Emilia's POV

I lie here motionless on my side, pondering the events of last night as I stare up at the sleeping boy whose arm is wrapped securely around me and his hand resting on the small of my back. Our bodies are so close to each other. Flesh to flesh (with the exception of my bra) with no space between us. With each breath he takes, I can feel the rise and fall of his chest against mine along with his steady heart beating in perfect time.

His usual scorching body heat has simmered down to a bearable temperature and I'm actually content with it. Although that could be because the blanket that was covering us last night is now at the foot of the bed, covering only our feet, so there is no added layers that would cause me to burn up.

What Ashton did is something that I can never forget. Every touch, every kiss, every reassuring word that he spoke; they are forever carved into my memory. I was only fearful when he first kissed my neck, but when he pulled away and made me look into his hazel eyes—the ones that aren't even remotely close to Jared's, I felt safe again.

So, so safe...

Everything that I was scared of before diminished into thin air. No more Jared. No reoccurring past memories. Everything was replaced with Ashton. But I know that just because I was okay with it last night, doesn't mean that I'll be fine the next time.

I can't rely on Ashton to fix me. He can help, but ultimately, I have to be the one to overcome this. I have to be the one to gain the strength to push past this hurdle and have full trust and confidence in him. He's already done so much and I hate how there is still an invisible wall standing between us after everything that has happened. I thought that each of those gigantic barriers have been knocked down, but it's as if without my knowledge or wanting, one rebuilt itself to protect me from someone that I don't want to be protected from.

I don't want to be protected from Ash. I want to be able to be in this relationship without my past demons haunting me every time we progress further intimately. I'm sick of it. I told myself that I wouldn't let Jared's existence affect me any longer and I need to stay true to my word. He damaged me, but with the help of Ashton, I'm slowly being repaired. I will get through this. I will overcome this fear. I will break down this wall for good and be set free. I don't know how long it will take, but I will make it happen.

Ashton shuffles around me, pulling my body impossibly closer to him and rests his chin on top of my head. "You're okay, go back to sleep," he barely whispers.

"How did you know I was awake?" I ask.

He shifts away from me, just enough so that he can see my face as he opens his eyes slightly. "Because you were telling me your thoughts."

My eyebrows scrunch together in confusion as I try to understand what he means. Was I speaking what I was thinking without knowing it? "How much did you hear?" I ask.

"Not much," he says. If I weren't lying down right now, I would be a puddle on the floor from just the sound of his raspy morning voice.

I raise a brow and let the sarcasm flow out. "Can you be anymore vague?"

"Yes." His tired eyes squint as he grins lazily. I shake my head and laugh lightly at his smartass response. When our eyes meet once again, the lighthearted expression that was present just seconds ago on his face changes to contentment. "We're the same."

His statement throws me off and I can't think of anything to respond with. We're the same in many ways, but in what way does he mean? I study the flecks of green and brown within his iris and try to find a meaning to what he said, but there is nothing.

"In what way?" I ask. Might as well stop looking for the meaning myself and let him answer for me.

With a smile, he rolls me over so that I am lying on top of him and searches for my hands before lacing our fingers loosely together. "I'll show you later," he says with a smirk, leaving me anxious in anticipation. "Are you okay?" he asks, switching the topic unexpectedly.

My head tilts to the side in puzzlement, just like how my pug, Link, does when you make a weird sound. Ashton notices my lack of understanding and flickers his eyes between my face and my chest that is flat against his. I look down (at least as far as I can in this position) and see how my boobs are practically spilling out of my bra and showing a great amount of forced cleavage.

Heat rises to my cheeks and I can't help but to lean my forehead against his chest and start laughing. It's strange... Here I was having doubts that I wouldn't be fine with things like this all the time but not one ounce of hesitation or fear is flowing through me. It could be that I am content with him right now because of last night, but it can also be because this wall that I built may not be as sturdy as I imagined. I may not be the most positive person in the world, but at this moment, I'm betting on the latter.

Ashton puts an end to my laughing session and asks, "What's so funny?"

I raise my head. The corners of my lips curve up and I gaze at the annoying, loud, sometimes overly energetic, yet amazing blessing that stumbled into my life. I ignore his current question and answer the previous. "I've never been better."

Delight consumes him; his warm smile speaks for it as he squeezes my hands. "That right there is progress at its finest."

