For the Love of Gracie (34 page)

I smiled, because it wasn't just sweet, it was Ashton.  He knew how to be no other way than protective.  He met us halfway up the walk, his long legs catching up to us quickly. 

He wrapped his arms around me tightly. "Where've you been? I was freaking out." 

With a quick peck on the lips, I replied, "Mary Jane and I had a short therapy session on the way.   I filled her in on everything that happened with Hudson." 

His finger stroked my cheek. "That's good, that you're opening up more to your friends about it."

Mary Jane stepped forward. "How is Derrick?" 

He smiled reassuringly. "The doctors said he should be fine. They are doing surgery to remove the bullet. The last update they gave me was that it didn’t hit any major organs, which is great news." 

Mary Jane relaxed for the first time, since the shooting. You could see her whole body deflate of the tension.  Ashton moved to hug her.  He smoothed her hair. "Derrick wouldn't go anywhere right now.  He's too crazy about you." 

Mary Jane beamed. "Really?" 

Ashton nodded. "He told me himself.  Don’t tell him I told you that. I'm sure there is some bro code that says I shouldn’t have told you that." 

She chuckled and made a motion of zipping her lips closed. 

"Come on ladies, let's go get some drinks and snacks while we wait…my treat." 

We each took his hand as we walked down the hallway to the cafeteria.  He motioned for us to sit first.  I scooted into the booth next to him. He moved his arm around me, pulling me closer. 

Mary Jane smiled. "You two make the cutest couple." 

I grinned up at Ashton; he leaned down to lightly kiss me.  "So, tell us about you and Derrick.  How is that going?" 

Before she could answer, a woman said, "Ash, sweetie?" 

Ash stood and hugged the woman tightly; she began to cry. 

"He's going to be fine.  The doctor said so himself." 

The woman looked up and Mary Jane waved with an empathetic smile. 

When Ash let go, Mary Jane stepped forward to hug her. "Mary Jane, I am so glad you're here." 

When they pulled out of the hug, Ash took her hand and said, "Mom, this is Gracie." 

I slid out of the booth extending my hand to her. 

She laughed and pulled me into a hug.  "Handshakes are for meeting acquaintances, we're family." 

I tightened my grip around her.  She made me feel so warm and welcome, by calling me family. 

"I know everything about you, Gracie.  My son has been talking about you for months." 

Ashton laughed. "Don’t embarrass me mom." Ashton winked at me. 

"I'm honored to meet the woman who gave me such an amazing man in my life. You should be so proud.  He is the most wonderful man I've ever known, and I know that comes from great parents." 

Ashton blushed. "Is this embarrass Ash day? Can Derrick have a turn next please?"  We laughed and went to sit down together. 

"Why don't you sit beside Ash," I said to his mother. 

She waved her hand in dismissal. "No way, you two looked adorable when I walked up.  I'm not coming between that cuteness." 

I reclaimed my seat next to Ashton, his arm around my shoulder.  He kissed my hair and hugged me close.  

"I'm thankful my boys have two wonderful women in their lives," she said. 

"I'm sorry Mrs. Collins.  What happened to Derrick is my fault." 

She glanced at Ashton and he nodded.  It stung that he felt this was my fault. I edged away from him, feeling dejected.  He looked at me with pain in his eyes. 

Ashton reached out for me and I shied away. "Bug, I'm sorry.  I know it's hard for you to talk about. I only told my mom because she's a nurse. She's seen this before and I needed advice." 

I closed my eyes. "What? I'm confused.  You nodded at her agreeing that this is my fault…"

Before I could finish he sputtered, "No.  That's not what I nodded for.  She looked at me as a way of asking if she could let you know she knew what Hudson did, right Mom?" 

He turned to his mother and she confirmed his assumption.  He reached out for my hand as I started to tear up.  "Baby, I don’t blame you for what happened to Derrick.  None of us do."

I glanced at his mother and Mary Jane and they were both shaking their heads in agreement with Ashton. 

