playing daddy ||a.i.||

[11] CANDLES

"Really? Aladdin, the guy with no nipples, is the one that stole your eight-year-old heart?" Ashton and Mellony have been on the topic of childhood crushes since they woke up. It's been on and off; asking questions when they pass each other in the hallway, calling out answers to the other on either side of the bathroom door.

They'd veered off into fictional characters sometime after breakfast, and now Ashton's criticizing Mellony's choice in Disney men as they lounge on the couch.

Mellony giggles, shoving Ashton away from her as if she's outraged. "I was a kid, okay!" She defends herself.

Ashton rolls his eyes, hooking his fingers around her arm to bring her closer to him. He truly hasn't gotten over the fact that he can do that whenever he wants, even though it's been two weeks since they'd first kissed.

"Well, at least I know your taste has improved, hm?" He mumbles, zeroing in on her lips. She smiles, closing the distance between them. They hardly have the chance to do this with Neo being around, but since he's watching cartoons in his room, both of them are taking advantage of the privacy.

Mid-way through Ashton cupping the back of her neck to deepen the kiss, his phone rings in his lap.

He plans on ignoring it—at least for a little bit—until he realizes he's no longer kissing Mellony. He squints, opening his eyes to become face-to-face with his cell phone.

"Who's Noel?" She asks, staring at him with a poised look taking over her features.

Ashton blinks.

Then, he remembers his roofers.

Then, it clicks that Mellony's gently accusing him of seeing a girl behind her back. Which, Ashton would take interest in since it means she considers them some sort of item, except, Noel is a six foot-something, fully grown man.

He gingerly takes his phone from her fingertips. "Mel, he's from the roofing company," He says. "Also, wouldn't Noel be spelled with an extra 'l' if it were a girl?" He adds as an afterthought, as Mellony seems to nod to herself.

She snaps out of her embarrassment, "Hey, you could have spelled it that way on purpose to hide the fact that she is a girl."

She's mostly joking, that Ashton can tell, but for the sake of the part that isn't, he answers the call and puts it on speaker, blankly staring at her as he does so.

"Hello?"

"Ashton, how are you doing?" Noel politely asks. Ashton raises his brows at Mellony, to get her confirmation that she sees he isn't playing any games with her.

"I'm fine. How's my ceiling?" He can't help the sardonic tone in his voice, it just slipped out. Probably since it's been a bit longer than they said it'd take for them to fix his apartment.

"Uh, that's what I'm calling about," he pauses, much too dramatic for Ashton's liking. "Everything's all done. We finished up yesterday and we've just done cleanup, so you're all set."

Ashton's initial reaction is a grin, until he considers the fact that he'll have to actually move back into his own apartment. He and Mellony aren't even officially together, and he couldn't possibly invite himself in permanently, so by tonight he should be setting things back up in his place.