Hey! Just wanted to tell you that this is from before the events in the epilogue. It's pretty obvious but I didn't want there to be any confusion so I wrote this note regardless, lol. It's about their initial days in college. A cliché chapter with jealousy and humor. I loved writing this one. I hope you guys like it! 

Happy reading!

-:Cecelia's POV:-

"That's the last box," I sighed as I stood upright, trying not to wince at the pain in my back. Ashton and I had just shifted to our apartment near the campus. Elena and Aiden had gifted us this place. Yes, we weren't there on rent. We sort of owned the place now. 

"I told you I would do it alone but you just had to," Ashton clicked his tongue in frustration. He'd watched me like a hawk all the time. He'd told me on multiple occasions that he would get all the stuff up from the rental truck himself but I had tenaciously refused.

"Of course," I shrugged, grinning.

"Of course," he echoed with a frown.

"I'm fine, Ash. Stop fretting."

"I'm not fretting," he lied, breaking his gaze away. I took a deep breath. 

I am not fragile.

"Let's get this finished," I changed the topic. "You take care of the rental truck and I'll start setting up the apartment."

"Are you crazy?" He scowled. "Your back is probably hurting like a bitch. Do you intend to permanently throw it out?"

"It's not hurting at all," I lied defiantly.

"Cecelia." He deadpanned. I huffed.

"The place is furnished! All I have to do is start arranging the light stuff."

"No." He resisted.

"I can start with the kitchen so that we don't have to order in." I persisted.

"Cecelia," he said in a firm tone, pinching the bridge of his nose. It was his 'I am pissed' tone. It usually led to fights. I groaned in defeat. Except for him, everyone would let me do as I pleased. They didn't want to 'upset' me. Ashton on the other hand knew what was best for me most of the time and would not hesitate to tell me.

"Fine!" I pouted, folding my hands across my chest. "No heavy lifting for the time being. I got it."

"Thank you," he breathed in relief, pocketing his keys to the truck. "I'll bring takeouts. Text me what you want, okay?"

"Sure," I responded.

"Ce, I'm so-"

"It's not your fault," I smiled, cutting him off. I knew I fought with him a lot to get my way. He tended to want to put me in a bulletproof box and store me away from harm. I wanted to be on the frontlines and face the firing. We were both crazy. We were extreme with our thoughts. We needed a middle ground and we were gradually finding it.

Gradually. Like right now.

"I'm trying," he scrunched up his eyebrows.

"I know," I hugged him. "So am I. A little less, but I am. We'll get there."

"We will get there." He repeated, hugging me back.

"Now go. I'm hungry," I pushed him off gently. 

"Fine," He chuckled, drawing away. "I'll be back soon."

The door closed behind him and I rubbed my hands in glee.

"Now where are those boxes I want?"

*************

"I told you not to do anything and you agreed!" He groaned. "What happened?"

"You're so overdramatic," I rolled my eyes. "I agreed not to do any 'heavy lifting' and I stuck to my word."

"What the hell, Cecelia?"

"I don't know, Ash. The last time I checked, clothes are one of the lightest commodities. Unless you're telling me they aren't."

"I should've known," he grumbled.

"Yup," I skipped back to our disorganized living room and grabbed the food. "Now that we're past that, can we eat? I'm starving."

"Of course," he sighed, following me.

"Middle ground, Ashton." I reminded him between bites when our silence stretched. I didn't mean to hurt him but he had to understand that I was not some glass doll.

"I know." He answered, attempting a smile.

***********************************

It took all but two days for the 'college student' novelty to wear off.

"Why can't that hoe keep her hands to herself?" I muttered to myself for the umpteenth time. That cute, doe-eyed bimbo wouldn't leave Ashton alone all day. Because of our different courses, we hadn't been together in classes but we did cross paths on the campus once in a while. We managed to interact at that time.

But that day, that brunette leech wouldn't leave him alone. 

He kept prying her hands off him and she kept putting them back. She was much worse than the other admirers he'd had so far. She was more persistent and more determined. She made me want to-

'Plotting her death won't help, Ce.' His humorous laugh entered my mind.

'And who says that?' I challenged, watching her closely. Her skirt was hiked up higher than I saw it that morning. 'Because I say it's the only thing that's kept me from murdering her in broad daylight.'

'Cecelia,' he laughed. 'She's harmless.'