Making us jump out of shock, the sound of notifications of text messages incoming one after the other begin to blow up my phone on the bedside table. The loud tone causes Ashton to groan and wrap his arms tightly around me. The sound stops momentarily and is replaced with an even louder incoming call ringtone.

I try to shimmy out of his grasp to see who it is, but he isn't having it; he continues to hold me to keep me from moving. "Ash, I need to answer it," I whine.

He huffs and releases me. "Fine," he says, extending the word out longer for exaggeration as a joke.

I roll off of him, extend my arm out over to the table, and grab the ringing phone and answer it quickly.

Before I can even say 'hello', a frantic Michael speaks first. "Where are you?" he asks.

"Home, why?" I ask.

"Do you not know what time it is? History starts in thirty minu-"

I cut him off before I even let him finish his sentence. "What?" I shout into the phone and sit up in a split second. I pull the phone from my ear and check the time and sure enough it's ten o' clock in the morning. "Shit!" I tumble out of bed, falling onto the carpeted floor and wincing at the pain from the impact. "Michael, I'll be there in a few minutes!" I rush the words out and hang up the phone.

I had no idea that we slept in for so long. I didn't set any alarms last night. I was a bit distracted at the time, and since it's still dark in my room, I assumed that I woke up in the middle of the night, not half an hour before my class starts. Thank God I took a shower last night before Ashton came over because that saves me time in getting ready.

I stumble to my feet and rush over to my closet and pull out the closest shirt and pair of jeans that I can find and begin to pull down my pajama shorts until I am stopped by a booming voice.

"Emmie!" Ashton's says, and I turn to look at him as he slides off the bed and stands up. "I've called your name like ten times now."

Has he? I can't hear anything over the sound of my own thoughts. "Ash, I don't have time right now," I say. "I need to hurry and get ready."

He walks over to me and places his hands on my shoulders. "Calm down. Breathe. It's only a five minute drive from here. I'll get you there in time for class. Plus, if you haven't realized, you basically almost stripped in front of me. You're half-naked already; I don't think you want me to see the full show just yet."

I gasp and pull up the shorts that were already exposing my pink underwear to him as well as cross my arms to cover up my stomach which is redundant because I've been shirtless all night. I completely forgot that Ash was lying in bed and I practically gave him a strip tease without knowing it. It was nice of him to stop me before I actually did strip completely.

He chuckles lightly and gently pulls my arms away from my stomach and lays them at my side before placing his warm hands on my hips. "Just for future reference, don't ever feel like you have you hide yourself from me." He leans in and kisses my cheek tenderly. "Go get dressed. I'll wait for you in the living room." He walks over to the other side of the bed and picks up his shirt that he threw on the floor before walking past me and closing my bedroom door as he leaves the room.

I stare at the closed door momentarily before I get back to the task at hand. I change into my clothes quickly and rush over to the bathroom where I brush my teeth and fix my hair. I almost forget that Ashton didn't bring anything with him over here so when I finish pulling my hair up into a loose ponytail, I go out into the living room to tell him that I have a spare toothbrush that he can use. The least I can do is let him rid himself of morning breath.

When I get to the living room, he is nowhere to be seen. "Ash?" I call out. Seconds later, he waltzes out of Julia's room with a toothbrush shoved in his mouth and toothpaste spilling through his lips. I bite my cheek to keep from laughing and then mentally curse myself for not bringing my phone out here with me so that I can take a picture of him right now. "I was going to tell you where we keep new toothbrushes, but I see that you took matters into your own hands and already found one."

Ashton gives me a 'thumbs up' gesture and goes back into Julia's bathroom to finish freshening up. I go back into my room and sift through my closet once again to find my shoes that I carelessly threw in here when I was cleaning last night. This has to be a record time in how fast I am getting ready. I'm not that much maintenance so it doesn't take me long to get ready in the first place, but for having such limited time, I'm doing a pretty damn good job.

After lacing my shoes and shoving what I need for history into my backpack, I grab my hoodie and pull it over my shirt before heading back out into the living room where Ashton leans against the wall by the front door, spinning his car keys around his finger.

"Ready?" he asks, tossing the keys up and catching them mid-air.

Stop looking so damn attractive. "Yep, let's go. Stop dilly-dallying and get my ass to class," I order playfully. "If I'm late, you're going to have to deal with a pissy Emmie and we all know how unpleasant that is."

