Between Us (Chapter 1)

"Where's my converse?" I asked my sister, Abbey, as she applied the unneeded makeup to her green eyes. "I don't know. Just wear your flip-flops. It's hot out today." she pointed out and ran her fingers through her black hair. "Okay." I sighed and walked back to my room. I pushed my feet through my black flip-flops and looked in the mirror once more. I was in my favorite striped blue tank top and ripped skinny jeans. But unlike my sister, I was makeup free. My dark brunette hair was put up in pigtails and laid on my shoulders. "Come on Delilah. It's time to go." my dad called from my doorway. I grabbed my cell, shoved it in my pocket, and dragged myself to my dad's red, rusty pickup truck. Abbey climbed in after me, all three of us squished up in the seat. "Guess who's gonna be at the pig roast?" my dad asked.

The pig roast was a thing my family held once a year for my hometown, Luisa. "Who?" I replied and kept my eyes on the fields passing by. "Brock, Ashton, and Cade." he answered. They were my dad's best friend's kids. Hudson's kids. "But they aren't family." Abbey mumbled. She had a crush on Brock, the oldest. He was only two years older than her. Four years older than me though. I had to admit, he was hot with his black hair and brown eyes. "Not everybody has to be family to go there." he laughed. "Cool. It's been like a year since I've seen any of them." I admitted. "Yeah, you probably won't even recognize Ashton. He's grown up a lot. Brock too. But Cade's still the same." he chuckled. "Really? Awesome, can't wait to see all of them." I said truthfully. They were all like my brothers when I was growing up. But since Ashton's only a year older than me, I'm closer to him and Brock is closer to Abbey.

Then we pulled up to my aunt's house, just in time. A blue truck pulled up next to us and Brock, Ashton, Cade, and Hudson pile out. I jumped out and ran over to them. "Hey guys!" I yelled. "Delilah? Is that really you?" Brock laughed. "Last time I saw you, you had your hair in your face and a book in your hands." Ashton pointed out. My dad was right, they did grow up. Brock's black hair was grown out to his shoulders, Ashton's blonde hair was cropped short, and his eyes seemed bluer than ever. "Yeah. I'm still a bookworm but I keep it at home on rainy days and I guess my confidence shot up after I got my first boyfriend." I giggled. "Boyfriend? Are we gonna have to beat somebody up for you?"

Brock asked and punched the palm of his hand. "No. I broke up with him a while ago." I told them. "Good for you. I still can't believe it's you." Ashton chuckled and picked me up and twirled me around. Brock rolled his eyes and went to greet Abbey when he put me down. Then Cade went to say hi to everybody else, and it was just Ashton and I. "So, who was your boyfriend?" he asked and leaned against his dad's truck. "A guy named Levi. He went to my middle school." I sighed. "Went....?" he questioned. "Now he's in Meadowbrook High and I'm in Monacon." I explained. "Oh. So why'd you break up with him?" he wondered aloud.

"I found him having sex with my best friend." I laughed half heartedly. "Seriously? What an asshole." he growled. "It's okay. It's been a few months now. I'm totally over it. He even apologized and tried to get me back but I told him that it was completely over and to fuck off." I smirked. "Such language, Lylee." he chuckled. Lylee was his nickname for me since I was in the 3rd grade. "Well, when you hang around my friends it becomes a habit." I shrugged. "How old are you Lylee?" he asked. "15. Remember I've always been a year younger than you?" I laughed. He took my hand and we began walking towards my already set up tent. "That's right. You know, I missed your birthday." he admitted. "It's alright. I missed yours too." I giggled. "No, I'll make up for it. I promise." he whispered and kissed the top of my hand. "And how do you plan to do that?" I asked as we sat down under a tree near my tent. "I'm not gonna tell you. It's gonna be a surprise." he chuckled. "Okay, fine." I pouted. "That won't work on me. Come on, let's go eat."

