Feather

Sixteen

Peyton let out a deep breath as she closed the door behind her, and kicked off her high heels. She slightly regretted spending her day off looking at buildings with Ashton but in the end, she knew that it was worth it. Dropping her bag onto the couch, she took off her jacket, going into the bedroom, and putting it away before getting changed out of her black dress, and into one of Michael's giant sweaters. She smiled as she took in his scent from the material. Hot summer nights be damned.

Michael was working a late shift, so she knew he wouldn't be home until midnight, and it made her pout, she just wanted to cuddle after such a long day. Going back into the living room, Peyton sat herself down onto the couch, grabbing her bag, and pulling out all of the paperwork from the day. She looked at the few boxes she had left to unpack in the corner, and wondered if she should do that instead but she was tired, so reading is good.

She opened the file of the building she and Ashton had chosen to be the base, or headquarters if you will, for his charity. Of course, it had been their last view of the day. Now, Peyton wasn't a qualified realtor, she didn't even go to uni but Ashton really trusted her opinion, and they had become close in the past six weeks since her mother's Christmas party.

She was truly intrigued by the concept of the charity, and his vision for it, that he had hired her as his personal consultant for any large changes that may happen in future, hence spending the day in empty buildings.

Ashton had seen how interested she was about what he was doing, so he felt that having her on board with the project would only benefit it. They had discussed in detail the way he wanted to go with everything, and he saw how Peyton visualised it, a more specific path to take, and it worked, so so did they.

Peyton yawned, flipping through her notes that she taken during her and Ashton's dinner. He had insisted on taking her since he made her waste her whole day with him, saying it was the least he could do. Peyton didn't complain, the restaurant he took her to was absolutely amazing, and they got to talk a little bit about random things, as well as work on the charity.

She saw that the patent for the charity name; One roof, Our roof!, was still marked as pending, and made a note to send an email tomorrow. The age range for the children had been determined, finally, them deciding on eleven to eighteen year olds, so they can be accompanied throughout high school. The building that they had found was to be converted into a home for those that didn't have one. A sanctuary for them, a place that was theirs, somewhere safe.

There would be tutors to help any child that needed extra time, or required a different way of learning. Ashton had thought of everything that could possibly help the children. All he wanted was for them to have a chance, no matter what background they came from, and that's what Peyton loved, and that's why she had agreed to help him to get everything up and running. She lay down, getting comfortable on the couch, reading through, and making any adjustments that were needed, until she couldn't do anymore.

It was a quarter past midnight when Michael got home, and he didn't feel good at all. It had been a rough shift, and all he wanted to do was get home to bed, and curl in next to his baby, nice and warm. As he went to take off his shoes, he noticed a body on the couch, realising it was Peyton as he got closer, and it made him smile. He went and took off his shoes before going back over to her. Slowly, he moved the paperwork off her body and onto the coffee table, making sure they weren't too mixed up, and tidying them as much as possible.

He sat on the floor just watching her for a while, she looked a bit tense, he noticed, whereas normally she would look peaceful, so ever so gently, he stroked her hair, knowing exactly how much she loved it, and after a few minutes, her furrowed brow relaxed, and he saw his sleeping beauty once again. He giggled silently to himself at the pet name, she'd probably hit him if she ever heard him calling her that.

Michael picked her up, making sure not to wake her, and took her into the bedroom. He struggled slightly, trying to pull down the cover without dropping her but he managed in the end. Slowly, he placed her down in the bed, tucking her in, and kissing her forehead before taking off his uniform, and going to the kitchen.

He made himself a cup of tea, and went back to sit on the couch, looking through Peyton's notes, instead of just sitting in silence. It was too late to turn on the TV now. He drank his tea slowly, blowing into the mug every once in a while to cool it down. He wasn't really sure what to make of the information she had, he knew his education was basic, and he had no idea about business, or things like that but damn, was he so fucking proud of her.

He finished his tea with a slight gasp as it was still hot but he just wanted to go to sleep now. He stacked the notes as neatly as possible, closing the notebooks, and making sure that everything was in order. He picked up his mug, taking it into the kitchen to wash it up before heading to the bedroom.

Michael got into bed, wrapping his arm around Peyton's waist, like he always does, getting close to her, and feeling her warmth. A smile on his lips at the familiarity of it all. She shifted slightly, moving closer to his chest, a quiet "love you", slipping from her sleep dazed lips. It made him tense. He didn't know if he should be happy, or put it down to her being asleep. Michael remembered what his mum had said those months ago but it didn't really believe it, he wasn't sure he should believe it now.

That was the first night that Michael told Peyton he loved her, even though she didn't get to hear it.