Rule 22 (Not proofread, you know the drill. Please ignore any mistakes as they'll be altered in the final edit).

            Sid was twirling her hair around her finger while I swept the broom across the tiled floor.

            "Are you going to get off your arse and do  something?" I enquired, leaning on the handle with a smile.

            "Oh, ever so sorry. Is this the girl that wagged off work and made me do her shift so she could look at some fish giving me a lecture?" she asked and raised an eyebrow in my direction. Her smirk told me she knew she won and I shrugged.

            "Touché." Just as I was about to open my mouth and ask Sid about her and Dev, considering she stayed the night and it wasn't in my room, when the door to our boss' office swung open.

            "Simmons," she said and my head snapped in her direction. I'd never been so scared in my life.

            Ash's mother never came out of her office, let alone came out of her office to talk to the employees. That was when she actually turned up to the pub, which was rarely. I gulped and Sid looked a bit shell shocked. I was 99.9% certain I was getting the sack.

            "Yeah?" I said, my voice not coming out clearly. She smiled warmly and gestured for me to go into the office.

            I didn't know if Ash's mother knew we were officially together, considering that before we left the party that night, Ash told her that I was doing him a favour for the job.

            Cautiously, I made my way into the cream, pristine office. There was literally not a speck of dust out of place and she made her way to sit down at her desk. I stood awkwardly, holding my hands behind my apron clad back. She offered me another smile and nodded at the chair.

            "Take a seat," she greeted and started ruffling through one of her drawers. I sat down and tucked my skirt under my legs. She straightened and slid a blank piece of paper and a pen across the desk. I looked at it and then back at her pursed lips.

            "My son tells me that you're talented with a pencil," she started and I felt my brows furrow.

            "I'm okay," I tried but she shook her head.

            "He showed me your sketch book. You're talented," she complimented.

            "Um, thank you," I stammered and she smiled, tapping the paper.

            "You've got three minutes. I want you to draw me something," she said and my eyes widened. "Improvise," she added and I gnawed on the inside of my lip.

            She watched as I picked up the biro and started work on an eye. She stopped me as soon as I finished the final eye lash and she smiled, twisting the paper around. The pen had echoed through the room, the tapping of the nub was matching my heart rate.

            "How would you feel about working for me?" she asked and my eyebrows shot up so high, I was surprised they didn't disappear into my hair line.

            "You mean, not pub work?" I asked and she shook her head, resting her elbows on the edge of the desk.

            "No. Asher has informed me that you have some problems back at home, he didn't go into detail, but I'm prepared to offer you a contract for my advertising and graphic design campaign," she explained. I couldn't believe it, my heart physically lurched and I felt a grin spread across my face.

            She went over the contract and explained that I'd be working to meet deadlines for her promotions. She was going around the country to promote new art galleries, artists and modelling campaigns. My new job was going to be working alongside some of her team that were based near the pub to go over logos and brochures.

            "Thank you, thank you so much," I stuttered and she smiled, holding out her hand for a final shake.

            "It's no problem, dear. I'll email you the details when I next need you."

            "Do I still have a job here?" I asked and she nodded, looking over my head at Sid, who had miraculously started working.

            "If you want it," she told me with a shrug and I smiled.

            "I'd like to keep it on, if that's okay," I said. She nodded and held the door open for me.

            "You're free to keep it."

            When she'd closed the door and presumably gone back to work, Sid approached me and gave me the brush back.

            "You look like you've won the lottery, what's happened?" she asked and I blurted out what Ash's mother had told me. Sid's eyes lit up and she grinned.

            "Seriously? That's amazing!" she exclaimed and went to grab us both a celebratory beer.

            When she'd chucked the can in the bin and locked the door, she gave me a lift home and departed to meet 'someone' at a restaurant. If my cousin wasn't home, they were both getting one hell of a grilling in the morning.

            When I got to the flat, the door was unlocked, so I assumed someone was home. When I peered into the living room, Ash nor Dev were there. I glanced inside Ash's room to find him sprawled across his bed with an x-box controller in hand.

            "Who has the world's most amazing boyfriend?" I asked as I strolled in and Ash paused his game, looking me up and down.

            "You talk about Ian Somerhalder a lot, so I'm guessing his girlfriend?" he asked and I rolled my eyes, getting onto Ash's bed. He straightened and rested his back against the headboard. He put his arm out to the side but I straddled his lap instead, resting comfortably on his thighs. Raising an eyebrow, he gently moved his arms around my back and clasped his fingers together.

            "I do, you prat," I whispered and leaned forwards, pressing my lips against his. He pulled me tighter to him and I gently pressed my hands against his chest. He smiled against my mouth and pulled away, pressing a single kiss against my cheek.

            "Why? What have I done?" he enquired and I rested back against his arms, which were acting as a comforting cage.

            "Only gotten me a job as a graphic designer," I said as if it was nothing and he grinned, showing me his cute dimple. "Thank you," I told him and wrapped my arms around his neck.

            "Oh, that," he said with a small smile and looked at my lips. He brought his hand up to cup my cheek and kissed me gently With a small sound of content, I leaned into him and ran my hands down his chest, feeling his muscle tense. He wasn't a wall of muscle, just enough to know that he made the effort.

            "I said you were good," he whispered and I nuzzled my face into his neck, taking in his scent of lynx and musk.

