Hopelessly Falling [book 2]

Chapter Fourty-Nine

XLIX
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Crystal's POV***

"Do we have an 'end-of-the-day' relationship?" I asked Ashton as I slipped into bed with him for the night.

When we got back, Eli had fallen asleep with Layla on the couch. And surprisingly, Ashton didn't make any snide comments about his arm around her waist as they slept. He seemed to actually be thankful this whole time that Eli was able to make her feel at all better.

Jake was still wide awake, though, sitting in his bed. With a sad nod in my direction, Ashton walked into Jake's room to talk with him. I knew it wasn't my conversation to have, so I just went up to Ashton's room, changed into one of his comfiest sweatshirts, and listened to some music to try and somewhat get my mind off of everything.

By the time he had come back in, it was a long while later, and I assumed that he had stayed with Jake until he fell asleep. He gave me a sad smile when he closed the door, no doubt still in a lot of pain from the fight.

And now, as we laid in his bed, he scrunched his eyebrows at me, not knowing what the hell I was talking about.

Typical us.

"There's no way that's an expression," he said, finally calling BS on all my weird terminology.

"I just made it up, but it seems pretty straightforward," I replied, and he shook his head.

"I thought I was the potentially concussed one here," he gave me a strange look, and I rolled my eyes.

"See- this is what I mean," I commented.

"Fine, what's an 'end-of-the-day' relationship?" He asked me, trying to play along.

"You know when people say that? Like when they talk about people and are all 'oh yeah they're this and that but in the end of the day we love each other'," I tried to explain, and he was trying to follow, "like when a sibling is a pain in the ass, but in the end of the day they're your sibling," I gave another example.

"So you're saying that I'm a pain in the ass?" He grinned, and I chuckled.

"Well I mean, you are, but that's not my point," I responded lightheartedly, re-centering myself on what I had planned on being somewhat of a serious conversation.

"I feel like we've been in the 'end-of-the-day' phase at all times because of how messed up our lives are, and we don't really know what it's like to... you know... be in a relationship during the day, too," I said, and he looked like he finally was starting to follow. "I just don't want us to be an 'end-of-the-day' thing, and then whenever all this dust settles for our roll to get messed up at all."

The fact that I trusted him enough be saying all this, though, definitely made me feel better about the thought, and made it easier for me to start accepting this as probably just my anxiety talking- which was something I never could do.

"Well what makes you think we would?" He asked, sitting up a little bit to match my eye level.

"I don't know," I tried to think, "I mean, we argue sometimes."

"We don't argue, we banter, with an occasional argument that gets settled anyway," he corrected, "and might I remind you that our love started from an argument."

"A stupid one, though."

"Yeah, very stupid. It so obviously was you who walked into me," he said and I turned to glare at him, but when I did I just saw him smiling amusedly at me. He really did enjoy pushing my buttons..