Chapter Text
"Sunglasses?"
"Check."
"Surfboard?"
"Check!"
"A thousand button-ups?"
"Chec- hey!" Ashlyn caught herself in time.
"I think you packed enough for a month." Tobin laughed.
"Always good to have options." Ashlyn smiled as she unpacked one of them and closed the suitcase. Like one would make a difference.
"This is going to be so much fun!" Tobin beamed as she hopped off Ashlyn's bed.
"For sure. Thanks again for inviting me, man!" Ashlyn clapped her on the back.
"Of course. Wouldn't have it any other way." Tobin responded as she checked her phone. "HAO and them should be here soon. Should we try to wake up Kel again?" She shot Ashlyn a devilish smile and they both bolted for the living room.
...
"I hate you both." Kelley said as she stood up and almost fell over.
"Not our fault you drank too much." Alex pointed out from behind her magazine as she sat at the kitchen counter.
"Actually, it is." Kelley retorted and they all laughed- thinking back on a drinking game Tobin created specifically so Kelley would repeatedly lose. "Was that even a real game?" She asked.
"Nope." Tobin said plainly and dodged a pillow to the face as Kelley flopped back on the couch. "Get up!" Tobin yelled as they piled on Kelley.
...
"Coming!" Ashlyn shouted as she rode into the living room on her longboard, sunglasses already over her eyes, toward the front door.
Alex threw a pillow at her to try and knock her off balance but Ashlyn recovered gracefully and swung the door open to find three of her friends. "Heyyyyy!" They all yelled in unison.
She hugged Pinoe and HAO and Lori all while standing on the board. She was so excited to see them she didn't even notice the girl walking up the lawn behind them. She was fixing her hair and not paying attention and the sight of her made Ashlyn pause.
Ashlyn prayed when she looked up she would have blue eyes or green eyes or anything but... gulp... brown eyes. Damn. Ashlyn had a weakness for girls with brown eyes. Specifically brunettes with brown eyes. And she's just noticing now that brown-eyed brunettes with killer smiles are her ultimate weakness.
She stepped off the board and softly rolled it backward with her foot, very nonchalant. She stood up straight and smoothed out her button up. She pulled the sunglasses off too.
"Hi, I'm Ali." The girl walked right up and shook her hand with a smile.
"Ashlyn. Nice to meet you."
"You surf too?" She pointed to Ashlyn's Jeep with three boards strapped to the roof.
"I do. Do you?" Ashlyn started to walk into the house.
"Nah, its on my list though." She had a slight mumble to her speech and Ashlyn found it endearing.
"Nice... if you ever want to learn..." She offered.
Ali smiled appreciatively and went to hug Kelley, Alex and Tobin.
...
They were standing out by the cars- mapping out the route and then they were ready to go.
"Sorry you're stuck in a car with those three." Ashlyn said loud enough for everyone to hear. "They have pretty bad taste in music so..." She gave Ali a look and turned to get in the Jeep.
"I'll keep them in check." Ali played along and joined the other car.
...
"This place is sick, Kell!" Tobin exclaimed as they walked up to the front door.
"Always trust me." She said as she entered the code to unlock the key-box. "Here we are." She said as she opened the door. "Home!" She spread her arms wide and breathed in the beach house scent. One of her favorites.
"We're never leaving." Pinoe joined in. "Like, ever."
"Right?" Alex added. "This is so nice!"
"Except there's only 6 bedrooms so two of us have to share."
"I can sleep on one of the couches." Ashlyn offered. "I was last to commit anyway."
"Well that's ridiculous. We'll share." Alex pointed between herself and Ashlyn. "We can be cuddle buddies..." She jokingly nudged Ashlyn's ribs.
"We can share. No cuddling though." She smiled.
"Yea, Ash isn't a cuddler." Pinoe pointed out.
"Who doesn't like cuddling?!" Alex protested with her arms in the air.
"Me." Ashlyn laughed. "And you should know that by now."
