who knows how long i've loved you - [ashton]

[regan lilly costello]

She still couldn't believe that she was doing this. She couldn't believe for the life of her that she was going to go out on a date with Ashton. She didn't date people, that was just a line that she'd been refusing to cross since she had run away from home. And really, she had thought for a moment about avoiding dating Ashton. There was something about him though that she couldn't deny. Something about the way that he held her, about the way that he kissed her, about the way that he seemed to treat her like she was so much more than just a woman to sleep with to him. Regan hadn't been treated that way since she'd been with her husband.

It was dangerous ground that she was treading with this. Dating led to a relationship, and a relationship led to actually caring about someone. She'd never planned on actually caring. All that Regan had planned on was going out into the world and having some fun and then when it was all said and done she would go back to her husband, she would be a good wife, and everything that he husband did deserve. She'd never thought for one moment that she would even consider having a boyfriend. And maybe, it made her even worse of a person than just sleeping with people. She could tell that her emotions could get invested in Ashton, and rather quickly too. He was just...a really good guy. Better than she probably deserved to have interest in.

And even though she hadn't gotten to do what she'd wanted to with him that night that didn't change the fact that she was going to let him take her out on a date. Maybe it would end in sex, though, she had a strong feeling that he was actually going to make her wait out this whole sex thing until they'd gone on a few dates. He was going to make her take things slow, and work up to sex. Which was a romantic gesture, it was sweet, but not necessarily what she wanted. She was going on a date with him none the less, because, he was sweet. And she did like him. And she wanted to get to know him better even if there was this voice screaming in the back of her head that this was a terrible idea. That she really should make up some bs story about being sick or something like that.

Regan couldn't though, and she didn't know why. Maybe, just maybe, it was because when she woke up beside him that morning, it was far too nice of a feeling for her to ignore. He was still clothes for the most part, and she hadn't bothered in finding clothes after taking her bath. But she had been curled up to him, tucked into his side like a little kitten. She really hadn't realized how much she'd missed just sleeping beside someone. Sure, she stayed the night during most of her one night stands, but it was a very rare thing indeed when she actually stuck around for the guy to wake up as well. With Ashton, it just seemed, comfortable. She'd woken up and instead of going in search for her clothes so that she could sneak out she stayed curled up to him. She inhaled his scent, rested her head on his chest listening to his heart beat. She let herself just enjoy, being with him.

She supposed it was that reason why she was still going out on a date with him. She'd spent the past four hours getting ready. Making sure that everything was perfect. Regan had changed her clothes about twenty times before deciding on a pencil skirt and a blouse with pumps. She's tossed her hair up in sort of a messy half up-do. She couldn't remember ever being so nervous as she was right then. The woman took a deep breath, and checked her reflection in the mirror one last time. Now came the waiting game, the part where she paced around her apartment like an idiot. This, was most certainly, her least favorite part.

[ashton mitchell brindle]

it was only a day or two after their little game of strip uno and ashton was honestly surprised as fuck that their date was still going to happen. he was extremely happy for this fact, though, and it was evident in the constant sneer he was wearing while he was getting ready that afternoon. he had just gotten home from work (pretty early considering it was monday) and was all stocked up on his pain medication. his palm, by the way, was still in a lot of pain and looked pretty nasty, which is why he opted to keeping the bandage on for the moment.

even though ashton planned on taking her somewhere far different than a fancy restaurant, in all honesty he didn't feel like dressing into something anything less than what he was wearing, which was a pair of black dress pants and then an off white (sort of pinkish) dress shirt. a few buttons at the top were undone and he had long lost the suit jacket that belonged with it when he got home, so technically he wasn't entirely in his work uniform. besides, even if he hadn't worked today he still would have dressed up for her. a part of him loved making her go crazy, and the other part just dismissed it as some sort of test. if she wasn't going off with some other man to have sex then she was definitely a keeper, especially after how much ashton had already tortured her. in fact, he'd probably pretend like he was going to hold out for the rest of the night even though he knew deep down inside that he was still shaken up about the night before. he just realized how much he was both physically and emotionally attracted to her, and honestly who wouldn't be?

when he arrived at her apartment, he had a picnic basket in hand and a bouquet of roses in the other. he was just barely able to knock on the door, but it didn't take much for his large hands to make at least a semi noticeable sound, so he wasn't at all worried that she wouldn't hear him.

ashton couldn't help but feel a little silly or overdone. of course it was too late now, but still; a picnic, flowers, and the possibility of sex? lucky for regan it'd all be a surprise otherwise she'd probably skip right to the end of the date. not like that would be such a bad thing in that moment, but right now to ashton that was the last thing he wanted. literally, the last thing. first he wanted to get in a good date before judging if she would stick around after they had sex, because believe me when i say that ashton knew every trick in the book. girls had tricked hi several times by going on a date or two, getting in the sack with him, and then dumping him. just goes to show that not all guys are pigs and not all girls are completely innocent, either.

but he felt differently about regan which is why he was uneasy. not nervous, just uneasy. if she didn't share any type of feelings with him, then..well, things would probably end up like the way things were with kat, and that wasn't anything he was willing to do.

