Only Fools - Chapter 47: Chapter 47

Me: You're gonna love this.
Jaxon: Who is this?
Me: Your favorite co worker. Duh.
Jaxon: I'm pretty sure Marian doesn't know how to text.
Me: Marian isn't your co worker. She's your boss.
Me: Hint hint. It's Aspen.
Jaxon: Oh. So my least favorite co worker.
Me: Bitch.
After he doesn't respond for several minutes, I huff out a sigh and reopen my phone.
Me: Ugh!! Do you not care what I have to say??
Jaxon: Not really.
Me: I have a valid excuse to not come to work today!!
Jaxon: Doubt it.
Me: I mean all my excuses are valid. But this one is especially understandable.
Yet again, I'm met with radio silence for several minutes.
Me: I'm not allowed to walk!!
Jaxon: What?
Me: I sprained my ankle in cheer yesterday!! Doctors orders to rest.
Jaxon: I'll believe it when I see it.
Me: **image attached**
Jaxon: Do you not have crutches?
Me: I do....
Jaxon: So you can still come in.
Me: Go tell Marian what happened.
Jaxon: Why can't you?
Me: Go.
Jaxon: You can call her.
Me: Yeah. But I bet you're already at the shop early for some god damn reason.
Silence yet again, though this time I assume it's because he's talking to Marian and not just being a dick and ignoring me.
Me: Did u tell her??
Jaxon: She insists you take the day off.
Me: In your face.
Silence.
Me: You're no fun.
I don't even wait for a response this time, knowing that I'm not going to get one.
"Aspen," my father's voice rings out from the kitchen.
"What?" I yell back from my spot on the couch, my ankle dutifully elevated on a stack of pillows with an ice pack resting on top of it.
"I took off of work so I can help you out today," he says happily, usual beer grasped in his hand as he enters the living room and falls back onto his favorite reclining chair, which is next to the opposite end of the couch.
"Dad.... you didn't have to-" I start, already feeling guilty for being an inconvenience to him. Part of me registers that if he didn't stay home with me then he would probably be the one dealing with guilt, but I'm able to quickly dismiss that all while not being able to shake off my own.
"You're my kid! I care about your well-being believe it or not," he interrupts me, "Besides, don't worry about that. There's no snow for me to plow and it's not cold enough to salt. The most you're keeping me from is working on an old truck."
"Wow. I'm glad that I'm clearly the top priority here," I joke, as some of the tension in my chest releases once I realize that I'm not inconveniencing him as much as I originally thought. I still hate that I'm doing so literally at all, but this situation feels like a sort of comprise between our guilty consciences that I can live with.
"I'm the dad. I'm allowed to humble you sometimes. Obligated, you can argue," he says with a short laugh, as always unable to keep himself from letting some sort of laughter escape once he thinks he's said something funny.
"I don't know about that...."
"Nah. I'm sure I read it in one of those parenting books,"
"Was that before Alex was born though? Because he's pretty old so I'm sure it would be considered outdated," I play along with his made up narrative that he's clearly finding much more funny than I am.
He lets out a bark of laughter at my comment which almost instantly puts a smile on my face.
"You really can't give your brother a break can you? He's not even here to defend himself!" my father exclaims.
"Why would he need to defend himself? It's a fact. He's old," I state.
"I'm older than him! Are you calling me ancient or something?" he asks incredulously.
"Yep," I respond without hesitation.
"Hey!" my dad exclaims before quickly throwing a pillow at me and successfully hitting me in the stomach.
"Woah, woah, woah. Watch it. I'm injured," I warn with a small smile threatening to escape onto my lips.
"Yeah. Your ankle is. I can still beat you up a little without bothering it," he jokes.
"I don't know about that. I think I felt a twinge of pain in my ankle just now. I wouldn't test it if I were you," I warn.
I felt no such pain.
He knows I felt no such pain, and as if to prove it, he throws the other pillow that was on his chair, this time hitting me directly in the face.
As soon as I regain my bearings, I send a harsh glare his way that only ends up making him laugh in response.
