𝚙𝚎𝚊𝚌𝚎 ~ 𝚛𝚎𝚍𝚕𝚢𝚗 𝚊𝚞

𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚜𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚗: 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚐𝚛𝚊𝚖𝚖𝚢𝚜

Ashlyn was not thriving. She barely got through a day without crying. Sometimes she broke down in front of Big Red, but she generally pinned it on "having a bad day."

She did have some excitement though, because the Grammys were coming up. She had no expectation to win, but was excited to attend nonetheless. It was the Grammys, and she had never imagined attending, let alone being nominated.

The event came quickly. As promised, she went with Big Red. It was a fun experience for both of them, even if they wanted to be holding hands the whole time. They held back from affection, acting as if they were friends, until they were seated.

"Good luck Ash." Big Red smiled.

"Thanks." She smiled back. Under the table, she slowly found his hand. She gave it a squeeze, looking over at him. He squeezed it a few times.

"You've got this."

"Eh..."

"Or you don't."

"You don't say." She laughed.

"But even if you don't, this is still amazing."

"I know. I really know. This is all surreal."

"Yeah." He agreed. He scooted a little closer to her. "I love you Ashlyn." He whispered.

"I love you baby." She smiled at him. "We can, you know, be a bit more intimate later."

"Great."

"Great." She agreed.

Soon after, the ceremony began. Award after award was announced. Soon enough, Ashlyn's hand was turning white as she gripped onto Big Red's hand. She took a deep breath.

The nominees for song of the year were called out. Ashlyn felt like she wasn't even really there, so the look on her face when her name was called out, as the winner, was priceless (Big Red could vouch, but everything about her was priceless to him).

Her speech was heartfelt, which was proved by the tears streaming down her face. She did mentioned Big Red, but nothing about them dating. He was listed with friends and family, in attempt to be seen as nothing more.

She hurried off the stage when her time was up. She wrapped Big Red in a hug, which looked platonic enough even though thoughts of keeping their relationship secret was the furthest thing on her mind. She cried into his shoulder for quite some time.

"Ashlyn Caswell, one time Grammy winner." He whispered, which made her cry even harder. The smile on her face was the only way it was possible to tell she was happy.

"I can't believe it."

"Believe it, baby." He hugged her tighter. "I love you." He said quietly, ignoring the other categories being announced.

"I love you." She replied. "And I really couldn't do this without you. I mean... that song was literally about us."

"Yeah, I'm a little biased about how much I love it." He grinned. She laughed, pulling herself together as she pulled away from their hug. She wiped her eyes. "I'm so proud of you."

"Thanks." She smiled. She tried to focus on the rest of the ceremony, but her excitement made it hard. It did stop her from being bored, though, and before she knew it she was home.

"Ash, have I mentioned how beautiful you were tonight?" Big Red asked, lying in bed as he watched Ashlyn finish getting ready to go to bed.

"Only about a hundred times."

"And I'm not gonna stop."

"Alright." She giggled.

"Or how proud I am? You won a Grammy."

"I still can't believe it."

"And, also, how grateful I am that out of every person in the world I have you?"

"Uh, not mentioned today, but mentioned a good twelve thousand times in the last." She teased, finally lying down. He wrapped his arms around her waist.

"Really?"

"Mhm." She giggled.

"Huh. Not enough." He showered her neck with gentle kisses.

"Tonight was the best night ever."

"I'm glad."

"I'm glad you came." She added. "There's no one else's shoulder I'd rather unattractively sob onto."

"Aww, that's so sweet Ash." He replied, only partially as a joke, because he knew it was genuinely true.

"Dork."

"I'm not the one who writes songs about you."

"Shut up!" She giggled.

"It's endearing, but it's dorky."

"So I love my boyfriend, and?"

"Hm... and he loves you." He kissed her cheek. "You tired?"

"Yeah, it's been a long day. Like, pretty hyper from excitement... but yeah, I'm really tired."

"Mkay. Goodnight love."

"Night." Ashlyn replied. This concluded the best night of Ashlyn's life to date. Better nights were in the future, but so were worse nights.