"So weird." Alex continued as she walked further into the house. "Your future wife is one lucky lady." She said sarcastically.
"So... where are the rooms?" Tobin asked as she looked to a hallway to the left and then one to the right.
"Three on each side." Kelley responded and they all glanced at each other before making a mad dash to get the best room. Luckily for Kelley, she already knew which one she wanted. And all but Alex and herself went to the side it was on. Kelley took her time walking to it. She stayed here before a few years ago and always wanted to come back.
Ashlyn stood in the entry and waited it out until she heard Alex cheering from one of the rooms. She walked along the kitchen and down the hall to the room. She threw her stuff on the bed and flopped down on it.
"Let's go see the rest of the house." Alex pulled her up excitedly and they walked back out.
...
They ended up on the back patio, overlooking the pool and hot tub and everyone else came out to join eventually. Kelley's room and Ali's room both had doors directly to the patio and then there were sliding doors off the living room and kitchen. But Ashlyn and Alex still swore their room was the best. It had a balcony and you could see the ocean past the house across the narrow street.
They all just looked around and took it in. It was pretty hot out already and the pool looked inviting.
"So I was thinking..." Ashlyn turned to everyone and waited for six sets of eyes to meet hers. "Last one in is a rotten egg!" She yelled as she turned and sprinted for the pool. Soon to be followed by six other girls. Clothes and all.
"Wooo!" Lori yelled as she came up from underwater. "Vacation has officially started!" They all high-fived and dunked each other.
...
"Okay. Now someone needs to go grocery shopping." Kelley laughed. Obviously not wanting to be the one to do it.
"I'll go." Ashlyn offered. "I like grocery shopping." She added.
"Doesn't like to cuddle but likes to grocery shop. Who actually likes going to the grocery store?"
"Me." Ash chuckled.
"Me too actually." Ali chimed in. "It's kind of fun." She shrugged.
"Oh good!" Kelley jumped on that opportunity. "You can go with her." She smiled at Ali.
"Yea, that's fine." She answered easily and shrugged again.
Ashlyn would be lying if she said her heart didn't flip a little. Now would be a good time to impress her. Play it cool.
...
Ali's jaw dropped when Ashlyn's grip slipped and a whole jar of pickles shattered in the middle of the aisle. She had too many things in her hand and refused Ali's assistance, too proud to accept help. Ashlyn clenched her teeth and bit out a "dammit" to herself. Way to play it cool.
"Clean up in aisle six." Ali teased as she broke into a smile and it eased the tension of Ashlyn's embarrassment.
"Guess I didn't 'have it', huh?" Ashlyn chuckled.
"Guess not." Ali moved out of the way as an employee came to clean it up
"Sorry!" Ashlyn smiled guiltily but the woman just waved her off and smiled.
...
"I'm thinking a thirty for now." Ali said as she stood in the beer aisle.
"I'm thinking two." Ashlyn contested and grabbed one in each hand.
"Want help with those?" Ali said teasingly.
"I have it." Ashlyn mimicked herself from earlier but right before she put them in the cart she pretended to drop one. "Oh no!" She yelled and pretended to fall forward with it. Ali quickly stepped in to help but Ashlyn started laughing when she noticed Ali fell for the prank.
"You're sooo funny." Ali shook her head sarcastically and crossed her arms, trying not to laugh.
"Thanks. I'm here all week." Ashlyn flashed her a smile and moved on. Ali just stood there for a second and smiled to herself. There's something endearing about this girl.
...
When they got back to the house, everyone was already down at the beach. They stocked the fridge and cabinets and Ashlyn went to her room to get changed for the beach. When she walked back out, Ali handed her a beer and cracked it open.
"For the walk." She smiled since it was only a few feet to the beach path.
"See, good thing we got two. This is important." Ashlyn teased as she clinked her can into Ali's. Ali chuckled and smiled and her nose crinkled when she did. She started toward the door but Ashlyn just stood there for a moment. Trying to recover as her breath was taken away by the most beautiful smile she's ever seen. Wow.
...