So the whole day, I hung out with Ashton. We danced, ate, laughed, and told stories. Now we were inside my tent, lying on my air mattress, looking up at the stars. "You know, where I live, I can't see this many stars. There's a good amount of them but not even close to this many." I told him. "Oh yeah, I forgot that you live with your mom. So are you just visiting your dad?" he asked. "Yeah. I visit him every once in a while but my mom has full custody of me. And Abbey visits my mom once every few months, but my dad has full custody of her." I explained and turned on my side to watch him. "Oh, so that's why we never get to see you?" he whispered. "Pretty much. Unless any of you want to visit my mom, you'll only see me a few times." I giggled. "Well, Lylee, I would visit your mom because I miss you.

We used to see each other every day and now I see you once a year." he pointed out. "Well maybe I could work something out." I whispered in his ear. Then my eyes met his, and we both leaned forward. I closed my eyes and we kissed. He held my head gently while he was leaning over me. Finally we pulled away and he collapsed next to me. "Damn, Lylee." he breathed. "Is that a compliment?" I whispered and sat on my side again, playing with his hair. "Yeah." he gulped and glanced at me. I flashed a small smile at him and giggled. "Good. So what happens here?" I asked. "I don't know. I've never kissed someone I used to take care of." he grinned. "Yeah and I've never kissed anyone that used to take care of me." I giggled. He turned on his side and pushed a lock of my hair back. "But I know one thing for sure." he sighed. "What?" I wondered aloud. "Is that I won't be able to live off once a year visits with you." he whispered and kissed me again.

When we pulled away I sighed. "Shit. How am I supposed to not miss you when you do that?" I laughed half heartedly. "Well I'm here now. So let's make the best of it." he whispered and pushed my chin up gently with his finger and kissed me once more. Then he began kissing the edge of my jaw and my neck. "How long are you staying with your dad?" he asked. "Until school starts again." I breathed; his touch was driving me insane. "Good. Let's get some sleep, I want to show you something tomorrow." he chuckled and kissed me once more before we both fell asleep.

When I woke up the next morning, luckily, nobody else had woke up. If anybody noticed Ashton coming out of my tent, they would most likely suspect something else and tell my dad. And redneck dads never let things like that go. So he kissed me goodbye and ran off to his tent, while I went to get some food from inside my aunt's house. Brock stumbled down the stairs and took a piece of toast from the toaster that I'm guessing he put there a little ago. "Do you know where Ashton slept?" he asked, clearly confused. I'd forgotten all three brothers shared one big tent. "Umm no. How would I know?" I bit my lip and looked in the fridge. "Y'all were hanging out a lot yesterday, I figured you saw him." he shrugged and bit into the toast. "Oh, well, nope.

Haven't seen him since yesterday." I sighed and just settled on a bottle of juice. With that, he went outside and someone else came in. It was my cousin, Toni. Her blonde hair was pulled back into a ponytail, her green eyes had bags under them, and she held her newborn daughter Riley. "Morning." she muttered and grabbed a milk bottle from the fridge. "Morning. So, what have you and Ashton been talking about?" she giggled and heated up the bottle. "School, home, his brothers, Abbey, and friends. Why do you ask?" I gulped. "Oh don't act all innocent around me, sweetie. I know Ashton slept in your tent last night. I'm not stupid. Don't worry I won't speak a word to anyone. I actually think it's sweet." she giggled as she fed Riley her bottle. "Please don't. My dad would freak out. We didn't do anything other than sleep." I pleaded. "Delilah, didn't I just tell you to not act innocent? I know you at least kissed him.

I used to be a teenage girl once. Not too long ago either." she reminded me. "Okay, fine. We kissed, but nothing other than that." I promised. "Good. Now get back outside, everybody's waking up." she ordered and I did just that. She was right, everybody was awake. I ran over to the tree that everybody liked to climb and sat on a branch. Luckily all the leaves covered the tree, so nobody could see you. "Hey beautiful." Ashton's voice called out. He sat next to me on the branch. "Hey." I breathed. He kissed my forehead, but pulled away when Cory (my cousin) climbed on a branch. "Shit, Cory, you scared me." I laughed. He laughed with me and sat on the branch across from us. "I can tell by the way when y'all noticed me, you pulled away from each other. Delilah, you know you're bad at secrets.