'You better not be defending her, Summers.'

'I am not!' He protested, turning to face me where I was sitting on a bench. By the looks of my watch, I had another ten minutes of this horror film ahead of me.

'I swear to Selene, Ashton. Get that bloody girl off of you!'

'I'm trying!'

'Try harder!' I snapped.

'You know what? You come here, why don't you? You think this is easy? I've been trying all day. She's a human so I can't even break her hand. It won't heal and - well, you know.'

My anger melted when I heard the desperation in his voice. He sounded so done. All of a sudden, the situation became funny.

'Eh. I think I'll wait for her to get the hint,' I answered.

'What?!' He glared at me explicitly. I bit back a laugh, shrugging. I knew his eyes would catch the movement.

'You better be joking.' He bit.

'Nope.' I grinned. The brunette already looked starved for attention. Oh, now that looked promising. Where's the popcorn when you need it?

'Cecelia!'

'Ashton!' I laughed when I saw him take her hands off himself . . . again. Goddess, why didn't I see the hilarity of the situation before?

"Hey," someone interrupted my entertainment. I faced them, surprised that someone would approach me. 

"Ace?" I asked in bewilderment.

"You remember me!" He exclaimed joyously, moving in to hug me. I awkwardly returned the hug, not liking the contact. I kept it short. He didn't seem to mind. His grin was huge as he took the seat next to me and felt the need to put his arm on the bench behind me. I raised my eyebrow pointedly.

"How can I help you?" I asked him, forcing a polite smile.

"Oh come on! That's not how you greet an old friend!" He teased with a smile.

"Ace," I said warningly.

Some people just don't get the hint.

"How about we have dinner tonight?" He asked. "You know, catch up."

"I can't," I refused, finding it harder to be polite.

"Why? Is that guy bullying you, too?" He leaned in, his brows furrowed in concern. I gave him a perplexed look.

"What guy?" I questioned.

"That one there," he tilted his head, signaling at someone. "Don't look now!" He exclaimed, stopping me. "He was looking," he explained. "He told me yesterday to stay away from you. He was probably interested. But I can see that he got over you. That's good though. We can pick up where we left off. So, it's a date tonight, Lia?"

"Ace," I said gently, "I am not going out with you." Again, I added mentally.

"Why wouldn't you?" He frowned.

Dense. So fucking dense.

"I have a boyfriend," I explained patiently.

"Really?" He asked.

"Really." I reiterated.

"Last ti-" he began.

"Is everything all right here?" 

'Finally.'

'Hmph. Pick up where we left off, hun?"

'Don't be jealous.'

'I am not.'

'Sure, Ash. Let's go with that.'

'Look who's talking,' he retorted. I glared at him half-heartedly.

'I was not-'

"What are you doing here?" The idiot opened his mouth. I kept myself from facepalming.

"What did I tell you?" Ashton growled. I looked at him in curiosity.

'As cute as this is, keep a hold on Xavier.' I said drily.

'Nothing about this is cute!' He snapped.

'Whatever.' I smirked.

"Doesn't matter, you got the other one," Ace shrugged.

The puzzle pieces clicked together and that made me want to laugh even more. Of course, I pretended to be oblivious.

"What are you talking about?" I asked innocently.

"Nothing," Ashton said quickly. "Ace here has some work to do. Right?"

"No, actually. I don't." Ace scowled. "Where's Bethany?"

"Bethany who, now?" I asked despite having a pretty good idea.

"Oh, his girlfriend." Ace supplied. 

I laughed internally.

"His girlfriend, you say?" I queried, highly entertained.

"Yeah, they were across the lawn just moments ago. Didn't you see?" He exclaimed. "And to think he told me to stay away from you! The nerve!"

"You insolent hu-"

"Ash," I warned, well aware of Xavier surfacing.

Party pooper.

"It's Ace," Ace said.

"I wasn't talking to you," I told him indifferently.

"You know him?" Ace's eyebrows puckered.

Good morning, sucker.

"Ashton!" A shrill voice squeaked before I could reply. Ashton winced audibly.

'I thought you said she was harmless,' I grinned. He just glared at me.

"There you are! I thought I lost you!" She latched herself on his arm again. I wondered if she had invisible suckers like thingies on her arms that actually sucked blood.

"Yeah, we wouldn't want that now, would we?" Ash grumbled. She beamed at him, missing the sarcasm. 

