Typical [L.P. + N.H. + A.I.]

6.2 - Hills - Dinner

Jess' POV

Over the next few days, I spend every single second I get to with Ashton, giving him a 100% of my attention. I don't want him thinking I'm too eager to talk to Niall. So I wait a good 3 days before bringing it up again. We're just in the sitting room watching a movie that's not too interesting.

'Hey, babe?' I call Ash patting the empty space next to me on the sofa.

He sits next to me, put his arm around my shoulders pulling me closer to him.

'I was thinking maybe I could text Niall now?'

I look at him hopefully with a hint of scared. I don't want to upset him by bringing it up, but I also don't want to text Niall without Ashton's consent.

'Fine.' He says neutrally.

So I pull up my phone, look through my contacts and then start typing.

'Hi!' I look at Ash before pressing send and he just nods.

'Hey! Nice to hear from you! How are you?'

'I'm good, and you?'

'I'm okay.'

I stare at the phone, not knowing what to text. I guess things are still awkward. I look back at Ashton he's looking at the TV screen. He seems okay. I get another text. It's from Niall.

'I miss you.'

I start typing a reply 'I mi'

'No! You're not giving him hope. You can't tell him that you miss him. Even if you do only as friends.' Ashton comments.

I erase and type again, 'I know.' I look back at Ash, 'Better?'

He nods and looks back at the movie so I send the message.

'Why are you texting me? Did you talk to Ashton?'

'Yes. I talked to him.'

'And?'

'Well... If you're up for it, we can try being friends again. But things are gonna be a bit different. It's gonna take some time. And with everything that happened, it's not gonna be the same.'

'Yeah, I get it. As long as I can talk to you and see you I don't have a problem.'

'I guess.'

'So are you enjoying LA?'

'Yeah! I mean I still prefer London, but here is different and fun! I like it. It's a nice vacation spot. But not for daily life. I don't know how you guys do it.'

'We travel a lot. That helps.'

'True!'

'I'm sorry, I'm trying to make a regular conversation. But I still feel like there's a lot of awkwardness. I thought maybe we can power through it and it'll fade away on its own. But I guess not.'

'Yeah, I know...'

'Maybe if we hung out together, it'll go away? When can I see you?'

I look at Ashton, waiting for him to give me answer to type.

'Tell him to come over for dinner tomorrow.'

'Are you sure?'

'Yeah! The sooner we get this over with the sooner everything will be good again.'

'How about you come over Ashton's for dinner tomorrow?'

'I don't know... I don't want to intrude.'