked her now girlfriend’s lips and pulled away. “As nice as it is kissing you, I am a little hungry.”
“Cool… I mean awesome,” Ashlyn laughed softly. “Then let’s eat,” she voiced as she pulled away even more and grabbed Ali’s hand leading her to the blanket to sit down.
Once seated Ashlyn pulled out the food which she had planned earlier on in the day; potato salad, chicken caeser salad, variety of different made up skewers, tiny sandwiches, fruit salad for dessert, and of course some chocolate.
“Wow, Ash… this all looks so amazing,” Ali mumbled as she marvelled over the food.
“Thought you’d like it,’ Ashlyn smirked as she turned to the food and then towards Ali. “Dig in,” she smiled and handed the brunette a plate.
The next couple of hours they sat around eating and chatting about their day, work and just whatever other topic that came to mind, one including Ella liking Erin in which Ashlyn really shouldn’t have started but she trusted Ali not to say anything.
After they finished chatting and it got a little bit chillier as the night continued to roll on by, Ashlyn decided it’d be best to clean up and head off – but not before groaning at the mess they had to pick up.
“God, why did I decide the flower petals,” she grumbled as she slowly began to pick them up in handfuls and putting them into a bag.
“Because it was a cute idea,” Ali grinned as she began packing away the leftovers into the picnic basket.
“I’m glad you enjoyed it,” Ashlyn smiled.
Once they finished cleaning up, they made their way back to Ashlyn’s car, the blonde made sure to open Ali’s door for her and then made her way around to her side to get in. She started the car and began driving off to Ali’s apartment.
Parking the truck, Ashlyn quickly jumped out and made her way around to let Ali out.
“Let me walk you to your door,” Ashlyn grinned
Ali blushed lightly and nodded. “Sure,” she mumbled.
When they reached Ali’s apartment, the brunette quickly turned her attention the Ashlyn.
“Thanks for the perfect date, Ash. I loved it,” she grinned.
“Anything for you,” Ashlyn returned the grin and then moved forward to wrap her arms around Ali to draw her closer, she then leaned in to press her lips firmly against Ali’s.
Ali in return wrapped her arms around the blonde’s neck to draw her closer and in response Ashlyn’s arms tightened around her waist.
After a moment, they pulled away slightly panting.
“I’ll talk to you tomorrow?” Ali asked pecking the girl’s lips.
“Mhm,” Ash hummed and kissed her quickly in return.
“Perfect,” Ali smiled and kissed her one last time before pulling away. “Goodnight, Baby.” Ashlyn instantly grinned at the pet name. “Goodnight, Princess.”
Ali smiled while she slowly backed up to her door to open it and then slipped inside while blowing a kiss to Ashlyn. Closing the door she leaned back against it with a massive grin and closed her eyes.
At the same time Ashlyn blew a kiss back and moved forward to the closed door, leaning her head against it.
“Finally,” they both whispered out quietly to themselves at the fact they were finally together. Ali pushed away from the door and slowly made her way towards her room as Ashlyn pulled away and began walking out of the apartment building, both of them had a massive smile on their face.
---
One Month Later
Over the last month, Ashlyn had informed Whitney and Ella that her and Ali had made it official the same night that they did – only because the duo were waiting up for her and wanted the details the second she walked through the door, she knew for sure that she wasn’t going to be allowed to go to bed until she had spilled it, they of course were completely happy for their best friend and also teased her a little each day like they always did, this time they could tease her for finally having the girl of her dreams as her partner. Ali had informed Pinoe and Lori the exact same way, so no one was out of the loop.
The Americans and Canadians hung out pretty much every day, growing closer to the point where it felt like they had known each other for years. Ella in fact grew closer to Carm and spent more time hanging out with her than her own roommates slash best friends, they joked around and learnt more about one another, which in turn slowly brought her thoughts back down to earth and away from Erin – however that didn’t mean she stopped thinking about the older woman altogether, it just helped her manage her thoughts so she wasn’t as freaked out as she had been,
Carm had also helped Ella with her new discovery of liking her best friend, she learnt more about Erin from Carm than she did from Erin and it made her fall for the singing Canadian just that little bit more. She was incredibly thankful to have met the curly haired girl. This though didn’t have a positive effect on Erin as her own thoughts got the better of her and slowly started to think that maybe something was going on between her best friend and the girl she fancied, but she kept that to pain to herself as she didn’t want to ruin her best friends chances of finding love, if that’s how it was going to go.