He chuckles and opens the door for me, letting me walk out first before locking the door behind him. When did he get a key to the apartment? "I don't know, I still think you look cute when you're angry," he teases. "But don't worry, you won't be late."

We descend the staircase and jog over to his car and climb in quickly. "Then get a move on it, Speed Racer," I taunt and he gives me that knee buckling wink that I've grown to love and shifts the gear into reverse.

­­­­­­___

I slump down in my seat next to Michael and catch my breath. With less than five minutes to spare, I make it to class on time. Ashton dropped me off as close to the building as possible, but it still takes a good five minute walk to actually reach the building. So I ran. And now here I am out of breath with Michael snickering next to me because I look like I am about to pass out.

"I didn't think you'd make it in time," he sneers.

"You underestimate me," I say in between heavy breaths. "Where's the professor?" I ask, looking over toward the lone podium.

"Dunno." He shrugs. "He's normally here by now." Minutes pass by and still no professor. Students being to leave their seats and exit the room with annoyed expressions on their faces. Michael calls out to a random guy who is getting ready to leave and asks why everyone is leaving.

"Professor Saldivar just sent out an email saying that he's sick and that he posted the final exam review online for us to work on," random guy explains and turns his back to us and continues out the door.

"Seriously?" I groan, standing up from my seat and slinging my backpack strap over my shoulder. "He couldn't have sent the email before class started?" I just spent thirty minutes rushing over here for nothing. I could have stayed in bed with Ashton.

"Just look on the bright side," Michael starts, "at least we don't have to hear him give a boring lecture and we can start early on studying for the final." He gathers his stuff and we begin heading out.

"That doesn't make me feel better, but okay." I haven't even started on studying for history because quite frankly, I don't want to. But now that we have a good hour or so until Michael's next class, we can go to the library and study there until he has to leave and I have to work.

One thing that I love about the library is that it is always the perfect temperature inside. Just by stepping in, I am instantly warmed and thawed out after walking in the cold air for so long. Well, it wasn't that long, but it is cold outside. Winter is definitely coming. Michael and I take the elevator to the second floor because we're too lazy to take the stairs. We find ourselves a table and break out our books and laptops.

Lucky for us, the exam is all multiple choice and true or false questions so studying shouldn't be too hard. At least it's not short answer questions as well as essays like my government class. Although since Michael doesn't have the best grade in the class, he's really going to have to study his ass off if he wants to pass at all.

After a good hour of: "I don't have that in my notes," and "What did you write down for this?" (Both statements not from me) we get through half of the review sheet which is actually good progress considering that Michael takes crappy notes and has to look at mine for reference.

"You're lucky I save all my notes on my laptop," I tell him. "I'll email the files to you so that you can study them at home."

I don't know if I've seen a more appreciative face from him. Michael showers me with 'thank you's and promises to make it up to me somehow.

He shuts his laptop and shoves it into his backpack and gets up from his seat. "Don't forget that you have to help me dye my hair on Saturday," he reminds me and thank God he did because I did forget. My memory is out of whack and I blame Ashton for it.

I follow his actions and walk with him back to the elevator. "Do you really need my help?" I ask.

"No, but it's my birthday that day and you helping me can be my present." He pushes the down button and the heavy doors slide shut.

"I didn't know your birthday was this weekend." No one tells me anything. They just assume I'm aware of these personal events. Although I probably should ask when all their birthdays are for future reference. "And that's not fair. You didn't come to my birthday or get me a gift."

"Oh, shit. I forgot about that," he says. The metal doors open and we walk towards the front desk. "Well, I can dye your hair and that can be your belated gift," he suggests. "We could add some red highlights or maybe even some blonde. I'm sure Ashton would like it." He raises his eyebrows up and down and gives me a cheeky smirk.

"Yeah, I don't think so." I shake my head. "I like my natural hair color, thank you very much."

"You're no fun," he jokes. "I'll think of something else to get you, but you're still not getting out of helping me," he warns.

"Yeah, yeah." I sigh and wave him off. "Go to class. Learn stuff. Take better notes," I loudly whisper as he walks to the exit.

With his back still facing me, he raises his hand and waves in acknowledgment before leaving the building completely. He's probably only going to do two out of those three things and I know for sure that it's not going to be taking better notes.