Wow. I thought Stanford was a smart people school. How much did her parents spend to get her in?

"See?" Ace waved his hand at them. "So wrong."

"Who're you?" 'Bethany' asked in distaste, eyeing both Ace and I.

"Oh, just students." I waved her off.

'Help me get her off!' Ash complained.

"So, you guys know each other?" Ace asked again.

'But why? This is hilarious. Better than Netflix, dare I say.' I responded mirthfully.

"Yeah," I said out loud.

"Oh," Ace looked disappointed. "Distant cousins?" He asked hopefully, eyeing our hair with unconcealed hope.

I wanted to say a 'yes' just to see where that would lead. I opened my mouth and closed it again when I heard what Ashton had to say next.

'She almost kissed me twice.'

"Nah," I changed my mind. "He's my boyfriend."

'That wasn't so hard, was it?' Ash taunted.

"Yeah, right," Bethany scoffed.

'Shut up.' I snapped, annoyed again.

"What?" Ace said, appalled.

'Don't be jealous, Ce.' He mocked, smirking. I glowered at him.

"You heard me," I replied to Ace, smiling faux sweetly.

'I hope you like the couch, Ashton. That's yours for the night.'

'Wait, what?'

"You lied to me!" Bethany pushed Ash away.

"How so?" He asked tiredly.

"You didn't tell me about her!"

"I told you I wasn't interested in you." He shrugged.

"Yeah, but you didn't say you were taken!" She screeched.

"Now you know," he scowled, his temper rising. I glanced at the time.

"As pleasant as this has been," I stood up, shouldering my bag. "I have to get to class."

"Already?" Ashton turned to me.

"Yup," I sighed, quickly pecking his lips. "See you."

"I think I'll walk you," he stopped me, taking my bag. Bethany huffed and stalked away, cursing me along the way. I laughed aloud this time.

"You did a number on her," I accused.

"Not my fault she couldn't take a hint . . . or a hundred of them." He shrugged.

"True," I agreed. "Don't you have class too?"

"Five minutes late. I'll manage."

"I'm guessing the dinner is off, then?" Ace questioned, interrupting our conversation. I held back a retort.

It was never on, you moron.

"Yeah," I smiled a fake sad smile instead. "Bye."

Without waiting for a reply, I urged Ashton to move. He wrapped his hand around my waist and I did the same under his jacket.

"How do you know him?" He asked on the way.

"We went to the same school back when I was at Evergreen," I answered.

"Hmm, he seemed quite enamored by you. 'Pick up where we left off,'" he said, his eyebrows pinching together. "You have a history with him."

"Yeah," I shrugged.

"Why wouldn't you tell me you went out with him before?" He asked me.

"Because I didn't. By history, I meant his pathetic attempts to get me to go out with him. I went on all but one date with him and that was just to shut him up."

"I see that didn't work."

"Obviously."

"Don't toy with me like that again," he scowled.

"Why not?" I smiled. "It's fun."

His hands ventured lower as he dipped his head to whisper in my ear, "But that's not very nice, Cecelia."

"Ashton," I grabbed his hand before something that shouldn't happen in a public place, happened. Just because I didn't have a wolf didn't mean that my mate's touch didn't turn me on easily.

"What's wrong?" He whispered seductively, very well aware of what he was doing.

"See, there's the class!" I exclaimed, flushing. I extracted myself from his hold and held my hand out for my bag. I avoided eye contact. 

"Don't I get a kiss for being a good mate?" He smirked.

"No," I narrowed my eyes at him.

"Fine, I'll just take it," he shrugged, capturing my lips with his own. I gasped in surprise but he didn't take advantage of it. He kept it short, pulling away before I could respond.

Tease.

"My bag?" I cleared my throat, keeping myself from begging for more. He didn't comment as he passed it to me but I felt his satisfaction through the mate bond. It should've irritated me but it just made me more hot and bothered.

"Bye!" I squeaked, getting into the hall, leaving him behind.

'Do I still have to take the couch?' 

' . . . never mind. It's too small and you'll need your sleep. But that's the only reason the change of heart, mind it.'

His throaty laugh echoed in my mind before he walked to his own class, throwing my words back at me.

'Sure, Ce. let's go with that.' 

**********************

A/N

Hopefully, that made you smile :-)

Until next time, all my love,
xoxo.