haze / afi

part 87. house on the beach

initial worries. overthinking. her mind playing tricks on her. those are all things violet has had to deal with since moving to california, since having feelings for ashton, since dating ashton.

and it's all come down to this.

she stood in their shared bedroom, looking at her outfit in the mirror. nothing crazy, just a pair of her loose fitting jeans, a white cropped tee, one of ashton's sweaters over the top. she takes a breath, ready for today.

ashton walks in at that moment, "you look cute," he smiles, standing behind violet as he wraps his arms around her stomach. "ready to see the house?"

"i think so," she replies quietly. ashton frowns slightly. "just nervous that's all, but a good kind of nervous, you know?"

"well, i think you're gonna love it," he leans down, pressing a soft kiss to her cheek. "ready to go?"

"yea," violet pauses. "i'm ready."

they both make their way down the stairs, putting their shoes on before leaving and going to ashton's car. it isn't long before they're driving in the direction of the beach, just a slightly different route to get to the houses along the coastline.

violet fiddles with her hands in her lap, nervous for what's to come, hoping so badly that she likes this house as much as ashton did when he came to look around.

ashton reaches over with his free hand, taking one of her hands in his to try and calm her nerves. she squeezes his hand softly, smiling over to him for a second. this could be it. this could be the house they move into.

they drive down a quiet road, houses all in a row, beautiful front yards with driveway space. ashton pulls up outside the house violet recognises, the one she told him to look at before. this is the one.

"they gave me the keys when i came to look last time," ashton held up the door key as they both got out of the car.

violet furrows her eyebrows, "they gave you the keys already?" she asks confused.

"i told them i'd be looking around with you soon, so um," he pauses, clearing his throat. "they seemed to trust me with the keys."

"okay then," violet gives him a suspicious look.

ashton walks closer to her, taking her hand to link their fingers together as they start walking up the walkway.

a nice paved area surrounded by grass, leading to two small steps covered by a porch going to the front door. ashton unlocked the door with his key, letting violet go inside first.

she slowly steps in, hard flooring, a very spacious hallway where you can see down to the back door past the stairway. it was all open plan, exactly like all of the pictures she saw.

living room on the right hand side, a mantelpiece over a beautiful looking fireplace, where a sofa could go, a window over the far side. plenty of wall space to hang photos. it's already perfect.

the kitchen on the left, a large island counter, lots of cabinet space. way more space than they have at ashton's current house. this is everything she ever wanted.

"i want to say that you like it?" ashton asks judging by the look on her face.

"god, ash," she runs a hand through her hair. "i love it, it's— it's amazing. it's perfect."

"come on, i'll show you upstairs."

ashton leads the way up the stairs, violet following closely behind. once they reach the top, he pushes open the door to the room on the right first. she looks inside, lots of space for it to be a bedroom.