♥️

With Aiden sleeping in the room I hurry down the steps for a glass of water, afraid of him having another nightmare I try to make it quick.

I grab a glass and fill it up quickly, as I turn around, Ashley walks in looking upset. "What's wrong?" I ask, setting the glass down and rushing to her side.

She runs a hand through her golden hair, it must be genetic. "Everything." Her voice is distant.

I hop on the counter, giving her my full attention. Wiping the exhaustion from my eyes I look at her, "Spill."

Throwing her head back she pans her eyes across the broad kitchen, "It's just being stuck in this cabin." I nod in understanding, "I mean we just moved to another city and now we're in the middle of nowhere. We should be applying for fall semester at a new school." She takes a deep breath.

I bite my lip, "I know, Aiden says he's working on getting us out of here. It just needs to be safe."

"I get that, but like can't we do something for fun?"

An idea pops in my head, but I shrug it off. Ashley perks up at my inner thoughts. "I saw the gears turning Em. Spill."

"Aiden will kill me." I tell her, she smiles wider. "Ricky will kill you." I remind her, she shakes her head.

Clasping her hands together she begs, "Get me out of this house."

What could it hurt? "Well, the night of the bonfire Aiden took me to a lake on the property." I admit.

"A lake?"

I smile, remembering the sweet memory. "Yeah, he wanted to surprise me. It's really pretty!"

"Okay, eww. Don't want to know anymore. But a lake! Is it far?"

"Nope! Just a few minutes' walk."

Her smile brightens the room, "Let's get our swimsuits!"

"I don't know Ash." I say hesitantly. I mean, what harm could it do really? We're in a safe house surrounded by a hundred acres of woods. She pouts in front of me, her frown growing with every long second. "Fine!" I cave, keeping my voice hushed as we giggle through the kitchen quietly.

"Wait!" She whispers, "We need swimsuits."

We both peek our heads upstairs where the guys are sleeping. "On second thought." She says, guiding us back towards the kitchen. "We will swim in our undies!"

"Can't risk waking up the lion." I agree. Her hands clamp around a bottle of tequila. I shake my head in disgust. "Oh, come on!" She pleads.

"It's not the alcohol that's the problem, it's the choice." I take it from her hands and set it back down, grabbing a bottle of whiskey instead. The thought runs through my mind to stay inside and get some sleep, but caffeine should wake me up. "Grab a few cans of Coke." She gives me a mischievous grin as we quietly sneak around the bottom floor.

Rounding a corner, I notice a guard sitting passed out near the front door. We may not have to go upstairs for swimsuits but we can't walk in the woods without shoes, and he's right by the foyer. What makes it worse is that we're having to be quiet which is making us laugh more.

My heartbeat goes rapid when he stirs in the chair as I'm grabbing the shoes, but we're in the clear. He's passed out cold. It looks like he's the only one down here, there isn't really a need for 24/7 guards at a safe house anyways. We make our way to the back door and step out into freedom.

Trotting quietly through the backyard my eyes pan to the emptiness around us, "It feels so weird to be alone." I say to her, she nods in agreement.

"Seriously, we're constantly being watched by the most serious men I've ever met." Our laughter fills the quiet woods as we scramble to not trip on sticks. Our only guiding light is the glow of the moon.

She turns to me, stopping us in the middle of the trees. "Em, I know I haven't said this before, and I know your life has turned upside down."

"So has yours." I remind her.

"Yes, but he's family. I just want to say thank you for sticking by his side through everything. I couldn't ask for a better best friend or a better person for my brother." Such sweet words make me smile, she cracks open the bottle and we both take a swig, the warm liquid burning my throat.

I pop open a can of coke to wash the Whiskey down, and for the caffeine. It's around three in the morning and all of the events of the day are trying to catch up with me, but Ashley needs me and that is so much more important than sleep.

We walk for a couple more minutes until I find the clearing. "We're here!" I exclaim, taking another swig from the bottle. Ashley rips off her pajamas and runs straight for the water. "The last one in is a rotten egg!" She squeals.

"Not fair!" I tear off Aiden's shirt and throw it aside, hightailing it after her, losing the unfair race when my toes hit the water.

I splash her, "You cheated!"

"Get in!" She yells, motioning me. I can't get fully in the water; I just got the tattoo and I have to be careful with it. "Wait!" She slurs, coming out of the water; her fingers graze the gauze. "When did you get this?"

"Earlier tonight," I admit, feeling guilty for being able to leave when she's getting cabin fever. Her smile makes me forget about the guilt for a moment.

"What is it? Can I see?"

"Tomorrow when Aiden cleans it, I'll show you!" I smile, "It's a yellow rose." Her lip pokes out, "Don't cry." I warn her, knowing with my tipsy state that I'll cry too.

"Aiden took you to get it?" I want to tell her he drew it too, but if that's his secret I don't want to spread it if she doesn't know.

I nod, "We got matching ones."

"Wait, like the same tattoo? Isn't that bad luck? Like it's adorable and all but are you guys doomed now?"

I laugh, "That's if you get someone's name apparently." I giggle, "I won't be doing that." I tell her. Getting in carefully, I wade in the water right below the gauze.

She smiles, our laughter booms and echoes off of the pines. The only light we have is the shimmer of the moon but it's enough for swimming. Ashley lays back floating, her hair drifting against the calm current.

"This is exactly what I needed!" She says. I rush out of the water and return with the liquor.

We collectively drink more than we should. "Now this. This is what I needed."

Ashley raises her brow, "I thought you didn't like to drink."

"Things change." I shrug, "And I don't really, but on special occasions, it can be fun."

Wading in the water -with me only going up to the bottom of the gauze on my tattoo- we catch up on the things we've been too busy to talk about. "How are you and Ricky?" I ask her, taking another swig.

She throws her head back, obviously reeling about how happy she is. "He's incredible! I know he doesn't talk much but I think he's just really shy around other people, but he opens up to me."

I nod in understanding, Aiden hates the world; minus me. "Maybe when everything calms down, we can go on a double date?" I suggest, she nods fervently.

After downing half the bottle and laughing until are chest hurt, we step out of the lake. The crisp autumn air sweeps across our wet bodies, making it a little cool. We both lunge for our clothes, Ashley gets dressed, while my eyes scan across the dark ground for Aiden's shirt that I ripped off to race. Ashley joins in the search, stumbling over her own drunken feet. "What color is it?"

"Black." I sigh, knowing this is a pointless endeavor but honestly too drunk to care at the moment. "Screw it!" I giggle, stumbling towards her with wobbly legs.

Leaning against each other for support we walk through the quiet forest, attempting to keep our giggles quiet as we get closer to the house. On our last turn, an opening in the trees reveals the silhouette of a large man.

My wide eyes look over to Ashley who notices it as well, we're soaked and I'm in my underwear and bra, no phones or anything to defend ourselves with...

We're completely defenseless.

♥️

See y'all Thursday!

If there is one thing that reminds you of AIDEN, a picture or a symbol or something that defines him what is the first thing that comes to mind? For me, it's a yellow rose... what is it for you?

How's everyone's life? If it's not okay, let's talk about it. If everything's going great, let's talk about it. I miss you guys when we take our three day breaks lol