The diner was bustling when we sat down at a booth. Ashton, Ender and I had biked to The Grill for dinner.

Ender had begged to sit next to Ashton at the table even though I had planned for it to be the other way around, but I let him anyways. Before they got seated Ash had whispered in my ear that we would make up for lost time later.

I tried not to think to much into it while we ordered our drinks and finally had to start asking any question I could think of to keep my mind occupied with other thoughts.

"So how are the boys?" I asked as I sipped my water.

"Good! They wanted me to say hi for them." Ashton replied.

"So Ashton what do you want to do first tomorrow? We can skateboard or we can go to the park or we can play video games..." Ender began embarking on a long list of activities.

"Slow down mate." Ashton laughed. "It's all up to your sister."

I held my hands up defeated. "We have the entire weekend free so it's all up to you guys. But we have to be at Ari's tomorrow night for dinner."

Ender grinned. "Do I get to go?"

"Nope! Sorry bro this is just for the adults. You're spending the night at the Riley's." I told him and he frowned.

"But they smell like old people." He mumbled and I rolled my eyes, not in the mood to fight with him.

Ashton chuckled at our sibling exchange and then changed the subject to tell us a funny story about Michael butt dialling him.

After we ate and paid the bill we resumed our positions on the bikes and rode back to the house.

Inside Ashton asked where to put his things and I told him to put it by the sofa where we would make him a makeshift bed.

He had slept on the sofa many times before so I wasn't too concerned about that but I knew I wasn't ready to have him sleep in my room yet.

Yes we had fallen asleep together on the sofa before but in the bed was different. I wasn't scared of anything sexual happening but I didn't want to take this too far too soon.

Ash and I were very clear on the standing of our physical relationship and he understood how I felt about that side of everything and not going there yet. We were perfect where we were now.

When deciding where he would stay I had explored the option of him staying in my parents room but no one had slept in there since they had passed and I wasn't ready to open that up to him.

I let Ender and Ashton have some guy time and play outside while I changed clothes and made the bed in the lounge room. The television played some random sitcom that I payed minimal attention to and the windows were open so I could hear their laughter.

By 9:00 I knew that Ashton would be tired and Ender needed to go to bed so I called them inside.

"Okay I want you showered and in bed by 9:30." I patted Ender's head and sent him upstairs.

The moment I heard the bathroom door close a pair of lips landed on my cheek, surprising me.

"I missed kissing these cheeks." Ashton's sultry voice floated around me and I blushed.

"I missed you kissing these cheeks." I toyed back.

He turned me around in his embrace so that we were face to face. Glancing up into his eyes he bit his lip before showing me his brilliant smile.

My hands found their way to his shoulders and his to my hips. I noted that his freckles were very visible today and there was a little scruff on his neck.

Ashton ducked down his head slightly and titled to the left so he could lock his mouth to mine. This was what I had been waiting for all day.

His tongue swiped across my bottom lip and I parted them so we could deepen the kiss.

Time seemed to have no meaning when Ashton and I kissed. It was just him and I and nothing else.

Our mouths moved in synchronised ways as we gave each other our delayed "greeting".

We moved from the middle of the room to the wall by the stairs where he pressed my back into the Sheetrock, his lips trailing from my mouth to my neck.

I let my fingers twist and tug on his sandy curls as he assaulted the skin of my neck.

We were both lost in our own little world but the sudden loss of the shower noise caused him to sigh deeply.

"A week was definitely too long to go without kissing you." He leaned his forehead against mine.

"I agree." I said breathless.

I reluctantly slipped from his arms and jogged upstairs to tuck in the child I so loved.

"Night bro." I pushed his hair back to give him a kiss on the forehead.

"Night." He yawned.

I adjusted his blankets just how he liked them and then left his room.

When I got back downstairs Ashton was sat on the lounge flipping through the channels on the tele. His arm was already outstretched on the back of the sofa ready for me to cling to his side and I did so happily.

Ashton was warm and inviting as I curled up next to him, my hand landing lightly on his chest.

"Hi." He he said huskily, turning his head to meet my innocent gaze. My fingers played with the fabric of his shirt as I rested my head on his bicep.

"Hi." I said quietly back.