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[regan lilly costello]

Regan was realizing that there was only so much cleaning that she could do. Only so much putting things in her apartment in order, and really, she was getting to the point where she was about to start straightening all of the pictures that hung on the wall. She was nervous, she couldn't remember the last time that she was this nervous. Just the way that her stomach kept fluttering and her heart wouldn't stop racing no matter how much time went by. Those blues of hers kept going to the clock to see how much longer she would have to wait. Of course there was always the off chance that he would be late, or maybe early. Or maybe work would call him in again and he wouldn't be able to go on the date at all.

No, she had to stop thinking so much. She just had to calm down and know that Ashton would be there. He was one of the good guys after all. One of those men that always stood by their word, except when it came to giving her sex apparently, but that only proved just how good of a guy he was. And hell, that was just as scary as everything else about him. She'd gone after bad boys for the specific reason that she didn't want to end up in a relationship. She was married, she knew in her heart that she was married, and she was crossing some kind of irreversible line with actually dating someone. She couldn't deny Ashton, though, there was just something about him that made it to where she couldn't say no.

The knock at her door was enough to make her jump given that she'd been well and in her head by the time that it came, her mind going a million miles per minute. She took a deep breath before walking towards the door her heels clicking on the hardwood. A smile moved onto those full lips of hers before she opened her door. And there he stood, looking just as attractive as he had the first day that she had met him. "Hey," she greeted her eyes locked on his for a good long moment before her eyes went down to the flowers and there was no stopping that smile from growing even more.

She wished that she was as cold as she liked to pretend sometimes. She wished that she could go around being this emotionless woman that she presented to the world. But the bottom line of it was that she was not a cold woman. She never had really been. Sure she wasn't all that expressive when it came to her emotions, but she did have them. And she was very much so a woman who loved romantic gestures. Things like flowers, they got to her. And the picnic basket was enough to let her know what the plans for the date were.

"Come in," she offered before stepping to the side to let him into her apartment. And it took her a moment to realize that this was the first time that she had let a man into her apartment. She always went to their homes. Her own something that she kept to herself like some sort of sanctuary that she could go to whenever she needed to get away from the world and everyone in it. Ashton really was something to her, and that alone, was terrifying.

[ashton mitchell brindle]

she looked absolutely stunning. so much in fact, he didn't even want to think about ruining her perfection by undressing her or even kissing her on the cheek, but those fears all washed away when she invited him into her apartment. he hesitantly stepped in and looked for a place to set down the bouquet of flowers. when his eyes found a small table, he reached over and set them down. no sooner was one hand freed did he press his palm against her lower back and push her into his chest, where she was promptly greeted with a kiss to the forehead. the picnic basket dangled in his fingers, giving off the scent which was inside, which was nothing fancy: just a bottle of wine and then some sherbert. he figured by now she had already eaten dinner so he decided to treat her with desert, and if she happened to still be hungry he'd gladly oblige to cooking something.

ashton looked at out the nearest window, his green eyes locked on the pinkish orange sky outside. with a sigh, he pointed his head back, urging that they had to leave soon. hope you weren't expecting anything entirely fancy,

[/i] he said as his hand fell from her back and down to his side. he chuckled softly, his grin looking all too cheesy for the situation. then again, maybe it was just right for his emotions at that moment: she made him entirely too happy for them to have been dating for only a few days. this was their first date, though, so he supposed it was mostly his nerves wearing off than anything else. knowing ashton, it would probably be something other than nervousness in a few days.

and that's what really scared him, too. sure, ashton was easy to fall in love, but this was different, so very very different. she was different. everything they did was different. and it was sort of stupid, too, because she was all that was on his mind; her hair, her smile, her eyes, her laugh, and god, that body. the notion to push her to the floor, undress her and just give in to everything was something that was hard to ignore, but he managed by squeezing the handle of the picnic basket so tight, it was a wonder that the veins in his hands didn't pop, let alone that the basket didn't collapse because of a broken handle.

turning quickly on his heel, ashton opened the door and looked down the hallway, spotting the door that led up to the roof. he looked over at regan, his eyes urging her to follow him before walking over to the door and opening it. he walked up the short flight of stairs and walked to the middle of the rooftop before setting the basket down. he couldn't help but feel taken aback by everything; the view was absolutely breath taking and would certainly be better once regan got up there with him.