Why try to keep them?" he grinned. "Fine then, I won't." I snapped and kissed Ashton harshly. He put his hands on my waist when I entangled my fingers in his hair. Ashton licked my quivering bottom lip and I gladly opened my mouth. Our tongues explored our mouths, dancing. When we pulled away, Ashton was still kissing my neck and Cory looked surprised. "Umm okay. I didn't expect that at all. I'm gonna go now..." he laughed and jogged out of the tree. "So, what to do now...?" I asked. Then he pressed his lips to mine again, but more passionate this time. "Come on, follow me." he insisted and dragged me out of the tree and to his dad's truck. We both climbed in and he started the ignition. He took out his Blackberry and texted something before putting it back in his pocket and driving off. "Where are we going?" I asked. "You'll see." he grinned and intertwined my fingers with his. "Just tell me! I want to know!" I whined. "We're almost there." he whispered and kissed my hand. "Okay..." I sighed and watched trees flash by.

Finally we got to a river, one I went to when I was little. I jumped out of the truck, slammed the door, and gazed out at the waterfall. Ashton took my hand, and led me through some woods and to a large rock. We sat on the edge and kicked our feet in the water. Then, after a few minutes, he put his finger to his lips and pointed to the shallow end of the river. Golden and rainbow fish gleamed in the clear water, reflecting the colors off the rocks. Then the sun was covered by the clouds and the glow was gone. "That was beautiful." I whispered. "Not as beautiful as you." he grinned. "You're such a dork." I laughed and shoved him a little. "Thanks." he chuckled and kissed me. I entangled my fingers in his hair as one of his hands brushed against my cheek, while the other laid gently on my thigh. Then the hand that was on my cheek went under my shirt and he rubbed my stomach.

But right when I was getting comfortable with this, he pulled away and stood up. When he saw the hurt expression on my face, he kneeled down and kissed my forehead. "Come on, Lylee. Let's go." he suggested and helped me up, leading the way back to the truck. When I got in the truck, I pulled out my iPod I'd hid in my pocket and pushed in the buds. After a while, I started singing along to Insane by Eminem. "I was born with a dick in my brain, yeah fucked in the head. My stepfather said I sucked in the bed..." I repeated from the song. Ashton looked at me, pulled out one bud, and laughed. "Are you listening to Eminem?" he asked. "Yeah. I love this song." I smiled. "Okay, good. At first I thought you were serious." he laughed. Then we got to my aunt's house, and everybody in the field looked over at us. "Ready to expose ourselves?" he asked and took out the key. "Sure." I sighed. He got out and opened my door, holding my waist while I climbed out. Everybody gaped at us, obviously noticing his hands still on me.

Then, suddenly, Ashton dipped me. I gasped and he kissed me. "Holy shit!" I heard Brock's voice yell somewhere from the field. "Boy, watch your damn language!" Hudson laughed. When Aston finally pulled away, he kept his arm around my shoulders. I was leaning on him though, still dazed from the kiss. Brock jogged over to us first, and stared at Ashton's arm that was holding me. "Hey Brock." I giggled. "How long has this been going on?" he asked. "Since yesterday, why?" Ashton sighed, obviously tired of his brother. "Well now I know where you slept. Or should I say now I know where you fucked?" Brock grinned. "We slept in my tent, that's it." I assured him. "Bye Brock." Ashton laughed and led me to my tent. We sat on the air mattress I'd been given and he took my hand. "Do you think we could leave? You know, and stay somewhere else?" he asked.

"Yeah. I'd have to ask my dad though. And since you're a guy, there'd have to be 'adult supervision'." I smiled. "Or we could just tell him we're going to my mom's and not. My mom would cover for us too." he grinned. "Sure. Let me go ask my dad." I got up, but he pulled me back down, and kissed me before letting me leave the tent. I walked over to my dad, who was sitting at a picnic table while chatting, and tapped his shoulder. "Can I leave? Like with Ashton? We're gonna go visit his mom." I explained. "Sure. Just don't do anything you'll regret." he sighed. "Okay. I won't." I laughed and ran back to the tent.