So I just chuck the pillow back at his head to make him stop.
It doesn't work. He only laughs more.
"Whatever. I'm turning on the TV," I say, recognizing this to be a clearly unfair fight.
"Ooh. We can-"
"We are not going to watch a show about fixing cars," I deadpan.
"Well you just eliminated all the good options right there," my father huffs out jokingly.
"Shush. You like this show," I say as I click on a channel that's airing reruns of Criminal Minds episodes.
"It's alright," he drags out as if it's a chore for him to admit.
I give him a side eye which makes him chuckle lightly before I turn my attention back to the show.
After a short nap and an unknown amount of episodes later, there's a knock at the front door that pulls my attention away from Prentiss delivering a profile on the unsub, and pulls my dad's attention away from whatever game he's playing on his phone, having given up watching the show a while ago.
"What? You're not going to get that?" he jokes before getting up to answer the door. I just roll my eyes at him before settling my gaze back on the screen.
"Hi, Mr. Grayson. I'm here to see Aspen,"
Her voice registers in my brain less than a second after I hear it. Margot. A smile breaks out on my face and all I want to do is bound over to the girl who's in the door way talking with my father, but a quick shift of my ankle in an unthinking attempt to get up sends a jolt of pain through my foot and acts as a reminder as to why that isn't necessarily the move at this time.
So I have to wait for her.
It only ends up taking a few seconds, but the anticipation makes it seem like hours.
However, once she enters the living room and my eyes land on her, I relax back into the couch with a soft smile.
She looks to so cozy today with her oversized zip up hoodie, baggy sweatpants, and fuzzy socks. Her hair is pulled back into a messy bun at the top of her head and a few curls frame around her face.
As her gaze meets mine, she goes through a cycle of emotions. She starts with a smile to match mine, but as her eyes cloud with confusion, it fades away, likely wondering as to why I haven't moved since she entered. Finally, a frown takes over her lips as her eyes lock on my ankle.
"What the fuck happened, you dumbass?" she demands more so than asks as her eyes snap back to mine again.
"Sprained ankle,"
"Ok. How?"
"Cheer,"
"When?"
"....Yesterday,"
"What the hell, Aspen? Is this why you needed cheering up?"
"Maybe? ....Kind of?" I respond with a slight wince.
"Why didn't you tell me?" she asks more softly as she finally makes her way over to the couch and takes a seat on the ground in front of me.
"I don't know. Didn't seem important?"
"Didn't seem.... You sprained your ankle!"
"'Tis but a flesh wound,"
"Don't quote Monty Python at me right now,"
"Is that what that's from?"
"You're quoting it and you don't know where it's from?"
"I don't know. Just heard it around, thought it was funny, works in this context...."
"You're so stupid," she says as she shakes her head before turning her head to check out what's playing on the TV.
of me wants to let out a sigh of relief for successfully diverting Margot from the topic of my injury. I'm not entirely sure why, but I couldn't bring myself to tell her last night. And if she hadn't come over today, I'm almost positive I would've held it off until whenever she would see me in person next and I therefore couldn't keep it from her anymore.
"Why are you here again?" I ask, genuinely confused as to why she just showed up, though obviously not opposed to it either.
"We were planning to have a tutoring session today?" she supplies.
"Huh. Well, clearly I'm in too much emotional distress for that right now," I decide as I motion to my ankle.
"Oh. Should I just head out then?" she challenges.
"Well, let's not be rash. You did drive all the way over here and maybe I'll just so happen to be in less emotional distress in an hour or two," I offer, knowing full well I'm not going to drop such an excuse unless I absolutely have to.
"Uh huh," Margot says slowly as she narrows her eyes at me before turning her attention back to the TV.
It's then that my dad decides to re-enter the living room after seemingly taking a trip to the kitchen to grab another beer.
"You're seriously watching this show again?" Margot asks me sarcastically, knowing all too well about my obsession with it.
