"YOU LOOK FRESH," Luke said, roaming into the kitchen. He opened the fridge and took out the orange juice, drinking it straight from the bottle. "Where ya headed?"

"Classic dinner and a movie with Val," I said as I finished the last bit of my homework.

Three weeks went by since Val and I began dating, and little by little, we'd been getting to know more about one another. Val was more hesitant than I was, but it didn't bother me. I'd rather her be comfortable first, and there was no rush because I didn't plan on letting her go for a long time.

"Ah, yes. Romance," he said, taking a seat with a playful grin. "How's it going with her?"

"Honestly, better than I imagined," I said. "For some reason, I thought things would change, like, drastically, but nope. The sun still shines the same, and it helped me believe that normalcy after dating someone was, well, simply... normal. And I like it."

"Hard to believe you guys barely knew each other only a couple of months ago," he said. "You move fast. I always knew you were a womanizer at heart."

Laughter bubbled out my mouth. "That's two times I've been called a player," I said, thinking back to what Calum said during Homecoming. "Where do you guys get this impression of me?"

"Literally every girl wanted to be Mrs. Irwin when we moved here," Luke said, chuckling and reminding me of my early days of high school. "You went through chicks like it was nothing."

"I-" I paused to laugh at our banter. The corners of my mouth still kept my smile. "Okay, maybe you're right. But, most of them were just flings. I've only been serious two times, you know this."

"I think I'm gonna put you as Mr. Womanizer in my phone," he said, brutally ignoring me.

"Ah, piss off," I said, making my way to the front door. "I'm gonna go now."

He laughed. "See ya, playboy."

I smirked, knowing what would knock him a few pegs. "See ya, and don't worry, I'll be sure to tell Mandy everything you hate come Monday. Wouldn't want your senior year to not be exciting."

His jaw dropped, and he squinted his eyes at me. "You wouldn't. Ashton, I swear I will-"

I shut the door and began whistling as I walked to my car. I think Luke and I were even for now.

The drive was shorter than usual since traffic wasn't a huge deal today, surprisingly. Upon pulling in, there were more cars in Val's driveway than usual. It was strange because they rarely had company.

Before I made it halfway up the driveway, Valentine's petite frame popped out from around the house. "Ashton, over here!" she called out, waving her hands over.

I looked at the front door, confused, before making my way over. "Hey," I said, "what's with the secrecy?"

She led me in through a back door, which ended up being her laundry room. "Yeah, sorry about that. My mom has people over and they're drinking. Didn't want you to run into her."

Laughter echoed in the distance, and I assumed it was her mom and her friends. It was a Saturday evening, so it didn't seem out of the ordinary. But, maybe it was. For Val.

"How did you know I was here?" I asked, realizing that she got to me first.

"I was doing the laundry when I heard your engine," she said, and when I gave her a confused look, she grinned. "My dad used to work with cars."

"Makes sense."

She took my hand and led me out slowly, peeking around the corner. Then, she shoved me behind a tower of baskets. "Get down," she whispered. Footsteps slapped against the floor as I crouched down. "Hey, Mom. Is there an issue?"

"I heard someone else's voice back here," Val's mom said, and I almost shuddered at her sharp tone.

"Yeah, I just got off the phone with Calum," Val said. "He wanted to see if I was free today to hang out or something."

"Are you?"

"No, I still have clothes to finish and a lot of studying to do," Val said, sighing. "You're kind of interrupting that."

"I think you should go out tonight," her mom said.

"Fine, okay?" Val said. "I'll call Calum back later. Got everything off your chest?"

"Well, I was also thinking you and Calum should get back-"

"Mom, please," Val said, raising her voice a little. "I'm really busy and you have guests. It's rude to keep them hanging like that, and you know I don't like to be around you when you're on the verge of being drunk."

"You always talk to me like you hate me," her mom said, sounding sad all of a sudden. "What did I ever do to you?"

