She's a Rebel, She's a Saint

As I walked into my parent’s house, I wiped the tears that were slipping out of my blue eyes and staining my cheeks with black. I straightened myself out and pulled my hair up into a ponytail again before taking another step into the house.

“Hey sissy!” Sophia said in a happy tone as she ran towards me and wrapped her arms around my legs.

"Hi baby girl,” I greeted, bending down and placing a kiss on her cheek before standing up straight and playfully ruffling her hair, “Where’s momma?”

“She’s in her room.” Sophia answered before walking back to the living room where one of her favorite episodes of SpongeBob was playing on the TV.

I turned towards the elegant staircase and began to walk up the stairs to my mom’s room, passing by my old bedroom, Sophia’s bedroom, and Natasha’s bedroom before reaching the expensively decorated bedroom at the end of the hall. I stepped into the room and my mom smiled at me.

"Hi Ashley," my mom's sweet voice began as a smile that matched hers and Natasha’s found its way to my face, "I'm so happy that you're here. I need your help with something."

"Of course, what do you need my help with?" I asked my mom, sitting down the edge of the bed and kicking my UGG’s off.

"Well, you know Rachael and I have our anniversary coming up soon, right?"

"Of course, you guys are gonna be together for almost twenty five years."

“Right, well we-” she abruptly cut off and stepped closer to me, cradling my face in her hands, “Have you been crying?”

“It’s just boy trouble mom, I don’t want to talk about it right now.”

“Speaking of boy trouble, what happened between you and Harry? You guys went from being madly in love to being in different continents…”

“Harry and I,” I began as I tried to think of how to word what happened between Harry and I, I sighed and bit my lip before telling her a portion of the truth, “Harry and I broke up.”

“Oh, Ashley, I’m so sorry.” she said, pulling me in for a warm hug.

“It’s alright.” I answered with a shrug once we pulled away from each other, focusing my attention on the floor below us.

“Since when is breaking up with your fiancé considered ‘alright,’ Ashley?”

"What favor do you need, mom?" I asked her, trying my hardest to change the subject.

"I know I'm asking for a lot, but I need you to watch Natasha and Sophia while we go on a small vacation to Spain."

"How long are you going to be gone?" I asked her.

"Just a week. Will you watch them? You can stay here with them if you would like.”

“Sure.” I answered, feeling my phone vibrate in my pocket a moment later.

I took my phone out of my pocket and rolled my eyes when I saw that it was Gabriella.

“If it’s Gab you should answer it. Go to your old room.” she suggested.

I nodded my head and walked out of my parent’s bedroom as I slid my thumb across the screen to talk to Gabriella. I stepped into my old bedroom with the classic pink, black, and white, color scheme and I laid myself down on the bed with the phone to my ear.

“What’s going on, boobear?” I asked, able to picture Gab roll her eyes.

“Why do I have to feeling that something happened to you and you’re not telling me about it?” she asked, always being able to tell when I was lying to her.

“Because you’re either physic or you stalk me…”

“What happened?”

“I don’t want to talk about it, Gabriella.” I said with a sigh, toying with the ends of my hair.

“You’re at your parent’s house, right?”

“How the fuck do you know that?” I asked with my eyebrows furrowed together in confusion.

“I’ll be there in less than ten minutes, I was already on my way in the car.” she said simple before hanging up and leaving me surprised.

My mother walked into the room looking at me with curious eyes.

“Is she okay?”

“Yeah, apparently she’s on her way to pick me up.”

“She always seems to know when something is wrong.” my mom said as we both walked out of my old bedroom, closing the door behind me.

“I agree with you completely.” I said as we walked down the stairs and I heard a car horn honking outside.

“I'm guessing that’s her,” my mom began before pulling me in for a hug, “I’ll see you later.”

I nodded my head and walked out of the house, easily slipping into the passenger side of my best friend’s car. Without her even asking, I quickly told her everything that Harry said to Gemma about me and everything that Daniel said once he saw me.

“Holy fucking shit, if karma doesn’t hit Daniel, I’ll do it!”

“You know he’s always been like this.” I said with a sigh when we arrived at the address Daniel gave me for my new apartment.

“That doesn’t make it any better.” she said as we got out of the car.

We found the stairwell and I paused as I looked at it before walking away and pressing the button by the elevator.

“Um, what are you doing? This is an elevator.” Gabriella said as she walked away from the stairwell and towards where I was waiting by the elevator, my best friend having a protective stomach placed over her large baby bump.

“I know,” I began, “I'm not scared of them anymore.”

“What do you mean you're not scared of them? I think you’ve had a phobia of elevators since you came out of your mother…”

I rolled my eyes as the elevator reached our floor and the doors opened, I stepped through them and dragged Gab with me.

“Well, you really are over your fear of elevators…”

“Yeah, you can thank Harry for that one.” I said in a sad tone as I pulled my vibrating phone out of my pocket before pressing ignore on my phone when I noticed that it was him calling me.

