"Well if it isn't my favorite felons."

Ashley and I share a chuckle and miss Madison and Aiden's shared look of confusion. We walk into Mrs. Williams home with my New Yorker friends behind us.

I smile as Ashley hugs the older woman that has broken into our hearts much like we broke into her back yard. She holds her arms out for me and I'm not usually a huger but for Mrs. W, I'll make an exception.

She's so cute!

I love old people.

But not in that Anna Nicole Smith kind of way because…ew!

Mrs. Williams rubs my back gently and lets me go.

"These are my best friends Madison and Aiden." Aiden and Madison decided to come with us to Mrs. Williams after Joey, Andrew and Mikey left for work.

"You just hand out best friend cards like coupons at the supermarket I see." I furrow my brows and try not to laugh at my friend.

Apparently calling Aiden my best friend is a no no.

She's so sensitive sometimes.

I glare at her because before we left the car I told her she had to be on her best behavior.

Apparently everything I tell her goes through one ear and out the other. Surprise, surprise.

Mrs. Williams chuckles and links arms with Madison, patting her arm lovingly. "I like her she's sassy."

Madison smiles widely and smirks at me then looks at Mrs. Williams. "Would you like to take Spencer's place as my best friend Mrs. Williams, because apparently I'm not good enough."

"Oh you…" Mrs. Williams starts then finally acknowledges Aiden. "I don't think you'd want that, I'm about to steal your boyfriend."

We all laugh as Aiden blushes and rubs the back of his neck nervously. Madison just sucks her teeth and waves a dismissive hand.

"You can have him, he's about to expire."

Aiden lifts his head proudly and links his arm with Mrs. Williams free one. "Gladly. Mrs. Williams shall we?"

Mrs. Williams laughs and allows Aiden to lead her further into the house and Madison smiles brightly.

"I like her better than you Spence."

"Ditto."

Madison sticks her tongue out then sashays away towards her boyfriend and Mrs. Williams.

"Mmm I'd never trade you Spence."

I smile as she comes closer to me and grips my waist. "Good to know."

We share a quick kiss and we hear Mrs. Williams shout for us to have some lemonade.

"Does she serve anything other than lemonade?" Ashley asks will a small snicker.

"Right!" I swear that question runs through my mind every time we come here.

"I'm going to ask her for iced tea and see what she says!" I say in a quick whisper then dash towards the kitchen.

Ashley snickers and chases after me. "Spence don't be a brat."

"I wanna know." I whine as she pulls me back. She wraps her arms around my waist and we kind of do that cute waddle thing when you walk.

Ugh we're so cute it's disgusting.

"There you girls are I was just telling Madison and Aiden about how we met. Madison tells me you're a bit of a troublemaker at home Spencer." Mrs. Williams stands with her hands on her hips and I lower my head a little ashamed.

"A little bit."

I hear Ashley gasp. "You are a felon!?"

"Just a delinquent!" I shout with a smile. "I've only broken into like three, maybe four places tops."

"Aiden's dorm room!" Madison shouts with a laugh.

"What?!"

Oh great, apparently it's blow up Spencer's spot day.

"Only cause Madison made me!"

"Sure bring me down with you." Madison sighs obnoxiously.

I point her accusingly. "You started it."

Mrs. Williams laughs at our bickering.

"Why were you breaking into my dorm room?!"

I really want to laugh at Aiden's face right now.

Madison had a worry that Aiden was cheating on her and we broke in to find out if he was and we started to rummage through his things.

Turns out he was taking ballroom dancing lessons. He was too embarrassed to tell Madison and he didn't know we knew until today.

Good job Madison.

"That's beside the point. The point is that Spencer's got a record and she's got all the signs of a troubled youth." Madison snorts out a laugh and my mouth drops open in shock.

Mrs. Williams is getting a good kick out of this I on the other…not a fan of Madison's shenanigans.

"Can we get off my case please and thank you." I ignore my best friend's attempt to pick the conversation back up and pull out a small box out of my bag and hand it over to our host.

"What's this dear?"

