Behind The Limelight 31: It’s In The Eyes

a/n: double update! don’t forget to read chapter 30 first. love y’all.

“—I’m not an idiot, Ryker. I know what to say and what not to say in a conversation.”

“I know, Abi, I just don’t want you making him uncomfortable by bringing up the past and—” Ryker stopped speaking once he heard footsteps coming down the stairs.

Ashton was woken up by Ryker, who informed him that lunch was ready. Ashton nodded groggily, saying that he would be there in five minutes. He went to wash his face and freshen up as Ryker went downstairs. Ashton overheard bits and pieces of his conversation with his sister, but both of them pretended as if they weren’t just talking about him once they noticed that Ashton was coming.

Ashton decided to ignore it too. He figured that it was probably for the best.

Helena was setting up the table, being assisted by Parker. Ashton nodded in approval as he saw the future Cohen son-in-law help out. Once all six of them got seated, Ashton had to physically control himself from drooling. It had been quite a while since he saw a full spread of food, especially one that was home cooked and smelled absolutely delicious.

It tasted spectacular too, and Ashton was glad that he decided to join Ryker at the last minute. If tolerating Ryker meant eating like this for the next four days, then fuck yeah he could do it with ease. Ashton was starving too, not having eaten a proper breakfast. He pretty much inhaled his food, trying his best to be decent in his table manners.

“So come on guys, how’s the shoot for the new movie going? Has a release date been set?” Abi asked, glancing between Ryker and Ashton. Ashton was sitting opposite Ryker, with Parker on one side and Helena on the other.

“It’ll premiere next year, probably around December,” Ashton answered. “It’s all going well so far. We have to head to New York next month for a few weeks though. Part of the shoot is there.”

“That’s good,” Jim spoke up. “Gives plenty of time to promote the movie, huh?”

“Right,” Ashton nodded in agreement. “Promotion is my least favorite part, honestly. I hate interviews.”

“You’re great at them, though!” Helena exclaimed. “I saw your most recent one with Jimmy Fallon, and the one before that with, uh, what’s that man’s name? The one who looks a bit like a rat? Anyway, I saw them and you were amazing, honey. Like always.”

“Thank you,” Ashton replied softly. It was so foreign for him to hear praise from someone. It was not the same when critics or fans did it, but hearing it from someone that was family…Ashton never had that.

Ashton glanced at Ryker, who was already looking at him with a faint smile, as if he knew exactly what was going on in the other man’s head. Ryker’s gaze had a gentleness to it, an almost adoration that made Ashton’s heart skip a beat and his cheeks feel warm. He looked back down at his plate, desperately hoping that his face didn’t seem as flustered as he felt within.

“Has Ryker been annoying you? Because if he does that then you can call me and I’ll set him straight,” Abi said with a grin, which Ashton mirrored in an instant.

“Oh, he’s been super annoying, but I know how to deal with him,” Ashton retorted, making Ryker roll his eyes.

“Ryker!” Helena furrowed her brows in disappointment as she stared at her son. “Have you been troubling Ash?”

“What?” Ryker asked, turning wide-eyed at the accusation. “No! He’s the one that keeps bugging me all the damn time.”

“Name one time when I have bugged you,” Ashton challenged.

“Uh,” Ryker blinked, not knowing what to say. Ashton was putting him on the spot, and by the looks on his face he was enjoying it very much.

“Exactly!” Ashton exclaimed.

“Don’t be surprised if you wake up with spiders in your bed tomorrow morning,” Ryker muttered.

“You forgeting that I’m sharing a bed with you?”

“Oh fuck off,” Ryker grunted.

“Ryker! Language!” Helena sighed tiredly. “You need to be nicer to Ash.”

“Sorry mamãe,” Ryker mumbled. “I am nice to him.”

“Doesn’t seem like it,” Abi added, an amused grin on her face as her brother narrowed his eyes, mouthing ‘traitor‘. Abi simply shrugged nonchalantly before diving back into her food.

“So Parker!” Ashton decided to change the topic. “What do you do?”

“I’m a real estate agent,” Parker answered.

“We actually met when Parker was showing me and my business partners a space for a new office,” Abi pitched in, gazing lovingly at her fiancé. “I ended up getting quite a good deal.”

“That’s cute,” Ashton smiled softly. “You from L.A.?”

“Nah, I’m from a pretty small town. Moved to Chicago about a month before I met Abi,” Parker replied.

