As a fan of O4U, Ash wakes up each day happy. Her hobbies including collecting photocards and joining concerts. She was happy as she possibly could be. Until her aunt wanted her back home. Temporarily.
Being raised with your Aunt's large family, was...
Were they about to kiss? Was she leaning in? Did Ash want to kiss him?
Although he looked calm and collected outside, his mind was spiraling - his thoughts all around the place. He knew that he couldn't go after what his heart wanted - after all, being a famous singer, things hadn't been easy for them and he wasn't about to risk everything they'd done just for one girl.
They arrived at the supermarket. It was quiet and had a few people shopping in it. Ash quickly went ahead and picked out their groceries. Wordlessly, Khael took a cart and pushed it towards where Ash was.
He avoided her glances just as she did to his. There was a tension between them that they couldn't act upon and even then, they had only met each other for a week.
In a trance, Khael hadn't noticed Ash had moved forward. Her footsteps faded far away from him. Gripping onto the handle, he cursed himself for overthinking everything someone made him feel something, it had to stop.
"Hey, the meat section is there," Ash called from up front.
"Coming!"
———
They thanked the cashier and got out of the supermarket. Thankfully the bags Ash bought were enough for their groceries.
"We got a big haul!" Khael beamed. He offered to hold both bags while Ash opened the car door for him.
"Because of all the snacks, you put in," Ash grumbled.
"Aw, don't be sad. You placed in some of that drink of yours,"
"It's called Coca-Cola and doesn't act as if you haven't heard of it,"
"Meh, Don't like how it is. Water tastes better,"
"Yeah right..." The bickering stopped and the silence was loud.
Walking to the car, Khael could see Ash fiddling with her fingers, itching to ask him something. She opened her mouth to start but stopped, sighing in defeat.
Was she going to ask about it earlier? He wasn't prepared for it.
He knew that the boundaries he set by himself wouldn't give Ash the answer she wanted but how he wished to. There were just many things holding him back. Ash opened the trunk of the car without a word and made her way to the backseat.
"Why are you sitting there?"
Ash stopped, her hand pausing midway from closing the door. Her eyes wouldn't meet with his.
"Oh, I feel sleepy. I don't want to bother you upfront." With that, she closed the door. A lie, he thought. Khael felt like he'd done something wrong even though he hadn't.
'You could never bother me, the words were at the tip of his tongue. He had been observant, for the past week, on the things she had done for them, the little things she did. It showed a lot that she actually cared for them.
Not knowing what else to do, Khael started the car and headed home.
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Arriving home, Khael could hear soft snores from behind him. He turned to look and saw Ash peacefully sleeping, slightly curled up and shivering from the cold. The edges of his lips curl up into a smile. He wasn't going to lie, he found her cute and attractive, but that should be all.
He got out of his seat and opened the door to Ash, the light inside the car was on, signaling the door was open, and hoped it would wake her. She began to squirm and squeezed her eyes shut as Khael nudged her. Ash began to wake up, her eyelids slowly parting. She glared at the light, adjusting her vision.
"Are we there already?" She aggressively rubs off any eye goop with the heel of her hand. There was a little drool that seeped through her mouth, her hair all over the place, and marks of the car seat imprinted on her skin, she really was sleeping well.
"Yeah," He held in his laugh, for fear of insulting her. "We just got home. Go in first, I'll bring the groceries." Ash nodded and slowly got up from her seat.
Khael went ahead and got the groceries out of the trunk, holding both bags with his right hand. She had fallen asleep while getting up. Khael hurried inside to place the groceries on the kitchen table, Seth and Caleb playing Uno.
"Oh, you're here," Seth glanced at him. "We're starving."
"Where's Ash?" Caleb spoke up.
"Sleeping in the car," Khael placed the groceries on the table, letting Seth go through it for snacks. "I'll go and get her."
Going back to the car, Ash was still sleeping on the seat, her head facing the car door which Khael opened.
"Come on, get up." She was silent - her breathing was even. Gently pulling her arms to try to hold onto his neck, Khael slowly carried her. His right arm holding her back, his left arm positioned below her knees. He closed the door with his feet, locking the car before tossing Ash gently, adjusting her in his arms.
Seth opened the door in time for Khael to get in. "I'll put her in her bed." Seth nodded in response, a snack bar already in hand, munching it away.
Without wasting time, he did get her in her bed - taking her shoes off and bringing her blanket to her shoulders. Gently petting her hair, Khael, reluctantly, bent down and gave her a kiss on her forehead, "Goodnight, sleep well."
He left the room, giddy. He had finally done it. Not on where he wanted but nevertheless still did it.
