Infinity and Beyond

4 - Last Hurdle

Ashton

When I woke up the next morning Emily wasn't in the bed but barely a minute later she walked into the bedroom looking much more awake than I felt. She smiled down at me before crawling onto the bed next to me and resting her head on her elbow, playing with the curls at the back of my hair.

"Morning sleepyhead," she smiled.

"What time is it?" I asked groggily.

"Ten o'clock," she replied and I turned my head to bury my face in the pillow with a groan.

"You should have woken me up, babe," I said, my voice muffled.

"I'm only getting ready for work, there didn't seem much point," she shrugged. "I'm heading off in a bit, I just need to get dressed."

"Do you want me to take you?" I offered.

"What, so you can forget to pick me up again?" she said with a light laugh and I picked up my pillow and threw it at her face.

"Rude!" She pushed it back at me so I grabbed her around the waist and pulled her towards me, holding her tightly and pressing kisses to her forehead.

"When will you be back?" I asked her.

"Probably about six, but I'll let you know," she answered.

"Okay," I said, giving her one final kiss before letting go. "Have fun."

I stayed in bed while she got dressed but once she was ready I clambered out the warm sheets and trailed downstairs after her, saying goodbye again at the door before she stepped out and I was in the house alone. As I always did, I stayed at the door until she was round the corner and out of sight. She'd only had her car a few months because, despite having started saving for one as soon as she got rid of the wheelchair, Luke, Calum, Michael and I all clubbed together and bought her one for her birthday. It was only a small one, and she was a little awkward about it at first, but we came to the agreement that once she'd saved up she could pay us back if she still wanted to. Regardless of who had paid for it though, she loved it and it meant she could drive herself to work and she didn't have to rely on me or the others for anything else either.

When she first started driving again she was terrified, because she hadn't driven in almost three years, so she wouldn't let me make her drive alone for weeks. Other people might have found it annoying but I didn't care - a year and a bit before that neither of us thought she'd even be driving at all.

I made myself breakfast then sat down and watched it in front of the TV, as I always did when Emily was out. The house never seemed right when she wasn't home - nothing seemed right without her these days, because we spent almost all of our time together. Which was why whenever she was out, I more often than not invited the guys round or went out. I texted them to see if they wanted to hang out and didn't get a reply for a while, but then they all showed up at the door energetically.

Living apart from them really made me appreciate them more. Luke and I had grown so much closer with Emily and Charlotte anyway, and everything with Lucy and Jessica made Michael and me closer too, but not spending so much time together made us all closer, I think. We still spent at least three or four days a week together, but it was a lot less than it used to be. And whilst recently we'd been writing, we made a lot more of an effort to do things together. Before we started writing we went out and, although we only planned on getting some food for 'inspiration' (as we always used as an excuse), we were out for over an hour. The car journey back turned into Luke and Calum arguing in the back over who was allowed to bring their girlfriend round to the house on Valentine's day, because they 'didn't want the other ruining the mood' and eventually they resorted to rock paper scissors, which Calum won.