I just shrug and take a seat on one of the bar stools that circles the island in the middle of kitchen and Ashley takes the seat next to me.

"It's just a little something to say thank you, it's nothing much."

We all watch as a smile breaks across Mrs. Williams' face.

"Oh hun this is beautiful."

I smile softly as Mrs. Williams fingers slide over the glass of the frame as she looks down at the picture of all of us the night of photo shoot, huddled around the woman who has graciously let us into her home and made her way so easily into our hearts.

From wandering around the house on past visits it's become clear that Mrs. Williams has a thing for photos, so I framed one of the developed shots with all of us in it.

She leaves the room for a moment I'm guessing to place it in a spot and I take her absence to yell at Madison.

"Why are you telling Mrs. Williams that I broke into all those places?"

Madison snorts. "Please Spencer, no one believes you're a good girl."

I glare at her and Aiden chuckles quietly. I freeze as Ashley's lips brush against the shell of my ear as she whispers.

"I love you, bad Spence."

I gulp and I'm pretty sure everyone heard it. Ashley sits back pretending she didn't just successfully turn me on.

That sneak.

"I found the perfect place for it." Mrs. Williams announces as she comes back into the kitchen, I look at my unfinished lemonade and I'm contemplating asking her for that iced tea as if she were reading my thoughts Ashley nudges me with her elbow and shakes her head no.

I just roll my eyes.

Fine.

Fun ruiner.

"I'm glad you like it Mrs. W. It was really nice of you to open your home to us."

"Nonsense the pleasure was all mine you've kept this old broad from being lonely. I do hope you'll visit more often. This big house feels more empty every day."

My heart breaks and I want to pout for Mrs. Williams until Ashley speaks.

"The boys will always come to see you as will Stacy and myself and though Spencer goes back to school at the end of the summer, I'm sure she'll drop in when she's off. Right Spence?"

"Definitely." I answer without hesitation.

I look over to Ashley and we share a smile. I hear Madison gagging on the other side of me and I kick her in the shin under the table.

I'm going to pay for that later.

"You did not just do what I think you did." Madison starts off, straighten up and have a stare down which doesn't last long due to our inability to stay mad at each other.

We both smile and burst out laughing.

"You two remind me so much more of me and my best friend. We are inseparable she visits as often as she can but you know us old people can't travel too much."

"Pfft. Mrs. Williams you don't look a day over thirty, you age better than Madison over here." Aiden says flirtatiously wiggling his eyebrows causing our host to swat his burly arm.

She throws a thumb at Madison. "You've got a perfectly fine young lady here."

"I tell him that all the time." Madison answers with an exasperated sigh and I look at her with furrowed brows.

She's something.

"Since the two of you haven't been here yet, why don't you check out the backyard. The band and these two girls seemed to love it."

"She's got a trampoline!" Ashley shouts excitedly and my goodness if she wasn't adorable before she just hit cute right in the face just now.

That's all Aiden needs to hear before he darts out of the kitchen. Madison sighs.

"I really need to start keeping him on a leash." She leaves seconds later and I get that feeling that you get when you know that an adult sent other people out of the room on purpose so they can talk to you about something.

"I hope you don't mind my prying…" Mrs. Williams starts and right away proves that I'm right. "I just can't help but realize the relationship you two have." Ashley and I share a quick glance at each other. A guilty smile spreads across our faces before we turn to Mrs. Williams nodding slowly. "Oh I don't mean to make you feel as if what you feel is wrong. The way you two connect reminds me of my relationship with my late husband. He was such a great man; patient, gentle, and kind. He would have loved you two. Seeing you two together reminds me so much of what I had with him and it makes me wonder why you two aren't together."

We both shoot another glance at each other as we try to figure out a way to answer Mrs. Williams.

"Um.." We both mumble, not really sure where to start. She senses our uneasiness and picks up the conversation again.

"I know that you two are seeing other people. I remember your closeness with the other two at the shoot the other night and it's obvious you care for them, but it's obvious there's more here and I just can't help but marvel at why you aren't pursuing this love you have for each other."

Are we that obvious?

Okay yeah we are, but have we always been?

Has it been like this since the beginning?

