“Then he took one look and bam, done before I even touched him!”
Everyone laughed, Ashe included, as they all sat around the new communal space. Renovations would take time, and she had to be careful who they hired to do the work, but things were coming along all the same. The communal space was one of the first areas furnished, mostly because they used it as a chance to evaluate how the workers would react to her girls.
Brie was already bouncing into another story, she seemed to have a bunch of them. The girl was just shy of nineteen, and had nearly eight years of experience. Ashe hated that her life ended up like that, but she also refused to tell her that she was wrong for wanting to continue to do the work.
The gathering was less a celebration and more just getting to spend time as a group, get to know everyone. Ashe didn’t like that she barely knew some of her people, even the more outspoken, like Brie or Lily, she only knew fleeting bits of their story. Teenagers drinking was a story as old as time, yet Ashe had barely touched her own hard lemonade.
Instead, she smiled and listened, not that they saw her face through the bandana. She might have told Caralina as a sign of trust, but she would be more selective in the future. Lily seemed alright, as did Brie. Sandra knew who she was in a vague sense, but hadn’t pried, and of course Jessica knew her better than anyone else present.
Crystal included.
Ashe really wanted to correct that, but only time would do so. She was sitting next to her, on her third bottle of some imported beer, and laughing at Brie’s latest tale from the wonders of working the streets. Ashe had to admit to being amused by it, and was tempted to join in when Lily beat her to the punch.
“Okay, I got one that tops that,” Lily said.
“I bet you top,” Brie added.
Lily flipped her off.
“Anyway, guy was six foot five, and muscled to hell and back. Completely fucking yummy, and I was excited to show him a good time, put in a little extra work just because he was a Greek god in the flesh.”
“Let me guess,” Caralina chimed in. “Micro dick.”
“Two fucking inches!” Lily groaned, her fingers pinched together. “Stiff.”
“Damn,” Brie said, “hate when that happens.”
“Oh no, it got worse from there. Two pump chump.” Several girls winced at that, and even Ashe was glad her mask hid a grimace. “And he paid for three hours.”
“My condolences,” Brie said, tipping a bottle her way. “On that note, what’s the biggest dick you’ve seen? I’ve never gotten all that lucky and I’m eager to hear from someone who landed a whopper.”
It probably should have concerned Ashe that so many of the girls were unbothered by the conversation given what they endured, but at the same time, it was probably a way for them to cope.
“Can’t help you there,” Lily said, “I’ve seen a really fat sixer before, not much better.”
“Eight,” Donna admitted, “but it was a pencil dick.”
More groans of disappointment and Ashe found herself genuinely puzzled. “None of you have seen one bigger than eight?”
“Looks that way,” Caralina said with a sigh. “Unless you’re saying you can do better?”
“Nine,” Ashe said simply, taking a drink as she did.
“Bullshit!” Brie yelled. “You don’t get around like us, so where did you run into something like that?”
Crystal blinked, her eyes narrowing as she looked at Ashe’s attempt to keep a straight face. “No fucking way.”
“Guess you’ll find out if we ever become official,” Ashe said with a shrug, this time unable to hide her smirk.
She might have hated that part of her, wanted it gone more than anything, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t make some jokes about what she had been ‘blessed’ with.
“Oh no,” Brie said. “You can’t say that then not show us.”
Ashe raised an eyebrow. “I’m seventeen, remember?”
“Oh like that’s an excuse,” Lily exclaimed, hopping to her feet before flipping forward into a handstand and walking across the room on her hands. Ashe blinked at the display, watching as the girl stopped right in front of her and rolled back to her feet in one smooth motion. “Come on, the whole point of this thing was for everyone to get settled and get to know one another, and you’re the one that volunteered!”
Lily was grinning at her and Ashe could feel her cheeks warming from the sudden scrutiny. Ashe looked around the room, expecting some measure of judgment, but was surprised by the complete lack of it to be found. Even Crystal was just looking at her with a strange expression on her face.
“None of you care that I’m sporting a cock in these pants?” Ashe asked.
Caralina chuckled. “Honestly, I’m just impressed you could keep something like that concealed in those tight jeans.”
“She tucks,” Keiko said with a grin. “I hear it’s easier if it’s big.”