"MJ, will you come with me to get an update on Derrick?" his mother asked.  Mary Jane agreed and they left Ash alone with me.  He reached out to me again. 

"I'm sorry, Ashton."

He frowned. "For what, bug?" 

I sighed. "For making a terrible first impression on your mom." 

He laughed. "Sweetie, she loves you already.  She wasn’t kidding, I talk about you non-stop. She has been bugging me to bring you around since the day we met.  I didn’t want to introduce you to her as my friend, though. I always knew, eventually, we'd be more than that.  After everything that happened with Hudson, I was devastated and felt helpless as to what to do for you.  I talked to my mom about it for advice.  She told me to give you all the space and time you needed.  I was worried you would be mad that I talked to her." 

Pressing my hand against his cheek, I brought my mouth up to his.  His body relaxed as his lips moved against mine.  His hand pressed to the back of my neck pulling me closer. 

"Get a room. Damn horny youngins."  I turned to see Cameron standing there smirking at us.  I jumped up and squeezed him tight. 

"I'm so thankful you weren’t hurt today, baby girl."  

Ashton stood up and Cameron hugged him next. "Ooh, lordy, you're strong." 

Ashton laughed. "Did you see MJ?" 

Cameron nodded. "Yep, and I met your mother.  I love that woman.  One, she gave birth to you, and two, she's one of the reasons I have Gavin.  She's the reigning Queen in my book." 

"Ash, why don't you go check on Derrick and Cameron will keep me company," I suggested. 

"I'll be back shortly."

I watched him as he walked out.  "Mmm, hate to see him go, but love to watch him leave, right?" Cameron said as he sat beside me in the booth. 

He leaned his head against my shoulder. "You alright punkin?"

I nodded. "I'm fantastic.  Is it wrong that I feel happy now that Hudson is dead?" 

He sat up. "No.  After what that man did to you, you can feel as happy as you want.  In fact, I'm throwing a party for all of us.  Not to celebrate his death, that would be wrong.  We're going to celebrate MJ and Derrick, you and Ash, Gavin and me, life in general.  We deserve it.  We'll pick a night, as soon as Derrick is out of the hospital."

I beamed. "You're awesome, Cam."

He shrugged. "I know." 

"Come on, you're starting to lose that smile. I'm taking you to your happy place." 

I was confused. "Where is that?" 

He winked. "Beside Ash." 

I smiled. "It feels good to have a happy place finally." 

Cameron kissed my temple. "I agree." 

In the waiting room, we found Mary Jane and Mrs. Collins in tears.  Ashton spotted me and his face lit up with joy.  Well this scene was a bit unbalanced.  "What happened?" 

Ashton smirked. "Derrick's out of surgery, he's fine.  You women cry when you're happy or sad, that's why we get so confused sometimes." 

He grinned as he kissed me.  I punched him playfully in the stomach. 

Ashton wrapped his arm around me and walked me over to the others.  "Mom, since Derrick will be out for a while, I'm going to get Gracie out of here. We'll be back in the morning though, okay?"

She nodded and turned to hug me. "I'm so happy to have finally met you, Gracie." 

I smiled. "Me too, Mrs. Collins." 

She patted my shoulder. "You call me, Maria.  I want you and Ash to come to dinner one night, so we can talk more." 

I smiled. "Absolutely."

Ashton took my hand, leading me out to the car.  He hit the unlock button.  Before we got inside, he pressed me against the door.  His mouth grazed mine gently, at first.  His hand slipped behind my neck as he delved into my mouth with his tongue.  I moaned at the sensuality of the kiss.

It seemed like it had been so long since we had one of these moments.  His other hand slipped around my waist, pulling me against his body.  My hands moved up his chest and around his neck as his tongue explored my mouth. 

When he pulled away, I missed him instantly.  "We'll do anything you want tonight," he said, as he trailed his thumb across my swollen lips. I nipped at his finger and he chuckled softly.

"Let's go home."  He motioned for me to get in the car. 

On the drive home, he said, "So, meeting my mom wasn't so bad, was it?" 