I go behind the front desk and place my backpack in the cabinet and sit on the empty rolling chair. One of the other student workers, Irene, comes up to the desk and stares at me like she's on a mission. "Uh..." is all I can manage to get out before she speaks up.

"Finn just left to go home because he's sick. He wanted me to tell you that you're in charge while he's out," she says.

"But I don't want to be in charge," I say flatly. She blinks twice and walks away without another word. Okay, rude.

What does Finn even do? Every time I see him working, he's just walking around aimlessly doing nothing except checking up on the other workers. Is that all that his job consists of?

I pull my phone out of my pocket and text Ashton since he hasn't tried to get a hold of me yet. Plus, it doesn't hurt to switch things up and text him first. I don't do it often enough.

"Are you coming by today?" I type and press send. I wait for his response which doesn't come at all.

I don't let it bother me that he doesn't respond because he usually has a valid reason for not doing so. I slide my phone back into my pocket and get out from behind the desk and make rounds across the library, acting as if I know what I'm doing.

Finn's job is so boring. I'd much rather be putting books away or working in the copy room; I just want to do something. I go back and sit at the front desk because what else is there to do? I begin organizing all the office supplies that are in the drawers, separating the paper clips from the rubber bands that someone just tossed in here. Might as well do something productive.

After making sure everything is neat and in order in the drawers, I pull my phone out and there are still no new messages. I create a new message, but before I can start typing, a large hand with blue paint splatters on it pulls my phone out of my grasp.

"Texting on the job? You're such a bad girl." The accent that I haven't heard since this morning finally resurfaces. I look up and see not only Ashton, but Ashton wearing a bandana that has even more paint on it tied around his forehead. It's a different look for him, but I like it. It suits him in a way. "Hey, there," he says with a smile and hands me the phone back.

"What's up with the bandana?" I point to the black and white paisley fabric. "And hi."

He slides the bandana off, causing his hair to fall and become messy, but a good messy. "I was using it to keep my hair out of my face."

"Why?"

"Because it's hard to paint with hair in your eyes." He chuckles. "I've been in the art studio on campus since I dropped you off—well, I went home to shower and change first and then I went there. Since I'm an art major now, I can go in there whenever I want."

That explains the paint splatters. "What were you painting?"

The corners of his mouth rise. "That's why I'm here. I've come to steal you so that I can show you."

"Steal me?"

"Yes, steal you," he confirms his plan of action. "Where's Finn?" He scans the large room, looking for him.

"He had to go home because he's sick and left me in charge," I say.

"Great!" he exclaims a bit too loud, causing a few heads to turn in our direction. He mouths 'sorry' and they return back to their business. Ashton brings his attention back to me. "With him gone, it'll be easier to steal you."

"How? I can't just leave, I have to supervise."

"You weren't supervising a few minutes ago," he calls me out and I bite my lip. "Now, come on. No one will notice that you're gone."

I'm actually contemplating going with him. I don't want to get in trouble for leaving my position because this job is helping pay my tuition, but I also don't want to miss the opportunity to see what Ash was painting. Four months ago I would have said 'hell no', but as I stand up and walk around the desk to where Ashton is standing, I'm willing to take the risk.

He takes my hand and begins pulling me towards the back entrance of the library. He doesn't take any precaution as we walk past other employees who mind their own business and ignore us. Once we push past the glass doors, we're in the clear and we make our escape to the art studio in the fine arts building.

Guiding me inside and around several corners, Ashton stops in front of a single door at the end of the hallway and opens it for me. All the lights are off inside when I walk in, but Ash flips an industrial light switch that illuminates the extremely large room. It's hard to believe that behind one small door, a room expanding out so wide would be here. The cement flooring is stained with paint, clay, pencil shavings and whatever else has dropped to the floor. Easels are lined up in rows on one side of the room and long, slick tables with mounts of clay sitting on them take up the other side.

Most of the easels are empty while only a few hold canvases that have been left to dry. "Are any of these yours?" I ask.

He shakes his head. "No, the canvas is too big to fit on an easel." He moves to stand in front of me, taking the bandana that he has been clutching in his hand and wrapping it around my eyes.

"What are you doing?"