Crystal smacked Keiko over the back of her head, but everyone just laughed. Keiko included. Ashe had to admit she found herself chuckling along with them. It wasn’t like the statement was wrong or anything, Ashe had heard more than a few complaints online from other girls about tucking. Still, she sort of envied those that didn’t need to tuck at all.
“There will be a few days after I turn eighteen before I get my ‘lob-it-off-of-me’,” Ashe said with an amused chuckle.
The others stared blankly for a moment, though Crystal had a hand over her mask to hide her own amused giggles. Brie was the first to get it, letting out a sharp laugh that startled several others.
“I’ll be sure to take some pictures, and I have one of those clone-a-willy kits ready to go,” Ashe added once the laughter calmed down.
Naturally that set it all off anew.
Shaking her head, Ashe took another swig of her drink. She was intentionally pacing herself, because of one simple reason. Her parents knew where she was. It was a gamble, letting them know about her visiting the apartment, but she couldn’t keep sneaking around them completely. Not while she continued to call their home her own.
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Ashe’s phone vibrated and she grimaced, pulling it out to confirm her fears.
“Everything going well?”
Ashe’s fingers danced quickly across the screen, typing her reply. “Just hanging out with Crystal’s friends, and yes, there is alcohol. I have a single hard lemonade in hand which I’ve drank less than half of so far.”
Just to prove a point, Ashe snapped a picture of her drink in hand and sent it off along with the message. Sure, she could have been lying about it being her first drink, but she was returning home after this and if she showed up hammered there would be far too many questions asked.
The side effect of letting her parents know that Crystal was introducing her to some friends was frequent check-ins, but it did give her an excuse to be at the apartments without having to sneak over to them. Granted, once it became better known that she was in Inferno’s territory, that leniency she was being shown might change.
“Are there any drugs?” Mom asked.
Ashe’s eyes flicked over to Keiko who was passing a joint between herself and Brie. Caralina had waved them off due to her pregnancy, though she kept giving the blunt the occasional longing glance.
“I think I smell some weed,” Ashe sent.
There was no point in saying that everything was on the up and up, not when she flat out admitted that the get together was in Sutton.
“Let us know if you or Crystal try some,” Mother replied.
“Make sure it’s not laced,” Mom added seconds later. “Naomi has been dealing with a lot of overdose calls lately.”
Overdoses that Ashe was at least partially responsible for, given they sold the tainted supply to Alejandro. He must have been slipping tainted samples into legitimate batches, because there wasn’t much talk about it at school. Hell, not one of her classmates had OD’d in the past month which was almost disappointing given what she heard about the rich brats’ cocaine habits.
“I have no plans to partake,” Ashe sent and tucked her phone back into her pocket.
It even had the benefit of being the truth. She had school tomorrow and Gray was going to be back. She didn’t know what the little prick was up to but no doubt he would try something after she humiliated him so thoroughly. Just the fact that he hadn’t retaliated legally for the beatdown she dished out was proof that he had something else in mind.
If push came to shove, she could always dig out some of the tainted stash that she had asked Robbie to hold onto. It was currently sitting in Crystal’s hidden bunker room, ready for if she needed to stage an overdose again. The memory still sent a shiver through her, and nightmares about what she did to the man were more frequent than Ashe would have liked.
That didn’t mean she wouldn’t do it again.
Ashe liked to think that she had grown following the events that saw her rescue the girls, that she was better equipped to do what was necessary to protect them, but she wouldn’t know until that first challenge was dropped into her lap. Looking at each face that was assembled around her, Ashe’s chest clenched at the thought of losing one of them.
“Heavy thoughts again?” Crystal asked softly, leaning against Ashe as her head came to rest on her shoulder. It was a warm gesture, one that probably wasn’t meant to be as intimate as it felt.
Ashe leaned into it anyway, nodding against her friend. “I’m trying not to think about what would happen if we lost one of the girls.”
“That’s why you implemented all the check-ins and other security measures,” Crystal said. “Precautions won’t always be perfect, but at least you are trying to look out for them.”
“Yeah,” Ashe whispered. “I just hope it’s enough.”
----------------------------------------
Unlocking the front door, Ashe was immediately beset upon by a slobbering beast. Jasper hopped onto two legs and promptly managed to get his tongue up her nose in a well practiced move that left her reeling.