Val sighed again. "Mom, I really-"

My shoes squeaked on the floor as I tried to keep my stance, and I froze.

"What was that?" Val's mom's tone became harsh again, and I cursed silently.

"It's a tower of baskets, Mom," Val said, sounding calm as ever. "You think they wouldn't make noises? The house settles all the time and-You know what? I don't even know why I'm trying to hide this from you. Ashton, come on out."

I tried to swallow the lump in my throat, before I popped out with a smile, hoping it seemed authentic. Then, one look at Val's mom, and my hairs stood on end. Her thick eyebrows were drawn together from her menacing glare towards me, and her lips narrowed. She was scary.

Though seeing her close up made me realize how much Val and her mom resembled each other, and I noticed anger wasn't a good look on them. I'd never seen Val's mom smile in person, but if it was anything like Val's, then I hoped she wouldn't let it go to waste. It made me somewhat sad that she had a nasty expression like anger resting on her youthful face.

"Who is this?" Her voice was tense, fueled with exasperation.

Home was the word she used, but right now, this presence felt more like a dueling ground. Invisible bullets ricocheted from both of them due to suppressed rage.

Val looked at her mom with nothing more than a relaxed expression. "Mom, this is my boyfriend, Ashton," she said, pulling me close.

I stuck out my hand. "Nice to meet you, Ms. Nauru," I said.

She stared at my hand as if I'd just finished handling raw meat. Then, she turned back to Val, and my hand recoiled back to my side. "Boyfriend?" she said. "When did this happen?"

"Doesn't matter when. Just know that it did, and he's here to stay," Val said, taking my hand in hers. "And we're going out tonight, so no need to worry about me."

Ms. Nauru pursed her lips and crossed her arms-a sign that was never a good one. "Well, unfortunately, you can't go out tonight," she said. "I need help around the house later."

Val scoffed. "Oh my gosh. Get real," she said. "So, when it's about Calum, you're all hands on deck, but as soon as I mention someone else, you steer the ship off course. Seriously?"

"That's because I know Calum," her mom argued, and then glanced at me. "I know nothing of this boy."

"Well, maybe if you weren't so drunk all the freaking time, I would've told you about him eons ago," Val said. "And don't call him "this boy." His name is Ashton." Her hands were becoming warm, which probably meant she was not in the happiest mood at the moment.

"Whatever. I don't care," her mom said. "You can't go out tonight, and that's final."

Then, my voice came out of nowhere and without my permission. "With all due respect, Ms. Nauru, I think you're being a little unreasonable," I said. "I know she's your daughter, and a parent has to protect their own, but-"

"But nothing!" she snapped. She pointed a finger at me, and her nails seemed like they could stab through my chest and ripped out my heart. God, she was terrifying. "The disrespect you carry with you is astounding. You think you can just waltz in here, tell me off, and take my Valentine out to who knows where? I don't think so." She grabbed Val's arm and began pulling her, but Val snatched herself back.

"Don't touch me," Val said, scarily in a placid tone. Then, she tugged on my arm and led us back to where we came from. "Come on, Ashton. We're leaving."

"Okay," was all I said as I followed her. This situation didn't look like it was going to get any better, so walking away was the best choice for now. Plus, I was never one for conflict or being in the line of fire. I had my guesses that Valentine and her mom's relationship was a bit rocky, but I didn't expect anything like this.

This was a landslide.

Back out in the open air, the air all of a sudden became chilly as Val's mom called out behind us. "If you leave now, Valentine, you can't come back."

My footsteps halted, but Val kept pulling. "Keep walking," she said.

I sighed. "Val, you don't have to do this for me," I said, turning back to look at her mom, who stood there, livid. "I don't want you to lose your home or your mom. She seemed serious."

Val spun around and faced me. I thought I would see resentment but only sheer determination shone in her eyes. "And I'm serious about you, Ashton," she said, which made my heart full. "Let's go."