---
Ashlyn, Ella, and Whitney were sitting in their lounge room on an early Friday evening watching a movie when Ashlyn started to shift uncomfortable in her sitting position, she let out a sigh and turned towards the other two, seeing their gazes glued to the screen.
“Guys?” She asked but they didn’t respond. “Guys, I’m bored, let’s go do something,” Ashlyn whined.
The whiny voice had caught their attention as they both turned the attention to the blonde.
“And what did you have in mind?” Whitney asked curiously.
“Bowling and the arcade?” Ashlyn grinned.
“HELL YES!” Ella quickly responded as she jumped out of her seat and high-fived the blonde.
Whitney laughed and shook her head. “You two are such children sometimes.” “But you love us,” Ella responded and poked out her tongue.
“Yeah and you’re both lucky.”
Ashlyn laughed softly and nodded. “So, I am going to check with Alex and the crew to see if they want to come as well,” Ash announced and then turned to Ella. “Do you want to check with the
Canadian's to see if they want to come?”
“Uh, yeah, sure,” she agreed as she moved to grab her phone off the coffee table.
Ashlyn texted Ali and got a response about six minutes later saying that they would love to go. Ella did the same, only she texted Carm which took a good twelve or so minutes before she got a reply, saying that they were also in.
After texting them the place and time to meet, the three rushed off to get ready quickly and then returned into the lounge room once done. When all three were back and had everything needed, they padded their way out of their apartment and filed into Ashlyn’s car, they all had a car to themselves, but Ashlyn was always determined to drive them around, so it made sense that her baby would be the go to transportation.
They arrived at the bowling and arcade complex car park and Ashlyn pulled into an empty space.
Turning the car off, the trio got out and made their way inside to wait for the others as they noticed they were the first ones there.
---
Ali was surfing the web in her room when her phone buzzed, quickly she darted her eyes to the phone sitting on the bed next to her and smiled softly when saw her girlfriend's name across the lit up screen. Reaching over, she read the message and smiled just that little bit bigger, placing her laptop to the side, she swung her legs over the side of the bed and got up to make her way into the lounge room where Lori and Pinoe were snuggled up watching a movie. She walked all the way into the room with a grin on her face.
Megan was the first to notice her and she quirked an eyebrow up curiously. “What’s got you grinning?” She asked which caught Lori’s attention and she herself turned to see Ali.
“Ashlyn—“ she began and was instantly cut off by Pinoe.
“Should have known!”
Ali rolled her eyes while shaking her head. “Wants to know if we want to go bowling and then hit the arcade afterwards.”
“Duh, course we do!” Pinoe immediately responded as she leaned over and grabbed Lori in a playful headlock while ruffling her hair. “Don’t we!?”
Lori laughed as she pushed her best friend away. “Yeah, I am in,” she nodded.
Ali laughed at the both of them and then brought her phone up to send Ashlyn a text back saying they would love to go. Shortly after she received another text giving them the details of where and when they would meet up. Ali informed the duo on the couch with a smile and headed to her room to get ready
Once ready, they decided to let Megan drive this time as they were walking out of their apartment building towards the car and got in.
Arriving at the complex, Pinoe pulled into a vacant car space and turned the car off. “This is going to be a hella fun night!” She grinned as she reached for the handle to open the door to get out.
Lori and Ali just chuckled lightly and followed her out of the car and into the building.
The brunette’s eyes instantly landed on her girlfriend and a massive grin broke out on her face in which she couldn’t help at all. “Hey, Baby,” Ali let out as soon as she was close enough and immediately wrapped her arms around Ashlyn’s neck to pull her into a kiss.
“Uh, guys, gross! Can you like not!” Pinoe teased. “Yo, my people!” She then let out towards Ella and Whitney. They greeted the girl in return and moved on to saying hello to Lori.
Ali giggled against Ashlyn’s lips and pulled away slowly, she turned towards Pinoe and poked her tongue out the exact same time Ashlyn responded.
“You’re just jealous,” she then turned her attention back to Ali. “Hey, Princess.” “You wish,” Pinoe rolled her eyes playfully.
“Alright, we are just waiting for the Canadian’s now,” Ash informed them while wrapping an arm around her girl.
