Aimless chatter buzzed in the space in my head as I took a sip of the chocolate milkshake before me.

The Grill was always packed on week nights since it was one of the only three real restaurants in town besides the little hole in the wall cafes.

Glancing at the tacky, red, plastic clock on the wall, the hands pointed to 6:45. Ender and I had just gotten finished with a long day at work and dealing with an even longer list of errands.

The past five days had flown by.

Our days were scheduled full with marina tours, errand running, and bill paying. The glass for the window and door had come in so Tuesday was spent getting those installed while still working four tours.

I had purchased the paint that Mr.Sanders had on sale and set a date to paint the shop once the season was over.

Ender had a doctors appointment with Dr. Carson who said his arm was healing smoothly and he should be able to get out of the cast in three weeks.

Though even through the hectic rush of the days, Ashton and I still managed to make contact.

He was busy doing whatever he was doing for work and would text me during his breaks. Every night we would talk on the phone about our days and of just any topic we would land on. Conversation was something that flowed easily between me and Ashton, there was never an awkward silence or dull moment.

There was always something to be learned about each other in every exchange of words we had.

For instance, I learned that he would always go off somewhere alone so we could talk because he didn't want distractions or the boys being annoying in the background.

Also I noted that I rarely called him, he almost always called me. I let him be the one to instigate everything. It wasn't that I didn't want to talk to him, it was that I wanted him to want to talk to me.

Though even through the phone, Ash was as charming and funny as ever. I could just picture him when he laughed, scrunching up his nose and sending butterflies through my stomach all over again.

Despite my previous stronghold to make sure he missed me more than I missed him, I couldn't deny that I too wanted to see him badly, I didn't want to wait any longer.

But now it was Thursday night, and Ashton would be back tomorrow.

A loud slurping sound drew my eyesight up and Ender blushed in front of me.

"Sorry." He muttered, adjusting the straw in his drink.

I reached over to flick his ear which he attempted to swat away but just shook my head at him.

"So we need to take Ari her present and drop off the envelopes at the tax office and then we can call it a night."I swirled the red and white striped straw around in the cup.

"Alright." He nodded, sinking back into the black leather backing of the booth.

I sighed and leaned my elbow on the table to I could rest my head in my hand.

"I'm exhausted." I mumbled.

"Me too. Working the desk is hard." He pouted.

"All you do is make phone calls." I raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, and that takes forever." He ticked back and I shrugged in defeat, not really having the energy to argue.

Once I paid the check we walked out of The Grill and down the street to the tax building, dropping the envelopes into a box and then went back to grab our bikes that we leaned on the rack outside the restaurant.

Ari's house was not far so it only took a few minutes until we were walking in her side door.

She was already waiting for us, practically bouncing up and down with excitement.

"I can't wait for you to open your gift, I'm so excited!" She squealed, her voice going up two octaves.

Ender and I both laughed at her and then settled in on the sofa in the living room.

"Oh before I forget, Ashton and I are good for dinner on Saturday." I said as I sat down.

That was one of the other things Ashton and I had talked about on the phone.

"Awesome! I'll let Jason know. I'm excited to meet him...well again." She laughed and then bounced on the cushion waiting for her present.

I gave her the gift from both of us and she reached into the pink gift bag revealing a Polaroid camera box.

"No way!" Ari gasped and then flung her arms around me.

"Oh my god I love it!" Her brown hair hit my face as she almost tackled me.

"I knew you would." I laughed.

Ari continued to oh and aw over the box for a few more minutes.

"Okay now your turn Ender." She shoved a perfectly wrapped box into his hands.

When he opened it he instantly grinned.

"A magic kit!" He exclaimed.

I leaned over to see the box that hand a wand, cards, a hat, and a handbook along with other items to learn beginner magic tricks.

"That's cool End." I nudged him.

"Thanks Ari!" He gave her and hug and she smiled down at him, she always said she had felt like an aunt to him.

"Carter." Ari passed me the box with the most mischievous smile on her face.

"If something jumps out at me..." I warned and she waved my statement away.