At this moment, I couldn't fully grasp the situation at hand, but I knew this ran deeper than what it was on the surface. I had many questions about the girl in front of me, wondering what exactly had I gotten myself into. But for now, whatever happened, I wanted Val to know that I was serious about her too, so I kept moving forward without a single glance back.

▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬

I think benches were becoming important in our relationship.

As we sat, eating a sandwich and looking out at the Santa Cruz river, I couldn't help but think back to everything said a couple of hours back. Valentine was quiet. She appeared to be lost in thought. I didn't know how her mind worked, but I felt like her being stuck in there wasn't a good thing.

"Val?"

"I'm here," she said, quietly. "Don't worry."

I took a deep breath, ready to say everything weighing on my shoulders. "Look," I said, "I don't know the entire situation or how all of that blew up, but I don't think getting kicked out of your house is the same value as being with me."

The guilt was eating at me. Val getting run out of her own home was never my intention, and I was sure it wasn't hers either. But, even so, her being in a place like that didn't lessen my worries. The way her mom was so hostile towards Val almost made me grow three heads. It only made me think of the worst.

"It was an empty threat," Val said, balling up her sandwich wrapper and stuffing it in the trash bin.

I stuffed my hands in my pockets. "How can you be so sure?" I asked, facing her.

"My mom needs me. See," she said, letting out a rough chuckle, "there are so many things that keep me and her working. Functioning. I have my leverage on her, being that she has a drinking problem. But, do I say anything? No. Because, without her, I wouldn't have a place to stay and an even more wackjob of a life story more than it already is. That's just one of the many reasons."

Her pause made me believe I wasn't going to get those other reasons. So, I turned back to the water, watching the now orange and pink sky reflect against the murky water, creating a war-like painting. It was like nature knew the battle that was brewing.

"Is your mom always, uh, rough, with you like that?" I managed to ask while scratching a nonexistent itch on my hand. "She doesn't do anything to you, right?"

A laugh slipped through Val's mouth, which wasn't the reaction I expected. She faced me with a hint of lunacy written on her face, and by now, I was strangely getting used to it.

"My mom's many things, but she's not abusive," she said. "But, I like how you're worried about her hurting me. I somewhat find that a bit amusing and refreshing."

I blinked, trying to make sense of her words. But, like usual, I drew a blank.

"You and Calum are so enigmatic," I found myself saying. "It's like you guys have terms and conditions but they're in a cryptic code. So, even though we click agree, we actually don't know what we're getting into."

"Is that you saying you want me to be more open?" she asked, her brown eyes boring into mine. Sometimes, I lost myself in those eyes of hers.

I cleared my throat and looked down. "Well, I don't know," I said, avoiding eye contact. I knew if I gazed into her eyes again, I wouldn't be able to speak. "I mean, yeah? I just want to make sure you're comfortable enough to share things with me. I know this is only the beginning and we have all the time in the world, but you, looking at me and being near me I-I don't know. I just have this craving to know everything about you."

Val hummed. "You and him are so different yet almost the same," she said after a long minute, and when I gave her a curious glance to whoever she was talking about, she just shot me a small smile. She moved closer and rested her head on my lap. "You know, for what it's worth, you, Ashton, make me want to tell you everything."

A tiny smile of my own started to form. "I'll keep that in mind the next time I think you're holding back your tongue."

She grinned and then tapped her chin. "Okay, let's see. Right now, I'm too mysterious and that doesn't make a good girlfriend," she said. "So, what can I tell you for now. Hm, well, what do you want to know?"

"You wouldn't believe the number of questions I have," I said.

She laughed. "This is gonna be a fun evening."

: : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Yoooooo! So this one was spicyyyyyyy wow. Anyways, chapter 23 should be done soon.

Also I got a job at Wendys and I hate it so much omg. So unethical and the people don't like me for some reason. But oh well.

Live well folks.

Byeeeeeeeeeee!