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[regan lilly costello]

those butterflies in her stomach were not stopping their fluttering anytime soon and part of her couldn't stand it. she shouldn't be feeling like this and she knew that much. hell, what she should be doing was going out dancing with her chick friends and finding some boy that she could go home with for some no strings attacked fun. but that wasn't what she was doing. instead she was going on a date with a man that made her smile, and blush, and feel like no one had since she had been with her husband. she knew that it was wrong, but she didn't care. it wasn't like her husband was going to find her, and even if he did there was no way that she would let herself get too deep into this. regan tried to remind herself that this was nothing but fun. nothing but having a good time with an attractive man.

part of her knew so much better than that.

a wide smile took hold of her lips, dimpling those cheeks of hers as he pulled her to him and pressed the kiss to her forehead. it was such a sweet gesture. one that said that she was so much more than just a fuck to him. she actually meant something to him. she'd forgotten how good it felt to just be with someone as more than friends, or more than just a screw. to have someone who wanted to hold her, and kiss her forehead, and bring her flowers. it was like that missing piece had come back to her and no matter how wrong she knew that it was there was no stopping her from enjoying it. of course she wanted him, and she wanted to have sex with him, but it had become so much more than that. especially after waking up for the second time in his arms without having slept together.

the red head shook her head. "no, i honestly didn't even know what i was supposed to expect with you," she said with a small chuckle. her eyes moved down to the basket in his hand, which gave her a bit of an inclination as to what they were going to do. for a moment she regretted having a small dinner, but then again, for all she knew all that he'd brought was some sort of dessert. either way, regan was finding that all that mattered to her was that she was going to be spending time with him. teeth sunk into her bottom lip for a moment and she pressed a light kiss to his cheek. "just let me get the flowers in water first," she spoke her tone all kinds of soft. regan wasted no time in putting them in a vase and inhaling their scent.

a curious look took over her features, though, as she looked down the hall and she tilted her head to the side. what did he have planned for them? regan grabbed her purse and then locked the door before following him up to the stairs and onto the roof. the sight that she was greeted with once she was up there brought a dreamy sort of smile to her lips. "it's beautiful," she breathed before moving towards him and wrapping her arms around him, resting her head on his chest slightly. this was quite possibly one of the most romantic things that anyone had done for her in a long time. hell, since she'd run away from her husband. and no matter the number of red flags it was causing in her brain, she ignored them. this was too perfect of a moment to not let herself just get lost in it.

[ashton mitchell brindle]

when he heard the door open and close behind him, signalling that someone -- regan -- was on the rooftop with him, a grin tugged at the corner of his lips. he turned to face her just as she commented on how beautiful the scenery was. with an airy chuckle, he nodded his head before walking over to her and wrapping an arm around her waist. he was about to say something, but momentarily forgot what, so he walked over to the basket, regan still wrapped in his arm, and looked down at the basket.

you like sherbert, right?

[/i] he arched a thick brow and let his green eyes meet her brown ones for a split moment before he bent down, the arm around her coming with him as he opened the picnic basket and brought out a tub of the frozen desert, and then two spoons. he also pulled a few napkins out and placed them on the top of the basket. he popped the lid open and handed a spoon to regan.

ashton wasted no time. he sat down and placed the tub on his lap, quickly taking a few spoonfuls at a time and devouring them. he may have seemed starved because of the way he was eating, but he was just simply in love with sherbert, ever since he was a little boy back in sussex that's all he used to eat. okay, well, that was a slight exaggeration -- he did have a lot of other foods, too, but by far sherbert was his most favorite.

in a way, he liked sharing his childhood with regan. although it wasn't necessarily something he didn't like to get too detailed with because of his bitch of a mother and loser father, sooner or later he figured it would have to come up. right now, though, he just wanted to focus on his two goals for that night: to have a nice date and then to do what he should've done a few days ago were regan was concerned.

and now that he actually planned the sex, he felt more at ease. he was still iffy about the whole situation since they hadn't been technically dating for long, and plenty of times he was used just like this. a girl said yes (or asked him out themselves), slept with him, and then dumped him the following day. it wasn't that he was terrible in the bed, but quite the opposite. so much in fact that they felt the need to put his heart through hell for their own gain.

something deep inside him told him that regan was much different, and that somewhat put him at ease. she still liked to pretend like she was some big bad bitch, but ash knew what lie beyond those walls, and that's what he liked strongly about her.

i believe i must apologize for the other night,[/i] he said slowly after licking off the spoon, effectively cleaning it. i don't think i've ever done something that mean,[/i] he said in a playful tone.

