Chapter 4
*****
Rylie's P.O.V
*****
The work day went by slowly. I found myself checking the clock every few minutes as the time ticked by. As I waited the tables it seemed the people I was serving were more friendly, but maybe I was just in a better mood. One of the family's that came in looked new, I'd never seen them, maybe they were vacationing. We've been getting more and more tourist here in North Carolina lately, I'm not sure why. Anyways the lady had been extra generous with the tip, she'd given me an extra $40. It seemed my day was just getting better and better.
Around 2:00 some of the grease from the fryer had splattered on me, giving me some pretty bad burns. I had to take a short break to run my arm under cold water and run down to Walgreens to get some burn ointment. The burns hurt like a bitch but I figured it'd go away soon enough.
*****
Ashton's P.O.V
*****
I pulled into the parking spot closest to the door and got out of my car. I saw Rylie grab her apron as she ran out the door. She had a huge grin on her face as the door swung open.
"Hi Ash!" She sounded so excited.
I smirked as she ran to me for a hug. I wrapped my arms around her, "Hey. How was work?".
She smiled, "It was pretty good".
"You ready to go?" I asked.
She nodded, "Yeah, but where are we going exactly?"
"I thought it'd be fun to go to the new Chinese restaurant together".
"Ooh that sounds perfect", she seemed pleased.
We both climbed into my car and pulled out of the parking lot.
*****
Rylie's P.O.V
*****
He reached over to turn the radio on as we pulled onto the street. He laughed and looked over at me.
"You know you still have to sing for me Rylie", he reminded me.
"Oh yeah, I forgot about that", I laughed.
He turned the radio to a station that was playing All Time Low. He started to hum along to the song. Eventually he started to sing, and damn was he good. I thought he was an amazing drummer but the fact that he could sing too, I'd really underestimated him. His voice was amazing and I sat there in an almost trance-like state listening to him, taking all of him in. When the song finished he started to giggle and looked at me.
"You didn't tell me you're a singer too Ashton Irwin", I pointed out.
He grinned, "I didn't think it was important".
The drive to the restaurant was quick and we were there in about five minutes.
He lead me to the entrance and held the door open for me, he was such a gentleman.
We were taken to a small both in the corner, the room lit only by a few paper lanterns. It was only when we were sat across from each other that I realized it was kind of romantic.
"Well this is cozy", he giggled.
"Yeah, it really is", I agreed.
We ordered our food which came within a few minutes; it was actually really amazing food too.
He set his chopsticks down, "This is so good wow".
I nodded in agreement, "Yeah it's great".
"We'll have to come here again" he said.
I think I was trying to flirt, "Yeah we definitely should".
He smiled at my comment.
"So how's the move been?" I asked.
He shrugged, "I guess it's been pretty good considering we moved to the opposite side of the globe. But my mom really likes her new job and Harry and Lauren really like it too so that's good".
"How do you like it?" I asked.
"Well I like it a lot. I actually met a very nice girl who was kind enough to hang out with me, I think she works down at the diner, and I really like being around her so there's that", he smirked, "Oh and she's very pretty so that's an obvious bonus".
I could feel the heat rush to my cheeks. "She sounds wonderful", was all I could really say.
He focused his gaze on me, "She really is".
We finished our diner and went back to his car. He turned the lights on quick to try and find a cd, it was a failed attempt. I saw his gaze fall down to my arms, his eyes widened.
"What is that?" He seemed worried about my burn from work.
"Oh it's nothing, some grease from the fryer splattered but it's fine".
His eyes were fixated on the burns, "Did you get ointment? I can drive to the store and get some I mean it looks pretty bad and-"
I cut him off, "I really am okay, thank you though". He was a really sweet guy.
"Okay", he sighed.
We talked about our hobbies on the drive back to the diner, I had to pick up my car, and he brought up drumming again.
"You really do like drumming don't you?" I asked.
He smiled, "How could you tell?".
"Lucky guess" I winked.
He pulled up in the parking spot next to my car and turned to me. "Well", he started, I guess I'll see you at school on Monday".
"Well are you doing anything tomorrow?", I asked
"Just drumming", he laughed.
"I can't say I'm surprised", I joked.
"You should come by, you could try drumming with me", he winked.
I giggled, "I'll check to see when I'm working".
"Awesome".
"Awesome".
We both laughed and climbed out of the car. He hugged me back when I wrapped my arms around him and waved as I backed out of my parking spot. I jokingly blew him a kiss before waving goodbye and pulling out of the parking lot.
I laughed, thinking about how much I actually liked him. He was a super sweet guy and I realized how glad I was to have been invited to the barbecue. There was something different about Ashton. He wasn't one of the guys who was only in it for sex, he genuinely wanted to hang out with me. There was something else to, something I couldn't quite pinpoint, but I knew I liked him for it.
