Chapter Thirty-Eight

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XXXVIII
• • •

Layla's POV ***

Remember when I said I would be open to the idea of tying Eli and Ashton to chairs to force them to talk things through?

Yeah, well, apparently Kevin was open to this idea as well. And Crystal. And Savanah and Scarlett. They didn't even hesitate to support the idea when I texted them about it.

And thus began our master plan. *evil laugh*.

The last thing I wanted was a repeat of having just me there to mediate, so I was relieved when everyone wanted to partake in the fun little excursion.

Crystal apparently had convinced Ashton to talk to Eli last week. She wouldn't tell me how she convinced him, but whatever it was, she was a miracle worker.

However, a very unfortunate turn of events presented itself when Ashton drove back to our house one morning to find Eli still in bed with me. I'm sure you can imagine how that turned out. Spoiler alert- not well. But at least no one got beat to a pulp this time, so that was a plus.

So now the two of them were back to square one, with Ashton hating both Eli and the idea of the two of us together now that he had actually seen us lying in the same bed, and Eli feeling too damn sad for his own good to start the conversation with Ashton.

Ugh, I wish they'd both just woman up.

Part of me always expected that it would come to this plan, though, so as me and Kevin drove to the store to pick up all the supplies, we were in a pretty good mood. The One Direction songs we were screaming along to the entire way certainly helped with that, too.

It was now break, and everyone was back at their homes- well, besides Eli. He had been staying with me and Jake for a few days before Ashton's school got out, but after me and his run in with Ashton two weeks ago, he didn't want to risk Ashton finding out he had been staying there. Or worse for a repeat to happen.

He had been staying with Kevin for a few days now, but was trying to find somewhere else to stay. Everyone had offered their places, but he didn't want to feel like a burden to anyone. Most of his scabs were gone, but a few bruises still remained on his tanned skin.

Thanksgiving was coming up, and so far he had no plans to spend it with anyone. And I'd be damned if I didn't force Ashton to get his head out of his ass before then so that Eli could spend thanksgiving with his real family- us. He'd probably be spending the holidays with us, too, if nothing changed by then.. which it really didn't seem like it would.

Eli was for some reason really adamant about not wanting to tell Ashton about his dad. He said it was because his father had been there for Ashton when he really needed it, and he didn't want that to be taken away from him... but I was pretty sure it was just because he was scared to open up to anyone about it. And I understood that feeling thoroughly.

So, here we all were, back together the day after Crystal came back from her college (because she got out a little later than everyone else for some reason), and executing our brilliant plan to bring the two peas back into their pod. Forcefully doing so, but that was beside the point.

"I think you're a worse driver than me," Kevin commented after I finished parking- still barely getting into the spot correctly after my fifth time readjusting the car.

"Why thank you Kev, I think you're a worse singer than me," I beamed up at him as we walked into the store.

"Why thank you Laylay," he replied and I laughed as he slung his arm over my shoulder in his typical Kevin-fashion.

Yeah, we were in a good mood. This was going to all be over today, and life could finally be happy again for all of us. Finally right. Normally I'd be skeptical of being this confident about the odds, but there was no way any of us were going to let them not reconcile.

I realized how suspicious we must have looked with everything we were getting, but I mean, we were restraining and essentially kidnapping two people, so i guess it did make sense.

"Rope or duct tape?" I pondered.

"Hm, let's do both. I feel like that would be funny," he answered, and I chuckled.

"Alright, both it is. Should we get them some snacks? Make it a fun little get together?" I half-joked as we walked by the snack isle. He started throwing some snacks in, but something told me he had them in mind for himself- not the other two.

"Incase torture needs to come into play," I explained myself as I threw some black licorice into the cart. Both my brother and Eli despised it with all of their beings. I bet they never thought I'd be able to use that information against them one day. But here we were.

The boy checking us out was a junior at my school, and I had seen him around a few times. I was casually telling him about my day as I was fishing the money out of my wallet, when I heard Kevin chime in from next to me.

"Her eyes are up here, buddy," he sent the boy a threatening glance and pointed up to my eyes. My face immediately heated up as I cringed at the awkwardness. The boy tensed up and quickly shot out a sheepish apology, his eyes glueing themselves to the floor as he handed me the last bag and took my money. I gave Kevin a little glare. "What?" He said and raised his arms. I responded once we finished grabbing the bags and started walking out to the car again.

"You made that so awkward," I told him, and he shrugged.

"How was that awkward?"

"You acted like you were my older brother, that was embarrassing, and I rarely get embarrassed," I added, and he still had a confused look on his face.

"I am your older brother though, basically, and no one gets to look there except for your older, not-so-brother, Eli. That kid's eyes were wandering far too much for my liking," he replied as we got in the car. It took a few tries to get it started.

Shit.. no one tell Eli I almost might have possibly broken his car somehow perhaps. Well I mean, my car.. but technically his car.

"Kev, as a child of the Monroe Legacy I am inevitably irresistible. It's no wonder the poor kid wasn't able to control his awe," I joked lightheartedly as I backed up, accidentally hitting a stray wagon. Woopsie. I put the car back into drive and started towards the exit of the parking lot.