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[regan lilly costello]

Looking at the sky as the sun made it’s decent over the horizon was simply breath taking. She hadn’t been sure what to expect when going on this date. Had no clue if he was going to take her out to the movies, or any of the things that were typical for a first date. But this, this took her breath away. It was so much more than she had prepared herself for. She was reminded in that moment of how Ashton was so much more than him body. Sure, that was what had drawn her to him in the first place. Inspired her to spend more and more time with him, and lord had she tried to stay detached. To keep her emotions out of whatever it was that they were sharing. But it was hard, especially when he was as thoughtful and romantic of a man as this. When he seemed to put his heart into this so much more than she had thought he would.

A contented hum came from her as he wrapped his arm around her and she let her body lean into his with that sweet smile on her face. None of the men that she had been around since coming here saw this side of her. Not one of them had stuck around to get to the parts of her that were sweet, and easy to get along with. It was so easy to put on a mask around everyone else, but she could feel with each moment that she was around Ashton he was taking that mask off more and more and getting to know the real her.

“Hm?” she answered at first having been in a bit of a daze from the beautiful sight before her and then the question registered and she nodded. “Yeah, I do,” she answered and let herself be led to the basket. She took a seat beside him gracefully tucking her legs under her and letting herself lean into him slightly. The red head let out a small thank you when she was handed the spoon and then finally tore her gaze away from the sunset to look at him. A light chuckle left her as she watched him devour the dessert. “Hungry?” she asked teasingly before taking her own spoonful of the treat and placing it in her mouth.

They ate in silence for a few moments her body leaning into his and her eyes returning to the retreating sun before his words cut into the comfortable silence. A brow rose as she looked at him and she felt that all too familiar flutter in her stomach. Butterflies. She couldn’t remember the last time that she’d felt like that, it’d been because of her husband, she knew that much. And for a brief moment fright filled her but she quickly forgot it. Pushing all thoguhts of this becoming too much from her mind so that she could continue to enjoy this. She tried to fool herself into thinking that it wasn’t a big deal. It was just the romance of it that was causing her to feel this way, not Ashton himself. Or at least that was what she was trying to fool herself into thinking.

“Well, I’m not going to lie and say that it wasn’t very, very mean,” she spoke in teasing tones before setting her spoon down and cupping his face in her hand. “I’m sure that you’ll make it up to me though,” she spoke in near a whisper before pressing her lips to his softly. It was not a kiss that she commonly shared with people. Not that lusty lip lock that was usually a preface to a night of unattached sex. There was actually feeling in her lips as she kissed him and when she pulled away she let her blues lock on his amazing green eyes. “This is all just so wonderful,” she spoke her tone still soft before she moved to rest on him more her head laying gently on his shoulder. As much as she still wanted to have sex with him, she found herself contented with just being close to him. Feeling some kind of warmth fill her heart.

[ashton mitchell brindle]

who knew he'd ever be this lucky. he had felt this feeling before, whether it was love or lust he couldn't tell, and it felt great. but this time around with regan, it felt different, but in a totally and completely good way. it made him feel warm and fuzzy inside, and an almost unattainable invincibility came around him like a warm security blanket when regan was near. he felt so good, he didn't have to think about kat anymore. in fact, the redhead seemed like some kind of a foreign face compared to the one who was at his side now. and boy, it was a great feeling of relief that washed over him.

when she kissed him, he snaked a hand under her hair and pressed his palm against the small expanse of her neck, pressing her into him when their lips met briefly. but it didn't lost long, not long at all, and when she pulled back his hand dropped from her neck and ran down her back before resting just behind her. he watched her for the longest time, a grin raising the corners of his lips. he didn't know if it was the fact that they were on top of a roof with a gorgeous setting all around them, or if it was the harmonious sound of traffic beneath them, or just the fact that he was with her that made things all better. he supposed it could have been a combination of the three...plus, that ice cream was really good.

instead of acknowledging what she had said about being sure that he would make it up to her, he decided to drop the topic. sometimes, ash liked to consider himself mysterious, although he could be a bit blunt and honest sometimes, so it was hard. but he wanted to egg on her curiosity, just because that was a technique he had learned a while ago. girls liked the mysterious side of men, he realized, the more mysterious he seemed, the better things would go over for him.

besides, it was best she didn't know, because honestly, he was beginning to doubt his decision on planning to have sex with her. he wanted to, don't get him wrong, that was all he could partially think about when he was alone, as creepy as that may have sounded. that's why he wanted to hold back, though. he couldn't tell if what he was feeling towards her was lust or something much more. but at the same time, something in his gut told him otherwise. needless to say, he was very confused at the moment.

so, i couldn't ask for a better way to end a stressful day, he commented, his voice dying off as he wished not to speak about how horrible of a day he had at work. not only was his hand still throbbing from the previous incident with the stapler, but his boss was being an ass as always. needless to say, this was just a perfect way for him to melt away the stress that built up.

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