“How did Daniel even get into your place and move your stuff to the new apartment?” she asked me, her eyebrows furrowing together in confusion as we stepped off of the elevator and walked towards the apartment.

“I learned a long time ago that sometimes it’s better not to ask ‘how’ when talking to or about Daniel. I’m beginning to think he’s the devil.”

“Don’t be so over dramatic.” she said with a chuckle as I typed the passcode that Daniel gave me into a silver lock on the door.

“Well, I guess he didn’t get your stuff.” Gab said, her eyes widening the second we stepped into the apartment.

“No but he did buy me all new stuff.” I said in a happy tone, throwing myself onto the plush black couch with a smile on my face.

“Yeah, but is it worth selling your soul?” she said as she sat down on the couch as well and turned on the large flat screen television in front of us that took up almost the whole wall.

“Don’t be so over dramatic.” I said, quoting her words.

She rolled her eyes and a second later we stood up at the same time to walk towards the bedroom that was almost identical to my old one in the first apartment he bought for me. Gabriella and I looked at each other briefly before we both rushed to the door or the closet, pulling it open and frowning.

“Well, at least he let you keep the stuff that was in your suitcase…” she said, trailing off slightly at the end since she saw the same things that I saw in the closet.

“Gab, none of this is me.” I said as I examined the many different pairs of high heels neatly lining the floor, the business attire wardrobe with a few short dresses towards the end of the closet.

“It was you a few weeks ago before you met Harry.” she said simply, making me groan.

“Ugh, can we please stop talking about Harold fucking Styles?!” I exclaimed, closing the closet and walking out of the room to sit on the couch with my hands covering my sad face.

“Ashley-Olivia Lopez-” she began before I cut her off.

“-if you're calling me by my full name I already know I'm not going to like whatever you're planning on saying to me.”

She rolled her eyes with a chuckle and walked towards me, sitting down on the couch next to me and wrapping an arm around me to pull me closer to her and calm me down. I sighed and leaned in even closer to her, leaning my head on her shoulder and cuddling into her slightly as I wrapped an arm around her waist – a feat that was not easy to do considering the fact that her baby bump was getting bigger every single day.

“Baby, there’s plenty of fish in the sea.”

“Oh god,” I began, “Can you even be any more cliché?!”

“Let me finish, I'm trying to make you feel better!”

“Alright, continue.” I said with a chuckle that made her smile as well.

“My point, is that there are plenty of fish in the sea and you're currently crying over a fucking guppy.”

“But the guppy had really nice hair, and cute dimples, and he was really sweet.”

“And you left the guppy to get involved with some toxic sludge?” she asked with a cocked eyebrow.

“Can you stop with the ocean puns, please?” I pleaded.

“Alright, I'm done.”

“It’s times like this I wish you weren’t married to Liam.” I said, knowing it would confuse her.

“Um, excuse me?!”

“Well,” I began as I moved away from her and took both of her hands in both of mine so that I could be dramatic while I looked into her big brown eyes, “If you weren’t married to Liam than maybe we could just be lesbians.”

“Do you want to have sex and see if we like it?” she asked me in the same joking tone I had just used.

I chuckled and shook my head before cuddling up with her again and pulling a warm purple blanket up around our bodies.

“I’m way too tired to have sex with you right now, Gabriella.” I said, making her burst out laughing.

“I wish I could help you more, baby.” she said, placing a kiss to the top of my forehead.

“You could always help me find my prince charming.” I suggested.

“That’s a lot of work. Can’t I just kidnap him and give him to you on Christmas with a pink bow on his forehead?”

“Well, if you think you have enough closet space to keep him hidden from me until then, go for it.”

“Ashley,” she began after a moment of silence had passed between the two of us, “Do you think Harry would be mad if he found out that you told me you guys were never in a real relationship?”

“Why should he be? He told his sister.”

“It’s not the same thing.” she said to me in a tone that let me know she was rolling her eyes at my words.

“Well when I say that I'm not going to tell anyone I assume that people know my best friend doesn’t count.”

She smiled and turned on the TV, happy that I was in a more calm and peaceful state now.

“Boobear,” I began after a moment of us just watching the TV and not talking to each other, “What is it like to be in love?”

“It’s different.”

“Do you feel more grown up or something?” I asked her, making her chuckle since she was only about ten months older than me.

“Being in love is when you begin to realize that it’s not about who you want to spend Friday night with, it’s about who you want to spend all day Saturday with.” she said with a happy smile on her face.

I groaned and pulled away from her to sit upright on the couch with a sigh.

“But isn’t that bad?” I asked, throwing my arms up in the air.

“How could that be bad?” she asked me with a chuckle.

“Because then you're spending every single fucking Saturday with them for the rest of your life. Then you get kids, and the passion is gone. Then you guys are arguing over when was the last time you guys brought the dog out for a walk.”

My best friend threw her head back in a loud laugh and covered her now-red face as well.

“It’s alright, you don’t get it.”

“Why should I get it? I’ve never been in love.” I said, moving back into the cuddly position we were previously in.

“Alright, whatever helps you float your already sinking boat.”