SO BAD [MXM] [MAFIA] ✓

23: ALWAYS WILL

Skylar wakes up the next morning to Ashton still wrapped around him. They're also both still naked, and his entire body hurts, and he has no idea what to do. When he first gains consciousness, his mind is still running a little slow. However, a warm body behind him makes the memories come back quickly.

Regret is his first instinct, his second being satisfaction. Both are wildly conflicting, and he wonders where it all got so fucking complicated.

It's only about five minutes after Skylar wakes up—internally freaking out and trying to figure out where they're going from here—that he feels stirring behind him.

Oh, he can't deal with this. Their first time, he didn't have to handle an awkward morning after. He got the hell out of there as fast as he could.

This time, Skylar has nowhere to run.

So, he plays dead.

Skylar closes his eyes and relaxes his body, evening out his breathing as much as he possibly can. He can hear and feel Ashton moving around behind him as he does so, and pretty soon, the guy is pulling away. How long has he been awake?

Ashton places a hand on Skylar's hip to push himself up, and Skylar can hear his joints popping as the guy stretches. After that, he hears some shuffling around until the distinct noise of tapping on a phone screen echoes through the air. Skylar continues to lay deadly still as Ashton does whatever he's doing, secretly hoping the guy will leave and get breakfast or something soon.

Only a couple minutes after the tapping starts, Skylar hears Ashton sigh. He taps around on his phone for a bit longer, before the clattering sound of him setting it on the nightstand reaches Skylar's ears. It goes dead silent for a bit longer, before Skylar feels a pressure on his temple.

It takes everything in him not to react as Ashton kisses the side of his face, before standing up. Skylar feels his heart rate increase, and tries not to pay attention to it. Soon, he hears the retreating noise of Ashton's footsteps as he walks to the bathroom. Then, the sound of running water, which he instantly recognizes as the shower.

It's not long before the rhythm of the water becomes irregular, signaling that Ash has stepped inside, and that's when Skylar bursts into action. He throws his legs over the side of the bed and begins scanning for his—well, Ashton's—clothes. When he does eventually find them, he sees that they are on Ashton's side of the bed.

Skylar crawls over there as quietly as he can, before leaning down and grabbing the shirt. He does his best to ignore the pain as he pulls it over his head and sticks his arms through the sleeves. He's about to grab the pants as well, but then something catches his attention.

Skylar completely freezes when he catches sight of Ashton's phone, face-up, and not only that—

It's unlocked.

No fucking way. Why would he leave it open like that? Sure, he thought Skylar was asleep, but for all he knows Skylar could wake up at any moment. Unless...

Unless he's not planning on the shower taking long.

Maybe it wasn't even on purpose. When that thought crosses Skylar's mind, when he realizes he's likely on a very short time limit, he does not sit around much longer. It's likely he will never get this opportunity again. He ignores the slight shaking of his hand and reaches over, grabbing the device and wondering if he's still dreaming.

Then again, it's not like he actually knows where to begin, in terms of snooping through Ashton's phone. He pauses, thinking about it for a moment. Going through his call history wouldn't do anything. Maybe his emails? No, he probably wouldn't leave a paper trail, right? Or—