-:Cecelia's POV:-

I was pretty bored. They were not giving me more than half an hour, four times a day, to be without that cursed drip. I had exhausted two times for that day already. And did I mention it was only noon?

Smart, right?

Not.

Julian stayed with me as much as he could but he had to attend pack meetings. Meetings wherein they desperately tried to find a solution to the Tasha problem. Her parents were grief leaden. She was an only child, so that kind of made it worse.

I did not have visitors, but that was expected. Mostly. I was hoping that Callie would come, but I guessed not. My braids were coming loose, so I opened them completely. I switched on the AC and ruffled my hair with my free hand and patting it down in hopes to tame the tangled strands. Julian was busy with another meeting.

There was a knock at the door.

"Come in!" I called, surprised at the politeness. The door opened slowly and in came Ashton. He looked like he'd showered and dressed recently. His hair was disheveled and he wore a navy blue turtleneck jacket with its zip halfway open, revealing a plain white tee underneath which hugged his toned torso like a second skin. He had dark blue jeans on.

"Hey," he broke me out of my trance.

"Hi," I blinked, hoping I didn't drool. What? He was my mate. I was allowed to appreciate his beauty.

"How ar- I mean, did you eat something?" He asked, nervously scratching the back of his neck. I smiled. 

Nice save.

"Yeah, I ate a fruit bowl a while ago," I said. He nodded. I folded my legs, leaving half the bed empty. He smiled as he walked over and sat down against the footboard. If one could say that since it barely reached up to half his back.

"We need to talk," I stated, not beating around the bush. 

I need to clear my head. I need to be fair to myself. I reminded myself. No boy is worth losing your self-respect and dignity for.

I missed Serafine for a moment before I concluded that her presence would've enhanced the bond between us. It was kind of good I wasn't rendered a complete imbecile in his presence. I was going to need my wits for this conversation.

"We do," he sighed, running a hand through his hair.

"First of all," I began, "Can we agree we are not looking for ways to reject each other anymore?" 

"A hundred percent," he nodded solemnly.

"Great," I filled the silence as we looked for ways to set things right. How were we to? I meant, where were we even supposed to start? 

Turned out, to know that you have to talk and then actually sit down and talk are two very different things.

"I'm sorry for kissing Bree," he blurted out. "I-It didn't mean anything."

I raised an eyebrow.

"So you just go around kissing girls without it meaning anything?" I questioned. He opened his mouth and then closed it again.

What? Did he think I was going to make it easy for him and welcome him with open arms and be like 'Aww darling it's all forgiven just because you've decided to give me a chance' and all that bullshit? 

Not in this lifetime. Not with me.

"Well," he started. "I wasn't exactly in the best moods, you see? I found my mate, I was ecstatic. When I found out you were a Crescent Moon, my spirits were a little dampened. When I found out that you were the Cecelia Rivers, I sort of lost it. And then you called me Ashton 'fucking' Summers and were talking to Julian an-"

"Breathe," I intercepted.

"I understand the rivalry thing," I told him. And I did. I had been worried sick myself. "Where did Julian come into the picture?"

"Umm . . . " his ears tinged pink.

I waited patiently.

"Isortofeavesdropped," he rushed, clearly not liking his confession. Whatever it was.

"Excuse me?" I asked, baffled.

"I umm eavesdropped on your phone call," he confessed. My eyes widened.

"You did what?" I exclaimed. 

"I was curious!" He defended.

"So you listened in on my conversation?!" I asked incredulously.

"A part of it, yes," he said skimpily. I narrowed my eyes, trying to remember that conversation but came up short. That day was honestly a blur.

"Did I really call you 'Ashton fucking Summers'?" I asked, amused.

"Yeah, you did," he chuckled.

"So you are justifying kissing Bree by saying that you didn't like me being a Rivers?" I got back on track.

"No," he mumbled.

"Then?"

"Julian," he offered as an explanation. Realization hit me like a ton of bricks.

"Don't freaking tell me that you got jealous over some guy you neither knew nor had seen. Not to mention, he could've been my brother or something, for Selene's sake!" I cried in exasperation. "And you'd known me for what? An hour?!"

"I acted on impulse," he sighed.

"You think?" I deadpanned. "Because FYI, Julian happens to have a mate. Whom he is mated to."

"I know that now, I didn't know it then," he said. "I just thought that, I don't know, with the way you spoke you guys seemed close. I just lost the handle on rationality."

I rubbed my face tiredly.

"I apologize sincerely." He said.

"Apology accepted," I said and he smiled. "But you're not forgiven. You will have to earn that. And trust. That too."

"I guess I brought this on myself."

"Yeah, you did."

"But you are to be blamed too!" He said accusingly. "You said you loved Julian."

