The New Girl {on hold}

Chapter 8

Taylor's POV

We drove up to the park and parked by the curb. I got out and saw one of the most beautiful things I'd ever seen. All the trees that were once full of reds, oranges, yellows, and browns were now covered in snow, with dangling icicles on almost every branch of every tree. Every ounce of the ground was covered with powdery, glittery snow. The swing set was surrounded by snow and there was a freshly made snowman right next to it. It was all so very magical to me. I pretty much just stood there and processed the beauty of everything, just letting all of it set in. My eyes dodged from tree to tree, examining the precious icicles.

"Hey, earth to Taylor!" Ashton waved his hand in front of my face.

"Yea?" I said laughing.

"Well you were kind of just standing there, extra still." he said "And you were hardly blinking."

"Oh." I replied, plainly.

Then I ran over to a bench in the middle of the park where there was a small creek. It was frozen solid. The ice shimmered in the sunlight, reflecting the trees and everything around it.

"Oh my gosh! Pretty!" I exclaimed.

"Gosh, you sound like your little sister." Ashton mumbled.

"Hey, shut up." I said, punching him playfully in the arm.

I brushed some snow off the bench and sat; not caring whether my butt would freeze or not. I patted the seat next to me, ushering Ashton to sit. He, too brushed snow off and sat next to me. I got up again and laid in the snow covered ground, not even caring that it would soak my whole back, legs, and butt.

"Really? I come and sit next to you, just to see that you get up to go lay in the fricken snow!" Ashton said with a sly grin.

"Yep." I replied casually as he shook his head slowly side to side.

I moved my arms and legs and started to make a snow angel. When I got up Ashton went to lay down, and he made one too.

"Fabulous!" He exclaimed with a huge smile on his face.

"Yes, look how very fabulous our snow angels are." I said also smiling widely.

He chuckled glaring at me.

"What?" I said, still grinning.

"Nothing," he said "your just awesome.

"Well thank you." I said sarcastically. "You're awesome too, man."

"Thanks."

Then we just sat on the bench in silence. Only then did I realize how cold it really was outside. I started to slightly shiver.

"Are you cold?" Ashton asked me.

"No wise guy, it's like a fricken sauna out here!" I joked.

He scooted closer to me, and hesitated to put his arm around me. Then he took his arm and wrapped it around my shoulders. He pulled me closer to his body.

"Ashton..." I started.

"I'll uh I'll stop if you umm want... Sorry." He lifted his hand up.

"No, no it's fine, stay like that." I said to him, smiling.

He put his arm back down and I rested my head on his shoulder, relaxing. After awhile I was getting really cold and I decided maybe we should start heading home.

"Ashton?" I said quietly.

"Yes?" He said back, anxiously.

"We should probably get going." I replied.

"Oh, right, ok." He said, a wave of disappointment spreading across his gorgeous face.

We walked to his car, silently. It wasn't an awkward silence though, it was comfortable. I got in the passengers seat and he got in the drivers seat and we drove. We swerved down the hilly roads that were covered in slush and some ice. It felt good to be in the heated car, cause boy was it cold out there, even in the embrace of Ashton's firm arms I was shivering. I was still shivering but not as severely as before. We pulled up into my driveway and he walked me to my door.

"You can come in and we can hang out if you want." I offered.

"Alright, sure." Ashton said with a smile on his face.

We walked inside and took our coats off. I let him change into dry clothes and I did too. Then we went down into the basement. I curled up with a blanket and pillow on one side of the couch, and Ashton sat on the carpeted floor. He grabbed the remote and turned the TV on. Some stupid cartoon was on but I watched it anyways. While we were watching I felt my eyes become heavy and my whole body just relaxed very slowly. Then I drifted off into a deep sleep.

"Taylor! Tayyyylorrrr!?"

I heard a voice say.

"Tay, wake up!"

I heard it again. My eyes fluttered open to reveal another set of eyes staring straight into mine. They were a beautiful shade of hazel, and they had a sort of shine to them that made them sparkle. Ashton pulled away from my face, laughing.

"You fell asleep for like an hour Tay." He said grinning.

"Oh, sorry." I said feeling my cheeks turn red.

"It's fine." He said, his smile kind of melting away. He stared at me for a moment, then looked away and suddenly he was very interested in his shoes. He stared at them, his shoes, and fiddled with the laces.

"Why are you so nervous, Ash?" I asked, my face becoming serious.

"Well you uh, you look so...uh.." He stuttered.

"Well, spit it out!" I said teasingly.

"You looked so peaceful when you were sleeping." He blurted out.

The words hit me like a brick to the face.

"Umm thanks Ash." I said suddenly also interested in something else. I looked away but could feel him still staring at me. Maybe he was only kidding.

"Yea so now what do ya wanna do?" Ashton said, breaking the silence which I was thankful for.

"I dunno." I said back to him.

"Oh, shit!" Ashton exclaimed. "I have to uh go, like right now, I'll text you later Taylor, ok?"

He jumped up and headed to the basement stairs.

"Uh ok bye." I said.

"Bye!" He said and he ran up the stairs and out of the house.