Justin Fan Fiction
Never Again
By Ashley
Chapter 4
(Friday, December 2nd)
Justin held the door open for Skye, who was holding Nicole, and Meghan held to her hand. "Hi Justin!!" Meghan said excitedly.
"Well hello Meghan, what are you doing today?" Justin gave her a smile as he closed the door, and followed them just inside.
"We are going to decorate Aunt Alyssa's Christmas tree." Meghan told him with excitement. "Are you going to help us?"
Justin shrugged, "No one invited me."
Skye smiled, "Well, you just got four invitations, so you can't turn us down."
"Four?" Justin questioned. "I only see three of you."
"I included Alyssa." Skye explained with a shrug and a smile, "What time to get off?"
Justin looked at his watch, "In about fifteen minutes."
"So you'll come?" Meghan asked excitedly. "Please!??" She begged him, and Justin knew he couldn't have resisted that look if he wanted to.
Justin smiled and knelt down to her height, "I'll come just because you asked me too Meghan."
Skye smiled, "Then we'll see you in a few minutes." She looked at the excited Meghan, "Hey Meghan, lets keep this a secret from Alyssa, okay?"
Meghan nodded with excitement, "It will be a good surprise for Aunt Alyssa!!!" She said as the three girls headed into the elevator.
Justin hoped it would.
Skye opened the door for Justin twenty minutes later, and she led him to the living room, where Alyssa was not present, and Meghan and Nicole were sitting on the floor next to the Christmas tree. The two little girls picked up each present and shook it carefully, trying to decided what it could be.
"Hi Justin." Meghan greeted him quietly, not loud enough for Alyssa to here. Where ever she is. "Aunt Alyssa is getting the cake." Meghan answered his silent question.
"What cake?" Justin asked her as he sat on the floor next to the two girls, Nicole immediately climbed on to his lap.
"The birthday cake." Meghan told him in her all knowing voice.
"Who's birthday is it?" Justin asked her.
That's when Skye broke in, "Come on Justin! Who's birthday is December 2nd?"
Justin's eyed got a far away look in them, and he answered her question softly, "Britney's."
Skye gave him a sad smile, "Alyssa always decorates the tree on Britney's birthday, and we have a party. Right girls?" She asked the two little girls seated on the floor next to Justin.
Meghan nodded her agreement, but Nicole decided to speak. "Sing da cake song!" She told Justin.
It was at this moment that Alyssa decided to come into the room, she froze when she saw Justin sitting on the floor next to her Christmas tree, softly singing the cake song' with Nicole. "What are you doing here?"
Justin gave her a humorless smile, "You seem to say that a lot around me." He stood slowly, putting Nicole back on the floor. "If you want me to leave, I will." He told her.
"Then leave." Alyssa told him cooly.
"NO! You can't go!" Meghan wailed.
"No, he can't." Skye told all of them, "I invited him, so he is going to stay." She said the last part, looking directly at Alyssa as she spoke.
Alyssa shrugged, but Justin knew it was not in agreement, but maybe defeat, she knew her friend had won; this round at least.
The door bell rang, and Alyssa gave Skye a smug smile, and Justin had a feeling he was about to find out exactly what round two was. Alyssa pulled open the door, and standing outside was Jake Jensen; the other teacher at the school, and if Justin remembered right, the one who Alyssa had been out with the other night.
"Hello Jake." She greeted him warmly.
Justin scowled, and he decided that Jake was someone who he was immediately going to dislike. Apparently, the feeling was mutual as Jake's eyes fell on Justin who was back on the floor with Nicole and Meghan.
"It's a surprise to see you here, Mr...Jay Larson...Is it?" Jake questioned.
Skye, Justin and Jake all turned their eyes to Alyssa. "Um...No..."Alyssa stammered.
"Actually, my name is Justin Timberlake. Alyssa, for some reason, found it necessary to give you a different name."
"Well, all the same I am surprised to see you here, Mr. Timberlake." Jake told him with an air of distaste. "I thought Alyssa was finally getting over her 'boy band' phase."
Skye jumped in at this, "I invited Justin, and he is going to stay." Skye eyed both Alyssa and Jake, "And can we PLEASE get the 'Britney Party' portion over with, so we can decorate the Christmas tree?" The next part she said quietly, mumbling to herself. "If ANYONE every finds out how I spend every December second, I'll never...NEVER live it down. Honestly, a birthday party for Britney Spears?" Skye shook her head as she disappeared into the kitchen.
