[ thirty eight ] happiness
-
a few days later.
-
Ashton arrived at Prudence's house and rang the doorbell, as he normally did whenever it was his day to spend time with her. It wasn't too early in the morning and Prudence opened the door for him with a bright smile. "Hello Ashton."
"Hey Pru." He grinned, pulling her in for a warm hug.
The nineteen year old drummer led her to the car and opened the passenger side door for her like a gentleman. Soon they were on their way and Prudence turned in her seat to look at him. He glanced at her for a brief instant, before focusing his eyes on the road once more. "Where are we going today?"
"Pet shop." He responded, matter-of-factly just as he pulled into the parking lot.
"And why is that?" She wondered.
"Having a pet was on your list." He reminded her. "And I thought the two of us could adopt one. It could be like our child." He joked.
Ashton shut the car engine off and the two entered the shop. Inside, Prudence ran around excited like a child in a candy store. She dragged him to see the parrots first. They were colorful and exotic. Then she dragged him to go see some puppies, the kittens, the hampsters. Every animal seemed to instantly love Prudence.
They finally stopped at the baby chicks and Prudence squealed when she saw one she liked. "Oh my gosh." She gasped. She stuck her hand into the cage and the smallest of them cuddled up into her hand. The chick was small, with golden fur that would later become beautiful feathers. "Lets get this one." She pleaded, picking the small animal up in her arms.
"A chicken?" Ashton wondered, crinkling up his nose.
"Yes," She smiled. "I want to have a different pet, not like the ones everyone else has."
Prudence held the animal in her arms while they went to look at the pet homes. There was a soft pink cage that she thought it would be perfect for their new pet. Ashton carried the cage up to the register. The woman at the front charged them for the baby chick, the cage for it, and offered Ashton a small bag of food for a small price. He nodded and got the animal set to live in its new home with him and Prudence.
Back in the car, Prudence sat the chick on her lap and pet its soft fur.
"What will we name our little one?" Ashton asked her.
"Hm..." Prudence thought about it for a second before replying. "Happiness. Because having you boys in my life has filled my days with happiness."
Ashton and Prudence returned to her house where she led him to a small shed in the backyard where she and Lucy used to play as kids. It was their club house and contained an old cot, some board games, and its walls were plastered with their drawings.
Setting the small cage on the small bed in the shed, she filled two small plates; one with water and one with chicken feed.
The hazel eyed boy looked at his surroundings, liking what he saw. "This is a nice clubhouse."
"Thanks." Prudence shrugged. "Lucy and I haven't played in here since we were like twelve."
"It could be our place now." Ashton suggested. "We could sleep here at night and take care of Happiness. Everything would be perfect. Wouldn't that be nice?"
The grey eyed girl smiled at the thought. His last sentence triggered her memory and she remembered a song by the Beach Boys. "Wouldn't it be nice if we were older? Then we wouldn't have to wait so long. And wouldn't it be nice to live together? In the kind of world where we belong...Well wouldn't it be nice?"
In that moment, Ashton couldn't help himself anymore. Without warning, he cupped her face in his hands and pressed his lips to hers. The kiss was short, but sweet and it completely took Prudence by surprise.
The first few seconds she was frozen in place, but her hands soon made their way to his chest, pushing him back. When he pulled away, he saw her eyes widened. Ashton bit his lip nervously and blurted out an apology. "I'm sorry Prudence. I just--you just look so beautiful and I couldn't help myself. I really like you..."
"Stop." She told him, her eyes pooling up with tears. "You can't fall in love with me."
"Its too late, Pru." Ashton breathed. "I'm head over heels in love with you. And nothing you say will change that."
"Please Ashton, don't." She pleaded. "I don't want to hurt you."
Taking her hands in his, he told her, "You'll hurt me if you won't accept our love. Because I love you, and I know you love me too."
"Ashton." She groaned. "Don't do this to me. I can't date anyone."
"Why?" He asked her.
"I can't tell you." She cried with tears now streaming down her face. "If you can't accept that we can only be friends, then I would like you to leave my house." She crossed her arms over her chest and turned away from him.
"Prudence-" He tried to reason with her.
But she cut him off. "Please Ashton. Go home."
"You can push me away." He sighed in defeat. "And I'll respect the fact that you don't want to see me. But I'll always love you, Prudence."
"Sorry Ashton." She told him.
And he left the small shed in disappointment. Prudence sat on the small cot, with her head in her hands and she cried. She didn't know how long it was but soon the sun went down and her mother came to find her.
Mrs. Carrigan led her sixteen year old daughter into the house.
She hated seeing her daughter suffer. And she hoped Prudence would tell the boys of her condition so she could spend her last few months on earth happy.
-
new update.
the irony is that the chapter is called happiness, but ends on a not so happy note.
from right now until the end there will be some drama and things will happen. but i hope you all enjoy reading. it really means a lot to me.
so please give it a nice vote.
i'll try to update again in a couple of days.
thank you.
i love you.
-clary xx