"I never said it to you, but yeah I do," I finally said it to his face. Not saying it dug a deeper hole for me last time. He visibly held back a wince.

"You implied it," he spoke.

"So?" I said, annoyed. "I do love him. I'm just not in love with him."

"As I said earlier, I know that now," he sighed. "But still, you could've told me that before," he frowned.

"Did you ask me, Ashton?" I looked him in the eye. "Because I find that really moronic of you to just assume that I was in love with Julian without me saying it and then blame me for not telling you I wasn't just because you assumed it."

He had the decency to look guilty.

"I find it difficult to communicate," he confessed.

"Funny since you understood what I wanted to say without me saying it," I said sarcastically.

"Cecelia," he sighed. "You're not helping."

"This is a reality check we both need, Ashton," I shook my head. "We need to communicate. We need to speak our thoughts and not assume. We need to trust and we need to share. We have to stop keeping things unsaid and need to not have secrets. That's the only way it'll work out."

"I understand," he buried his head in his hands with a groan, sounding pitiable. "I will try. I will make mistakes, but I will try nonetheless. I want this to work out."

I didn't know what came over me, but I reached forward and pulled his hands away from his face. I forced him to meet my eye.

"I know I haven't messed up, yet," I said, and he smiled softly. "But I know for sure that I will sometime too. We are human, Ashton. Yes, we are werewolves, but a huge part of us is human. And humans are bound to make mistakes. That's how we were programmed. That's how we learn."

He pulled me between his legs and I let him. I pulled my legs over his and locked my ankles around his waist. His warmth felt nice. I could smell him up close now, so that was a plus. I breathed in his scent of oak and mint. It calmed me.

"I know," he said, resting his hands at my lower back. "I just don't want to mess up again."

"Who does?" I rolled my eyes. His eyes twinkled.

"No one," he brushed his nose against mine.

"Hmm," I hummed.

"We will make mistakes, we might hurt each other, we might fight, but we'll hold on, hun?" He asked in a whisper.

"Like we have a choice," I said jokingly.

"Ouch," he feigned being hurt. I chuckled, playing with his hair.

"That feels nice," he said, closing his eyes and resting his forehead against mine. I wordlessly kept that up till my hands ached. Damn those human tendencies. 

'Where are you, Sera?'

I tried not to let the resounding silence get to me.

"How and when are you planning to tell your parents?" I asked him, resting my hand on his shoulder.

"I already did," he opened his eyes. "Today," he answered the question in mine.

"How did they take it?" I asked worriedly.

"No one died," he shrugged.

"Really?" I chided.

"Okay, they were really happy for me," he lied.

"Ashton," I said flatly.

"Well," he sighed. "My father threw a table across the room. How does that sound?"

My eyes widened in horror.

"My mother was very happy," he offered.

"I'm so sorry," I whispered, feeling guilty. They definitely fought with the look on Ashton's face. If I weren't his mate, that wouldn't have happened.

"It's not your fault," he pecked my nose.

"It feels like it."

"It isn't," he said firmly.

"B-"

"Lia!" The door burst open, cutting me off. Ashton and I jumped, bumping heads. I winced, feeling a bruise forming. 

'Seraaaaa!!'

"Shit, sorry!" He mumbled, covering his eyes.

"Are you hurt?" Ashton murmured. I shook my head, rubbing my forehead, and backed away from Ashton, missing his embrace but feeling embarrassed at being caught.

"What the fuck do you want, Julian?" I snapped.

"Well, I see I'm welcome here," he plopped down on the couch, grinning mischievously. "Hi, Summers."

"Hey, Julian," Ashton greeted, obviously not very happy.

"Have you heard of knocking?" I glared at Julian.

"Nope," he grinned wider.

"What do you want?" I asked again, my patience running thin.

"Why, to have lunch with you," he said as if it were obvious.

"Now?" I asked skeptically.

"You are on medicines. So yes, now."

I groaned.

"What is it now?" I asked. "Can I have a chicken sandwich or not?"

"The latter," he shrugged.

"Let me guess, you'll be having a chicken sandwich and I'll be eating boiled potatoes?"

"Close enough," he laughed evilly. I looked at Ashton for help. He looked at me sympathetically.

"I can keep you company with those potatoes," he smiled at me.

"You're the best," I smiled back.

"Look at you two lovebirds," Julian wiped an imaginary tear away. "They grow up so fast!"

"Two more days, and you're going down, Curtis." 

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A/N:-

I was feeling a little blocked so it's a short chapter. It's past midnight here in India and I'm sleepy. I'll be going now.

Hope you liked the chapter. Comment your thoughts!!

QOTD: favorite paranormal/mythical creature besides werewolves?

Tap that star on your way out, guys!

Until next time, all my love,
xoxo.