"And you don't even live here. I'm pretty sure I can quote this entire show word for word at this point," my dad chimes in. Margot smiles at his words as she turns to look at him.
"Oh yeah? Let's see you try it. Start quoting it," I challenge my father as I motion to the episode currently playing.
"Oh, no. I wouldn't want to embarrass you in front of your friend or anything," he flounders for an excuse to get out of my challenge.
"How would that embarrass me?"
"I haven't warmed up my speaking voice yet. I wouldn't want my line delivery to be lacking or anything,"
"Oh. Yeah. Of course. The line delivery. That makes sense," I say sarcastically before glancing over at Margot who just looks back at me with an amused smile playing on her lips.
"I have a reputation to uphold! I'm sure you boast about your very talented father all the time,"
"How did you know about that?" I exclaim with a gasp.
"Word gets around," he answers with a shrug, "Aspen probably never stops talking about me, does she, Margot?"
"Never," Margot confirms with a nod.
"Traitor," I hiss at her to which she just shrugs in response.
"Aspen, I like this friend. You should bring her over more," my dad states before pressing his beer bottle to his lips. Margot and I quickly share a look and a knowing smile.
My heart flips at the sight of her awfully cheeky smile and I almost let out a groan of frustration from wanting to kiss it off her lips and not being able to.
First the ankle and now this? The universe just loves testing me.
I glance over at my dad who's comfortably reclined in his chair and quickly make the deduction that he's not going to be moving anytime soon.
"Margot and I are going to head to my room," I declare.
"How are you gonna manage that, Miss Sprained Ankle?" he challenges, likely remembering the incident from last night where I attempted to hop up the stairs and made it a mere two steps before tripping and nearly injuring myself worse. He effectively banned me from the stairs after that.
"Margot's gonna carry me of course," I state as if it's the most obvious thing in the world.
"I am?" she asks as she raises an eyebrow at me. However, once I send a glare in her direction, she quickly starts nodding along.
"I mean. Yeah, sure," she corrects herself.
"Tired of your old man already?" my father jokes.
"Definitely. I actually can't believe I made it this long," I say in a completely deadpan voice.
He just scoffs at me before turning to Margot, "If you drop her, you aren't allowed back in this house."
Margot's eyes widen slightly at his words as she quickly nods her head.
"Ok. The banishment was a joke. But seriously, please don't drop her," my dad clarifies after seeing her reaction.
"Got it," Margot responds rather hesitantly before making her way to her feet and turning to face me.
"How are we going to do this?" she inquires.
"Piggyback?" I suggest.
She shrugs before bending down a bit so I can pull myself onto her back and wrap my arms securely around her neck with my ice pack tightly clutched in my right hand.
She hooks her arms firmly around my thighs before rising fully and beginning the journey to my room.
The first step is a slight struggle (and so is the second), but by the third and fourth and with the help of her death grip on the railing, she seems to get the hang of the slight balancing act, and we quickly arrive at the top of the stairs where I swear that I hear her let out a sigh of relief.
She then turns into my room and confirms with me that my bed is as good a spot as any to let me down.
As gently as she can, Margot lowers me down onto my bed so that I can sit with my back against the headboard before grabbing a couple pillows and placing them under my left foot so that I can set the ice pack back on my injury.
As she turns to go close my bedroom door, I take a deep breath and try to ignore the warmth in my chest over her actions, over how tightly she held onto me when she was carrying me, over how much care she put into getting me situated on my bed. What did I do to deserve this girl?
"So you got your humor from your dad?" Margot asks as soon as the door closes behind her.
"I am offended," I say as I place my hand over my chest, "I'm way funnier than he is."
"I don't know.... John had me laughing out there," my girlfriend says with a shrug as she makes her way to sit next to me on my bed.
"I didn't hear you laugh once,"
"It was internal," she defends.
"Well I've made you laugh out loud, so I'm pretty sure that automatically makes me the winner," I say as I point my finger at her as if to help strengthen my argument.
And then she does it again. Her lips pull into that cheeky smile, this time with her head tilting slightly, as she amusedly stares down at my pointed finger.