Meghan leaned over to Justin, "She says that EVERY year, but Aunt Alyssa says she really doesn't mind." She whispered in a conspirital tone.
"I see." Justin told the little girl, "I bet you and your Aunt Alyssa are right."
Skye came out of the kitchen, carrying a baby blue cake, with what Justin assumed was twenty four lit candles glowing on top of this. "Lets get this over with." She rolled her eyes, and set the cake on the coffee table.
Jake, Justin noticed, sat as far away from the cake as possible, while Alyssa sat right in front of it. Meghan sat on the floor opposite Alyssa, and Justin slid over to her side.
Apparently this was the yearly tradition as everyone else seemed to know the routine. After the Happy Birthday song was sung, (Which, Jake also didn't participate in.) Alyssa let Meghan and Nicole blow out the candles, then they cut the cake.
Jake refused to eat it, and Justin disliked him more by the minute. He couldn't imagine that Jake had anything against Britney as Justin did, but he could at least try if he really liked Alyssa.
Then again, why would I want him to ever try? I need all the help I can get, and if that means all the competition going away, I'm all for it. Though, I do have to admit that the Britney Birthday party thing may be going A LITTLE too far; it is kinda fun.
Once everyone was finished with Britney's cake, Skye pulled out the boxes of Christmas lights, ornaments, and all other sort of Christmas decorations imaginable (Remember, Skye is really into Christmas!).
"Now for the fun part!" Skye exclaimed as she opened the boxes.
Justin soon found out that decorating a Christmas tree was much harder than he had imagined, at least decorating a tree to Skye's satisfaction. Justin scowled, Jake seemed to find it easy, as he, Skye, Meghan and Alyssa all managed to make the tree look amazing.
Justin decided early on that he wasn't needed, and so he played with Nicole, who to his good fortune loved music. Justin held the small toddler in his lap, and sang to her almost every song he knew. Some, he was surprised to learn, the little girl knew, and would sing along with him; that is until she fell asleep.
Meghan quickly tired of decorating the tree, also struggling to keep it up to Skye's standards, and finally gave up.
Meghan sat on the couch behind him, "Can I play with your hair?" She asked him.
"What?" Justin asked confused.
"Can I play with your hair." She repeated the question, but didn't wait for her answer as she started talking again. "That's what I want to do when I grow up, do people's hair. Sometimes Aunt Alyssa and Skye let me play with their hair, but my mommy won't. And sometimes, when he's home, my dad lets me too, he has curly hair like yours. But Nicole cries when I pull her hair."
Justin gave a small laugh, "You can if you want to." He shrugged, and Meghan ran into the bathroom. Moments later, she came out armed with brushes, combs, spray bottles, and all kinds of assortments of hair things. Justin got slightly nervous. "What are you going to do with all that Meghan?" He questioned, wondering if he should be nervous.
She shrugged, and sat behind him on the couch once again. She brushed, pulled, combed, sprayed, tugged, twisted, straightened, curled, and did it all over again in a matter of minutes. Justin had thought he had it hard with some of the hair specialists when he was on tour, but Meghan could probably beat them all if she wanted. He was just glad she didn't have any scissors.
Skye had also seen Jake's move of the ornament, and she moved it back to the place where Meghan had placed it, giving him a warning glare, then she elbowed Alyssa in the ribs.
"Ow! What was that for?" Alyssa asked Skye.
Skye just gave her an innocent smile, then motioned her head for Alyssa to turn around, Alyssa did, and she saw Justin sitting on the floor, his back leaning against the couch, with Nicole asleep on his lap, and Meghan asleep on the couch behind him, one arm placed around his neck.
Then her eyes fell on his hair. Oh his hair...it was something that's for sure.
Meghan had obviously got to it, and she was amazed that Justin didn't seem to care in the least. Jake wouldn't have let Meghan anywhere near him, let alone play with his hair as the six year old loved to do.
Justin seemed to sense that she was looking at him, and he looked up at her that moment. He gave her a sweet smile, with a wink before she looked away.
Just then another knock came on the door, but it opened before anyone came to get it. "Hello?!"
"We're in here Holly!" Alyssa called to her sister, who appeared in the hallway at that moment.
