Ashton had (unsurprisingly) lost the game of golf, leaving him without a kiss and with a dented ego - he lost so magnificently, in fact, that Ava had been teasing him so much on their way home she hadn't even realised they were walking in the complete opposite direction of her apartment.
"You must feel embarrassed," she smirked, bumping Ashton's shoulder with her own. "You know, losing to a girl and stuff."
"I let you win," Ashton replied, rolling his eyes and bumping her back.
"I don't need pity victories," Ava scoffed, the air she breathed out appearing in front of her.
It seemed the only time she chose to go jacket-less, Australia decided to have a complete change of weather - she was freezing.
Ashton had noticed the goosebumps that covered her arms and indiscreetly shrugged off the black zip-up jacket he was wearing, turning to drape it over her shoulders. Despite his chivalry and gentleman-y ways, Ava laughed.
"What?"
"You're such a cliche."
"Would you rather me be original and come visit you in the hospital after you catch hypothermia?"
"... No."
"Thought as much," Ashton laughed, smiling triumphantly as she slipped her arms through the sleeves of his jacket and zipped it up, instantly being engulfed by the material. The hem of it almost entirely covered her shorts, and she had to roll the sleeves a few times so her hands could poke out of the bottom.
She stopped suddenly, as if her new-found warmth had made her aware of her surroundings.
"This isn't the way to my house."
She furrowed her eyebrows, but Ashton turned so he could continue walking backwards - he didn't realise how cold it was before he offered Ava his jacket, and didn't want to stop moving.
"Observant, aren't you?" He asked sarcastically, a small smirk on his face.
"Where are we going?"
Ashton didn't reply. Instead, he moved to stand next to her again and continued on their way, wondering if he was confident enough to try and hold her hand.
He wasn't.
They turned a corner and Ashton's eyes lit up as he saw their destination. Throwing caution to the wind, he brushed his hand over hers - she responded by linking their fingers together, and the fuzzy feeling Ashton had gotten when he first saw her that night returned to his gut, along with a goofy grin he was having a hard time keeping off his face.
"I want to show you something," he said, pulling her along to the building at the end of the street and round the back of it.
They were faced with a metal fence that was at least eight foot tall, and Ava was praying to God she wouldn't have to climb it because there was no way in the world she had enough hand-eye co-ordination.
"What are we doing?"
"Climbing."
Brilliant.
"Okay, just put your foot on there," Ashton pointed to a hole in the fence that was slightly bigger than the others.
"There?" Ava asked for confirmation, wondering if he was actually asking her to climb at least two feet in one step.
"Yeah, and put your hands on the bar to pull yourself up," he guided, pointing to the silver bar that lined the top of the death trap Ava was worried she was going to fall from.