----
A message tone had gone off throughout the apartment in which Carm recognised as her own while in the kitchen pouring herself a drink, placing the juice bottle on the counter, she hurried into the lounge room to grab her phone and read the message, a smile tugging its way onto her face.
Carm made her way to Kaylyn’s room first to ask if she wanted to join and got an instant reply saying yes. She then headed towards Erin’s room and knocked on the door, however there wasn’t a response, so she reached for the door handle and inched open the door wide enough for her to stick her head in to see Erin sitting on her bed with her laptop and headphones in clearly listening to music.
“Erin!” Carm spoke loudly as she pushed her way into the room, the girl still didn’t respond or even notice her. Rolling her eyes, she sighed softly and continued walking over to the bed. “Erin? Buddy!” She said again, this time waving her hand in front of her face instantly getting the girl’s attention.
Quickly yanking her headphones off, she looked at Carm curiously. “Hey?” “Welcome back to planet Earth, Buddy,” Carm teased.
“Shut up,” Erin rolled her eyes. “Can I help you?”
Carm grinned. “Ella wants to know if we want to go bowling with everyone. Did you want to come?”
At the mention of Ella’s name, Erin’s heart involuntary sped up inside her chest. “Yeah, sure, why not,” she let out calmly.
"Alright, cool! Will go ask the others and then let you know the details once I know.” “Alright, Buddy,” Erin smiled as she watched Carm leave the room.
Carm left and made her way to the apartment next door to them and knocked twice before entering. “Who wants to go bowling!?” She called out almost immediately after she walked in.
“Sure, sounds fun!” Emily replied just as Carm was walking into the lounge room where they were all situated.
“Sweet! Will let Ella know we are in,” she smiled and pulled her phone out of her pocket to quickly send the American a text saying they were in.
A couple minutes went by when she finally received another text informing her of the details. She told Emily, Sophie and KK the plans and then made her way back to her own apartment to let Kaylyn and Erin know of what’s going on.
Once ready, they all made their way to where they were meeting the others.
---
“Ah, there they are!” Pinoe let out as she saw the Canadians walk into the building. “’bout time!” She called over to them teasingly.
Carm rolled her eyes. “You be quiet!”
Everyone began greeting each other and the curly haired girl made her way to Ella after saying hey to everybody else. “Hey, Buddy,” She grinned instantly pulling her into a hug.
“Hey, Carm!” Ella grinned back as she wrapped her arms around the taller girl.
Erin had followed Carm’s every step as soon as she began moving towards Ella and as soon as they hugged a funny feeling filled in the pit of her stomach again as she let out a shaky breath and lowered her gaze, she had definitely come accustomed to what was happening by now and she knew for sure that she was jealous.
“Alright let’s figure out the teams!” Megan’s voice called around them and they all shot their gaze into her direction as they moved in closer, Carm left her arm around Ella as the other girl did the same – much to Erin’s dismay. “Alright so how about three Americans and three Canadians to a team?”
Everyone hummed in agreement so Pinoe continued. “Mm, kay… how about Carm, KK, Sophie, Ella, Ali, and…” she trailed off looking at Ashlyn who rolled her eyes. “Ashlyn,” she smirked as the blonde now scoffed lightly and shook her head. “Verses; Kaylyn, Erin, Emily, Whit, Lori and myself?”
“Sounds good to me!” Ella quickly chimed in before anyone else could and they all followed in agreeing with the teams.
Erin however frowned slightly when she realized she wasn’t on the same team as Ella, but she quickly turned the frown into a grin to not draw attention, she knew Ella liked her, but she also knew this was all new to her, so things were definitely going to move slow and she seriously couldn’t help her thoughts from straying to the idea of Carm and Ella dating.
“Let’s get sorted then!” Ashlyn’s voice sounded this time and then she began to head to the main counter to get two lanes and their bowling shoes.
After getting the shoes sorted, they worked their way to the two lanes near the far left hand side grabbing a few bowling balls in the process and placing them on the ball return.
“Are we going to have a competition?” Lori asked.
“Oh, yeah! Losing team buys the food and arcade tokens,” Pinoe quickly chimed in with a smirk.
“You’re on,” Ashlyn smirked back as she rose both of her eyebrows and lowered them just as quickly.
