Ashton's POV

Ruth takes her sweet time as she neatly folds her clothes and places them in the plastic basket. She even organizes the placement of each different piece of clothing within the baset to keep her shirts, socks, pants, and whatever the hell else she has separated from one another.

The last load she washed and dried finished almost half an hour ago, but she insists on folding everything here even though she can do it at her apartment. I'm not complaining though. It may be close to midnight and I'm tired as fuck and smell like chlorine, but staying here with her is worth it.

I don't know if it was sharing some history about each other or our little swim in the pool but I feel somewhat closer to Ruth. Maybe the same goes for her seeing that she said I'm doing well with her which made me as excited as a kid on a sugar rush.

I may come off as an ass sometimes because of my constant use of sarcasm but I like to think that I toning it down a little. Ruth doesn't seem to mind some aspects of it as long as I don't go overboard. I've noticed that she gives me a warning glare when I do go too far and when she is okay with it, she rolls her eyes with an amused smile.

Maybe I'm finally getting on her good side. Maybe I've finally proving her wrong.

I continue to watch Ruth and her eyebrows furrow as she examines the t-shirt she just finished folding. She shakes her head slightly and refolds it to her liking.

I grab a folded pair of socks from my hamper and toss it at her, hitting her head. "Hurry up," I whine.

She snaps her head in my direction with narrowed eyes and grabs the sock that bounced from her head to the table and practically pitches it like a baseball at full force towards me. The sad part is that she completely misses and it flies over my head even though she's no more than 3 feet away from me.

"Wow," I say, dragging out the word. "I've seen some bad aim before but this takes the cake," I tease, picking up the folded socks that landed on the floor behind me.

"Shut up," Ruth mumbles and resumes folding her seemingly never-ending pile of clothes. "You don't have to stay here. You're already finished with your laundry so you can go home."

"But I don't want to go home," I say, causing Ruth to stops mid-fold and stare at me perplexed. "I-I mean it's really late and I don't want you to walk home by yourself," I stammer, hoping that my excuse covers up my not-so-subtle hint that I just want to stay here with her for as long as I can; however, it's not completely false because there are some weirdos that lurk around these apartments at night.

Her eyes stay fixated on mine for a few more seconds, almost as if she's searching for any hint of lying. I don't know why she continues to think that I am going to lie to her. I haven't lied to her once since I met her; instead, I've been overly blunt which is how I am with anyone who I'm close with, or in this case, trying to get close to.

Ruth breaks her gaze and continues to fold her clothes. "I'm sure I'll be fine," she says confidently.

I bend forward uncomfortably and place my elbows on the low table and rest my chin over my loosely clasped hands. "I wouldn't be so sure about that," I sing.

"And why not?"

"Because there is this crazy old lady who hides in the bushes around the apartments at night."

"How does that make her crazy?"

"I forgot to add that she hides in the bushes completely naked."

Ruth's nose crinkles. "Why is she naked?"

"Like I said, she's crazy."

"And why haven't I heard of this crazy naked lady before?"

"Does it really sound like a topic people want to talk about?"

She tilts her head to the side and ponders for a moment. "Fair point, but have you actually seen her?"

"Not in person."

"Then how do you know she is real? Maybe someone just made her up for shits and giggles."

"She's real; there's no doubt about that," I say with a chuckle. "Michael saw her once."

"Did he now?" she asks, slightly curious.

"Yeah, it was around the time we moved in here."

I bite the inside of my cheek to keep from laughing at the memory of Michael barging into my apartment scared out of his fucking mind. His eyes were wide and I don't think I've ever seen him so traumatized. I couldn't stop laughing when he told me how the lady jumped out of one of the bushes and started shrieking and flailing her arms about.

"When he told me about it, I didn't believe him at first," I continue. "But the day after his experience, all residents received a letter in the mail informing us that there is a woman causing a disturbance for 'indecent exposure.' I was sold after that and ever since then, Mikey refuses to roam around the apartments at night."

Ruth begins to sloppily fold her clothes and throw them into the basket at a rapid pace. "If I had known that sooner I would have hurried up a long time ago," she says.

It's hard not to laugh at her reactions to different situations. Like when she first found out that the elevator broke the day she moved in and threw a mini-tantrum or when she found out that I live in the same complex as Michael. And now this. It's actually really adorable to be honest.

She gives up with folding her clothes and tosses the rest into the basket before scurrying off toward the front entrance.

"Let's go," she orders and snaps her fingers as if that's going to make me move faster.

I shake my head in amusement and carry my basket full of clothes at my side, using my hip to keep it steady. "Is someone scared?" I snicker, following Ruth out of the laundromat.

"Pfft. No," she says. "I'd just rather not encounter some creepy old lady who enjoys being naked in bushes."