"Hello everyone." Holly greeted them, she eyed the tree, "Skye, you have once again made the tree look beautiful. Your coming to decorate mine right?? Please!?"
"Nope." Skye laughed, "Your doing your own again."
Holly's eyes fell on Jake, "Hello Jake."
"Holly." Jake nodded.
Then Holly turned to Justin, "And you must be Justin. I hope my daughters haven't been bugging you."
"Of course not." Justin smiled at her, he immediately liked Holly, she was a lot like Alyssa, but she didn't like Jake.
"Meghan never stops talking about you. I see she got to your hair." Holly pulled a face, "If you need professional help to get it fixed, I will pay for it." She teased.
"I think I'll be fine." Justin laughed.
Holly's eyes fell on the rest of Britney's Birthday cake, and she turned to Alyssa, "I see you've been corrupting my little girls again, little sister."
Alyssa laughed, "It's what I do best."
"Well, I better take these two out to the car." She motioned to the two girls on Justin.
"I'll help you Holly." Skye volunteered, and she picked up Nicole from Justin's lap, while he untangled Meghan's arm from around his neck. "Jake can carry Meghan out." Skye volunteered him, and gave him glare, "He was just leaving anyway, weren't you Jake?"
"Yes, Skye." Jake said cooly, "I guess I was." He put his coat on, then picked Meghan up from the couch.
"Okay then, follow me." Holly motioned. "Nice meeting you Justin, see ya later Lyssa!"
"Nice meeting you too Holly." Justin told her as he stood up from the floor.
Skye was the last one out of the apartment, and she looked back at Alyssa and Justin, "You two have a nice talk now, I'll be back in a little bit." She told them with a sugar sweet smile.
Justin who had been preparing to leave also, was taken back by what she said, Alyssa glared at the retreating back of her friend, from where she now sat on the couch. Justin sat in the chair next to the end of the couch. Both sat in a tense silence, until Alyssa finally spoke up.
"Your hair." Alyssa said softly.
Justin shrugged, "As long as Meghan had fun, it doesn't bother me."
"It's awful." Alyssa said as she tried not to laugh.
"Well if it bugs you, then you fix it." Justin told her, and as he expected, she did nothing.
Alyssa shifted un-easily on the couch, and finally Justin asked, "Do you want me to leave?"
Alyssa finally looked at him, "No!" Then she stopped herself, "I mean, Skye is probably outside the door, and if you try to leave, she will just make you come back in. After all, she went through all that work to get everyone else to leave."
Justin eyed what was left of the baby blue cake. "Why do you even care about someone you've never even met?"
Alyssa followed his gaze, as she thought about how to answer his question, "I really don't know." She admitted.
"Okay." Justin shrugged, "Then tell me, why does Ashley care about someone she has never even met." Justin had a theory on Alyssa, and that was that Alyssa didn't like to talk about herself. So, she made up someone, who was almost exactly like her, and put her into the situations she had dreamed up. Ashley wasn't Alyssa, but at the same time, she really was.
As Justin suspected, Alyssa did answer his question this time. "Ashley want's to know who the real Britney Spears is. She won't believe anything anyone tells her about Britney, unless she hears Britney say it herself. Ashley has always been a big fan of Britney's, so she of course has a lot of pictures of her."
"And a Britney fan wouldn't?" Justin asked sarcastically.
"Exactly." Alyssa answered his question, ignoring the tone. "But pictures, and magazines don't mean anything to Ashley, I mean, they're fun to have, but what's the point of having pictures of someone you don't even know?"
"Very good question." Justin agreed.
"So Ashley decides to meet Britney; because as much as Ashley needs a friend, so does Britney." Alyssa said softly as she watched the snow falling outside the window.
Something in her tone caught Justin off guard, "Why does Ashley need a friend?"
Alyssa's eyes snapped back to Justin at his question, "She doesn't." She said too defensively, obviously she hadn't meant to tell him so much.
Justin looked at her carefully, then he started to talk, so softly, that if Alyssa wanted to hear him, she would have to lean forward, "I think that Ashley does need a friend. But what I want to know, is why would she need Britney to be her friend?"
Alyssa searched Justin's eyes for any sign of insincerity, and she was tempted to be mad when she didn't find it, but she couldn't be. He was Justin, he was the Justin she had always known he was, and no matter how much she wanted to hate him for it, she just couldn't.
