Gray Area (sequel to White Noise)

Ch 9 - Kinda Hot

"Dude, you've gotta come see this." These were the very first words out of Tori's mouth as soon as I entered her house later that week.

"Okay... see what?"

"Just come on." She grabbed my hand and literally tugged me down the hall behind her. Once we reached the door to the nursery, she stopped and made a motion towards the inside of the room. As soon as I looked inside, I immediately knew what she meant.

"Oh," I said. That's all that would come out in my current state of awe.

"Yeah," she agreed.

We both stood there drooling outside the doorway and enjoyed the show in silence. Ashton was currently in his own little world inside the nursery. He had headphones on and was singing along to the music, so he didn't realize he was being observed like a zoo animal. We watched as his arms stretched and flexed as he ran the paint roller back and forth, covering the walls with color. And the best part about all of this? He was doing it shirtless.

"I don't... oh."

"Dude, I know," she agreed, somehow understanding perfectly what I was trying to say. "I've been watching him all morning. I'm halfway tempted to make him do another coat, just so I can enjoy the show a little longer." I couldn't blame her pregnancy hormones this time because she was right. I could literally watch this all day.

"Where are the other boys?" I asked her. As much as I was enjoying myself, I didn't really want them to catch us ogling their bandmate.

"Luke and Michael are at the studio. Calum's... I don't know, he's somewhere around the house. I kinda got distracted and lost track of him."

"Understandable."

We watched in silence again, getting a special treat when Ashton had to bend over to put more paint on the roller. There's no telling how long we would have stood there had we not been interrupted.

"What are you two doing?"

We tried to act as natural as possible as Calum made his way down the hallway towards us, but it was too little too late. We were caught. Once he reached us, he gave us a confused look before turning his attention towards the nursery. Realization hit him then, and his confused look turned into one of shock and disgust.

Poor Ashton was still clueless, just bobbing his head to his music and painting away. That is, until Calum stormed into the room and yanked hisheadphoness off.

"Oi!"

"Oh, hey, Cal," Ashton greeted, still unaware of what was going on.

"Do you mind?!"

"Um... do I mind what?"

His confusion seemed to make Calum even more upset. "Put a damn shirt on!"

"Oh, okay. Sorry, mate. It got kinda hot while I was painting."

"Yes, it did," Tori mumbled, which caused me to snort. Our outbursts finally brought Ash's attention to our presence.

"Hey, girls!" he giggled, giving us a little wave.

"Hey, Ashton," we said in unison. Then, I added with a thumbs up, "Keep up the great work."

"Enough!" Calum groaned.

"You know, Cal," Tori told him, her face lighting up. "This whole painting thing would go a lot faster if you helped him out. And you might want to take your shirt off, too. I wouldn't want you to get paint on it and ruin it."

"Out, you two!"

We shuffled down the hall, giggling like a couple of school girls. I faintly heard Ashton shout out a "bye," followed closely by an "ow!" after Calum must have smacked him. We made our way out to the backyard and stretched out on the patio furniture, laughing and chatting about the events of the morning. Before long, I decided to change the subject.

"So," I began, "I've been thinking."

"Uh oh. Whenever one of us thinks, we usually get into trouble soon after."

"No, no," I assured her. "Not that kind of thinking. This is practical thinking."

"Okay, then. I'm listening."

"Well, you're going to need a lot of stuff for the baby, obviously. You've got most of the essentials already, but there's a ton more stuff you still need."

"Ugh," she groaned, closing her eyes and tossing her head back to rest it on the back of her chair. "Don't remind me. I have so much to do!"

"I know, and that's what got me thinking. You don't have a registry anywhere, right?" She shook her head, so I continued. "Well, why don't we go do that today?"

"I don't know, Lex," she told me, raising her head to give me a cautious look. "I kinda feel bad asking people to buy me stuff when we're perfectly able financially to get everything we need on our own."

"Yeah, but that's beside the point. Besides, you're not asking them to buy it. People are going to want to buy you guys stuff. That's just what you do for pregnant people. And how are they going to know what you want or need if you aren't registered?"

"I don't know," she told me again. I could tell she was having an internal battle on the moral justness of it all. I understood her point. She and Calum weren't hurting for money by any means, so to her, it felt wrong to put a list of stuff she wanted out there.

"Oh, come on, Tor," I begged. "It'll be fun! You know you've always wanted to walk around a store scanning stuff with that cool gun thing they give you. We can make a day of it. Don't you want to spend the day with your very best friend ever?" I gave her my best puppy dog look.

"You know that look doesn't work on me."

"It does when Calum uses it," I argued.

"Yeah, well. No offense, Lex, but Calum's a lot cuter than you."

"Debatable."

She ignored my jab and paused, thinking about my offer for a few more minutes before finally giving in. "Okay, fine."

"Really?!"

"Yes, really," she told me, standing from her chair.

I jumped up and gave her a tight squeeze before giving her bump a little pat. "Just wait, little Hood baby. You're going to be the most spoiled kid on the planet."

"That's the understatement of the century," Tori answered with a roll of her eyes. "Now come on before I change my mind. Let's go buy some shit."