My Bucket List

Chapter 7 - Harlow

"Holy shit!" Someone gasped, waking me from my peaceful slumber. I slowly blinked my eyes open and looked in the direction of the door. At first I was confused about where I was, when I remembered that I was staying at Ashton's house. When my eyes finally adjusted to the light coming from the open door I looked up and saw Gideon and Mark standing at the doorway with a smirk on their faces. Feeling completely embarrassed, knowing that my hair was a mess I tried to use my hands to pat my hair down when I noticed something unfamiliar. One of my arms was wrapped around Ashton's head which was on my chest, his right arm was draped over my abdomen and he had flung his leg over mine restricting my movement. My sudden movement seemed to irritate Ashton who groaned softly before pressing his nose deeper into the grove of my neck. The hot air that he released against me was ticklish that I almost laughed had it not been for the fact that I could feel two sets of eyes following my every movement.

Memories of last night came flooding back. I couldn't believe that he actually stayed the entire night with me. I remembered falling asleep to the sound of his heartbeat. Then I remembered how I completely broke down in front of him last night. What a mess, I thought to myself. I hadn't even known that the hand I had wrapped around Ashton's head had started running through his hair when he sighed happily in his sleep.

"Now we know why you got put in the friend zone?" I heard Mark say to Gideon, reminding me that they were still standing at the door way.

"Its not what it looks like," I said to both men, who still looked at the position Ashton and I were currently in with humour and a hint of curiosity in both their eyes.

At the sound of my voice, Ashton's eyes fluttered open and he looked up at me smiling.

"How are you feeling?" He asked groggily. Without saying a word I signalled my head towards the door, when he blinked at me before getting the hint. He lifted his head from my chest, instantly taking his warmth with him and turned towards the door.

"What are you guys doing here so early?" He asked the pair as he sat up, an action that caused the comforter to slip down and reveal the hard plains of his well defined arms and chest. Shaking myself from my daze I slowly sat up and mimicked his actions.

The guys shared a look between themselves before casting their attention back to Ashton and I.

Gideon was the one to answer, his voice playful, "It's almost noon. Mums been trying to get in contact with the both of you to see if you wanted to join the family for brunch. When she didn't hear anything from you she sent me and this guy over."

"Sorry man, I left my phone in my room last night," Ashton explained before turning in my direction. "You think you're OK to go over for brunch?" he asked me, completely ignoring the fact that we slept in the same bed together.

"Umm sure. Sorry about last night."

"It's no problem, you've been through a lot. I'm sorry I was crushing you. How are your ribs?" he asked sympathetically.

"They're not too bad. I can't really feel it unless I'm laughing too hard."

The sound of someone clearing their throat made me realise that it wasn't just the two of us. We both looked back at Mark and Gideon who we hadn't noticed walked into the room at some point and stood at the foot of the bed.

"So...would one of you like to tell us what's going on?" said Mark.

Ashton looked at me and I nodded my head giving him permission to tell him why he was in my bed.

"Harlow had some trouble sleeping last night. I came in to comfort her and fell asleep," he answered. I breathed a sigh of relief that he didn't tell them that I actually cried like a baby last night and practically begged him to console me.