I smiled. "No, she's amazing. Not that I expected anything else.  Your entire family is wonderful it seems." 

He laughed "Nothing special about us, we're just good southern folk," he said adding a country twang to his voice. 

I bit my lip. "That was pretty sexy sounding." 

He smirked. "You like that country twang in my voice?"  he said, still adding the twang.

"Mmhmm.  With your deep voice it sounds so yummy." 

He laughed. "Yummy, huh?" 

I nodded, biting the corner of my bottom lip.  Ashton reached over and caressed my face. 

I reached for his hand and kissed his palm.  "I love you, Ash.  You have no idea how much." 

He smiled. "Probably not nearly as much as I love you." 

I kissed his knuckles. "Seriously, I can't even tell you what you mean to me." 

The house was empty when we arrived.  Angel was out, and of course Mary Jane was at the hospital.  When we stepped inside the house, it was quiet and dark. 

Ashton stopped my hand as I reached to turn on the light.  He pulled me into his embrace, I didn’t flinch at the sudden touch.  It was the first time I didn’t react negatively to being touched suddenly.  His hand swept across my cheek, pushing my hair behind my ear. 

He leaned down to whisper, "I want to make love to you." 

That familiar tug in my stomach told me that I wanted that, too.  I pushed myself up on my tiptoes and pressed my lips against his.  He bent to wrap his arm around my waist.  I led him to the couch, pulling him down on top of me.  

He stood up and removed his shirt.  I sat forward and reached for his chest.  "I love the feel of your body."  He closed his eyes as my hands roamed over his chest.  He lifted my shirt, moved my
hair and kissed my bare shoulder. 

"You're so beautiful, Gracie. Are you sure…" 

I covered his mouth with my hand. "I want you more than I've ever wanted anything." 

I moved my hand and his mouth crashed against mine desperately.  He slipped my bra off as he laid me back and
then moved to lay on top of me.

After making love, we laid curled on the couch.  Ashton was pressed against the back of the couch, holding me against him.  He flung a blanket over us, to give us a little warmth.  "This is going to be our life now.  No worries, no cares, right?"

I nodded. "I hope so." 

He smoothed my hair aside, gazing at me.  I leaned up to kiss him. 

"I have fallen asleep on that couch!" We heard Angel exclaim from behind us. 

I turned, holding the blanket against my chest. "Sorry, Angel," I said as I smiled. 

She sat next to us. "Everyone's safe, I assume?" 

Sitting up, I said, "Yes. Mary Jane's at the hospital waiting for Derrick to wake up.  We wanted some time alone." 

Angel nodded. "Say no more, I'll leave for a bit to give you guys some time." 

I grabbed her hand. "No, I didn’t mean it that way.  We stopped here to get some clothes and well…" 

Angel chuckled. "You decided to take clothes off instead?" 

I laughed. "Apparently."

Ashton kissed my shoulder. "Bug, I'm going to call and check on Derrick.  Angel, do you mind?"

She glanced at him. "No
, I don’t mind you standing up totally naked; won't offend me." 

Ash laughed. "Gracie as long as you don't mind." 

I pointed at the door. "Angel, get out." 

We giggled and she ran upstairs to give us a moment.  I moved, letting Ashton stand up to dress. 

Ashton called the hospital and they said Derrick was doing fine.  He wanted to check for himself, though.  "I'm going to run to the hospital for a bit. It'll give you time to pack some stuff up." 

"I'll come with you." 

He shook his head. "It's fine. I won't be long.  Hang with Angel for a bit." 

He kissed me and I watched as he drove away.  I was alone in a room and I didn’t feel scared.  It felt as though my life was becoming mine again.   I felt like letting loose; I searched my iPod for the appropriate song to do so.

Stronger
by Kelly Clarkson, perfect song for how I was feeling.  I turn the stereo up loud and began to sing with the music. When the beat picked up I started bouncing up and down on my toes with my arms in the air as I spun in circles.  Angel came in from behind and danced with me.  We were laughing and flailing our arms around, dancing around each other.  When the song was over we fell to the couch together.