Was this connection obvious and what is the inevitable result?

The unknown is what's disturbing.

The what ifs are what scare me.

I don't want to hurt or lose Lexy, she's my best friend but I feel like Ashley is the love of my life.

It's natural.

We're easy, though everything around us is complicated.

I can't deny the love I have for her nor do I want to.

"I was too late." I answer with a soft chuckle. "My best friend got to her first."

I feel Ashley slip her hand in mine and give it a gentle squeeze and all I want to do right now is cry because she shouldn't be comforting me right now.

I look into Mrs. Williams' green eyes full of wisdom as she places her hand on my cheek.

"It's never too late dear. No better time then the present." Her gaze shifts from me to Ashley as she removes her hand from my cheek. "I don't know you two very well but I know true love when I see it and though you may love the women you're with now, it's not the same love you two have for each other. I understand you don't want to hurt them but what I see between you two is so strong it's not going to go away and the longer you stay with your current significant other, the more you'll end up hurting them. You won't ever love them as much as you love each other." We all sit silent for a minute. I don't dare to look at Ashley and I remove my hand from her grasp. This is all too much. I feel like I'm drowning and the only thing that can give me air is Ashley. "Who wants some more lemonade?"

Mrs. Williams perks up and her change in mood catches me off guard. I smirk to myself as I look at her with a smile.

"Do you have any iced tea?"

--

"I'm dying of starvation here!"

"So dramatic Madison." I roll my eyes at my best friend as we wait for Ashley to come out of the bathroom, we're back at her place and we're about to go to dinner. Lexy got forced to stay late at work. There's got to be some child labor laws or something with this job, she works entirely too much. Okay fine she's no longer a child but still!

"It's not drama when it's true. I'm wasting away."

"Careful not to waste away on the carpet it'd be a hard stain to get out." Aiden laughs as he watches a baseball game on the television. He shuts up quickly at the pillow that's thrown at his head.

"If I were you I'd start going to counseling for domestic violence or send her ass to anger management."

He tries not to laugh and I dodge a pillow thrown at me.

"Act your age Madison this is why I don't take you anywhere."

She sucks her teeth, folding her arms over her chest as she crosses her legs. "You're not taking me anywhere. Ashley is taking all of us to dinner and you just happen to be tagging along." I smirk at her at her insanity in thinking that she is closer to Ashley than I am. Silly Maddy. "Seriously though where is Ashley? It's been like an hour our reservation is in five minutes."

"How about you just go down and we'll meet you, since you clearly have no patience."

"I'm a New Yorker it's not in our blood."

"Obviously." I say with a laugh and get up from the arm chair I'm sitting in. "So we'll just meet you downstairs okay? Just give her name and I'm sure they'll seat you."

It doesn't take too much convincing on my part as Madison stands up and holds her hand out for Aiden which he takes and kisses her softly on the cheek. She smiles and it's nice to see that Madison has a soft side.

"If you're not down when the waiter comes we're ordering without you."

Aaaaaand it's gone.

I just shake my head and watch as they enter the elevator and the doors close behind them.

I go towards the room Ashley and I had shared our first night here. I don't bother to knock. I look around the room and see Ashley standing out on the balcony looking out towards the setting sun.

I walk up behind her and wrap my arms around her waist and lean my head on her shoulder. She lets her head fall against mine and releases a heavy sigh.

I groan in response.

"That sigh sounds full of emotion."

She chuckles softly and does a pathetic shrug. "I'm just thinking."

"About?" I pry knowing full well what she's thinking about.

I see her lips twitch up as she smiles.

"Us and what Mrs. Williams said."

I've been thinking about it too.

About what Mrs. Williams said, my mom. Madison, Mikey, hell even Joey and Andrew with their whole you don't choose who you connect with philosophy.

It seems everyone knows what we should do except us.

I place a soft kiss on her neck and she inhales deeply at the feeling.

"I hate that this is so complicated." I admit honestly. I really wish things were easier. That Ashley wasn't with my best friend and that I did start up a relationship with Stacy even though I knew I was in love with Ashley.