"Yeah, I guess you three Monroe rascals are a bunch of cuties. Ashton can be pretty scary though, and you're kind of crazy," he said, and a smug smile spread on my face.

"Thank you, I wear the 'crazy' badge with honor," I said as I merged onto the main road. Kevin tensed a little as I did this, understandably so. He had been giving me little driving tips here and there as we went along, since I was still somewhat of a new driver, but it wasn't really any use considering the fact that he was the known worst driver of their friend group.

When we got back to my house, I grinned at the car parked inconspicuously down the street, belonging to the three girls. In order for this to work, Eli had to think he was alone in the house with me, and Ashton had to think he was alone in the house with Crystal. Once they were in our control, they'd be instant goners.

I swear, the power females hold is truly astronomical.

I had picked up Kevin in Crystal's car and pretended to be an Uber, with a stellar fake mustache and beanie to sell the role just incase Eli peaked outside the window, and then afterwards we picked Crystal up again, who had been debriefing Scarlett and Savanah on the mission- whom we also picked up with Crystal. Kevin didn't seem out of his habitat one bit, despite being the only boy in a car full of girls.

We had parked the car up the street and snuck into the house, Ashton out with Jake. I hadn't told Jake about the plan, because he's a known blabber mouth, but I did bribe him with ice cream to stay out until it started to get dark.

Knowing my brothers, if Jake wanted to stay spending time with Ashton eating ice cream, then Ashton would under no circumstances stop spending time with him and eating said ice cream.

This was the perfect opportunity for us to set everything up and work out the final wrinkles of our plan. I made us all some scrumptious coffee and sandwiches as we sat around the living room table and talked and laughed and had a good time.

The house was empty a lot, and I was alone with Jake a lot, so having everyone there really warmed my heart. Even though I was alone a lot, I wasn't lonely... And vice versa.

Jake really took my ice cream bribe seriously, because it wasn't until a few hours later that Ashton texted me that he was on his way back.

"Places! Places everyone!" I announced, and the three of them hid in a closet. I heard Savanah crack a joke about 'never thinking she'd be going back in the closet', and I laughed before joining them.

According to the plan, I wasn't home, but Crystal was. We hushed each other down in the squished dark closet as we heard the front door open and the two of them come in.

• • •

Crystal's POV ***

When Ashton saw me, he looked surprised, but then smiled at me. He seemed to be in a good mood from his time with Jake. Welp.. that was about to change.. I went and brought him in for a hug, giving him a short and sweet kiss as a greeting.

"What are you doing here?" He asked, still slightly confused.

"Well, Layla told me that she was staying at a friend's tonight and I figured maybe it could be nice for us to spend some time together," I flirted casually, fiddling with his shirt.

"Oh?" He raised an eyebrow with a grin, and I could have sworn I heard Kevin giggle from the closet, so I immediately started coughing to try and cover the sound up. Ashton looked slightly concerned at my sudden, aggressive coughing.

"Are you.. okay?" He asked as I continued coughing, but then I stopped.

"Yeah! Totally, hair ball... um, hey Jake?" I looked down at him, and gave him a quick hug when I remembered I never greeted him. "Wanna play a game?"

"Yeah!"

"Okay, the game is called... uh... ghost," I made up a name on the spot, trying to make it sound appealing to him with the affect I was putting in my voice. He beamed and nodded again, "if you see us, you lose. You have to stay in your room and away from us to win."

"Okay! I'm gonna win!" He got excited and ran off to his room. I felt a tiny bit bad at first, but not when I remembered the inevitable ice cream and tickles he was going to receive upon "winning" the game. Okay, now that that was out of the way-

"What was that all about?" Ashton asked me, a small smile still tugging on his lips.

"I think you know," I spoke seductively and moved a little closer to him. I really hoped one of the girls had put a hand over Kevin's mouth at this point, or all of them- which knowing the three of them was probably the case.

He chuckled as I pressed my lips to his, and he leaned into the kiss a moment later. I pulled away and looked into his eyes mischievously as I grabbed the front of his shirt and pulled him with me as I walked backwards a few steps to the stairs.

The same mischievous glint was in his eyes now as he scooped me up and carried me up the stairs. I let out a surprised laugh and he brought me into his room. He shut the door with his foot and put me down on his comfy bed, just now taking off the jacket he had been wearing.

Now, time for the nearly identical script that Layla and had I made up and were planning on both going off of. I tried not to grin too much more than I usually would as I spoke.

"I wanna try something," I said up to him once he started coming back over to me, and hopped up from the bed. He looked intrigued as I got up and moved his desk chair away from his desk a bit. "Sit down," I told him, and he raised an eyebrow, but complied, sitting down. Right where I want ya.

When he looked up at me, I didn't allow for curiosity as I brought myself on top of him, straddling him on the armless chair and leaning into him. He grinned and returned his lips to mine- not really feeling a need to question what I was doing, which was good.

"Just let this happen," I breathed out my instructions and mentally thanked him for wearing a belt as I unbuckled it. His eyebrows rose slightly and I smirked at him as I slid it off through his belt loops.