The game began and they all got into it, cheering on their fellow teammates and encouraging them when they didn’t have a good round, it allowed them to keep their spirits high for when it was their turn to bowl again.
The game was a close one and now they were on the second last round, Pinoe’s team was in the lead by just a couple points and it was Carm’s turn to bowl.
“Come on, Carm. You got this!” Ella cheered her on as she readied herself to fling the ball down the lane.
“Yeah, let’s go Carm!” KK cheered happily.
Carm turned around and grinned at her team one last time before she began to inch closer to the line and swung her hand back to slide the ball down the lane, she stood up straight a few second after letting it go and just watched as it edged its way to the pins.
Closer…
Closer… it felt like it was going in slow motion.
Then the shattering of the pins dropping echoed throughout the place and a cheerful scream followed.
“YOU GOT A STRIKE, CARM! WOOO!” Ella yelled as she jumped off her seat and rushed over to the curly haired girl, instantly jumping onto her in excitement. “Boom! We got this now! Hell yeah!” Ella grinned again as she moved away from Carm.
Erin’s attention was pretty much always focused on the other side‘s team, jealously continued to fill her body with each lingering look, each high-five, and each hug that was shared between the two and although she tried to deny it, she envied how close Carm has gotten to the music store worker in such little time.
“Don’t mess this up, Megan!” Lori teased as she needed at least a spare to still be in the lead.
Pinoe rolled her eyes as she took her spot getting ready to bowl, she moved forward and lunged it down the alley way, following it’s every move. “Fucking hell!” She groaned as the pins fell – all but two.
“Hah! 7-10 split!" Ashlyn called out in a teasing manner.
“Shut up!” Pinoe rolled her eyes again as she grabbed another bowling ball and flung it down the alley hitting only one pin. She huffed and made her way back to the seats to sit down.
“It’s okay, Pin!” Lori comforted her.
The game went into their final round and Ashlyn’s team ended up winning.
“YES!” Ashlyn yelled loudly as soon as the last pin fell down. “SUCKAS!” She grinned to the other team who were a little less than pleased.
“Yeah, yeah… shut up, Ash.”
“WINNERS!” Ella scream towards Carm and once again wrapped her in a hug, she lingered a second longer than Erin liked and the girl had to look away. As soon as they all returned their shoes and the bowling balls, Ella's voice sounded around them again. “Let’s go play some arcade games! Dibs on air hockey, who wants to join me?” She rushed out as she moved away from Carm and began heading towards the arcade area.
“Oh, you are definitely on!” Whitney called out as she followed the ball of energy towards the area, stopping to get tokens along the way however.
Mostly everyone else laughed as they followed not long after, Carm however noticed Erin lagging behind and then headed towards a vacant table to just sit down. Frowning she made her way over and slipped into the seat next to her.
“Are you alright?” She asked softly after a beat of silence.
Erin let out a small breath that Carm instantly picked up on as being not fine. “Of course, why wouldn't I be?” She let out anyway hoping her best friend would let it go, but she knew Carm better than that.
“Erin, Buddy… I know you and you definitely don’t sound alright, what's wrong?”
“It’s stupid, don’t worry.”
“Erin…”
The girl sighed again. “Fine, I guess I am jealous,” she mumbled out as she raised her hand to the back of her neck and rubbed it anxiously.
Carm’s eyes widened slightly for a moment and then she squinted them a little confused at her best friend’s confession. “Jealous of what?”
“Of you and Ella, I guess…” she mumbled again still trying her best to get out of this conversation.
“What!?” Carm instantly said the second Erin finished talking. “What? Why are you jealous?”
“I…” Erin let out a long breath. “Because she hangs out with you more.”
It finally dawned on Carm what she meant and she laughed immediately causing Erin to look at her weirdly.
“Bud, you’re an idiot, there is nothing to be jealous about.” “I can’t help how I feel whenever I see you two together!
‘Erin, I really shouldn’t but I am going to tell you this because I love you and don’t want you to be upset anymore. Every time Ella and I hang out, she mainly talks about you.” “Me?” Erin looked at her friend like she had two heads.
“She likes you Erin, she’s just trying to wrap her head around all of this because she isn’t used to being attracted to girls.”
“You’re helping her?”
“For the better, yeah. Just give her time, alright?”
“Got it,” Erin smiled feeling a little better about all of this now that she knew she still had somewhat of a chance with Ella.