“Jasper!” Ashe cried, laughing as she caught the dog and pulled him in for a hug, dropping down as she did. Scritches were immediately administered and his back leg began kicking. “Good to see you too, boy.”
“I brought her back in one piece only to lose her to a vicious animal attack,” Crystal said, sniffling fake tears.
Rolling her eyes, Ashe gave Jasper a final pat on his side before getting back to her feet. Her parents were both home, their hair roughly smoothed out, yet it remained more than a bit tousled in a way that made it perfectly clear what they had been getting up to while she was gone. They might not have been her birth parents, but the thought wasn’t all that dissimilar.
“Well, I don’t need to ask if you two had fun,” Ashe said, shaking her head. “I am neither high nor drunk, and nobody pressured me to do anything I didn’t want to.”
“Can confirm,” Crystal said. “And I got her back before nine on a school night.”
“So you did,” Mother said. “Thank you for keeping us updated. I know it was a bit overbearing, but we do worry about you. Especially after the attack.”
“I understand,” Ashe said, smiling softly. Hopefully they couldn’t tell how fake it was. “I’ll try to keep you more up to date about things in the future.”
“That’s all we can ask,” Mom said with a sigh that turned into a yawn.
“Yeah, I can see why you might be tired,” Crystal said with a smirk.
Mother blinked. “Pardon?”
“She thinks we have sex hair,” Mom said with a huff.
“Nothing of the sort happened,” Mother hastily said. “Lin simply couldn’t keep her hands out of her hair as she paced across the house worried. Even Jasper ran out of energy following her.”
“Then why is your hair also messed up?” Ashe asked, now curious.
All she did was point at Jasper, then to her mom. “Give you one guess.”
Ashe grinned, accepting the challenge. “Mom put peanut butter in your hair when you weren’t looking and Jasper helped clean it out.”
“I did nothing of the sort,” Mom huffed, though she was smirking so clearly she had done something. “Just a minor mishap, one that won’t involve the big lug shitting hair for a week.”
“Good to know,” Ashe said with a sigh. “Anyway, I should probably shower and get to bed. Thanks for tonight, Crystal. It was nice to hang with everyone in a more casual setting.”
“No problem,” Crystal said, rubbing the back of her head. “They would probably love to do it again sometime.”
Seeing Crystal acting bashful was a rare experience, and Ashe loved it. She was sorely tempted to take out her phone for a picture, but… A click sounded and Ashe turned just enough to see her mom with her own phone out and doing just that. Catching Ashe’s eye, her mom grinned back.
“I got you,” Mom said with a wink.
Crystal sighed heavily, shaking her head with a slight smile. “So, it’s treason then?”
Ashe grinned, and hurried off to her room, it took a moment to get it from her closet, but Ashe hurried back into the room, even as her mother let out a sharp bark of laughter, and ignited the purple lightsaber.
“You’re under arrest in the name of the Galactic Senate,” Ashe said, letting her voice drop into the best impression she could manage.
“I am the senate!” Crystal exclaimed, then darted forward. Ashe squealed, not having expected to be charged, let alone almost tackled to the ground as Crystal fucking tickled her mercilessly. “Unlimited tickle power!”
“Yield!” Ashe screamed, struggling in vain to escape. “I yield!”
Crystal let up, sitting upright, and it took Ashe a moment to realize her friend was still sitting atop her. Nuclear heat rose to Ashe’s cheeks as she realized the situation she was in.
“And that’s going in the wedding reception video,” Mom said with a grin. “Got video and a few pictures.”
Crystal rolled her eyes, then winked, before standing back up. “Yeah, yeah. Take care Ashe, I’ll see you after school?”
“Yeah,” Ashe said, unable to meet her friend’s eyes.
“God they’re cute,” Mom faux whispered to her wife.
Mother hummed in agreement. “They really are. Prom is going to be sickeningly sweet.”
“Too true,” Mom said. “Not to sour the moment, but Ashe needs a cold shower before going to bed. Thanks for keeping to your word, both of you.”
Ashe looked away, not out of embarrassment, but of shame. She was lying to her parents so much these days and it hurt. Coming clean wasn’t an option, but she was doing what little she could to keep them in the loop. Even if they weren’t aware of what her life was.
“I’m gonna go take that shower now,” Ashe said, her head hung low.