"Me too." She sighs out, turning around in my arms. She pulls me into her as she leans back on the railing. She closes her eyes and lets out another sigh. "I love you." She whispers into my ear.

She has no idea how much I love her.

Words couldn't even begin to tell the story.

"I love you so much more." I tell her, matching her volume.

She leans forward, kissing me sweetly.

"I wrote you a song." She tells me when she pulls back.

"When are you not writing songs for me?" I ask with a raised brow and smirk, but the look on Ashley's face right now isn't smug or even the normal face she has when she says she's written me a song.

"I wanna sing it for you." She states seriously, moving me to the side gently to walk back into the room.

"Now?" I question. She only nods as she grabs her guitar that was sitting against the side of the dresser. "Madison and Aiden are downstairs waiting for us to come to dinner." I tell her. I wanna hear the song but right now probably isn't the best time.

"Sit down Spencer." She points to the bed, not bothering to look at me. The tone of her voice makes me comply. I don't think I've ever seen her this way. I'm not even sure how to describe how she's acting.

She pulls the chair from her desk and sits down in front of me. She clears her throat and begins the song. No smile or intro like usual. She just strums her guitar.

As the sound of her guitar fills the room, I can't help but feel some type of way about the music.

She strums the chords, keeping her eyes trained on her guitar, even though I'm sure she has them memorized by now. She finally looks up at me and I get it. The look on her face right now is saying everything. She wants me... she wants me in ways she hasn't had me yet. As she transitions in her chords I know she's about to start singing. "Moment of honesty. Someone's gotta take the lead tonight. Whose it gonna be? I'm gonna sit right here. And tell you all that comes to me. If you have something to say. You should say it right now. You ready?" The chords change as she goes into the bridge. "You give me a feeling that I never felt before. And I deserve it, I think I deserve it. It's becoming something that's impossible to ignore. And I can't take it."

The words are hitting me hard. I close my eyes to soak them in.

"I was wondering maybe, could I make you my baby. If we do the unthinkable, would it make us look crazy. If you ask me I'm ready. If you ask me I'm ready. I was wondering maybe. Could I make you my baby. If we do the unthinkable would it make us look crazy. If you ask me I'm ready. If you ask me I'm ready."

I want to stop her, to pull the guitar out of her hands to make her understand that if we go there, if we do what I know she's asking me right now there's no going back.

"I know you once said to me. "This is exactly how it should feel when it's meant to be". Time is only wasting so why wait for eventually? If we gon' do something 'bout it. We should do it right now. You give me a feeling that I never felt before. And I deserve it, I know I deserve it. Its becoming something that's impossible to ignore. It's what we make it." She strums her guitar to go into the next part of her song but I don't need to hear anymore. My mind, heart, and body are all in consensus. I stand up from the bed, taking the guitar from her hands. She gives me a surprised look, my new found confidence taking me by surprise too. I kneel down in front of her as I place the guitar on the floor beside us.

"Yes." I whisper. She raises a brow, wondering exactly what I'm saying yes to. Words are failing me right now. They don't do any justice to what I want to convey to her right now. So I bypass the conversation, pulling her head down, crashing her lips into mine. She wastes no time kissing me back. I'll never tire of this feeling.

The kiss quickly becomes heated, we both stand and she walks forward pushing me back towards the bed. I fall on it with Ashley still on top of me, never breaking our kiss.

Nothing matters but us right now.

Lexy isn't my best friend or Ashley's girlfriend.

Stacy isn't the one on my mind, even though she should be the one touching me this way.

All I can think about in this moment is how much I want her, no... need her.

I'm craving her like I've never craved anything before and it's not just gonna go away. I need to feel her, be with her in this way.

I have to.

Ashley's hand slides under my shirt and I swear every part of me feels like it's on fire.

We smoothly find our way to head of the bed.

I'm not sure how we got here. We're moving so in sync and my mind is foggy.

Ashley's drags her tongue across my bottom lip asking for entrance and I gladly grant her access, both of us moaning at the contact of our tongues sliding against one another.

She's stealing my breath away, but I dare not break this kiss to breathe.