The Best Mistake

“Ashlyn, wake up!” I groaned as somebody violently shook me.

“Ugh. What?” I asked tiredly.

“I need you to take me to the mall,” Aurora said.

I yawned, sitting up. “What time is it?” I asked.

“11:30.”

“Shit!” I cursed, throwing the blanket off of me and standing up.

“What?” she asked in a confused tone.

“I have to be at work by noon,” I said, grabbing a random pair of shorts off my floor. “You can either turn around or get out, because I’m changing right here.”

She turned her back to me as I pulled down my pajama shorts. “Well that’s perfect then! Because Jason asked me to meet him at the mall and-“

I paused, shorts pulled up to my mid-thigh. “Who’s Jason?” I asked.

“He’s this guy I met at the mall a couple weeks ago. We’ve been talking and… yeah, he finally invited me to hang out with him,” she explained. “And I really, really like him and I really, really want to hang out with him.”

I rolled my eyes, pulling my shorts up the rest of the way and buttoning them. I pulled my big t-shirt off and grabbed a short sleeved white v-neck, pulling it on quickly. “I have to take Nash home before I got to work,” I said. “So are you ready to leave?”

She shrugged. “I need to finish my makeup, but-“

“Go finish it then. Because once I wake up Nash we’re leaving not long after,” I instructed, throwing my hair up into a sloppy bun.

I could imagine the big grin on her face. “Okay!” she chirped, before hurrying off to her room.

I laughed, walking out of my room and to the guest room, slowly opening the door to see if Nash was already awake. Like I thought, he wasn’t. I walked over, kneeling at the end of the bed. He was all tangled in the blanket and he was softly snoring. He looked… peaceful.

I crawled over top of him, before leaning down to his ear. “Nash,” I whispered, in a sing-song voice. “Nash, you gotta wake up.” He stirred slightly, but didn’t wake up. I pursed my lips, sitting on his back as I thought of ways to wake him up. I grinned, standing up and jumping on the bed. “Nash! Wake up!” I continued this until I felt hands grab my ankles, pushing my feet from under me, causing me to land on Nash. My eyes widened. “Oh my god, did I hurt you?”

I scrambled to get off, but he chuckled quickly, holding me in place by my waist. “You’re fine, you didn’t hurt me,” he said. “But jumping on the bed like that is really fucking annoying.”

I smiled at him, before running my fingers through his bangs to move them out of his face. “How’d you sleep?” I asked.

“Pretty good,” he said, shrugging. “When did you come back in here?”

I furrowed my eyebrows. “I just came in like, not even five minutes ago,” I said.

“Really?” I nodded. “That’s weird. Because I was trying to stay up- at least until your mom and Jeremy left for work, then I’d go into your room- and I guess I fell asleep. But I don’t remember my dream, kinda like whenever you sleep with me…”

I grinned. “Maybe they’re gone?” I suggested.

He shrugged. “Doubt it. It was probably a one-time thing, I dunno,” he said. “Is there a specific reason I had to get up or?”

I nodded. “I’ve got to go work and unless you want to stay here, we’ve gotta leave really soon so I can take you… wherever you’re going,” I said, secretly hoping he wouldn’t ask me to take him home.

He kissed me quickly before patting my hips. “Get up,” he said. I got off of him and sat on the bed next to him. He stood up and pulled on his jeans, running his hands through his hair before realization hit his face. He started looking around the room.

“What are you looking for?” I asked.

“My hat,” he said. “Did I wear it here?”

I shook my head slowly. “No. You weren’t wearing it in the hospital,” I said.

His eyes widened. “Fuck,” he cursed.

“Maybe Levi has it?” I suggested hopefully. I still didn’t know what was so special about the simple hat, but there had to be something due to the distraught look on his face.

“Yeah, maybe,” he mumbled. “Can you drop me off at Levi’s?”

I nodded, relieved that he was going somewhere safe. “Yeah,” I said. “I have to take Aurora with me because she’s going to the mall, but I can take you to Levi’s.”

He nodded before walking out of the room without another word.

Nash.

I chewed on my thumb nail as I watched the trees go by. I couldn’t have lost it. I tried to think back if it fell off or something when I got jumped, but everything was hazy.

“Nash, I’m sure it’s at Levi’s,” Ashlyn said, reaching across the center console to grab my hand but I just put my hand in my lap. I could see her confused and hurt face from the corner of my eye, but I couldn’t help it. I knew all she was trying to do was comfort me but I just wanted to be left alone. I don’t know what I’ll do if I lost it.

I don’t know how Ashlyn knew where Levi lived- maybe she texted Levi or she’s been here before, I don’t know- but next thing I know we were parked outside of Levi’s house. “Will you be over tonight?” Ashlyn asked quietly. I wasn’t sure if Aurora heard here- she was too busy in la la land, texting on her phone.

“I don’t know,” I answered distractedly, opening the door. “I’ll call you from Levi’s phone or something. See ya.” I didn’t wait for a response before I closed the door and nearly ran up Levi’s driveway. I opened the door, not bothering to knock. “Yo, Levi!”

I saw him walking out of his room, pulling a shirt over his head. “I didn’t think you guys would be that fast,” he commented.

“Whatever,” I said, barely hearing him. “Do you have my hat?”

“Your hat?”

“Yes,” I said, getting annoyed. “The hat Eric got me.”

“Nah, bro. I haven’t seen it since the last time you were wearing it,” he said.

“Mother fucker!” I said, through clenched teeth. “I’m going to kill those Russian guys.”

“Whoa, whoa, Nash,” Levi said. “Calm down. You can’t think about revenge right now.”

“And why the fuck not?”

“Because you need to figure out how you’re going to pay them back before they kill you,” he said.

I snorted in response. But I knew he was right. So I started forming my plan.