“Good, now are you coming to play some games?”
“Nah, not at the moment, just going to sit here for a moment. I will come later,”
“Suit yourself,” Carm shrugged as she slid out of the chair and headed towards the others.
Erin smiled and watched as she got closer to the group surrounding the air hockey table, but it fell a little as Ella pulled Carm into a side hug while turning to give her a massive grin. She quickly turned her gaze away as she noticed Ella begin to turn her head in her direction and fought the urge to look back up. “Don’t do it, Erin,” she whispered to herself as she squeezed her eye shut to try and not raise her gaze back over to them. Bringing her hands up to her face, she rubbed her eyes and sighed not even aware of a body sliding into the seat next to her.
“Hey,” a soft whisper came from beside her and she quickly shot her gaze in its direction.
“Eh… hey,” Erin mumbled softly as she felt the nerves build inside her and she mentally told herself to calm down.
“Are you alright?” Ella asked in concern.
“Yeah, I am fine,’ Erin replied as calmly as she possibly could.
Ella was a little unconvinced but she left it anyway. “Okay, then why are you over here and not over where the fun is?”
Erin shrugged. “Just having a little breather.”
“Nah, come on, Erin,” Ella bumped her shoulder against the older girl’s. “Come have some fun!” She continued. “Pleeeeaseee!” She begged.
“Oh my god, fine!” Erin finally gave in, she was going to give in the second Ella asked her but the begging was just too adorable to not hear.
“Yes,” Ella raised her hand in victory and then got up off the seat, she instantly took a hold of the older girl’s hand once she was standing.
As soon as the American grabbed her hand, a tingle had ran across her hand and up her arm slowly which caused her heart to beat just a fraction more than it was already racing. And somehow she knew Ella felt it too because she stopped her attempt to lead her to where the rest of the gang was for a split second and that made a smile tug at the side of her lips.
Ella’s heart raced inside her chest at the feeling that ran up her own arm as their hands touched and it made her step falter for a moment as a blush crept up her neck. She snapped out of it after a moment and continued to lead Erin towards the arcade.
“Ahh, finally, Erin!” Kaylyn teased as her gaze lowered to their joint hands and a smirk formed on her face as she looked back up to her best friend, she raised her eyebrows knowingly and earned the well-known glare from Erin – teasing her was way too easy.
“You, shut up!” Erin quickly back fired and rolled her eyes.
“Love you too,” Kaylyn grinned as she winked and turned back to the competition going on between Ashlyn and Whitney on the air hockey table.
For the next hour they were moving about the arcade playing the different games. Ella instead of hanging out with Carm like she usually would, actually spent the rest of their time hanging with Erin and one scene in particular had actually caught the curly haired girl’s attention completely and she couldn’t help but smile brightly.
It was when Ella had dragged Erin over to the double shootout basketball game, they were both playing fairly for the first couple of shots until Erin decided it would be good idea to mess with Ella a bit. Just as the younger girl was about to take her shot, Erin wrapped her hands around the girl’s waist, causing her to squeal and miss the basket completely.
“Erin!” She yelped. “That’s cheating!”
“No, it isn’t!” Erin laughed as she moved back after the American playfully swatted at her arm and she raised her hands in the air.
“It is too!” She pouted and then couldn’t help the massive laugh that took over and her whole face lit up because of it.
Can she be any cuter? Erin stared at her for a moment and then quickly shook her head once she realized. “Alright, fine…" she began as she moved forward and wrapped Ella in a hug in which the shorter girl returned immediately.
God, how can it feel so perfect being in her arms? Ella thought as she clung to her, getting lost in the moment.
“I’ll tell you what…” Erin finally said once she got her motor skills working again and she pulled back slightly. “How about I let you have my turn to make it up to you?” “Yes! I mean it’s the least you could do,” Ella bantered.
“Shut up and take the shot,” Erin laughed lightly.
---
Once everyone had had enough of the arcade, they moved back into the lobby of the building and decided what to do next.
“Who wants to go out for drinks? The night is still young!” They all pretty much agreed to going out.
“Nah, I’m a little tired to be honest, I will just catch a cab home,” Ella responded once everyone was quiet.
Erin quickly turned her head into her direction. “I can take you home?” She immediately let out before anyone else could even process what Ella had said. A knowing smirk fell on practically everyone’s faces at that suggestion.
