It Never Ends [Of Mice & Men- Alan Ashby fanfic]

Chapter 10: Nerves

welcome to the less-awkward chapter, honey bunches c:

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“Harper, come on. You don’t have to leave,” Alan begged, pulling his pants back on. Right now, Harper was feeling extremely pathetic, and not as stoned as she was five minutes earlier when Alan’s mom walked in.

They were so close, but she couldn’t. She couldn’t bring herself to get even more broken than she already was. She couldn’t even look at Alan as she shoved her feet into her Vans.

“What are you doing?” Alan asked, wrapping his arms around her waist to keep her from leaving.

“I’m pathetic. Please, just let me leave,” she murmured.

“It’s not your fault, Harper. You’re not ready, and I’m perfectly fine with that. I don’t want to rush you into anything,” Alan said, kissing her cheek softly.

“You can’t tell me that you’re not bothered that I’m basically leaving you with nothing because I’m a lowlife wimp.” She looked away from him, even though he never moved his arms from her waist.

“Don’t say that. You’re perfect.”

She let out a shaky breath. “I’m afraid.”

“Everyone gets afraid at some point,” Alan said, reassuringly.

“I’m afraid you’ll leave me,” she finally confessed, taking a deep breath. She had trust issues, and that’s why she didn’t have a boyfriend for the longest time. She invested everything in the boys she loved, and then they left her.

“I get it. I’m a loser band member and us guitarists have a reputation. But me... I’ll prove to you that I won’t leave you. Harper... I love you,” he admitted, finally getting Harper to look at him.

She smiled. “I love you too, Alan. Even though I’m a wimp.” She gave him a light peck on the lips and hugged him back. She was taking a big risk, but she honestly didn’t want to be anywhere but with him.

“I want to show you something,” Alan said, grabbing her hand and pulling her in front of a closed door. He opened it, revealing a room filled with guitars. There were guitars against the back wall, and other guitars on stands. There was a rack filled with guitar books, and amps against every outlet. In the far corner, there was a small recording booth.

“Wow,” Harper said, breathlessly.

“Want to play?” He asked, pulling her over to the wall of guitars.

“I’m not going to play if you’re going to film me again,” she said, stubbornly.

He chuckled and took a Gibson electric down and plugged it in. “I promise I won’t film you,” he said, passing her the guitar.

She sighed in defeat and sat next to the amp. She quickly tuned it before thinking about a song she could play. She decided to play My Understandings by Of Mice & Men because she knew it would peak Alan’s interest.

The words and chords flew freely to her as she got lost in the music. Alan tapped his foot to the beat as he listened carefully to Harper’s every strum.

“Hot damn, what other sexy things can you do?” Alan asked when she finished. “You probably played that better than I could,” he added, taking the guitar from her.

She laughed. “You’re funny.”

“And you’re cute when you’re nervous,” Alan teased as he strummed random chords on the guitar. Harper knew he was just showing off, but she thought that it was cute that way he was trying to flaunt his skills.

“Honey, I’m ho-ome, and I brought a present!” Austin’s familiar voice yelled from the hallway.

Alan chuckled. “It better be a kitten! I’m in the music room, sweetoms!” Alan yelled back, playing along with Austin’s cheeky pet names for Alan.

Austin emerged in the doorway with his arm around Lydia’s waist.

“You’re offering me your girlfriend in exchange for anal?” Alan asked, cocking his head to the side.

Harper and Lydia burst out laughing as Austin gave him a grin. “No, I think I’ll keep her around a bit,” he said, giving her a strong hug.

“Aw damn, they’re going to be all fluffy around us now,” Alan murmured to Harper before hanging his guitar up.

“Hey, what can I say? I was lost until I found myself inside of her,” Austin teased, quoting one of his band’s songs, O.G. Loko.

Lydia blushed and Harper made a gagging sound. “That’s my cousin we’re talking about.”

“Your completely bangable cousin,” Austin said, admiring Lydia as she checked out the recording studio. “Do you sing?” He asked, quickly attending to her.

“God, we better get out of this place before I actually do throw up,” Alan murmured to Harper before grabbing her hand and pulling her out of the room. “How about we get some coffee?”

Harper nodded in response before they were off the Starbucks.

“What do you mean “your birthday isn’t that important”? Birthdays are like, everything,” Harper asked, astonished with Alan. They were sitting in Starbucks, drinking coffee, when Alan brings up the topic of birthdays and points out that his is in two weeks.

He shrugged. “It’s just another day. I mean, a great excuse to get drunk but still, I don’t see any reason to do anything too special.”

“Well, I’m going to do something fucking special,” Harper shot, letting the possibilities run wild. There were so many things she could do for his birthday, and they were all popping in her head at once.

“You don’t have to. I mean, a movie day is fine with me. My birthday is on a Thursday this year so Austin told me he was booking a club for the Saturday but I just want to spend the real day with you, and that’s all I need,” Alan explained with a small smile.

“It’ll be you, me and Satan,” Harper agreed.

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Ooh, what do you think Harper has planned for Alan's birthday? I hope there's cake in the deal because I could really go for a slice. I dont know about you but yum. cake and alan ashby.

I hope you enjoyed and don't be afraid to vote and comment c: x