"Uh-huh," I say, completely unconvinced. She should work on not outwardly expressing her emotions and making it completely obvious to everyone how she's feeling or in this case lying. She's too much of an open-book, but at the same time, trying to figure her out is like reading with every word scrambled.

"I'm serious!" she says in defense, but even in the dark with the crescent moon as our only source of light, I can still see the apples of her cheeks flush.

"Whatever helps you sleep at night," I say, nudging her side.

Ruth gives me a small smile before taking a sharp breath and moving her gaze away from mine and dropping her lighthearted expression.

It doesn't take us long before we reach our complex without any unwanted encounters with the crazy naked lady. Although, it would have been funny to see Ruth get freaked out if we did see her, but then again, I'd rather not have to gouge my eyes out after bearing witness to a naked old woman. There are some things in this world that are not meant to be seen.

We take the elevator up to our floor and continue to silently walk side-by-side until we reach her door.

"See, I told you I would have been okay walking alone," Ruth says as she fishes for her keys in the basket.

"Pardon me for trying to be a gentleman," I sass and her giggle puts a smile on my face. Jeez, I've smiled more since I've met Ruth and my cheeks are starting to hurt from it, but I'm enjoying every second of the pain.

Her lips curve up as she slides her key in the lock and stands in the threshold once opening the door. "Thank you, kind sir, for escorting me home and protecting me from the mentally unstable naked woman," she says in the worst English mixed accidentally with a Texas accent.

"My pleasure," I say with a bow, playing along with the formality. "Have a pleasant night, Milady."

She laughs loudly, but at this point I think she'll laugh at anything I say by how tired she looks. "Goodnight to you too, Ashton," she says with a smile before leaving me with nothing but her apartment door number to stare at.

I let out a sigh and amble down the hall to my place. Getting in isn't a hassle because my door is unlocked which puts me on guard because I know for sure that I locked it before I left. I quietly walk inside and tip-toe into the living room where I hear the TV blaring and obnoxious laughter. When I spy the red locks peaking above the back of the couch I drop my guard and my basket to the floor, creating a loud thud as it hits the wood.

Michael jumps up from the couch and freezes in place as he stares at me wide-eyed. "Jesus, Ashton!" he shouts, even though I should be the one chewing his ass out for hanging out in my apartment while I was gone.

"You know if you're going to chill at someone else's place and abuse the privileges that come with having a spare key, at least lock the damn door," I scold and pick up the basket from the floor and head over to my room where I drop it on my bed, not bothering to put the clothes away. "What are you doing here anyway?"

Michael follows me and scans the floor of my room. "I was wondering why your room was so clean when I came in here looking for you..." he trails off. "I woke up a couple hours ago and got bored, so I first went to see Ruth but she wasn't home so I came here instead." He sniffs the air with confusion etched on his pale face. "Why do you smell like chlorine?"

"Ruth wasn't home because she was doing her laundry like me and we sort of went swimming in the pool while we waiting for our clothes to wash," I say with a shrug like it's no big deal when in reality I'm still buzzing from it.

"Like skinny dipping?" he asks with a half-smile and rise of his eyebrows.

"No," I chuckle dryly. "I don't think Ruth has it in her to go skinny dipping. It took some persuading just to get her to go in with her clothes on."

"Sounds like you two had fun," he teases.

"What makes you say that?"

"It's written all over your face. You haven't stopped grinning since you said her name. You're so smitten."

"Again with the 'smitten'?" I groan, remembering him calling me smitten the day I met Ruth. "Use a different word."

"You like her don't you?" he asks, already knowing the answer.

"Yeah."

"Then you're smitten."

I roll my eyes and grab a change of clothes from the basket and a towel from the hall closet. "Either go home or stop calling me smitten."

"I'm having way too much fun with this so I'll just see myself out," Michael says with a smug grin and leaves my room.

"Lock the door while you're at it!" I shout just before he shuts the front door.

I head into the bathroom and turn the knob to the shower before stripping down and stepping into hot rainfall. The stench of chlorine intensifies in the shower and I am quick to slather body wash everywhere to rid myself of the smell. I wash my hair and let the water trickle down my skin for relaxation before shutting the water off and wrapping the towel around my waist.

I swipe my hand across the fogged up mirror and chuckle when I see my reflection. The craters in my cheeks are deep and I'd probably hurt myself if I smiled any wider. I shake my head and laugh at myself

"Goddammit, he's right. I am so fucking smitten."

______

A/N: This is a lot shorter than what I normally write and I re-wrote this chapter 3 different times with 3 different scenarios and this is the end result. The other drafts will probably be used for later chapters. School is almost over so I'll be able to update like normal soon. Thank you guys for being so patient with me.

Also, I posted the prologue to a new story I'm writing. It's NOT fanfiction. It's non-fiction and something very personal to me that I've been wanting to share for many years. It's called In Control. Check it out if you'd like!

Please keep on commenting, voting, and sharing!

Love you! -Rebecca xoxoxoxo