“You don’t have too, you said you wanted to go out,” Ella blushed a little.
“I know, but I want too. I don’t know how I feel about you catching a cab by yourself,” she let out normally without much thought to it.
Ella, however, bit her lip as the blush deepened and ran up her neck. “Uh… I… okay.. I mean if you want… that is,” she mumbled nervously.
“Definitely,” Erin grinned and looked up to Carm and Kaylyn. “If that’s alright with you two?” “Yeah! I am sure we can fit into Em’s car, it’ll be fine, don’t worry,” Carm smirked.
“Alright, then we will see you all later, have fun!” Erin replied as she took hold of Ella’s hand automatically and began to lead her out after she mumbled a nervous goodbye.
---
Erin led Ella to her car, unlocking the door, she opened it for Ella and smirked as she saw the blush fill the younger girl’s face because of it, after Ella was in, she closed it after her and made her way around to get into the driver’s seat. She started the car and pulled out of the car space to begin heading out of the car park to make her way to Ella’s apartment, where she had only been a couple of times, but knew off by heart with how to get to it.
Five minutes later Erin began to sing along with the radio and Ella slowly turned her head to watch her as a soft smile took over her face. The Canadian was too busy in her own world to realize that the girl was staring until near the end of the song when she finally turned her head to see Ella already looking at her.
“What?” She let out softly.
Shaking her head quickly, she brought her hand up to her mouth a coughed nervously. “Nonothing, you just have a really gorgeous voice. I, uh… I really love hearing you sing,” she nervously let out.
Erin grinned. “Well, I’m performing at this bar next Friday night if you would like to come?”
Ella bit her lower lip to stop a smile from forming on her face as she ducked her gaze and slowly nodded. “I’d love too.”
“I will send you the details later and you can bring whoever you like.”
“Great.”
The car went back to semi-silence again for the rest of the trip back to the American’s apartment, the only noise coming from the radio and Erin occasionally singing with it.
Pulling into a car spot, Erin turned off the car and turned to Ella, she opened her mouth to say something but the other girl already beat her to it.
“Do you want to come up and watch a movie?” She said almost too quickly and confidently that it surprised her completely.
“Sure,” Erin softly replied, a little surprised herself.
“Awesome.”
“Wait!” She rapidly let out as she saw Ella reach for the door handle.
Ella’s eyes widened a little as she looked back to Erin with a questioning look.
“One second,” she rushed out and reached for her own handle, she opened it and ran around to Ella’s and quickly swung it open. “After you,” she smiled as she used her hand to motion around her.
“Oh…” Ella blushed deeply as she realized what Erin was doing, she got out of the car and mumbled a thanks or at least she hope she did.
Erin locked the car up and made her way back to Ella, holding out her hand.
Ella took hold of it with a shy grin. “I could get used to this,” she spoke without really thinking and then blushed again.
“You really are adorable,” Erin admitted.
“Oh... I…uh… well… yeah, thanks.” She muttered out shyly.
The Canadian chuckled and then began to lead her into the building, she had never actually been in with all the time they had hung out, she mainly just picked and dropped Ella off out the front when they all hung out, or met her somewhere. “Where’s your key?” She asked tilting her head to look at Ella.
Reaching into her pocket, she pulled out a set of keys, found the apartment one and handed it to Erin who took it. Ella then led her to her apartment and stopped by the door, allowing the older woman to unlock it and then entered the place, she didn’t once stop as she took Erin straight to her room, even though the Canadian was eyeing the place as best she could.
“And this is my room,” she let out awkwardly as they stopped by the foot of the queen sized bed.
“I would surely hope you would have taken me into your room and not Ashlyn’s or Whitney’s,” Erin laughed.
Ella laughed awkwardly with her. “Of course,” she pressed her lips together embarrassed.
Erin smiled softly as she turned her gaze to look around the room, her eyes instant fell onto the girl’s desk and a childlike drawing that was framed. “Okay, what is this!?” She let out amused as she walked over to it and picked it up.
Ella followed and tilted her head to look at it. She laughed in embarrassment as her face flushed red. “Hey now! I painted that when I was five! It was meant to be my family and they were all proud of it and loved it. So I keep it as a memory.” “Aw, that’s cute,” Erin chuckled.
