CHAPTER - 28

LOVE IS... INAPPROPRIATE

"I love you in a totally creepy and inappropriate way."

Day - 11

I woke up the next morning due to loud ringing of my phone. With a groan, I extended my hand towards the side table to grab my ringing phone. I cleared my throat in order to not sound completely sleepy and answered, "Hello?"

"How was the night?"

I flinched at my best friend's loud voice and asked, "Why are you calling me so early in the morning?"

"Early?" She echoed in disbelief. "It's almost nine and I'm already late for work."

"What?" I jumped on my bed as the ninja within me took control of my body movements.

"Yeah. I was working till nine the last night and still, my article is not done yet. I miss you so much, you know? We don't have our coffee breaks anymore. I mean, it has been what - ten days since you last came here and this place has been literally hell without you," she rambled in a depressed tone on the other side, while I jumped from my messed up bed and ran towards the bathroom to brush my teeth. She rambled some more about the stress at work and some gossips doing the rounds in the office.

Once I was done with cleaning my teeth, I decided to put an end to Stephanie's one sided conversation. "Aww. I miss you too, Steph," came my automatic reply. I was late, very late. "How about today's lunch together? I'm coming down there as I've a meeting with Priscilla. What say?" I threw open the door of my closet to pick out clothes for the day. Blue shirt with beige collars was good to go with beige pants.

"Wow! You're really coming down here? Cool. Let's meet up." She sounded excited all of a sudden and I couldn't help but chuckle. "So let's get back to the topic, how was your date with Ashton?"

"Oh, it was al-" My eyes widened as I recalled something and I told her, "Steph, I've to go. I'll meet you for lunch." Throwing my phone on my bed after cancelling the call, I rushed outside to my living room. Sure enough, there was Ashton Parker sprawled on my couch all in his shirt less glory. I blamed my sudden breathlessness on the very short run from my bedroom to my living room due to my terrible stamina, even though, I was very well aware that it was due to half naked Ashton sleeping a peaceful sleep on my couch.

A smile spread on my lips as I immediately recalled everything that happened last night. It surely was a bitter sweet night with too many things happening in a very less span. Ashton and I had fled from the party pretty soon after our intense conversation in his room. Ashton being the ill mannered jerk he was chose not to say goodbyes to anyone, but me being me, I couldn't help but drop a message to Priscilla informing her about our departure. I knew she was happy seeing Ashton there and I didn't want her to search for Ashton in vain. Once we had reached my apartment, I, out of complete courtesy, had asked Ashton if he wanted to come over for a while. He took my courtesy seriously and came over, not for a while but for the entire night. He had exclaimed that he was way too tired to drive back to his apartment and suggested way too sarcastically that we should have a sleepover, reliving our respective teenage days. Of course, he got the couch and I was successful in getting my own bed.

Biting my lips, I took slow steps towards him all the while staring at his perfect face. Seeing him with his complete beard for continuous ten days had made me become used to it, but I liked this look too. This reminded me of that night, not the bitter parts but of the perfect stranger - the stranger who unknowingly made me strong and made me move over my past over the course of time, the stranger who had shown interest in me and my sob story that night. I bent down to reach his face level and stared at his sharp features. This was the perfect time to do that without getting interrupted by his snarky, rude, and pervert remarks. My eyes travelled from his well cut brown hair, to his closed eyes, to his perfect nose, to his pink kissable lips, and his well cut jaw. Looking at him so up close, I noticed that there was a slight mark right above his upper lip. It looked like a surgery mark.

'Did he get into a fight... or any accident? From where did he get this mark? Why am I so curious? Why do I need to know everything about Ashton? Why in the world am I staring at him and being nothing but a creep? Oh God! I'm such a stalker!' A gasp escaped my lips at the sudden trail of questions running in my mind.

I was brought back from scrutinizing Ashton's face and from my puzzled mind when he suddenly groaned and turned on the couch. In reflex, I dived and laid on the floor. In an attempt of not getting caught red handed while staring at him, I started crawling towards my room in sheer silence. I couldn't afford to get caught and come across as a creepy stalker.

"What are you doing on the floor?"His groggy, rough voice reached my ears and I ducked my face down, making it collide with the floor lightly. I groaned at the sudden collision and hit my head repeatedly at the floor punishing myself for the sheer stupidity I had just displayed.

Was I seriously first staring at him like a creep and then I started crawling on the floor? Could I be any weirder?

"Liana? Are you okay? Are you possessed or something?" he asked and I almost laughed at his question.

Slowly, I lifted my head which made my hair cover most of my face and I turned to look at him. He was sitting on the couch and he looked confused at my state. "Yes and no," I squeaked. He raised his eyebrows at me and I was pretty sure that my face hidden in my hair and my voice was contrasting my answer.

'Way to look attractive in front of the completely sexy guy you like!' An inner voice snorted at me and I grimaced. 'And the award for the most attractive morning impression goes to Liana Moore,' the voice continued and I groaned at the awful realization. I sucked!

