Sign Your Name Across My Heart

Chapter eight

I wake in the early morning, the sun blinding me as it pokes through my curtains. I turn over and almost jump as I see Ash, nearly forgetting that he slept over last night. I'm still a little surprised with myself that I even let him stay over. I've never had a boy over, let alone in my bed. I felt my stomach flutter at the thought of what could have happened.

I look at his shirtless torso, the rest of his body covered by my blankets. I carefully and quietly slip out of bed and leave the bedroom, closing the door behind me. I walk to my kitchen and begin to make breakfast. I wonder when was the last time he had a home cooked breakfast early in the morning.

I'm still tired, as Ash and I stayed up pretty late talking for most of the night. He was telling me about Bram, and how now that he's been making so much money, he doesn't like him anymore because he's changed. They met when Ash was sixteen and Bram was seventeen.

He told me how Bram has been in this business for more than ten years now and how his life has always been like this.

He talked a lot about Bram and what they do but not a lot about himself, like what he did before he got into this, if he had any siblings or even what his favourite movie was. I can tell he simply needed someone to vent to and by the looks and sound of it, I don't think he's ever had somebody to talk to.

While making breakfast, with just the toast left to butter, Ash finally wakes up and I see him walking into the kitchen, his shirt back on. I secretly wished for it to be off. "Good morning." He says in a groggy-sounding voice.

"Morning." I smile.

He smiles back and walks up to the counter. "Looks great. Do you need help with anything?"

I shake my head, "No, no. Just have a seat."

I finish with the toast, buttering it up, before placing a plate of eggs, bacon, hash browns, fruit and toast in front of him. I butter more toast for myself and put it in front of the seat next to him. "Thank you so much." He says. "It's been a while since I've even eaten a real breakfast."

I pour us two glasses of orange juice and take my seat.

"I figured." I let out a small laugh.

While eating, in between bites, I ask him, "Where did you grow up?"

He replies, "I grew up in California with my mom and dad. They were the real religious type, church every Sunday, pictures of Jesus in the house, crosses. Shit like that. I didn't believe in that, I didn't agree with any of it. I uh, didn't listen to them. I went out, partied, smoked, drank, got high. I did anything I could to not have to be at home. When I turned sixteen, they kicked me out. I lived with friends for a while, couch hopped, I even slept on park benches some nights. Until eventually I made my way here, met Bram and the rest is history." He tells me. I'm glad he's finally letting me know more about him.

"That sounds like a difficult childhood." I mumble, knowing my childhood was the complete opposite of his. I grew up with loving parents, I got anything I wanted - with reason. I still visit my parents at least once every couple months, even though I live over six hours away now. It's not an easy commute, I have to take the train, but it's worth it to see them. Having the upbringing that I had with my loving parents, I can't even imagine how a parent could kick their own child out at such a young age.

Ash brushes off my comment and changes the subject. "You know, I always catch myself staring at your lips." He says, looking at them.

"Why?" I ask, feeling a little shy.

"Because I keep thinking back to last night." He smirks.

I blush and look away. I don't want him to see my cheeks glow red. After a couple seconds, I decided to change the subject again. " Have you ever been back to church since you left home?" I look back towards him, still eating.

He swallows his bite of food and shakes his head. "No, I haven't. Once I got into everything with Bram, I thought there was no reason for someone like me to step into a church ever again."

"Do you believe in god?" I question him.

"I can't," He mumbles. "There's no way he exists."

I think his response is rather odd, but I choose not to comment on it. He said it almost as if he's seen too many bad things, done too many bad things for a god to even exist, because if there was a god, he wouldn't allow these kinds of things to happen on earth. I'm able to tell a lot off of the little information he's giving.

We ate the rest of our breakfast and talked about a bunch of things. It feels good to just be able to sit with someone and have the conversation flow, no matter what you're talking about.

"Are you done?" He asks, referring to my breakfast.
"Yes, I'm done." I lean back as he picks up my plate and stands up, grabbing his own plate, stacking them as he walks over to the sink and places them in it. He turns the water on and covers my sponge in dish soap, beginning to wash the plates and forks.

"Thank you for breakfast Libby, it was delicious." He states with his back to me.

I smile, "Of course, it was my pleasure."

He finishes washing the plates after a couple minutes and he dries off his hands, turning around and leaning against the sink. I watch the fabric move against his skin, drying him off as he looks at me.

"My pleasure is filled just from looking at you." He flashes me a flirty smile. I blush again, unable to help it or hide it this time.

"Stop it." I laugh.

"You have such a pretty smile... Don't hide it." He tells me, placing the hand towel down on the counter. He walks closer to me, his phone buzzing in his pocket on his way over. He reaches inside and pulls it out, his eyes scanning over the screen. "I have to go, Libby." He types something in his phone, before looking back up at me. "But I had a great time with you last night. We should do it again."

I nod my head, wondering what text he got for him to have to leave so suddenly. I wonder if it was maybe from Bram. "Okay." I said to him. He slowly hands his phone over to me.

"You never did give me your number."

I look down at his phone, then back up to his eyes. When I give him my number, I'm locked in. I'm not sure if I'm ready for that, ready for him, his job, for Bram but I like him a lot - that I'm sure of.

Ash can sense that I'm deliberating with myself in my head. "Look Libby, if you don't want to give me your number, it's okay. I'd understand. But, I promise I'm not all that bad." He smiles.

I think to myself, what's the worst that can happen? After all, it's just a phone number and I'm hoping last night was an isolated incident and will never happen again.

I take his phone from him and I type my number in, before giving it back to him.