"Come closer." He pulled on my side with a soft whine to his voice. I obliged and let him adjust me to where he wanted which was on his lap with both of his arms around me.

"Someone is touchy today." I commented with a little giggle and he matched my laugh.

"Shut up, I missed you." He nuzzled his face against my cheek.

"That tickles." I squirmed around and squealed quietly so hopefully Ender wouldn't hear.

"Oh so you're ticklish? Thats nice to know." He winked.

"No, shut up." I pouted but Ashton just pulled me closer to him.

"Don't stick out your bottom lip like that." He said more serious now and I turned to him confused.

"Why?"

"Because it makes me want to do this." Ashton leaned forward and captured my bottom lip with his own, dragging it into his mouth so he could kiss me.

My heart beat picked up and I was sure he could hear it since it was embarrassingly loud but when I let my hand fall limply on his chest I could feel his doing the same.

This made me only more excited and I pressed harder into him, allowing him the freedom to explore my mouth with his own like he had so many times before.

My head felt light and tingly as we kissed but I was aware of the places his skin touched my own and the spark that lingered constantly.

Ashton's hands moved up and down my sides until they landed at my waist. His fingers pressed into the skin and then slid up my back to pull me closer.

Lack of air was becoming an issue and as much as I hated it, we separated, both of us breathing heavily. His lips were a dark shade of pink and I was sure mine matched.

Ash's eyes were a dark shade of hazel and when I looked into them they held nothing but the look of adoration and want. His fingers came up to tuck some hair behind my ear and I blushed profusely.

"You're so beautiful."

His words were no more than a whisper but they were enough so send me into another intoxicated state. Hearing his words was like pure bliss.

I wasn't sure how to reply with words so instead I placed one more kiss to his lips which he accepted.

When we parted I leaned into his body and rested my head on his chest, my body curled up into a ball on his lap.

The TV was still playing in the background and I stared at the screen, not really watching.

"I'm glad you're back." I said, "Even if it's just for three days."

"Me too. " He pressed his lips once to my hair. "It's going to be hard to leave you again, that sucked."

"How long will you be gone?" I asked and felt him go tense beneath me. Immediately I knew it would be longer than the first time.

"Three weeks." He answered flatly, I could tell he wasn't any happier than I was about it at the amount of time.

"Oh."

That's all I could answer. Three weeks was just one week less than a month. Almost a month without seeing the other person at the beginning of a relationship was surely a sign for failure.

"Car, I know what you're thinking but don't worry, we will be fine. I'm not going to let distance get between us." He rubbed soothingly on my back.

"You say that but you can't be sure." I stated.

"No but I can be sure about the way I feel about you. We made one week work and we will make three weeks work."

"That's just so long..."

"I know baby, I know." He hugged me tighter against him.

"But hey, at the end of the three weeks I was thinking that maybe you could come to Sydney, meet my mum." He suggested.

"Really?" I asked, my head lifting away from his chest so I could look at him.

"Yes." He chuckled in all sincerity. "She wants to meet you and I want you to meet her. Don't worry, I'll pay for the trip and you and Ender can stay at my house."

Meeting Ashton's mother was a step in the relationship that I was happy to take. I already knew he cared for me greatly but this proved to me more that he was serious about us.

Even though this news made me extremely happy it made me a little sad to know that I would never be able to introduce him to my parents. Another experience I would never have with them. That thought would dawn on me at random moments, like Ender's first day of school or his first loose tooth, or the day I graduated, they weren't there to live it with us.

Ashton asking me to meet his mum meant more to me than he knew and in that moment I was on cloud nine.

"Thank you." I smiled softly at him.

"So you'll come?" He raised an eyebrow and his lips tugged up into a grin.

"Of course." I beamed and gave him a swift peck on the nose.

He laughed as he hugged me and then settled me into him again. We went back to watching the TV, relaxing into each other.

"You're cute." I said as I played with his fingers and his body shook as he burst into laughter.

"I just passionately made out with you and asked you to meet my mum and all you say is that I'm cute?" He giggled.

"Mhmm." I hummed and joined in the giggle fit.

After a moment I caught my breath and smiled. My gaze drifted towards the window where the sky was pitch black.