Alyssa finally started to answer the question, in barley a whisper, "Ashley needs to be Britney's friend, because they were hurt by the same person."
"Who?" Justin asked, already knowing the answer. Alyssa refused to look at him as he watched her, then he whispered once more, "I didn't mean to."
Neither one of them, spoke, and Justin gave a silent sigh in frustration; he laid his head down on the arm of the chair, when Alyssa still refused to look at him.
Alyssa turned towards Justin at his movement, she looked at his famous curly hair as his head rested on the arm of the chair; Meghan's styling had positively made it almost unrecognizable and Alyssa had almost taken Justin's invitation to fix it earlier; even if it was just an excuse to touch the soft brown curls. Trying to get her mind away from him, she decided that they needed to talk.
"Justin"
Justin raised his head up to look at her, and almost to her surprise, he was smiling, THAT smile. "What?!" She asked when he didn't say anything.
"Do you realize that, that is the first time you've ever used my name?" He asked her, that smile still grinning back at her.
"Do you realize that you only ask questions about me." Alyssa shot back defensivly.
"I guess I do." Justin admitted with a small laugh. "Okay, How about this, you can ask me anything about me that you want."
"Okay, but you can't lie."
"I would never do that!" Justin pretended to be offended by her remark. "Give me your question, I'll prove it to you."
Alyssa studied him for a few minutes, "Do you regret anything you've done?"
Though taken back by her first question, he was going to prove that he could tell the truth about his past, and prove he wasn't what she already thought.
"Yes," He answered through a sigh, "I have done many things that I regret."
"What do you regret the most?"
Justin sighed, "Sometimes I regret the life that I chose."
"Why?" Alyssa asked him with innocent curiosity.
"I've never done anything worth remembering." He shrugged. "I just sing. I've never done anything to change anyone's life."
Alyssa looked him in the eye, "You've changed mine."
Neither of them said anything for a long moment, then Justin finally spoke teasingly, "Is that ALL you have to ask me?"
Alyssa shook her head; that's what he had been afraid of. "Did you cheat on Britney?" Alyssa asked quietly.
Justin took a deep breath, then let it out slowly. "Yes, I did."
"Why?" Alyssa asked him sadly.
"It's a long story." Justin told her, trying to avoid the subject.
Alyssa shifted to a more comfortable position on the couch, "I've got time."
Justin gave a small, sad smile, "Yeah, I guess you do." He paused and looked anywhere but at her as he started.
"When I first got on the MMC, they told me who the other new members were, one name stuck out to me, and that was Miss Britney Spears, from Kentwood, Louisiana. The first day I met her, she was...amazing. We were best friends, and we eventually were 'going out'. We spent lots of time together, and it was hard for us when the show got cancelled. We went our own ways, but we still kept in touch over the next few years. I was excited to have her come on tour with us, maybe I thought she wouldn't have changed, and I guess at first she was the same as before. The first couple of years she wanted to keep our relationship quiet, and I left that up to her. But then she decided one day that she wanted to go public, and I told her to do what she wanted."
When Justin paused, Alyssa spoke for the first time, "So far I haven't heard anything that I didn't know before."
Justin gave her a small smile, "No, you probably haven't, but I'm setting the scene for you."
"Then keep going."
"It was about this time I started to notice that Britney was...different"
"In what way?"
"Fame became MORE important to her. Before she just loved music, and loved to preform; but she changed." Justin shrugged. "Or maybe she was like that all along, and I was just too blind to notice. But I knew I still loved her; and I thought she still loved me."
"She did." Alyssa insisted, then changed her answer, "She DOES."
Justin gave her a sad smile, "That's what I thought too; at least I know she fooled more than just me."
"What do you mean?"
Justin sighed, "Alyssa, I don't want to talk about her. I can't."
"Will you tell me?" Alyssa asked him softly, "What did she do to hurt you so bad?"
Justin finally answered, his voice was rough and it was emotional, "I told her I loved her and she, she laughed in my face. She laughed in my face Alyssa."
Alyssa didn't say anything, with those words, Justin had given her the biggest reason of all to hate Britney. Finally Alyssa spoke, and she asked her question softly, because she wasn't sure if she wanted to know that answer herself.
"What about Jenna?"