When we got to my dad's house, I threw my stuff in my room while Ashton dropped his bag in the middle of the floor and began looking around. This room was my room before I went to live with my mom, and now it was all fixed up to my style. The walls were purple, matching the comforter and my laptop, and I had a double bed, a white nightstand, a white desk, and a full length mirror on the back of my door. Ashton opened a drawer from my desk and pulled out a stack of pictures. I walked over there, watching over his shoulder as he flipped through the photographs. They were all of Levi and me at his parents' beach house. One stuck out for me. I snatched it from his hands and bit my lip as I gazed at a picture of Levi kissing my cheek.

My blue eyes were looking up at the sun and I was smiling. Levi took me by surprise with this picture. It used to hang over my head with a picture of my family beside it. "You alright?" he breathed in my ear. I hadn't realized he was behind me until he wiped away a tear. "Yeah, sorry. Just old memories." I laughed half heartedly. "Okay. How about we watch a movie?" he asked and rubbed my stomach. "Sure." I whispered. I followed him into the living room and laid on the couch as he put in a random movie. Then he laid behind me, his hand on my thigh. We watched the movie for a half an hour, but all I could think about was the way his body felt up against mine. So I turned around and kissed him. He didn't mind at all and pulled me closer.

Then his other hand felt it's way up my shirt. I turned so I was on top of him, and we were still kissing. Suddenly, just like before, Ashton pushed me off. I stood up and straightened my shirt before stalking off to my room. "Delilah, wait!" he called after me, but I wasn't turning around. I wiped off my tears and slammed my door shut. I slid down my door and buried my head in my hands. "Delilah, open the door." he sighed from the other side of the wall. "N-no. Go away." I sniffled. "Lylee don't cry." he pleaded, the sound of him saying my nickname only making more tears fall. I stood up again and opened the door. Ashton hugged me right when he saw me. "Why is this so important to you?" he asked when we sat down on my bed. "What?" I bit my lip, tasting the salt from my tears. "Losing your virginity.

That's the second time you've tried to do something." he sighed. "Because, all the people at my apartments lost it! Even Levi." I cringed. "So that's what this is about. Well, Lylee, your first time is supposed to be special. I don't want to take that from you, when we just started going out." he pointed out. "Well I want you to have it. Plus, you've known me since I was born. It's not like we just met." I shrugged. He sighed and put his arm around me. "Look, Lylee, when the time is right, I won't push you away. But you're only fifteen." he laughed half heartedly. But before I could protest my phone went off in my pocket. I pressed talk, not bothering to look at the caller I.D. I could tell who it was by the ring tone. "What do you want, Levi?" I shouted. "Delilah, listen to me. I'm sorry I slept with Nicole. She came onto me.

How was I supposed to know that she'd try to break us up? I thought she came over to threaten me because you told her about us planning to take the next step." he explained. "Levi, this isn't the time to talk about that." I sighed and walked away from Ashton, leaning against my door. "Why not? Delilah, I love you and I always have. I miss you. Remember all of our good times?" he asked. "Yeah, I do. And I... I miss you too." I stuttered. "Could we meet somewhere?" he whispered. "Yeah. How about the creek?" I smiled. "Sounds great. Be there soon." he chirped and the line cut off. I opened my door, ran into the living room, grabbed Ashton's keys, and ran to the truck. But Ashton got to it before I did. He stood in front of me, his eyes glaring at me. "At least let me drive you." he insisted and snatched away the keys. "I don't need my boyfriend to protect me." I spat and took them back. "He could hurt you.

I won't even get out of the truck. I just don't want to see you hurt." he whispered. And soon, we were driving down to the creek. When we got there, Levi was sitting at a rock. His curly brown hair was grown back from his buzz cut and his eyes were still the golden hazel that I loved. "Levi." I breathed. He looked up, pain showing in his eyes, and ran over to me. I jumped into his arms and giggled. When we pulled away from the hug, Levi looked over my shoulder. "Who's he?" he whispered. "Ashton. My..... Boyfriend." I cringed at the tears forming in his eyes. "You already found someone else?" he asked. "I've known him my whole life, Levi. It just happened a few days ago." I sighed. "Oh. Well I guess this is kind of just closure then." he mumbled. "No. This is us being friends. Like two years ago." I giggled. Before Levi and I became a couple, we were best friends.