However, I was thankful for my messed up hair as I could easily check him out through them without him noticing me drooling over him. He was not the tight muscles - six pack type of guy, he was more of fit with perfect amount of muscles and nicely toned abs that made him look completely human rather than a gym machine. And all I wanted to do was to touch and feel his abs with my fingers and my tongue...

In fact, this was quite the perfect opportunity to do so. I could crawl back and make out with him, thereby fulfilling few of my many fantasies. If he pushes me away, I could simply act and say that I was possessed by one of his previous fling's soul who wanted to do the deed once again. It could work, right?

"You sure?" he asked again, looking slightly bewildered at my one word answer.

Clearing my throat, I tugged my hair behind my ear in order to not look possessed or anything, and shrugged my shoulders. "Of course! I... I was searching for something," I lied as I stood up.

"What?" he questioned back.

"Sanity," I mumbled to myself.

"Huh?" He raised his eyebrows.

"Sani - sanit - sanitizer," I managed to say and high fived my vocabulary.

"Sanitizer?" He echoed as if he couldn't quite believe the non sense I was uttering, and all I did was smile a bright smile as I looked back at him. He ran his hand over his face and grumbled, "You're weirder in the morning."

My smile faltered a bit. "Thanks," I snapped.

He got up from the couch and my mouth fell open as the horny Liana took over and got to see the complete view of his half nakedness which according to her was God-sculpted. "Oh and you really look possessed. Do something about your hair," he muttered, not paying attention to the horny as well as the zombie Liana. Such were the times I was thankful for his laziness.

I bit back a groan as he walked past me and entered my bedroom. "Where are you going?" I asked without turning around.

"Need to use the bathroom," he answered.

I buried my face in my hands and groaned. 'Where in the apartment is the sane Liana? I'm acting like a love sick teenager. Staring at him while he was asleep. Who am I? Edward Cullen?' That was the cue for yet another groan. My groans due to utter foolishness and embarrassment were cut off by the ringing of the doorbell. With a slight frown, I wondered whether I was expecting somebody so early in the morning or not. Then I realized that I was already getting very late for office and rather than wasting my time on wondering, I could just go and see.

I peeked through the peephole but couldn't see anything. It was all black as if someone had covered it with their hand. 'Kidnapper or robbers don't ring bells, do they?' Biting my lip, I picked up the flower vase from the coffee table and emptied it. I couldn't take chances. I had to had a weapon ready to use, just in case.

With the vase behind my back, I opened the door only to drop the vase in complete shock. "Dad?" I gasped and his eyes widened as the noise of the breaking vase reached his ears. My eyes drifted to the person standing beside him with her lips pressed in a thin line and I squeaked, "Mom? What are you guys doing here?"

Dad side stepped me and entered the apartment before I had the chance to digest the information of their sudden arrival. "What? Can't we come to meet our darling daughter?" Mom asked with slight forced laughter, while Dad started looking around my apartment like a police on a search mission. Mom, too, entered and placed the little carry bag on the coffee table.

"Yes, you can. But you could have informed me," I reasoned as my eyes flickered towards my bedroom door where Ashton currently was. Why did my parents have to come and visit me on the same morning when Ashton had decided to stay over for a mere sleep over? This was a terrible coincidence.

Mom looked at me with tight lipped smile and shrugged uneasily, all the while eyeing me with her scrutinizing green gaze. My eyes snapped towards Dad who was frantically searching for something under the couch cushions like a man on mission. I buried my face in my hands in utter disbelief as I recalled our conversation of last night in my head. Taking a deep breath, I removed my hands and told them in a firm voice, "Mom, Dad, I'm not taking drugs! Last night was a misunderstanding and I just didn't get a chance to explain it."

Dad's head snapped towards me and he raised his eyebrows, while Mom let out a sigh in relief. I smiled at them as they seemed to have believed me.

"I hope you don't mind that I used your toothbrush. We have exchanged spit anyways." Ashton's voice reached my ears and my head snapped in his direction at the speed of lightening. My eyes widened to the size of saucers as his inappropriate words registered in my head and I, mentally, face palmed myself and slapped his face for the blunders that were happening.

There he was standing in all his half naked glory with a smug smirk plastered on his face, but that smug smirk faltered when his eyes landed on my parents, who were glaring at him with wide eyes. Probably, for the first time he regretted saying such inappropriate words at the wrong time. I narrowed my eyes at him and he grimaced in return.

"Who is he?" Dad's voice roared in the now pin drop silent apartment.

I opened and closed my mouth to answer him and when I finally did, I said, "Plumber." Ashton snorted and I shot him a warning glare. He pressed his lips in answer.

"Plumber?" Mom echoed. "We don't have such hot plumbers back in our town," she complained and I shot her a look that said, 'Seriously?' She shrugged with a little guilty smile and I shook my head at her.

"What did he use your toothbrush for?" Dad asked eyeing Ashton with his dark gaze.

Before I could reply, Ashton interrupted, "To clean the toilet seat."

My parents stared at him in shock and I let out a groan. This morning was full of groaning, literally.

Thankfully, Ashton cracked a smile at the reactions he got, and that made my parents believe that he was joking. Shaking my head, I decided to introduce them without any misunderstandings. "Mom, Dad, he is Ashton. Ashton, Mom and Dad." I waved my hands in either direction awkwardly.

