Reaching for Happiness

Chapter 18

I woke up to the smell of burning. I sat up, and looked around the room. No Aston beside me. I could hear him singing to himself in the shower. I slipped on my dressing gown and slippers and walked onto the landing. The burning smell got stronger. I walked down the stairs to see smoke coming from the kitchen.

'FUCK!' I shouted. I ran into the kitchen. The smoke was coming from the toaster; I quickly unplugged it. I opened the window and wafted the smoke through it with a dishcloth. When it had cleared, I looked into the toaster. Two pieces of burnt toast. 

'Everything okay babe? I heard shouting?' Aston said as he walked down the stairs in his joggers and a hoodie, his hair wet and fluffy.

'Did you make toast this morning?' I asked him.

'Oh.. Did I forget about my toast?' he asked.

'Yeah' I giggled. 'Your so silly sometimes' I said as he wrapped his arms around my waist and kissed my nose.

'What's the plans for our last day then?' I asked.

'Hmm.. Warm clothes'

'So your not gonna tell me what we're doing?'

'Nope' he grinned.

'Fine!' I huffed, walking past Aston to go up the stairs. He pinched my bum as I walked past him.

'Hey! Cheeky' I giggled.

'Come on then, lets get ready' he smiled. We raced each other up the stairs. I beat Aston, but he said it was my fault he lost as my bum was in his face and distracting him. That boy is such a bad loser. Me and Aston stood brushing our teeth, trying to share the tiny mirror. We kept nudging each other out the way, which resulted in us accidentally spitting toothpaste all over the wall. After cleaning the wall, we headed into our bedroom to get dressed. As I kicked off my slippers, a pain once again shot through my stomach. I felt a lump in my throat. I rushed into the bathroom and threw up in the toilet. Aston ran in after me, holding my hair back for me.

'Eugh, go away, I don't want you to see me like this' I told Aston, before throwing up again. 

'Babe, I aint going nowhere' he told me. After I'd finished, I brushed my teeth again, to get rid of the taste of sick. I went back into our bedroom and searched through my draw, pulling out some underwear. I felt two arms slip around my waist, and a pair of gentle lips kiss my neck softly.

'Babe, I think we need to make you an appointment at the doctors' Aston told me.

'Ast, I'm fine, I just have a bug or something' I smiled, turning around in his arms and placing arms around his neck.

'Please let me book you an appointment, I don't like seeing you like this..'

'Ast, don't worry about me! I'm fine!' I smiled.

'Okay.. But if your sick or have stomach ache one more time, I'm calling the doctors, okay?'

'Okay' I smiled, kissing his lips softly. I just hoped it was only a bug, and I wasn't pregnant..

We got ready, packed up our suitcases and gave our keys back to Mrs. McCarthy. I was feeling totally fine now, my stomach ache had gone and I was enjoying a car ride with Aston to our next destination. After an hour or so, he pulled up in a car park surrounded my grassy hills. He took hold of my hand and lead me over the hills. We ended up on a quiet beach. There were a few dog walkers and old couples, but that was it. We walked along the beach, having a good chat. I noticed a golden retriever running towards us. Aston spotted it, and squeezed my hand a little tighter. He didn't like big dogs, so I guess he was a little scared of it. As it neared closer, he stepped a behind me a little, as we carried on walking, making me giggle to myself. It came right up to us, so I let go of Aston's hand to stroke it.

'Hello' I smiled, as it licked my hand. 

'Careful..' Aston said, as he stepped back a bit.

'Ast, it's fine' I giggled. I looked around, but there didn't seem to be anyone coming to pull it away from us. I looked at the dogs collar.. He was called Buster. 

'Ast, I think he's lost. We're gonna have to help him find his owners'

'No way are we taking that thing with us..'

'Ast, he's lovely! We can't leave him on his own'

'Ugh, fine' he sulked. 

'Come on Buster' I said, as I stood up and linked arms with Aston. We carried on walking, with Buster following us. After a while, we saw a woman running towards us. Buster ran straight towards her, and jumped up at her. She hooked a lead on to him, and walked towards us. 

'Did you find him?' She asked.

'Yeah, is he yours?' I asked.

'Yes, thanks for looking after him' she chuckled.

'Its no problem. Have a nice day!' I smiled, as we carried on walking. We got bored after a while, so we headed back. We drove to a little village, and got some fish and chips from a little fish shop on the sea front. We sat on a bench, eating our dinner.

'Ast, thanks so much for this weekend. Every moment had been amazing' I smiled, kissing his cheek.

'I agree.. Apart from you throwing up' he laughed. We finished our dinner, and walked back to the car, ready for our 5 hour drive home..