"Okay. That's defiantly better than not talking." he chuckled. "So, how've you been?" I asked. "I've been doing okay. Nicole moved to Germany. I'm kind of happy about that, since she did break us up. How are you and that guy?" he replied. "Well when you called, we were kind of in a fight. But I guess we're okay." I laughed. "What were you fighting about?" he wondered aloud. "Sex. I wanted it, but he said he didn't want to take my virginity. Stupid bastard." I sneered. "Well, you know, I didn't want it at first either. I thought you were too fragile and I was afraid to break you. But I'm sure he'll come around. With the way you kiss, I'm sure it won't be long either." he laughed. "Thanks. So, if you ever want to hang out, call me. But remember this summer; I'm at my dad's." I giggled. "Okay. It was nice seeing you again, Delilah." he grinned and hugged me. "You too Levi." I whispered and kissed him on the cheek before running back to the truck. Ashton made his way back to my dad's house without a word.

But when we were back inside, sitting side by side but barely touching, I tried to get him to talk. "Look, Ashton, I'm sorry. I'm really sorry. But we just talked. We're kind of friends now. And he sided with you on the whole sex thing." I pleaded. I hated seeing him all mad. "It's okay. I know it seemed like I didn't want you, but I do and that's why I push you away. I'm afraid that I'll get carried away and hurt you. Or get you pregnant." he sighed. "Ashton, what difference does age make? We could do it now and use protection. There's birth control, condoms, and even that Plan B stuff." I pointed out. "Well what if none of those work?" he asked. "Well then we are screwed. Literally." I laughed. "Fine. But not here, not this exact minute. We need to get you birth control first." he grinned. "And wait a few months. It takes a while for it to kick in." I explained. "Well then, let's go."

A few weeks later, I'd gotten the birth control, I talked to Levi daily, and Ashton and I were closer than ever. And now we were at my dad's house, laying on my bed. "I have a family dinner tomorrow." he sighed. "Is that good or bad?" I asked. "Bad. Really bad. The whole point of the dinner is so that they can meet you." he whispered. "Shit. Are you serious?" I groaned. "Yeah. My dad told them. So now they want to meet you at dinner tomorrow." he explained. "I don't have anything to wear!" I gasped. "You have a closet full of clothes, pick something out of there." he suggested. "All I have in there are ripped skinny jeans, really short shorts, tight tank tops, and two loose shirts." I laughed. "Well then wear some shorts and a tank top." he grinned. "For your family dinner?" I asked in disbelief. "No, for my own pleasure." he laughed. "Oh, I see.

But that still leaves the question of what I'm gonna wear tomorrow." I pointed out. "You could go shopping." he sighed. "Yeah but with whom? I am not going shopping alone." I stated. "Don't you have friends?" he asked. "Well duh. But they're all on vacation or an hour away!" I whined and stuck out my bottom lip. "Well I'm not going. I hate shopping. Take Levi or maybe your sister." he suggested. "I hate shopping with my sister. But maybe Levi could go...." I giggled and texted him. "He like shopping or something?" he laughed. "Ashton, he's bi sexual, of course he likes shopping!" I pointed out. "He's fucking bi?" he asked. "Yeah. So are all of my friends at the apartments." I shrugged. "Seriously? Wow...." he chuckled. "Yeah it's kind of weird sometimes, but whatever." I laughed. Then Levi texted back, telling me he was in for some shopping but at the mall near my mom's house, near his house. "So is Levi going?" he asked. "Yeah. I'm leaving soon, I guess." I smiled.

And then I went over to my closet, and picked out a pair of skinny jeans and a tank top. I faced my closet, shed my loose shirt, put on the tank top, pulled off my pajama pants, and pulled the jeans on. "That's what you're wearing?" he growled. "Yeah. Don't worry, we won't do anything. Plus, it's not like he hasn't seen me in this shirt before." I replied. "You better not. And he better control himself. He's probably a horny ass teenager." he muttered. "And like you're not?" I laughed, throwing a pillow at him. "Hey, at least I can keep it in my pants. He was gonna do it with you." he pointed out. "After a fucking year, asshole. And you're gonna do it with me." I sneered. "I've known you since you were born. It's different. You've known him for four years." he mumbled. "Okay, okay I see your point. Now I got to go." I chirped and kissed him before slipping on some flip flops and running out the door and into Levi's car.