"Hey what time is it?" I asked.

Ashton pulled his phone from his pocket and pressed the home button where I noticed his lock screen was the picture of us kissing in front of the Christmas tree.

"11:00." He read.

"I better get to sleep, we have quite the day ahead of us tomorrow." I sighed happily.

"I'll walk you up." Ash smiled and let me stand before getting to his feet and following me up the stairs. Our footsteps were the only thing heard in the quiet of the house.

In my bedroom I flipped back my blanket and sat on the edge of my bed. Ashton came to stand in front of me and took my face between his hands.

"Get some sleep." He whispered since Ender was next door.

"You too. Night." I said sweetly.

"Night. Sweet dreams." He leaned down and gave me a tender kiss on the lips and then one on the forehead.

His footsteps were careful as he left the room, closing the door behind him.

I settled into my bed and pulled the sheets snugly around myself. Tomorrow was going to be fun to spend the day with two of my favourite people but Ari's double date still loomed over everything and I couldn't hide my anxiety.

I knew what she would say about me going to meet his mum. She would say that I had never left the island once and now I was leaving with my brother to go meet the mum of the first boy I had ever dated after I hadn't seen him in three weeks.

Yet, I knew, somehow, someway, Ashton and I would make this work. I hoped.

--

In the morning I was a little calmer than I was last night about telling Ari. I had sat up late thinking about how to tell her and decided that maybe me not saying it would be the best thing, if she heard the words from Ashton than maybe she would see how much he was really devoted to the relationship.

I figured that I was the first person up and took a shower, washing my face and scrubbing the tan skin until it smelled of coconut.

Using the last towel I dried off and made the mental note to do the laundry and then got dressed in my normal tee shirt and shorts attire.

After brushing my teeth and doing a little bit of makeup like mascara and concealer, which was the only things I knew how to do, my hair was dry enough to braid into a fishtail and drape over my left shoulder.

Before going downstairs I grabbed the hamper with the dirty towels and tread carefully down the stairs so I wouldn't wake Ashton but much to my surprise he was already sitting up on the couch, phone in hand.

"You're up early." I remarked and his head shot up, a grin already on his face.

"You too." He added and tossed his phone aside onto the blankets and stood up, stretching his back and shoulders.

I made my way to the laundry room and started the wash. While I was dumping the towels into the machine two arms wrapped around me and a chest pressed to my back.

"Morning." Ash said and pressed a kiss to my cheek.

"Morning." I smiled and finished what I was doing so I could set the basket aside and give him a simple kiss back.

We left the laundry room and I went to turn on the coffee pot while Ash leaned against the counter.

"So, do you want to wake the little monster or shall I?" I winked.

"Let's do it together." Ash giggled and I nodded.

We crept up the stairs and into his bedroom where I pointed for Ash to take one side while I took the other.

I held up three fingers and mouthed the numbers as I counted down. Three, two, one.

"Go." I whispered and we both reached forward and began tickling Ender's sides.

"Morning!" I called and Ender's squeals filled the air along with Ash and mines giggle fit.

"No! No, I'm awake! I'm awake!"

Ash and I stopped tickling and Ender and let him sit up, his little arms crossed over his chest and a pout on his lips.

"You guys are mean." He poked his tongue out.

"It's all outta love" I leaned up next to him and and kissed his cheek. "Now, pancakes or waffles?"

Ender eyed me before finally dropping the pouting act. "Pancakes."

"Deal. Get ready." I ruffled his hair and then took Ashton's hand to go downstairs.

I let Ash help me cook by putting him in charge of scrambling the eggs.

Ten minutes later the breakfast feast of pancakes, eggs, and orange juice laid before us on the counter. Ender came downstairs and immediately began shovelling food into his mouth.

I was constantly going to the grocery store since he was a growing boy and basically ate for two people.

"Add eggs to the list, End." I nodded at him as he washed his plate in the sink.

After we had all eaten and cleaned up, Ender decided that we should play outside first. In the storage area I found my skateboard and began to ride around the concrete between the house and the shop.

Ender and Ashton both went for the remote control car and helicopter and began to race those around the space.

