Unbreakable

Chapter Thirty

June's POV

"No way!" I say surprised, hitting his arm softly.

"I'm not kidding. Declan used to be this fat kid with glasses. He was such a dork!" Ash replies, laughing light-heartedly as he takes another sip of his wine.

This is our third dinner together, and I'm starting to feel more and more comfortable. Aliana and I have become good friends, and it feels so right, but I'm still not completely sure why. And of course, since I'm friends with Ali, I'm friends with Declan as well. He's quiet and a good listener, which is why I've started telling him about what happened in the Pit. He doesn't judge or feel obligated to say anything, he just listens and then hugs me then we go back to whatever it was that we were doing.

My relationship with Ashton is more confusing. I've been sleeping in his bed on occasion when my nightmares of at their worst, but other than that, we've been keeping our distance. I'm not sure if I'm sad or relieved that we aren't as close. I know he feels something for me, but I don't feel it back and I don't want to hurt him.

"Kitten?" Ash's voice pulls me out of my reverie and blink a couple times at him. He just sighs under his breath and repeats, "I just asked if you wanted dessert."

"Of course!" I exclaim, too excitedly.

He chuckles. "What would you like?"

"Oh, come on," I tilt my head and raise my eyebrows at him. "You know what I like."

"One scoop vanilla and one scoop raspberry ice cream it is then." He turns to the waiter and orders the ice cream for me and a blueberry cheescake for himself. "You are too predictable, Kitten. Why not try something else?"

"Predictable isn't a bad thing. It's yummy, reliable and completely safe," I say matter of factly, lifting my chin a little in exaggeration.

He raises his hands in defense and just nods. "Fine, fine. I can totally see that."

-~-

After dinner we walk back to HQ since we didn't have dinner too far away. It's a chilly night and the wind bites through my thin sweater. I wrap my arms around my self and try to warm up.

"Cold?" Ash says looking over at me. I'm too cold to talk so I just nod. He immediately takes of his suit jacket and places it over my shoulders. It feel cosy and comfortable. "There you go."

"Thank you," I say, teeth chattering.

We walk a little further and then I just feel an urge to hold onto him, so I do. I scoot a little closer to him and then link my arm around his. He looks down at me surprised and then smiles. He looks forward again and just keeps walking. The silence isn't awkward, it's peaceful.

A few more minutes and we're standing by the elevator, waiting for it to come down. My hands are still holding onto his arms, but we aren't saying anything.

"June," he says softly, breaking the slience. He turns his head and looks down into my wide eyes.

"Yeah?" I whisper back.

"I really enjoyed tonight."

"I did too, Ash. Thank you."

"Anything for you, baby," he breathes. And then his head dips down so his lips are right in front of mine. His breath fans my face gently. He reaches up to caress my cheek and I flinch. He notices and stops immediately and pulls away. "Sorry."

"No. I'm sorry," I say pulling my hands away from him. Thankfully we're spared inevitable awkwardness when the elevator dings signalling its arrival. But the moment of relief is brief because whatever comfortable, peaceful atmosphere we had about us is gone and replaced with painful silence.