Whitney bit her lip to keep the tears back that were threatening to fall down her face. She looked up at Justin and tried to smile, letting him know that she was ok. She sighed when she felt his arms tighten around her, which caused another wave of emotion to pass through her. It just seemed as if he had just arrived and the past two days had made her even more clingy to him. She didn't want to let him go, but she knew that he had things to do and couldn't stay there until the end of the tour. "I'll miss you," she said as the time came close for his flight to be announced.
"You know I'll miss you..." he said kissing her lips gently, which were salty from the tears that she had finally allowed to slip down her face.
"FLIGHT 645 TO ORLANDO FLORIDA IS NOW BOARDING," a deep voice boomed from the speakers.
Whitney sighed and kissed him again, knowing that it would probably be their last until the tour was over. He bent down, after she had released him and picked up his small carry-on bag. Securing his hat and sunglasses he turned and headed towards the gate. Once the plain had taken off, she headed out of the airport and back to the hotel, where she would meet up with the guys and they would head to the next state, which was back to Ohio. They would be traveling for 2 days, which meant that they would have a publicity stop somewhere along the way.
After the cab ride back to the fancy hotel, she loaded her stuff on the bus waited until it was time to pull out. She was standing outside by the steps and smiled as Ashley approached her. "Hey, Ash," she said quietly.
He smiled knowing that she was already missing Justin. "I just wanted to know if you wanted to hang out on our bus? I mean..Cait is going to be on it and I don't think you wanna hang out with the people that are on yours."
She nodded her head. "Yeah that sounds fine, just let me grab my cell phone," she said, turning and running up the few steps to retrieve her phone. After she emerged, the two of them walked over to the other bus and not long after, they were on their way to Ohio.
Whitney stared out the window as silence came between the two of them who were on the back of the bus alone. The other guys, along with Cait were playing nitendo and neither one of them wanted to hang around. "Do you need to talk?" Ashley asked, trying to get her to open up to him.
She shrugged. "Its not like I haven't dealt with this before. I'll live.. it just seems to get harder every time."
"I know what its like leaving behind the one person that you care about. I left behind Shelli and I didn't think that I could ever feel that pain again," he said outloud, before adding silently. 'I feel that pain now knowing that I can't hold you.'
She reached over and touched his shoulder before taking a deep breath. "Ashley, I hope you're going to be honest with me when I ask you this.. but I just get the feeling that you're hiding something from me and I know that you know that I am here for you to listen to. You've listened to me and I appreciate it so much...I know that you being here for me to talk to has saved a lot of my sanity. If there's ever a way that I can return the favor, you know I'd do it."
He swallowed nervously. "What makes you think that there's something wrong?"
"Ashley Angel, we may have not been friends very long, but I can tell that you're hiding something from me. I wish you'd tell me..that would make things a lot easier because I'll blow it out of proportion and you know I'll push to find out what it is..now just tell me," she said, shaking his shoulders lightly to add humor to the situation.
He chuckled. "The only thing on my mind is that I miss really getting to see my family.." he said as strong as he could, but he could tell that she didn't believe him. "Ok...its about this girl," he said, not meeting her eyes.
"Here we go..now tell me..what's wrong?" she asked scooting closer to him where she was lightly pressed up against him.
He had certainly got himself in a mess. What was he suppose to tell her? Then he remembered Denise and decided to play her into this situation. "Well..the other night at the club I met this girl named Denise..and she seemed really nice...and I have her number I just don't know if I should call her back or not."
Her laughted was music to his ears. "You're stressing over that? Ashley, hun if you want to talk to the girl call her..its that simple," she said, patting his leg gently.
He breathed a sigh of relief when she bought it, but that caused her to turn and look at him with curiosity. He recovered. "I know..I'm just trying to blow this thing up into something bigger than it really is..thanks, Whit," he said, reaching over to hug her. As soon as her body pressed up against his, he felt the electricity flow through it.
After she pulled back she knocked his hat off his head. "Go call this girl..she's lucky if she has your attention," she said, winking and heading towards the front of the bus.
Ashley laid back before sighing. "If you only knew." He laid there a few moments before picking up the phone and heading towards his bunk. After he had the curtain closed, he found the slip of number where Denise had written down her number and called it. If nothing happened from this, atleast he wouldn't be lying to Whitney.
"Look, Justin..its not my fault that you can't handle this..I'm not giving up my job just to make you happy. I deserve to be happy and I am happy doing this job and I'm not going to let you bring me down," she said into the phone.
"It seems that this relationship has turned purely to what you want. Do you ever think of my needs here?"
"I honestly can't believe you're being like this. I give up so much for you when you go on tour, and I'm getting repaid this way? Justin, I feel lonely when you're gone but I don't yell at you and call you selfish because of it," she yelled back into the phone.
Justin took a deep breath. "Look...there's a simple way to solve all of this."
"And what would that be?" she replied heatedly back into the phone.
"Quit being Otown's publicist, come home and we can talk about it."
"No, Justin. I'm sorry if you can't try and be happy for me. I enjoy having a job and I enjoy the fact of knowing that I'm supporting myself and not having to rely on you for money. It makes me feel good as a woman knowing that I'm out in the world earning my own way. You're being a typical male right now, Justin. I won't listen to you sit there and talk to me that way."
"Whitney..its been all about you lately. I dropped some important things to come and visit you...why can't you give up something for me?"
"You know I'd give up my life for you, Justin. But this situation isn't called for. I like my job, I plan on keeping my job and I'm sorry if you can't handle that. When you grow up and stop being selfish call me. I don't want to talk to you though until you realize how you're acting," she said before hanging up the phone and turning on the messenger service.