Ashton shot a dazzling smile in my parents' direction, obviously enjoying the situation. Mom answered with an equally bright smile while Dad kept on looking at him with his scrutinizing gaze. "What is he doing here at this hour?"

I was about to answer but then I focused on his clip tone. I realized what Ashton and I, in our disheveled, just woken up situations must have looked like. "Dad," I called, succeeding in diverting his attention from Ashton to me, and continued, "he is my boss's son. I'm working on my next assignment with him. His car broke down last night so he slept over..." Dad didn't react as if waiting for me to add something, and I complied, "...on the couch." I stepped towards the couch, picked up his shirt from last night and threw it towards him. He caught it mid air and wore it.

Dad nodded and relaxed a bit, but not before shooting a warning glare in Ashton's direction. He focused his attention back on me and asked, "Are you sure you are not taking drugs? You look high... or rather possessed."

Ashton snorted while I chose to ignore him and stared at my Dad. "Men," I muttered in distaste.

"What did you say?" Dad asked.

Clearing my throat, I changed the topic. "Why don't you sit down? I'll bring something for you to eat or drink. What would you like to have, Mom?"

"A cup of tea would be perfect as we are quite tired. Your father didn't sleep at all and I had to stop him from driving at night to come here in the middle of the night." Mom chuckled as she sat down on the recliner, waving her hand in the air.

I looked at my Dad who was eyeing Mom with narrowed eyes while she completely ignored him, as she was used to his anger now. "Dad, you need to calm down. You know, I can hardly handle a drink. Why in the world would I-?"

"I trust you, Liana," he interrupted me, cutting me short. I pressed my lips in a thin line as I got prepared to hear his over protective speech. "I just don't trust people in this city." I didn't miss the glance he shot towards Ashton while saying so.

Rolling my eyes at him, I asked, "Some sandwiches to go with tea, Mom?"

"Let me help you." She offered and I declined.

"Make yourself comfortable. I'll make breakfast for you guys and then, I'll rush. I'm late for office," I said on my way to the kitchen.

"You're going there today?" Ashton asked when I crossed him.

"Yup."

He followed me inside and made himself comfortable on the slab. I raised my eyebrows at him and he shrugged with a little smile. My lips twitched up in a smile too and I started working. "Exchanged spit? Seriously, Ashton? What are you? Eleven? How inappropriate and embarrassing!" I asked incredulously as I recalled his words.

"I keep throwing inappropriate comments, you should know!" He defended himself.

"But there is something called 'timing'." I informed him and he threw his head back in laughter while I shook my head at him. I was just grateful that my parents decided to ignore the exchanging spit part. I had never been very open with my parents. Lack of any boyfriends in school was one of the reasons. I was afraid of falling in love when I was younger as I was afraid of being left alone because of 'another woman', but then Nolan came and I forgot about all my apprehensions. He did exactly what I feared. Nolan and I never really displayed affection in front of our parents. The other very important factor was that there was probably a small part of me that never really forgave my Dad for what he did to Mom and me, and that's why I was never as close to him as I was to Mom. Yes, I loved him. He was my Dad after all but there was a gap that was hard to fill. So, it was plain awkward to talk to him about my physical relationships openly.

"Liana!" Dad called from outside.

"Yes?" I turned around to see him standing at the kitchen door with his hockey stick in his hand. Raising my eyebrows at him, I asked, "Why did you bring this with along?"

Keeping his narrowed eyes trained on Ashton who was sitting beside me on the slab, he asked, "Do you remember how I hit that boy who asked you on a date when you were thirteen?"

I frowned. "Oh John. Of course, I remember him. What about him?"

He nodded and asked again, "And the guy who used to stalk you when you were fifteen?"

I gasped and asked, "He landed up in the hospital because of you?" The proud smile on his face confirmed my suspicions. "That's wrong, Dad."

He looked at me and asked, "What's wrong if I want to save my daughter from the creeps in the world?" I didn't miss the look he gave towards Ashton when he said the word 'creep'. "Right, plumber?"

My eyes snapped towards Ashton who was giving tough competition in the staring match. "Dad, his name is Ashton. And he is not a plumber. Give me ten minutes; I'll be there with your breakfast." I pleaded him with my eyes. He huffed and went away.

"Sorry," I apologized to Ashton. "I know they are weird."

He shook his head with a little smile on his face as I stared at him. It was good to see him relaxed and smiling. "It's cool. Families are supposed to be weird." He winked as he knew exactly how weird families actually were. We laughed lightly as we silently recalled his family problems that I was vaguely aware of. Once we calmed down, he muttered with a slight frown on his face, "Your Dad wants me dead, isn't it?"

Laughing lightly, I patted his shoulder with my free hand and consoled him. "You'll survive.'

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A/N

How was it? I wanted to introduce Laina's parents , so here they are. Liana had always had apprehensions about falling in love..coz of her Dad....hmmm... Hope you understand why she is shy and all..

VOTE. COMMENT. FOLLOW. :D