I bit my lip to hold back my chuckle as I then put his hands together and looped the belt around them in a way that bound them together. Thankfully, YouTube had a lot of videos on making make-shift handcuffs... He seemed wildly taken aback, but also wildly intrigued.

Hmm, perhaps I would have to try this again another time when I wasn't planning on holding him hostage after.

"What are-"

"Shhhh," I cut him off, trying my best to stay seductive despite the urge to laugh at his cluelessness. He looked pretty damn confused as I whipped out some rope and began tying him to the chair. It was cute as hell that he was letting me, though. I couldn't help but chuckle as I finished tying his abdomen and legs to the chair.

"This is weird," he commented, and I finally let myself laugh, now done tying him down. Such a sucker. That was legitimately too easy.

I heard the front door open, and Layla greet Eli softly- she was to tell Eli that Jake was asleep so they'd have to keep it down, but in reality we just couldn't have Ashton knowing he was there.

"Was that the door?" He asked, and I quickly shook my head, sitting back on top of him as a distraction. His eyes snapped back to mine, still reluctantly confused about what the hell I was doing with him.

"You're hearing things," I whispered, cupping his face with both hands and slowly locking our lips. He swiftly forgot about the door.

But then Layla's clumsy ass bumped into something on the way to her room. I held back my eye-roll as he pulled away.

"That was definitely something-"

"You know what, I'll go check," I patted him in the chest and stood up, his brows furrowed together as I left the room, shutting the door behind me. I had heard the two of them get to Layla's room, so I knew it was safe to exit. Layla needed to be quick..

• • •

Layla's POV***

        "Woah-" Eli got in before I pulled him down by front of his shirt and connected his lips with mine. He was taken aback at first by my eagerness, but quickly adjusted, leaning down into the kiss. What?? I needed to work quickly here, people.

Eli wasn't wearing a belt, which was only a small problem, and one that was easily resolved. As we kissed, I moved him over to my rolling desk chair and pushed him down onto it. He let out a little laugh as he stabilized himself.

"Why-" I cut him off again with my lips back on his. Making do with what I had, I slipped my shirt off over my head and tied it around his hands as I kissed his neck. He seemed pretty damn confused, but not enough to stop me or to not be enjoying it in one way or another.

Too easy..

The fact that I was slightly crazy helped with this plan, because honestly, spontaneously tying him to a chair was something I could see myself doing. I doubted Crystal had the same advantage... But knowing Ashton, all she'd have to do was wink at him and he'd be on his knees in no time.

Eli watched me intently as I continued tying him down. My rolling chair had arm rests, so tying his forearms down was a piece of cake. Gotta say, I did feel a little bad for Eli and Ashton.. they were going from one extreme of desire to the other.

Once I finished, he looked pretty confused, but still a little distracted by my shirtless appearance. Damn, he looked so good right now. I wished I could have gotten to milk this a little more before kidnapping and putting him into a hostage situation.

He was in a T-shirt right now, and I had discarded his sweatshirt on the floor a few minutes ago, so I picked it up and threw it on myself as he grew more confused. I couldn't help but let out all the mischievous chuckles I had been holding in.

By the time I walked back over to him, the excited intrigue had left his expression as his brows were scrunched in confusion and his mouth open slightly in question.

"Eli?" I said, smiling down to him and ruffling his soft hair.

"Yeah?"

"You're gonna do great, sweetie," I bit back another little laugh as he got even more confused.

"Is there a reason you're being significantly stranger than usual?" He looked over my face for any signs of answers.

"Yes. You being significantly more stubborn than usual," I gave him a sweet smile before throwing a pillowcase over his head. He jumped a little at the unexpectedness, and I laughed. "Don't worry, I promise I'm not going to kill you. If I wanted you dead I surely would have killed you by now."

"Well that's reassuring," he replied sarcastically, and was startled again as I started to rolled him out of the room.

"Package obtained!" I yelled down to the other four, and Crystal came upstairs a second later to open Ashton's door for me. I heard Eli asking a million frantic questions about what the hell he was doing and who was there, but I didn't answer any of them as Crystal and I high-fived.

"What the fuck is this shit?" Ashton's jaw dropped when he saw me rolling Eli in, and I let out a loud laugh at the sight of him tied up. Damn Crystal, I shot her an impressed smile at her finding a way to use all the rope I had given her.

"Ashton?!" Eli was so confused under his pillowcase. The pillow case was not at all necessary, but it added a fun little touch, I thought.

"Bye you two, have fun," I pulled the pillowcase off of Eli so that he could return Ashton's baffled glare. Then they both gaped at Crystal and I. "Don't worry, we won't be able to hear you from the kitchen, so... let your emotions rip." I winked.

"We have to do everything for you two, goddamn," Crystal commented and I chuckled, leaving the room with her arm-in-arm.

"I'd say we're a pretty good team," she said to me.

"The ultimate power duo," I affirmed and we laughed to ourselves as we met up with the rest of the group, who were eating the snacks Kevin bought in the kitchen.

And now, we wait.

• • •

Hey everyone :) hope you're having a good day.

QOTD: What's a word you would use to describe yourself?

>>> Creative, maybe??

Love you all
Stay beautiful,
Briella,3

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