Paradox • afi

reckless driving

reckless driving - Lizzy McAlpine, Ben Kessler
-
I didn't mean to kiss you
I mean I did, but I didn't think it'd go this far
I didn't mean to kiss you
Now you can't focus on the road when I'm in your car
~

Ashton was going on a date. It was all Jade could think about once she was back in her own apartment that night. After making sure Luke was okay, asking him countless times if he needed anything, he sent her to her on her way down the hall. With a promise she'll check on him later, she unlocked her door and stepped inside.

"Ashton's going on a date." She whispered to herself, leaning on the kitchen counter. "Ashton's going on a date and Michael is cheating on me." She stopped and stared at her hands. "Luke is dating Alexis, and Calum is mad as shit."

Forcing herself to stand up, she bit at her lip. Unsure what to do, how to confront Michael, how to rid herself of any possible feelings of the boy across the hall. Fleeting thoughts ran through her head, different names and places. She started thinking up a plan to confront Michael.

Jade wasn't sure she wanted to work on the song, worried it would end up with Ashton telling her about his date. She didn't want to admit it, but hearing him talk about going on a date would ruin her. After that kiss- sometimes she thought about what it would have been like if she were with Ashton instead of Michael.

That was a lie, she wanted to work on the song, she just didn't want to know how his date went. Jade didn't have any right or reason to be upset that he went on a date, no reason to be jealous. She was the one pretending their kiss didn't happen, even if she technically was the one that initiated it. She felt trapped, hating Michael for cheating and lying to her, and there she was thinking about a different boy most times of the day.

On the other hand, Ashton did everything he could on his date to think about the girl in front of him, not the girl back at the apartment building. The girl that was the other side of the best kiss he had ever had. Everything he tried always led him back to thinking about the red haired girl.

His date went fine, he had a good time, and it seemed like Liz did as well. He ended up kissing her, more than he should have but he honestly just wanted to stop thinking about damn Delilah Jade. But it was no use. "So you'll call me?" The girl smiled, leaning back against the door of her parents' penthouse.

"Yeah, we'll set something up." He chuckled, dipping down and pressing one last kiss to her cheek. "I'll see you later, Liz."

"See you later, Ashton." She bit at her lip, slipping in the door behind her as he started walking away. The short walk to his car, then the drive to his apartment was spent thinking of the one person he was trying so hard not to think about.

Jade wasn't waiting for Ashton to get back to his apartment, but she did hear him in the hallway, and she might've even looked through the small peephole on her door to make sure it was him. She didn't want to sound too eager to work on the project with him, especially after pretending like they had never even kissed. She felt pathetic.

But she was. Eager to work on their song. To spend time alone with the slightly older boy. Just to be around him. She knew she shouldn't feel that way, that she shouldn't enjoy time with him more than her boyfriend. Jade decided to wait to see if he'd text her first, watching his apartment door close behind him with a soft click.

It was a matter of minutes before her phone went off in the living room, the girl with red hair rushing to check who it was. If it was Ashton. The smile that took over her face when she read his name on the screen was far too big just to work on a project with someone. But she read it again to make sure she wasn't tricking herself into thinking he wanted her there.