Justin gave a humorless laugh, "I loved Britney, and even though I knew she didn't love me, I still couldn't let her take the blame for us breaking up." He gave Alyssa a sideways glance, "I didn't want all her fans to think of her the way I do I guess. I really don't know."
"You really did love her, didn't you?" Alyssa asked him.
"I did." Justin looked her in the eye.
"So you pretended to cheat on Britney with Jenna, so people wouldn't blame anything on Britney." Alyssa guessed.
Justin nodded in agreement, "Everyone felt bad for poor Britney' because of what I did. Britney just had to go on T.V. and say I was a 'cheating dog', then act broken hearted for a month or two, while I pretended that I didn't care at all."
"But you were the one who got hurt." Alyssa said softly.
Justin tried to smile, "I don't regret what I did, I never wanted to hurt her. I would rather be alone than with someone who didn't love me."
"That day at the park, it was Britney you were talking to on you phone; wasn't it?"
Justin nodded, "She has time for love now, and I would fit her 'NEW' image now. But," He gave a smile, a real Justin smile this time, "I don't think she fits MY image anymore."
"And who might fit your image?" Alyssa asked him cautiously.
"Well," Justin started slowly, "there is this girl...her name is Ashley. Do you think if I asked her to dinner, she would go?"
"I think that this Ashley's answer would be yes. But..." Alyssa paused, then she started again with a mischievous twinkle in her eye that Justin often saw in Meghan's eyes, "I don't think Ashley would go out with you, when your hair looks that ridiculous." She giggled, and Justin rolled his eyes.
He grabbed the mirror from the pile of things Meghan had brought out of the bathroom earlier, mumbling under his breath. Alyssa was probably right he thought when he saw his hair in the mirror, but it was probably beyond his repair, tonight anyway.
He moved to run his hand though it, and was completely surprised when Alyssa grabbed his wrist, "Don't." She shook her head, "You'll make it worse. I'll help you."
Justin hesitated only momentarily before leaning his head towards her, resting it on the arm of the chair as he had done previously.
Alyssa grabbed a comb out of the same pile Justin had taken the mirror, and she pulled at his hair softly with it. The texture of his hair was something she had always wondered about, but nothing could have prepared her for the baby softness of the strands or of how delicate it felt to have the curly locks circle her fingers as she moved them through his hair; only slightly remembering she was supposed to be fixing it.
After several minutes, the comb Alyssa was using could be pulled through Justin's hair without too much damage; "That's as good as it will get tonight." She shrugged, and rested her arms on the arm of the couch next to him.
Justin slowly raised his head his eyes meeting hers across the short distance between them. "Are they everything you thought they would be?"
Alyssa was completely lost on what he was talking about the moment her eyes met his direct blue stare. She couldn't even remember what her name was at that moment much less what he was talking about. "Your eyes?"
Her dreamy tone made him grin, as did her truthful slip. "Actually I was talking about the curls Ashley."
"My names not Ashley." She told him; but not in the cold tones she had used before, instead it was the same dreamy tone she had used moments before.
The way she was biting her lip was intoxicating and although she was doing it out of nervousness, it drew his eyes to her lips. His head was lowering automatically and Alyssa's breathing picked up. Justin heard it and it only encouraged him to continue his course of action. His head tilted, her head tilted a little, and it seemed to take forever as his head continued to slowly lower those few inches towards her.
The sound of the door opening broke the spell as Justin pulled away from Alyssa to see Skye entering the room. "Did you guys know it's snowing outside?" She asked, but Alyssa knew that Skye knew exactly what she was doing. And Alyssa wasn't sure at the moment if she wanted to thank or hate her best friend for breaking in at that exact moment. "Well, it's freezing out there!" Skye continued when no one answered her first question.
It's a lot cooler than in here, that's for sure.
Justin got ready to leave, and Alyssa followed him to the door, You promised you'd go to dinner with me." He reminded her.
"Yes, I guess I did."
"I'll pick you up tomorrow at 7:30." Justin told her as he closed the door.
Justin had taken Alyssa to dinner, and after they were finished, he told her he had a surprise for her. He wouldn't tell her anything about it as they drove through street, lined with piles of snow.
Justin pulled the car to a stop, and after getting out, he hurried to open Alyssa's door for her. "We are here." He announced as she climbed out of the car.