The conversation went on and on after that. Ashton learned that Parker was a year younger than Abi, that he used to play football in high school and now he played tennis on the weekends. He had two siblings and five nieces and nephews that he absolutely adored, and was close to his parents as well. Overall, he seemed like a nice guy. Abi had chosen well for herself, and she looked happy. Both of them did.

After lunch, Helena ordered Ryker to help with the dishes, and asked her husband to head to the liquor store to grab some wine for dinner. Ashton offered to go in his place, and Parker said he would accompany the actor. Jim protested, but eventually gave up when Ashton insisted and didn’t budge.

Ashton wore a baseball cap and sunglasses before leaving the house even though it wasn’t exactly sunny out. But he had to at least try and disguise who he was, the last thing he wanted was to run into fans. He loved meeting them, sure, but currently he just wanted some peace and normalcy.

The reason he had offered to run the errand was only partly because he wanted to help out, but majorly because he had missed the town. He hadn’t been back in years, and he wanted to walk around a bit. To reminisce about the old days.

“On a scale of one to ten, how ridiculous do I look right now?” Ashton spoke up once the two men were out on the street. It sort of seemed like Ashton’s disguise just might bring more attention to him.

“I’d say roughly a four,” Parker answered.

“Okay. Not half bad,” Ashton shrugged casually. “I thought it’d be an easy eight.”

“Nah, man, you’re good,” Parker replied. He spoke up again after a minute of silence. “So how long have you and Ryker been dating?”

Ashton stopped in his tracks, looking at Parker as if he had grown multiple heads. The question was so out of the blue that Ashton instantly froze, unable to speak for a few seconds.

“What?” Ashton blinked. “We’re not— we’re just— what makes you think we’re dating?”

“Oh,” Parker frowned, looking confused. “Shit, sorry. I just, I don’t know, I just got a vibe. I’m sorry, man. I shouldn’t have made any assumptions. My bad. Sorry.”

“That’s, uh, that’s fine,” Ashton cleared his throat awkwardly as they continued walking. “What do you mean by you got a vibe?”

“I didn’t mean that in an insulting way, I swear. I apologize, this really didn’t come out right,” Parker let out a dry, nervous chuckle. It seemed like the poor guy was almost panicking more than Ashton. “It was just the way, um, just the way you both behave with one another, I guess? And how you look at each other.”

“How we look at each other?” Ashton asked, wanting some further explanation.

“Yeah, it’s with—” Parker paused, “you know what? I’m probably just being an idiot and seeing things that clearly aren’t there. Forget what I said, please.”

“No, no,” Ashton shook his head lightly. “Continue, please. I want to know what you thought.”

“Well, uh,” Parker exhaled deeply. “I think it just reminded me of these two friends I had back in high school. Closest pair of best friends I’d ever seen, like two peas in a pod even though they always kept bickering like an old married couple.”

“Yeah?”

“Well, they are an old married couple now,” Parker stated. “I kinda saw it coming in school, I think everyone did. The way they both looked at each other…it was just something in their eyes. Like when you can just tell, you know? I thought I saw that with you and Ryker. I was wrong, obviously.”

“Right,” Ashton muttered, nodding absent-mindedly. “Wrong! I mean, yeah, you were wrong. Ryker and I are just…”

Ashton stopped talking as he frowned. What exactly were him and Ryker? Co-actors? Sure. Rivals? Maybe. Friends? No. Boyfriends? Not a chance in hell.

Ashton hadn’t even noticed how blurred the lines had gotten between him and Ryker. Before he signed the film, he knew what they were. Ryker was someone that he despised with all of his being. But now…

Ashton knew that he would be lying to himself if he said that he hated Ryker.

This didn’t mean that he had forgotten or forgiven whatever Ryker had done to him. How he stole the role that meant the world to Ashton and how he kept going after the girls that Ashton was into. But…despite all of that, Ashton was now finding it hard to feel the same amount of hate for him that he used to just a few months ago.

Ashton gulped. Realizing that when he saw Ryker and Maria talking, he wasn’t jealous of Ryker. But of Maria. Because it was Ryker that he wanted to go home with that night. It’s Ryker that he wants to kiss. It’s Ryker that he wants to sleep next to. It’s Ryker that he wants to wake up with.

It’s fucking Ryker, and nobody else. Not any other man or woman in the entire godforsaken world.

Fuck, fuck, fuck. What have I gotten myself into?

***

is Ashton…finally growing a brain!?