"Blindfolding you," he says, tying a knot with the two ends of the folded cloth. He spins me around and with his hands placed firmly on my shoulders, pushes me forward and guides me further down the room. "Remember how I said that we're the same?" His breath tickles my ear as he makes me turn left. "And that I would show you how we are?"

"Yeah?" We stop walking and he holds me still. Did he really have to blindfold me to walk such a short distance?

He unties the knot from the bandana and removes it from my eyes. "Well, this is how."

It takes a moment for my eyes to adjust to the lighting, but when they do, I'm both in awe and confusion. A large, white canvas that almost reaches the ceiling in height and is over ten feet wide leans against the wall, but it is the azure brush strokes creating the two shapes on it that takes my breath away.

"Wings?" I say.

A pair of outlined wings with a gap between the two adorns the canvas. Each feather is outlined and detailed with precision, letting the white canvas show the intricate pattern and allowing the image to be bolder than if he actually filled in the wings with the blue paint.

"Our pasts are something that we wish we could go back in time and change," he says. "They made a mess out of us and molded us into someone who we're not. Jared scarred you for life with his betrayal as a friend and lustful actions. He made you fearful of getting close to others and you did everything that you could to shield yourself and stay safe." Ashton moves from behind me and stands at my side. "Natalie also betrayed me and led me to not have any trust in women or love for that matter. I kept my distance from girls in order to not feel the same heartbreaking pain that was slowly killing me from the inside. We were broken people."

"We're the same because we're broken?" I crane my neck to look at him. "That's actually quite depressing."

He laughs and shakes his head. "Were. Past tense. And I'm not done yet." I shut my mouth and let him continue. "As we became closer to one another, we helped each other fix our broken selves without knowing it. Little by little, we became almost whole again. But there is one thing that kept us from being complete; our memories." He takes my hand and begins walking over to the canvas that looks even larger up close. "Our memories kept us constantly battling with ourselves to obtain something that we truly want but at the same time were afraid to acquire."

Once face-to-face with the piece of art, he spins me around and places me against the rough canvas in the gap separating the wings that I fit perfectly between.

"We're the same because of our struggles. We're the same because of our battles. We're the same because of our victory." He takes a few steps back to take in the full picture on the canvas. "All you needed was for someone to paint you wings; to set you free from the memories that tied you down. Now, all you have to do is learn to fly. I'm still in flight training myself, so you're not alone in this."

Figuratively, these wings are Ashton. Through everything, he has kept me from falling. I was flightless before him, content with how I was living my life, but that was lie. I wanted out. I needed out. We are the same. He wanted out just as much as me, maybe even more. And we've done just that.

"So where are your wings?" It's a stupid question because I don't mean it literally, but it's worth asking.

His dimpled smile drives me crazy and when he tangles our fingers together, my legs almost give out. This is too much at once, but I love it all. "I'm looking at them right now."

_____________

A/N:

The end.

I'M JOKING. THIS IS NOT THE END. PLEASE DON'T STOP READING. IT'S NOT OVER. THERE IS MORE TO COME. THIS STORY IS NOT OVER. THERE ARE MORE CHAPTERS. It would be terrible to end the story here. There's still so much that needs to be written. Like Michael getting his hair dyed. That's some important stuff! (not really, but there are still things that need to happen like Thanksgiving, the project, etc.)

I feel like this chapter went everywhere. I don't know.

Anyway, sorry for the long wait for an update. This chapter is super long so I hope that makes up for it. I hope you guys liked the way I did the whole 'paint you wings' thing. I had so many different scenarios on how that little blurb would occur, but I came up with this one earlier this week and I really like it.

Thank you guys for 22.1k reads! When I hit the 20k mark, I squealed. I can't believe that something I wrote has so many reads. You guys are amazing. Seriously. I love you all so much and I hope that you will continue to read this story.

The next update may not come for a while because 1) I have to think of what I'm going to do with the next chapter. I don't have everything planned out like I should and 2) because I already have an exam coming up as well as reading a novel and then writing a report on it. Not to mention I have to write a sonnet for my creative writing class. Does anyone even write sonnets anymore? Sorry for the rant. But yeah, it might be a while. Like a week or two.

Please continue to vote, comment, and share! I really like hearing what you have to say. I love reading your comments. You guys are so sweet and funny and I just love you. :)

--Rebecca xoxoxoxoxoxoxo