Alyssa didn't have to ask where 'here' was; they were in the park where the two had first met. It was covered in winter snow instead of the fall leaves that had been here previously. The night sky was clear of clouds, and the moon made the mostly untouched snow glow and sparkle on the ground.
"Come on slow poke Ashley!" Justin pulled her arm to get her to follow him.
"Why do you call me Ashley?" Alyssa asked him.
Justin ignored her question as they walked along the snow cleared path. "Did I pass your test, Miss Adamson?" He asked her teasingly.
"What test?" Alyssa asked, deciding her question could wait a little longer.
"The test that I can ask you on a second date."
Alyssa smiled, "Yes, I think you passed the test."
"With flying colors?" Justin pressed.
"With flying colors." Alyssa laughed.
Both of them were silent, and the park seemed to shield out all of the sounds of the outside world.
"Look! A snowman!" Justin said with the excitement of any five year old when he saw the snowman standing in the middle of the park. "Come on Ashley!" He tugged her arm as he pulled her in the direction of the lonely snowman.
Alyssa trudged behind him through the deep snow, "There is snow in my shoes!" She whined.
Justin laughed softly, "Deal with it babe."
"I'm going to get you back." Alyssa threatened, as she pulled her hand free of his.
"Oh, empty threats!" Justin laughed, now a few steps ahead of her since she had stopped. He turned around to look at her, and a handful of snow hit him directly in the face.
"What was that for?!" He asked as he brushed the snow out of his face to see Alyssa laughing. "Your going to get it!"
Alyssa stopped laughing, but the smile remained, "Empty threats!" She taunted in the same tone he had used.
Justin grabbed a handful of snow, and started towards her. Alyssa's eyes widened, "Justin! You wouldn't!" She screamed, then turned and ran.
Alyssa stopped when she reached the edge of the ice skating rink that had been made; Justin on the other hand wasn't expecting Alyssa to stop so suddenly, and wasn't prepared to stop.
"Justin stop!" Alyssa tried to warn him, but he hit the edge of the ice before he could stop.
In an attempt to stop him from falling, Alyssa held onto his arm, but instead the both of them fell in the snow on the edge of the ice.
Justin could hardly breath because he was laughing so hard. Alyssa looked at him like he was crazy; she personally didn't think it was that funny to be sitting in the snow when it was freezing outside. "What is so funny?" She demanded.
Justin looked at her with a smile, "I told you I would get you back Ashley."
Alyssa was covered in head to toe with the snow, but it made her feel better that Justin was too, so she just shrugged, "Now I can make a snow angel, because I'm already covered in snow."
"I think you already are a snow angle Ashley." Justin told her.
"Why do you call me Ashley?" Alyssa asked him again.
"Because, I know Ashley better than I know Alyssa. So your going to be my little Ashley." Justin told her. "Besides, you wouldn't let me call you Alyssa."
Alyssa pulled a face, "I guess I wasn't very nice to you, was I?"
"No. I'd say you were down right mean." Justin told her honestly.
Alyssa pulled her knees up to her chest and rested her head on them, as she looked out across the ice, not looking at him. "I'm sorry." She told him softly.
Justin just watched her for a few minutes, as she looked at the snow covered world around her. Then he spoke softly, not sure if it was against his better judgement or not to ask his question. "What do you think of relationships Alyssa?" This time he used her real name, and she turned to look at him, her head still resting on her knees.
"Love?" She questioned softly.
"What?" He asked, suddenly forgetting what he was asking her at the sound of the word.
Alyssa smiled a small smile, "You mean love don't you?" She clarified.
Justin struggled to find his voice. "Yeah...Uh huh...love."
Alyssa lifted her head to look at him, "I think it's a word that people use too much. It's a big word. It holds a lot of promise, expectations, and responsibilities. It's not something I think anyone should take lightly. It's a scary thing..." Alyssa paused, and for the life of her she couldn't move her eyes away from his. She also noticed that he was getting closer and closer to her. "It's terrifying really." She whispered softly.
He leaned even closer, his sparkling eyes searching her face, "Are you afraid of me Alyssa?"
"Terrified." Alyssa whispered.
He put his finger under her chin and dipped his head those final inches to press his lips against hers. When he pulled away moments later, his eyes opened to search hers, "I think I'm going to fall in love with you, my little Ashley." He whispered.