            "Nobody has ever taken any notice of my art," I said softly. He shivered, obviously from my breath tickling his neck and he rested the side of his head against mine.

            "Your family are dickheads, that's why," he told me and ran his hand up and down my back, his finger nail raking against my skin made me shudder.

            "Speaking of dickheads," I mumbled, reaching into my back pocket. "Jackson wrote down his number and the name Ash on this paper, right?" I asked and he looked at me blankly before nodding.

            "I guess," he drew out and I huffed, pushing myself off his lap. I went into the living room to grab our collection of notes. I'd also taken some of Matt's to-do notes from the bar at work.

            "None of these match. Matt nor Jackson were writing the notes to you," I explained and he rubbed the nape of his neck, scanning his eyes over the paper.

            "This is getting bloody ridiculous," he seethed and got to his feet. I watched him pace for about three lengths before I coughed, breaking his attention. I stood up on the bed and walked to the edge, enjoying the height advantage over him. He smirked, looking straight at my chest.

            "I don't mind this," he mused and I thwacked the back of his head.

            "Rule twenty two, no blatant staring at intimate body parts," I hissed and his eyes widened.

            "You're my girlfriend," he retorted and I shrugged.

            "Rules are rules." He rolled his eyes and breathed out deeply through his nose, looking at the ceiling.

            "What's up?" I pushed, prodding his chest. He met my eyes and sighed, shaking his head. "Ash," I said, softening my tone. He looked up again and met my eyes with his own beautiful ones and hooked his hands onto my ankles, pulling my feet out from underneath me. I let out a strangled squeal and fell onto my back.

            "Arsehole," I muttered and moved to lean on my elbows. Ash looked over my body and sat down on the edge of the bed next to me. I soon joined him cross legged.

            Nudging him with my elbow, he groaned.

            "Tell me," I begged.

            "I'm a bit concerned about the race," he started and I felt my stomach churn with dread. "As much as I seem like I'm not taking any note of what's happening, it is getting to me a bit," he admitted and ran his hands down his face.

            "Then don't race," I replied. He looked at me out of the corner of his eye and shook his head.

            "I have to."

            "Why?" I asked, twisting to face him.

            "Because it's the one thing my dad couldn't do," he told me and I frowned. Ash talked about his mum all the time, but I'd never heard anything about his father.

            "You don't have to tell me anything," I said quickly, knowing what it felt like when Ash mentioned Daniel for the first time.

            "You want to know why I won't drop out of the race?" he asked. I nodded. "Then I do have to tell you," he informed me and leaned back on his hands, not meeting my eyes.

            "When I was a kid, my dad used to be the best back street racer, won every race, won every championship and when I got kicked out of school, he told me that he wanted it for me too," he said. I offered a curt nod, letting him know I was listening.

            "I was about thirteen when my dad took me and my mum to watch him at the championships, the ones that are on now. He told me when I got there that one day, if I trained hard enough, I'd do it too," he explaining and I heard his breath hitch in his throat.

            "What happened?" I asked, my voice coming out as hushed. He shrugged and clicked his shoulder.

            "He crashed. Collision with another biker," he said and looked down at his lap. I clasped one of his hands from behind him and he smiled.

            "Did he?..." I paused, not knowing how to ask. Ash shook his head.

            "No, he's hospitalised. Paralysed and in a coma. My uncle and I wouldn't let them turn the machines off," he took a breath and looked at me. "That's where I go for those two days. I stay with my uncle and visit my dad in the hospital to let him know how I'm doing," he told me with a small, nostalgic smile.

            "He'd be proud," I stated and Ash smirked, slinging his arm around my shoulder.

            "Yeah, he would. He'd call me a god damned idiot, but he'd be proud." I smiled and leaned against his shoulder, feeling it move with his breathing. "I told him about you," he said casually and I felt my heart race pick up and the butterflies kick in.

            "Only good things, I should hope," I grumbled against his sleeve and he chuckled.

            "Well, not at the beginning. You jumped me with hairspray and dropped ice down my trousers, remember?" he said, nudging my head with his shoulder.

            "You asked for it," I stated simply and got up, stretching my legs. Ash's arms moved me around his knee to stand in between his legs with his hands on my hips.

            "Do I get to meet him?" I asked, running my hand through his hair. His eyes shot to meet mine and I flinched, thinking I'd made a mistake.

            "Seriously?" he asked and I shrugged.

            "Why not?"

            "Because... just why?" he pushed.

            "Because I care about you and I know that if it was my dad and he wasn't a prick, I'd want you to meet him too," I said, looking at my feet. He tilted my chin up and kissed me, pulling him down against him.

            "Sometimes, I'm not sure what I'd do without you," he whispered so quietly that I almost missed it, as he started to gently press butterfly kisses against my neck. I decided against answering him and let the feeling of his arms around me and his lips make me forget about the fact that the race I was dreading was in a few weeks time.

A/N/: Hope you like it, took a bit more a serious turn, but a few of you were asking for a bit more of romantic Ash. I don't want to add a bucketload of mushy stuff, because I'm not the mushy type of person and I don't want to change the characters too much, either. 

My exams are over so updates should be a bit more regular, I promise to update at least once a week, depending on my college workload. :) 

Please vote and leave me a comment, they encourage me to get my arse into gear!:)

Until next time, Wattpadians!