Unpredictable (A Lashton Fanfic)

Chapter Twenty-Six - Missing in Action?

When I woke up the next morning and glanced at my watch, I was surprised to find it was already eight o’clock—if we didn’t leave within the next hour, we’d miss the ferry. “I was wondering when you would wake up, sunshine.”

            I sat up to find Ashton standing next to me, already dressed with car keys in hand. “I’m sorry. Why didn’t you wake me up?”

            “I didn’t want to bother you.” Ashton shrugged and gave me a quick kiss before throwing a pile of clothes in my direction. “Here, put these on.”

            “Aren’t they yours?” I asked, holding up the gray shirt and black jeans so I could see them better.

            Ashton started laughing. “Yes, but we wear each other’s clothes all the time anyway so why should it matter?”

            “It doesn’t,” I said quickly. “I was just wondering.” I didn’t bother with a shower simply because I didn’t think we had time for it, and so once I was dressed I quickly washed my face, ran a comb through my messy hair, and followed Ashton outside. The Range Rover was nowhere to be seen, which I found odd, so I turned to Ash with an inquisitive look on my face. “Where’s our car?”

            “Right here.” He pointed to a black Chrysler convertible similar to the one we had last time we were here, and I couldn’t help but smile as we climbed inside and, once the top had been lowered, exited the parking lot. “Have you talked to Michael and Calum yet to tell them we’ll miss our interview again today?” I asked, rolling down the window and leaning over to take his hand.

            “No,” Ashton admitted. “but I’ll text them once we get on the ferry.”

            I rolled my eyes and leaned back in my seat. “They’re going to yell at us again, you know.”

            “I know, but do you really want to miss the chance to see more orcas?” When I shook my head, he continued. “Exactly.”

            “I also can’t miss the chance to spend a whole day with you,” I whispered, and he must’ve heard me because he squeezed my hand and said, “Same here, Lukey.”

            We remained relatively silent until we reached the ferry dock—thankfully it was a lot less crowded than yesterday, and so we were able to drive on almost as soon as we got there. “This was perfect timing,” Ashton commented, putting the car in park and running over to open the door for me. “If either of us had of slept in any later we would’ve missed it for sure.”

            I nodded and took his hand again as we made our way up the stairs that led to the outside area of the ship. Here lately it didn’t feel right if we weren’t touching in some way, and as I looked over at Ashton it was obvious by the content smile on his face that the feeling was mutual.

            “Have you gotten any more texts from Nathan?” Ashton asked, his voice breaking through my thoughts.

            “No,” I said, staring down at the water below us. “At least not yet, anyway.”

            Ashton was quiet for a few minutes before speaking again. “So Saturday’s going to be the ‘final showdown’?”

            I put my arm around him and sighed. “Yeah, I guess so.”

            “I talked to Colin this morning,” Ashton said, keeping his voice low. “Christian and Dimitri are supposed to fly in tonight, Danielle and Dan and Shay are coming tomorrow, and I think he said Russell is already here in Seattle.”