Something Great

Chapter 5

Ava was woken by soft snoring and a pounding ache behind her eyes. She immediately discarded the thought of opening them because the light was already too bright for her with her eyes closed. She opened her mouth to yawn and almost choked on the taste of her breath. It was pretty fucking gross.

She groaned and tried to roll over, but she couldn't move. She was being held tightly in a pair of arms, two hands clasping each other on her stomach. She opened one eye warily. It was greeted by the view of wrinkled blue and grey striped sheets. She attempted to wiggle around to see who was holding her but that was difficult as the slightest movement made her head pound even harder.

Whoever it was, they started to stir.

"Mmmm.. Huh? Ava? Are you awake?"

"Ashton," she mumbled, trying to get a good look at him through only one eye. It wasn't working well for her.

When she opened both eyes, she was immediatly drawn to the sight of his broad, bare chest.

"Good morning, love," he murmured, looking at her with tired eyes and tightening his arms around her.

"Did... Did we have sex last night?" She asked. Everything seemed so fucking loud.

He laughed softly, noticing how her pretty features twisted into a grimace and realizing the pain she must be in.

"No.... You just fell asleep in here last night."

He moved one of his arms from around her waist so he could rub his eyes, and the lack of heat there made her shudder.

"Can I get you anything," he offered, propping himself up, ready to go raid the medicine cabinet for Tylenol.

She didn't answer right away. She was admiring his body in the sunlight; the way it made his messy waves shine, how it highlighted his two-day-old stubble, and the shadows in the valleys of his dimples.

"Ava?" He sang, waving one of his large hands in front of her face. He chuckled a bit at her distraction.

She reached out and wrapped her slender fingers around his big wrist, and pulled him back to her.

"I wanna stay in bed for a bit," she whispered, earning a cheeky grin.

-

Ralley hadn't woken up in the best mood. She was alone in the house which required her to recall everything that had happened the previous night to make her end up alone. Ava got drunk. Ava did something stupid. Ralley had tried to take her home, but Cal got drunk. Ava wandered off. Ralley yelled at Cal. Luke had driven her home.

She was tempted to scream since there was no one around to hear, but she was too scared to disturb the silence and groaned instead.

She hopped in the shower, standing there and letting the steam clear her head more than she actually washed herself. After she'd thrown on some clothes, she pulled out her phone to call one of the guys to check up on Ava and was met by a text from Luke.

We're good, right? I mean, a lot happened last night and I just wanted to make sure.... Friends? :-)

Ralley stared at the message for a good five minutes, remembering the incident on the balcony and her lips on his cheek when he dropped her off. She wondered if that's how he really felt. Friends. She decided to ignore it for the time being and called Michael.

"Hello," he answered, sounding rather groggy.

"Hey, Mike. It's Ralley..."

"Oh, hey, Ral."

His voice sounded strange. He emphasized her name, and she got the feeling someone was listening to his end of the conversation.

"Yeah, um. I was just calling to see about Ava... If I needed to come get her or anything?"