"Oh don't be ridiculous you're going to love it." She clapped her hands giddily.

I carefully unwrapped the box and let my jaw drop when I saw what it was.

A pair of black Doc Martins were displayed neatly in the box. She shiny black leather was so polished I could see my reflection and I could smell the new shoe aroma.

"Oh my god you remembered!" I gasped.

"Of course!" She giggled.

I had been over at her house one day, flipping through random magazines where I saw the shoes. That was months ago, even I had forgotten.

"You're the best." I leaned forward and gave her my own hug.

"Of course, merry Christmas Carter." Ari hugged me back.

--

Once home I immediately got into the shower, wasting no time in washing out my sea sprayed hair and salty skin.

I scrubbed until my skin was soft and I smelled of coconut.

When I was done I wrapped my hair up into a towel so it would dry better and then used another towel to dry my body.

Back in my room I changed into calf length yoga pants and a tee.

As expected, the moment I tossed my dirty clothes into the basket, my phone began to ring on my nightstand.

"Hey." I answered, smiling as I did.

"Hey babe!" Ashton's honey suckle voice came through. "Are you excited to see me?!"

"Hmmmm I guess so...." I teased and heard him scoff from the other side. "Just kidding, yes I am excited."

"Good, because once I see you tomorrow I'm not letting you go until I have to leave again." He vowed and I began to chuckle.

"I might actually be okay with that."

Ashton laughed. "So, how was your day?"

"It was long. Did some tours, paid some bills, did more tours, paid more bills. You know, the fun stuff." I joked.

"Sounds like a blast." He played along.

"Totally. So what about you, what did you do?"

"Just hung out with the mates at work and went out for a drink after. But now I'm packing my bag for this weekend."

"How fun. Oh and I told Ari that Saturday was good." I remembered.

"Great! So my boat should get there around 5:30 tomorrow."

"Oh then we can pick you up and then go to dinner or something like that."

"Sounds like a plan! Okay now help me go down my checklist and make sure I didn't forget anything." Ashton began listing off items and I piped in at various moments, making sure he got the important things.

"Hmm now I'm really excited to see you." I hummed into the phone after we were done with his packing.

"Me too Car, me too." He sighed happily into the phone.

"Well I'm going to catch some sleep so I don't look like a zombie when you get here." I laughed.

"Aw okay babe. I'll see you tomorrow!" He said cheekily.

"See you." I replied sweetly then hung up, collapsing back down into the mattress.

My mind was so amped with anticipation that I didn't know how I would ever be able to get to sleep.

Suddenly from the hall came the exuberant squeals of a ten year old boy and then the flinging of a small body onto mine.

"Ashton's coming tomorrow!" Ender shouted happily, the biggest grin ever on his face. His dimples were on full display and I instantly snatched my phone so I could take a picture; not without sending it to Ash with the caption "someone else is excited to see you too, can you tell?".

"I'm guessing you're excited?" I played, pinching his left cheek.

"Duh! I want us to go bike riding and to the skate park and play video games and go to the movies and get ice cream and -"

"Whoa whoa whoa slow down bro." I interrupted, trying to calm down the hyped up child. "I want to see him too." I joked.

"You will, but let's be real, he came back to see me." Ender placed a hand to his heart in mock arrogance. The playful glint in his grey eyes made the colour almost blue.

I rolled my matching pair of orbs and pushed him off of me so that he landed on the rug with a thud.

"Hey! I'm still in a cast you dweeb." He stuck his tongue out at me as he stood up.

"And I still control your access to the playstation so don't be a brat." I imitated his tone and he scoffed before flamboyantly turning away, adding to his little act.

"Jealousy gets you no where, doll!" He called out to me in a high pitched voice from the hallway and I instantly sat up, my eyes catty-cornering.

"Oh my god you are no longer allowed to hang out with Ari!" I called back and all I received were giggles from his end.

My brother was an absolute dork, but he was my dork.

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A/N : Hey guys! Hope you enjoyed this chapter, ill be posting the next one super quick (: but until then let me know your thoughts and don't forget to vote and all that jazz haha anyways, much love xx -m