So naturally, and almost on impulse, I pull her in for a kiss.
She lets out a small noise of surprise before her lips meet mine, but she quickly melts into the kiss anyways. Her hand slides behind my neck, her thumb trailing over my jaw as I keep my hand pressed to her cheek. She snakes her other arm around my waist before pulling herself closer to me, breaking the kiss only for a moment so that she can send her left leg over my thighs and end up sitting on my lap.
I let out a hum of approval at the change of position while I allow my other hand to rest on the back of her thigh before squeezing it slightly which causes Margot to let out a soft moan.
The sound only prompts me to deepen the kiss and grab her other thigh so that I can pull her hips flush to mine. Her hand that was on my waist slips up under my shirt, making me shiver slightly at the sudden contact.
However, her hand suddenly moves again so that it's resting on my cheek, and she uses it to softly push me back and break the kiss. I don't say anything, knowing the confusion on my face speaks for itself.
"You never answered my question earlier," Margot whispers to me, sending a chill down my spine.
"About what?"
"How exactly you sprained your ankle,"
"Is this what you were thinking about while we were kissing? Should I be offended?" I ask with a sideways smile.
"Aspen,"
I let out a huff before leaning closer to her.
"I told you," I say simply before I begin to kiss down her neck, "Cheer."
I then raise my head back up and recapture her lips with mine. However, it only lasts for a few seconds before she breaks away again.
"That's not a good enough answer," she states.
I let out a groan before shaking my head.
"Weren't we supposed to study or something today?"
"I thought you were in too much 'emotional distress' for that?" she challenges, raising an eyebrow at me.
"I believe I did claim that it could potentially clear up," I point out.
"Stop trying to change the subject," Margot says with a groan.
"Wow," I say as I begin to nod my head slowly, "I'm the one advocating for studying while Margot May stands against it? I never thought I'd see the day."
As if to further stress my point, I dramatically wipe a fake tear from my eye.
My efforts, however, are fruitless. My girlfriend continues to stare at me, her serious expression unchanging.
"Aspen, seriously," her voice softens on the second word. I'm not sure why, but she finally cracks me.
"I mean, it did happen in cheer. I, um, got dropped in a stunt yesterday. Tori tried to catch me but...."
Almost instantly, Margot tenses up and her eyes begin to fill with anger.
"Tori tried to catch you? Just Tori? Aren't there other people in your stunt group that have that job?"
Her sentences get more clipped as the questions continue.
"I mean.... theoretically yeah,"
"So why didn't that happen?"
"Because realistically, they're Ashley and Gabby," I reveal quietly.
Margot goes really silent after I speak.
"So they did this on purpose?" Margot questions me in an eerily measured tone.
"Well, we don't know that for sure and they had no way of knowing that I would get genuinely hurt even if it was. It was just the way I landed so...."
"You're defending them?" Margot asks incredulously. I let out a sigh at her words.
"I guess I don't want you to be mad. It isn't a big deal,"
"Isn't a big deal? You got injured! Your ankle is sprained! You can't compete in the next competition right?"
She pauses for my answer.
"And I probably can't compete in the one after that either,"
"So you're basically out for the entire season just like that. And they don't even get punished for it?"
I stay silent, not necessarily knowing what else to say.
"Aspen, I'm sorry but I'm going to be mad. I can't help it," my girlfriend says once she notices me looking down at my lap.
"Just.... don't do anything though. Don't say anything,"
"But they-"
"They fucking did it because I'm gay, Margot,"
She opens her mouth like she's going to say something but just quickly closes it back up again.
"I don't know how Ashley found out, but she's been hinting at it for a while, how she doesn't like me because of it, how she despises the fact that someone like me was chosen to be captain over her...."
"Aspen, I'm gonna-"
"You're not going to do anything, please. The girl she suspects to be my girlfriend coming at her like an attack dog after all this is just what she needs. If I play my cards right, may she'll be done. Maybe she'll decide not to out me to the entire school or anything...."
