Ava faked a smile "And I have some college work to do." she said attempting to not seem suspicious for leaving as well. She glared at Ash, and he smirked back at her. Ash stood up from the couch, giving Ava a playful smile as he walked towards the bathroom. He knew what he just did was a bit mean, but that's what she gets for the "edgeing" comment he thought to himself. Ava waited until she heard the sound of water running before going to her bedroom. Once inside, she closed the door behind her and leaned against it for a moment. She knew she should probably be upset or at least annoyed with Ash for what he just did, but instead all she could feel was a bit turned on and guilty for so.

"Fuck" she said under her breath as she laid down on her bed. She couldn't stop her mind from filling with sinful "what if's" such as "What if their parents weren't home, What if they were alone and it was just them? Would he have kept going further? How far would he have gone? She thought of him sliding his hand down between her thighs. Slowly rubbing his fingers against her-" she shook her head as if she was trying to brush the thoughts away, she sat up, opened her laptop and tried to focus on her school work but found herself getting distracted by the thought of Ash, after about 20 mins of struggling to focus she decided to go get a drink, maybe a snack and then revisit her work. She opened the door to her room, walking into the hall to see Ash stepping out of the bathroom. His hair was damp and he was wrapped in nothing but a towel at the waist. She bite her lip and looked him up and down. She felt like such a perv. "He's my little brother!" She thought to herself. But she couldn't help it. It was like suddenly she saw him differently. He didn't look like her nerdy little stepbrother anymore. He looked hot, she spent what felt like minutes looking at his body. But in reality it was merely a few secs.

Ash caught her staring and raised an eyebrow at her. "What's up, sis? You look like you've seen a ghost." Ava quickly looked away, feeling embarrassed that she got caught ogling him. "Uh, nothing," she said as she walked past him towards the kitchen. She tried to avoid eye contact as she rummaged through the fridge. Ash leaned against the doorway and watched her for a moment. "So what's really going on?" he asked. Ava scoffed and rolled her eyes. "Nothing, I told you" she replied dismissively. "Uh-huh," Ash said skeptically. "Sure seems like something's bothering you." Ava sighed and turned around to face him. She knew there was no point in lying to him - they had always been able to tell when something was up with each other. "Okay fine," she admitted reluctantly.

Ava ~ "I just, I don't know how to explain it."

Ash ~ "Try me," Ash said.

Ava ~ "you just look kinda different or something" Ava said hesitantly, feeling foolish for even saying it out loud.

Ash~ "Different how?" Ash asked curiously.

Ava ~ "I don't know. Like more grown-up or something?" Ava said vaguely.

Ash chuckled and shook his head. "Well I am almost 18 now, sis." Ava glanced over at him. "I know that!" Ava exclaimed defensively. "It's just, never mind." She grabbed a juice and started to head back towards her room. 

Ash grabbed her arm, "is seeing me differently such a bad thing?" He asked. She pulled her arm away and walked down the hall to her bedroom. Ash followed her, still curious about what was going on in her head. "Come on Ava" he said while catching up to her. "You can't just leave me hanging like that. What's really bothering you?" Ava sighed and turned to face him. "It's nothing, Ash," she said with a small smile. "Just forget about it." But Ash wasn't one to give up so easily. He leaned against the wall next to her door and crossed his arms over his chest. "I don't believe you," he said teasingly. Ava rolled her eyes and pushed past him into her room, but Ash followed close behind. She sat down at her desk and opened up her laptop again, hoping that he would take the hint and leave. "You know I'm not going anywhere until you tell me what's going on," Ash said with a smirk as he sat himself on the edge of her desk.

Ava groaned but couldn't help feeling a flutter in her stomach at how close he was to her now. She cleared her throat before speaking again. "It's just, sometimes I forget that we're not, well.. teenagers anymore" she admitted quietly. Ash tilted his head slightly in confusion. "What do you mean?" Ava shrugged helplessly. "Sometimes I catch myself looking at you differently or thinking things that I shouldn't be thinking." Ash smirked suggestively as he leaned closer towards Ava. "Oh really? And what kind of things are those?"

"Ash please. I really don't wanna talk about this right now." She couldn't believe she was having this conversation with him. Of all people, why him? They had always been close, but lately she had started to see him in a different light. "I don't wanna do this right now," Ava said, pulling away from Ash's gaze. "Alright," Ash said. "But you know you can talk to me if you want." Ava sighed and closed her laptop. "It's just that things are changing so quickly around here," she said, looking down at her hands. "We're not kids anymore and I don't know how to deal with it." Ash nodded understandingly. "I get it," he said softly. "Believe me, I feel the same way sometimes." They sat in silence for a few moments before Ash spoke up again. "You remember when we used to play uno?" he asked with a small smile. Ava chuckled at the memory. "Yeah, and you always won because you cheated." Ash grinned mischievously. "I did not cheat, I just had a way with cards," he said, winking at Ava. Ava shook her head, still laughing. "Sure you did," she said sarcastically. "But those were good times." The memories of their childhood brought a brief moment of comfortable silence to both Ash and Ava, but it was quickly overshadowed by the harsh reality of their current situation. "I wish we could just go back to playing uno," Ava said softly, breaking the silence. Ash nodded in agreement. "Me too."

They sat in silence for a bit longer before hearing footsteps echo through the hallway. Ash got up quickly, distancing himself from Ava. Their mother stopped by the doorway, "Ava, honey, your father wants to speak with you." Ava nodded and got up from her desk, giving Ash a quick glance before leaving the room. Once Ava was safely down the hall Ash's mother lowered her voice. "Is everything alright?" she asked. Ash's heart raced as he tried to come up with a convincing response. He knew he couldn't risk anyone finding out what happened between him and Ava, especially their parents. "Of course," he replied quickly. "Why do you ask?" Their mother sighed and shook her head. "I don't know," she said. "You two have been acting strange lately." Ash forced himself to fake a smile. We have been great. We had a little argument over the weekend but we sorted it out. "I guess your father's right, you kids are growing up" their mother said before leaving the room. As soon as she was gone, Ash let out a sigh of relief. He couldn't believe how close they had come to being caught. ~