Heartbreak Girl

Epilogue - May I

The twenty five year old hummed to himself as he tidied the kitchen and put the washing up back in the cupboards, waiting for his girlfriend to get home from the school she worked at. Every few minutes, he looked through the open apartment to the living area, where he could just see the headstock of the acoustic guitar he had borrowed from Michael.

"Ashton?" called a voice almost half an hour later, making him smile instantly despite not being in the same room with her.

"Hey, angel," he replied, leaving their bedroom to find the woman he loved removing her shoes. "Long day?"

"Too long," she sighed, willingly sinking into him as he wrapped her in his arms. "I'm sorry I'm so late," she murmured, closing her eyes as she relaxed.

"It's fine, Bethany," he insisted, kissing her head. "I know how hard you work; it's one of the many things I love about you."

"I love you too," she told him, her voice muffled in his chest.

"Have you eaten yet, love?" he asked, caressing her back lightly as they stood just inside the front door.

"Yeah, I took extra for lunch," explained the older woman, pulling herself out of his embrace. "I'm gonna change, then we can do something," she added with a smile, kissing him softly before going into their bedroom.

Once she had closed the door behind her, Ashton moved over to the armchair to check the guitar was still there as well as what he had hidden beneath the coffee table, even though he knew they hadn't been touched, let alone moved, since he had last checked them.

Perching on the arm of the chair, he took a deep breath and tried to relax, incredibly nervous for what the evening held. Hearing the door open again, he looked up and took in his girlfriend, her professional blouse and skirt having been traded for one of his t-shirts and a pair of jeans.

"You're beautiful, you know that?" he said, holding out a hand for her.

"And you're biased," she replied as he guided her to stand in front of him, his hands resting on her hips as hers went to his shoulders.

"Maybe," he conceded with a smile. "I wanted to tell you something," he added, absentmindedly running his thumbs over the skin beneath the shirt of his she wore.

"Should I be worried?" teased Bethany, playing gently with his curls.

"You remember that I wrote Just Saying and Heartbreak Girl about you before we started dating?" he asked, his eyes on hers.

"Of course," she assured him, frowning when he did as they remembered the reason he had written them in the first place. "Hey," she murmured, running a hand through his hair soothingly. "I'm not heartbroken anymore, Ash. You love me so well, I couldn't be happier. You're not stuck in the friend zone anymore, babe."

"I know, angel," he sighed, leaning into her touch and smiling slightly at her attempt at a joke. "What if I told you there was a third song? That I wrote you another one before we got together?"

"I'd ask how you kept it from Luke," she answered with a smile of her own. "He finds everything you guys write."

"I was sneaky," he explained, smirking slightly. "Do you... Would you like to hear it?" he asked quietly.

"If you want to play it for me, I'd love to hear it," the brunette told him honestly. "You don't have to."

"Sit, love," he said softly, pressing a gentle kiss to her lips before letting her go. As she sat down on the sofa nearest him, Ashton took a breath and picked up the guitar, starting to play.

"There you stand,

Opened heart, opened doors,

Full of light,