"This isn't right,"
"It isn't. But I can't prove that she intentionally harmed me. All this is right now is my word against hers,"
"I'm sorry, baby," Margot says quietly as she wraps her arms around me and pulls me into a hug, somehow knowing exactly what I needed in this moment. I squeeze her tight as she rubs soothing circles on my back.
I'm not sure how long we stay like that, but I know that I feel significantly better afterwards. We agree to drop the subject for now as Margot moves back to her spot beside me and I pull out my laptop so we can watch something together.
The laptop is soon sitting on Margot's lap as I snuggle up into her side and rest my head on her shoulder. We end up turning on a documentary about an art heist after I made a very strong argument for how it clearly satisfies both of our individual interests.
We only make it a quarter of the way through the series before there's a knock on my bedroom door. I quickly pause the show and push myself away from Margot, after giving her an apologetic look, before I let my dad know it's alright to come in.
"Sorry, your brother wanted to talk to you," my dad says with a chuckle as he opens the door.
He then walks over to hand me his phone which is lit up with Alex's face on the screen.
"Hi?" I greet him, confused as to why he suddenly wants to talk to me over facetime when he's claimed numerous times that my face is a curse and the less he has to see it, the better.
"How the fuck did you manage to sprain your ankle?" is how my brother decides to greet me.
I send my father a glare which he just shrugs off before I return my attention back to the call.
"Cheer," I answer simply, hoping that'll be a good enough answer for him. But apparently, it's a good enough answer for literally no one ever.
"Ok. How?"
"I.... got dropped in a stunt?"
"Why did you say it like that? Are you not sure whether or not you did? Did they check you to make sure you didn't hit your head too?"
"My head is fine,"
"Good. I'm pretty sure you'd set a new record for stupidity otherwise,"
I just roll my eyes at Alex as Margot lets out a small chuckle at his words.
"Anyways, you said you got dropped?" Alex asks, quickly returning to the conversation. I just nod in response.
"Alright. Who do I have to beat up?"
"That's what I said!" Margot exclaims from beside me.
"Who the hell was that?" Alex demands, confusion clear on his face. I tilt the phone so that Margot's face enters the screen.
"This is Margot. Margot, this is my idiot brother Alex," I introduce the two.
"I thought you were the idiot of the family?" Margot yet again decides to betray me in order to side with one of my family members.
Alex lets out a bark of laughter at her words before shaking his head.
"Oh, It's a pleasure to meet you, Margot. Truly. Anyone who puts Aspen in her place is worth keeping around," my brother decides.
"Ok. You're annoying me. Go talk to dad," I quickly interject before my brother and girlfriend can conspire against me any further.
I don't even wait for a response from him as I hold out the phone for my dad to take from me.
He just chuckles softly before accepting the phone and giving me a quick wave as he leaves my room and closes the door gently behind him.
"So I'm just meeting all of your family members today?" Margot asks with a small smirk.
"Trust me. If I could've held off you meeting Alex then I would've. My two biggest tormentors meeting isn't necessarily an ideal situation,"
"Oh. So I'm a tormentor now?"
"Yes of course. You're one of my biggest bullies," I confirm before trying to snuggle back into her side.
"No way. If I'm your bully then cuddling is definitely off the table now," Margot says as she pushes me away from her.
"That's not fair!"
"And you calling me a bully is?" she challenges.
"But I like it when you bully me,"
"Degenerate,"
"Not like that! We just have a good rapport," I attempt to defend my statement. Margot hums at the response.
"However you have to justify it, babe," she says as she wraps her arm around me and pulls me back into her side.
"It's not justification when-"
"Shhh, watch the show," Margot whispers.
"It's not even-"
My words are cut off when she presses play and the documentary starts back up again, and I'm suddenly transported back into the show.
However, before I can get too caught up in what I'm watching, I feel Margot place a soft kiss on the top of my head which successfully brings a smile to my face that doesn't end up leaving until my eyes close and I fall into a peaceful sleep wrapped into my girlfriend's side.