Ella rolled her eyes and shook her head as she began to reach for the painting, however Erin moved it out of her reach. “Erin give it!” Ella quickly said as she continued to move towards her while trying to get it.
“No, I want to look at it some more!” Erin laughed.
They were both laughing as Ella continued to try and get the picture from her and Erin continued to move it away. They had gotten extremely close by the time Ella finally got a grip on the painting and she grinned in success as she looked up at Erin, noticing how close they actually were. Neither of them had the intention of moving as they continued to stare at each other.
The American bit her lip as she just stared mesmerized by the Canadian and the only thoughts running through her mind was a part of her telling herself to just kiss her, but another part of her was still scared shitless.
Just do it, Ella… “Erin…” she breathed out quietly and was unsure if she actually used her vocal cords or not. Should I kiss her…? I don’t know. Shit.
“Yeah?” Erin smiled softly and that smile was all Ella needed as a confirmation to slowly begin to lean towards her. Fuck, what is she doing!? Shit… Erin’s heart was pumping even more that she could have sworn it was going to escape her chest at any moment as she saw Ella leaning forward.
She began to lean in as well.
It’s now or never… Ella’s final thought’s raced through her mind as she closed the distance between them and softly pressed her lips against the Canadians. Holy shit… is the only thing she could manage to think as an instant spark ran throughout her body, her lips already tingling.
Holy fuck, she’s kissing me! Erin’s whole body exploded with joy. She’s actually kissing me… she thought again more as a confirmation as she slowly began to move her lips against Ella’s.
Shit, I am actually kissing her… Ella thought as she began to panic when she thought Erin wasn’t going to kiss her back, but when the other girl’s lips moved against her own, butterflies formed in her stomach even more. Damn… she’s a good kisser.
Erin slowly began to snake her arms around Ella while pulling her closer as she deepened the kiss
a little.
Ella in return slowly moved her arms around Erin’s neck as she stepped closer into her until their bodies were flush against one another, she didn’t really take much notice of this because she was too focused on how amazing it felt kissing the Canadian.
They only broke apart when Erin slowed the kiss down and pulled away to gently press her forehead against Ella’s. Both of them kept their eyes closed for about a whole minute, it was Erin who was first to open her eyes, kind of afraid that what just happened was a dream, but when she saw Ella in her arms still, she grinned massively.
“Holy shit…” Ella whispered out without opening her eyes.
Erin chuckled lightly. “Is that a good holy shit?”
Grinning, Ella slowly pulled back to look at her. “Most definitely,” she confirmed shyly.
“Then yeah… holy shit.”
Ella giggled as she buried her head into Erin’s neck not sure of what to say or even do anymore.
Erin held her tightly for brief moment. “So, that movie?” She asked changing the subject because she knew that Ella was still extremely nervous about all of this.
The American stayed quite for a second and then pulled back. “Right, the movie,” she grinned and pulled away from her. “We should get changed first. I have a pair of sweats and a shirt you can borrow, if you want?”
“That’d be great,” Erin smiled sweetly at her.
“Okay,” Ella mumbled as she moved away completely from her and went to her closet, pulling out some sweats and shirt for Erin, she turned around. “Here, you can use the bathroom,” she nodded to the open door and threw the clothes to the woman.
Erin caught the clothes and nodded her head in confirmation. “Got it,” she smiled as she made her way into the room and closed the door behind her.
Ella smiled and immediately turned back around to get her own clothes to change into.
By the time Erin left the bathroom, Ella was dressed and getting the laptop ready for them to watch a movie.
“What do you want to watch?” She asked when she noticed Erin walking towards her.
"I don't know... you can pick."
“How about Divergent?”
“Yeah, I have been meaning to watch that, just keep forgetting!”
“Perfect,” Ella smiled as she got the movie ready on the laptop, then turned to switch her lamp on before making her way over to turn her light off. “Do you want a drink?”
“Eh, just a bottle of water.”
“Alright, I will be right back, make yourself comfortable.”
“Got it.”
Ella smiled and quickly made her way out of the room and into the kitchen to get two bottles of water. She returned a few minutes later and handed one to Erin and then moved around the bed to hop onto it. She placed the laptop between them and confidently moved Erin’s arm around her as she snuggled in close.
Erin grinned and shifted a little bit to get comfortable as Ella reached out to press play on the movie.