She looked once last time at the phone before bursting out in tears and sliding down into the floor. She didn't undestand why Justin couldn't accept the fact that she actually had something other than him in her life, that she could proudly say that she had earned.
Ashley looked at the guys who were still in shock from the heated conversation that they had just heard.They were all gathered in Trevor's room, which was next to Whitney's and they had just learned something about the hotel. The walls weren't very thick because they had been able to hear every word that she had yelled in the phone. "I'm going over there," Ashley said, knowing that she shouldn't be alone.
None of the guys tried to stop him because they knew that he was going to go anyways. He knocked on her door, and his heart broke at the sight of her before him. Tears were streaming down her face, her eyes were puffy and she was shaking. He wrapped his arms around her before shutting the door. "Shh.." he tried to soothe her but it wouldn't work.
She went limp in his arms and the two of them fell to the floor. "He...he.." she sobbed trying to tell him what was wrong.
Ashley nodded his head. "I heard..Whitney...its going to be ok.."
She shook her head. "No its not..we've never fought like that before..and he's..he's never been so cruel," she whispered as she cried on his shoulder. He stood up and bent down to pick her up, making his way over to the bed. He laid her down before heading into the bathroom to wet her a wash cloth. While he was waiting for the water to get hot, he took time to check out his appearance in the mirror. He could see tears in his own eyes because he knew that pain that she was in that very moment. After wringing the cloth out, he walked back over and placed it on her head.
She tried to smile at him as showing her gratitude, but all she could manage was a sob. "I....need to call him," she choked out.
He shook his head. "Give him some time to call down..plus you don't need to call in the state that you are in. Just lay here and take a nap so that you're head can calm down some," he told her gently, pushing back the few strands of hair that had fallen towards her face.She looked up into his eyes and for a moment he held his breath."Thank you for being so nice to me," she whispered, her eyes still looking into his.
All he could manage was a nod because his breath was caught in his throat at the way she was making him feel, simply by looking into his eyes. After a moment, she closed her eyes and that's when Ashley started breathing again.After she was asleep, he stood up and made his way out the door, standing outside wondering what he should do.
"Whitney..call me as soon as you get this. I know you've turned your message service on soley because you don't want to talk to me, but I want you to know that I love you and I'm sorry for how I acted. I just miss you and its causing me to think thoughts that I shouldn't..and I'm stressed and I'm taking it out on you, which you know I wouldn't do if it wasn't pressure. Just call me,baby..you know I love you."
She sighed and started to dial his number when something inside of her stopped her fingers from moving to punch the last two digits. She didn't want to talk to him at that moment, knowing that she would blow up again at him, which would only cause more problems. Instead, she wanted him to worry that she wasn't going to call him back..let him worry for her. If he cared so much, he'd be calling now trying to talk to her, but he must have been thinking this wasn't anything serious. He had every reason to think that. She usually was the one that gave into the small fights that they had, it was now time for him to be the one running to apologize first.
Putting the phone on the table, she walked out the door and knocked on Ashley's room. He opened the door standing there in a towel wrapped around his waist. She couldn't stop herself from letting her eyes wander over his chest and back up to meet his eyes, where he was standing there with a small blush on his cheeks. "Umm..Whit..umm do you need something?" he asked, clinging the towel tighter to him.
She was taken back at the sight of seeing him there and she couldn't speak. The next thing she did not only shocked Ashley, it shocked her. She threw herself in his arms and pressed her lips against his. At first, she got not response from him, but after he got over his shock he pulled her closer and his lips started to respond. He pulled her in the room and shut the door, which she in return pressed him up against.
Ashley had dreamed of this for that past few weeks, and the feel of her lips was even more magical that he ever thought they could be.His hands were in her hair, pulling her closer to him. She slid her tongue out and touched the tip of his gently before pulling it back so that he could take charge. Ashley pushed away from the door, and the two of them stumbled back over to the bed. They landed with him laying on top of her, and their lips still hadn't broke contact.
Her hands slid along his back, and she felt him tremble at her touch. She knew this was wrong..she knew it so much she could taste it. But she couldn't describe the feelings that Ashley was producing in her. She had an attraction for him, she couldn't deny that, and right now she didn't care about her consequences. Her hand reached for the knot that was holding the towel together, but stopped short when the door was flung open. "OHMIGOSH," Jacob said, as his eyes set on the sight in front of him.
Ashley and Whitney immediately looked at Jacob, who held his hands up and walked back out the door. Once the door was shut, Ashley turned to look at Whitney. That interruption had just saved them from making a mistake that could ruin both of their lives. He got up and headed into the bathroom so that he could put his boxers on. Once he had slipped them on, he walked back out the door to see her laying there, breathing heavily, touching her lips.
He sat down beside her, scared to actually meet her eyes. "Whitney..I'm so sorry about that..."
She leaned up and looked him in the eyes. "Don't be sorry..I..I'm not," she said boldly.
He wasn't sure if he had just heard her right. Here she was saying that she had enjoyed what had just happened. "I'm confused now.." he said, pulling away from her."You love Justin..but the way you were kissing me..."
She pushed off the bed and came to stand infront of him. "Listen to me, Ashley. The moment that I say you in front of me at Transcon, I knew that I wouldn't be able to deny my attraction for you. You have the best personality that I've probably ever seen, you're caring, you're sweet," she said, reaching up and kissing his cheek softly. "You're hot.... you're funny," she said, placing another kiss on the edge of her mouth. He couldn't stand it anymore. His lips captured hers and they returned to the type of kissing they had been doing earlier.
They shuffled back over to the bed, and Ashley put aside any insecurities that he might have been feeling and let her take control. He was only going to go as far as she wanted because he would never be able to live with himself if he forced something.