Bittersweet

TWELVE: Ophidia in Herba

Gabriel twirled in his sheets as the morning sun caressed his face. He smiled gently as he felt the warmth and remembered being in Paris. He slowly turned his head to his left. Ashton's peaceful face lay a few inches away from his. The distance between the beds wasn't more than ten inches. Gabriel's heart panicked in his little rib cage. Not that he hated the sight. Unlike his awake self, the man looked so calm and composed in his sleep. He had his blanket pulled up to his chin, and his eyelashes fluttered as soft as they could. Part of Gabriel wanted to squish his face, and another wanted to blow those lashes. And then he remembered what happened last night. He had lashed out at Ashton and fallen asleep immediately after. What happened after that, he had no idea. He hadn't even taken the time to see how Ashton had reacted to his outburst. Honestly, he was feeling a bit remorseful now. Did he overreact? He didn't know. He decided to apologize if Ashton brought the topic up. For now, he would brush it under the carpet.

He stared at Ashton for a few more seconds and then fell back onto his pillow. He went through the details for today's stay in Paris. They were free the whole day, but there was a party to attend at night. He sighed and remembered he hadn't called Gaia.

"Hey, gal! Is the Netherlands missing a diva?" He whispered as he didn't want to wake Ashton up.

"Uh, no. But the café surely needs Ashton. You have no idea how many fans he has, ugh."

"What?" Gabriel was sure she was overreacting.

"Okay, so we opened as usual today. The first round of customers walk in, and this lady asks me, 'where is the newbie?' What am I supposed to answer? I am working my ass off here, and they don't want me anymore." 

Gabriel looked over his shoulder and saw Ashton rubbing his eyes. It hit him then; why he had so many people behind him. 

"Girl, get a hold and make some money. Call Dave."

"Dave? The only thing he's going to attract is legal issues. No, thank you." Gaia hung up, and Gabriel sighed. 

"Who was it?" Gabriel swore his heart jumped hearing Ashton's morning voice. He did not dare turn to look at him with his flushed face. Ashton sat upright with a questioning look on his face. While Gabriel was going through his crisis, he wondered about last night. He had witnessed Gabriel's anger before, but not to this extent. It did sting a little. Gabriel finally turned to address him. 

"Gaia. She was complaining about the customers missing you." He didn't make any eye contact. 

"Oh. Oh. Alright." That's all he said. Ashton got up and walked to the bathroom. Gabriel stared in disbelief. He was expecting some self-praise. Was he still upset about last night? Gabriel threw his head on the pillow and cursed himself. He went to look up their plans for the day. They had to attend a dinner party. That meant they had the whole day to tour the place. 

He walked towards the bathroom door and yelled. "Just in case you didn't know, we have a dinner party later tonight. I thought we could-" Before he could complete his sentence, the door opened, and he felt his nose touching something wet and warm. Gabriel freaked out and stumbled back. Ashton stood there with a towel around his waist. And it was low enough to set anyone's imagination run wild. The warmth his body radiated was proof of a scorching shower. The surprise on his face slowly gave to a smirk. He walked closer and knelt. 

"You were saying?"  

Gabriel's words were caught in his throat. He swallowed and opened his mouth to speak, but a gasp was all that came out.

"Huh? What was that?" Ashton teased. 

"I was thinking we could check out some places right now." Gabriel's voice trailed off.