I hadn't been on my skateboard in a while so I was practicing up on a few small tricks. While attempting to preform a kick-flip, my foot got stuck under the board and I fell to the side, tripping over the board. Luckily I didn't fall to the ground and stumbled a few feet over to regain my footing.

"You okay there?" Ashton asked.

"Yea, remind me to practice more before I try that again." I laughed.

We spent the rest of the morning outside playing then came in for lunch. deciding to stay inside to cool down and play some video games.

We had to be at Ari's house at 8 so around 6:30 I decided to get ready.

I left my hair in its fishtail braid but changed into my nice blue shirt and the only skirt in my closet which was white. My converse were basically the nicest shoes I owned, besides my new doc martins, but they didn't go with my outfit so I wore the converse and then went down so Ender could pack his bags.

"Hey bro, your bags on the bed, time to pack." I said when I reached the bottom step.

"In a minute." He waved me away, not taking his eyes from the screen where the game was playing.

"Uh no. You can go now or no video games for a week." I said a little more firmly, not so that I sounded mean but that he got the hint I was messing around.

"Ugh." He paused the game and dropped the controller, sighing and rolling his eyes as he stood up.

When he walked past me I pulled him aside and bent down to his level.

"Hey, did we not just have a talk about the attitude thing. Just because Ashton is here doesn't mean you have to be a jerk to me because it makes you seem "cool" okay?" I made sure to make eye contact with him the entire time I spoke.

"Yes ma'am." He looked down like he was embarrassed.

"Thank you." I sent him along and he ran upstairs and straight to his room.

Ashton was sitting on the couch, where he had awkwardly watched our exchange.

I walked towards him and he stood up to meet me.

"You look nice." He commented and I smiled.

"Thanks."

"Hey, don't worry. You did good, he will learn one day." Ashton put an arm around my shoulders and pulled me into him.

"I know. It's just so hard." I sighed.

"You've got this." He kissed my temple then let me go. "So I brought a few choices for tonight cause I didn't know what the plan was so help me pick something out."

He opened his suitcase and we went through the choices and settled on his black skinny jeans, a white button down and his black high tops.

"Okay, tie or no tie?" Ash held up one against his neck.

"Hmmm. Let me see it on." I hummed and watched as he put it on, looping it then adjusting it against the nape of his neck.

He turned towards me with his eyebrows raised for my approval.

I sucked in my bottom lip while debating it and then stepped forward to fix the slightly crooked angle.

"I think you should wear it." I smiled up at him and he smirked, his eyes becoming amused.

"Oh yeah? It's not too much?" He played.

"Nope. Definitely not." I smirked back. Ashton winked and then leaned down to connect his lips to mine.

I could feel him smirking into the kiss and I let my hands travel to his shoulders to pull him closer to me.

"Carter!" Ender shouted from upstairs and I sighed, breaking our connection.

Ash chuckled and then let me go. "Duty calls."

I nodded and laughed before going up and checking on Ender.

We got his bag sorted and packed and I called the Riley's to let them know we were on our way.

I locked up and then the three of us left, two skateboards in hand, walking up the docks until we reached the Riley's house.

Mrs. Riley answered and Ender went in, giving Ashton a hug and a high-five and me a hug as well.

"Behave okay? Mrs. Riley has my number in case you need anything. I love you." I kissed his cheek and then his hair.

"I'll be good. Love you too." Ender said and then disappeared into the Riley's with a timid smile.

"Ready, babe?" Ash tugged on my hand and we began to walk to the car lot.

Once we hit the concrete we hopped on our boards and began to make our way to Ari's.

"I'm sorry I didn't bring my car." Ashton spoke as we skated, a slight breeze nipping at our cheeks.

"I'm sorry I don't have one." I joked and Ashton reached across the space between us and squeezed my hand.

"You'll get one soon enough, don't worry." He reassured me.

I gave him a quick smile and then looked ahead at the road.

The nerves had faded only slightly but I was more determined to show her that we were committed. I wanted her to see that he was willing, more than willing, to make the long distance work for us because he wanted us together.

It was dark when we got to her house and the lights in the front yard cast a soft glow over the grass.

I lead Ashton to the back where we could stash our boards and then went over to the side door. Taking one of Ash's hands in mine and a deep breath, I knocked on the door before walking inside.