pretty reckless

“It’s not about brute strength,” Hayden said with a shake of her head. “Not really, anyway. It’s about technique and using your strengths to throw someone off balance. It’s the placement of a hit more than anything else.” She reached over, grabbing Ashton’s arm and setting her finger against the inside of her upper arm. “For example, this is a pressure point. You can punch it or press against it and it’s pretty painful, actually. You don’t even have to hit particularly hard. It’s about placement.” She paused, biting the inside of her cheek. “Though, strength can help, I will admit. But it’s more about technique.” Breathing out a laugh through her nose, Hayden chanced a glance down at her. “I think I can handle a lot more often. Wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world.” Leaning down, she pressed a kiss to Ashton’s head, feeling a curiously warm sensation shoot through her chest. “Thank you. You’ll be my first call.” She let the silence hang then, content to just let her chill out for a few moments. “So, aside from…whatever happened today…has the rest of your week been alright?”

It was a nice thought, even if Ashton had a feeling she would still manage to be terrible at any type of combat no matter how much instruction Hayden gave. More than anything, she was distracted by the woman’s touch against her pressure point. “Ah, technique. That...absolutely makes sense,” Ashton agreed with a thin nod, her eyes drifting towards Hayden to linger. Ashton was easily distracted as it were, without the attraction she felt towards Hayden rising up in her. “You think so? I’ll take it.” Ashton chuckled deeply, a smile curling her lips with an unfamiliar softness to them. She wasn’t used to feeling like this, bonded in some way towards someone, but she wasn’t minding it either. Sighing some, she let herself relax into the silence, letting everything relax as her mind started to calm. The drama with her mother had been enough to deal with for the day. “It...sure, yeah. Just a lot of work, as always. I don’t do much outside of work, if you hadn’t noticed.”

“Okay, well, not all of us are multi billion trillion…zillionaires or whatever you are now, Ash,” she teased. Honestly, she had no concept of how well financially the band was doing in her absence, but she wanted the best for them. Always would. “But oh man, I mean. I don’t know. I travel a lot, I guess is all that I’ve been up to. I travel and meet people and…play music all over the world. Work a few odd jobs here and there, but um. Just kinda living the vagabond life.”

“Well, now that’s a little excessive, I’m not...that well off,” she scoffed. She was doing better than most, but she wouldn’t go so far as to call herself a billionaire by any means. “That sounds...very you, though. Have you considered settling down at all, though? Finding a place to stay and be stable and do...something more?” It was a genuine question, though not without an ulterior motive. It was a selfish thought that perhaps they could get Noah back with the band somehow.

“Okay, well, not all of us are multi billion trillion…zillionaires or whatever you are now, Ash,” she teased. Honestly, she had no concept of how well financially the band was doing in her absence, but she wanted the best for them. Always would. “But oh man, I mean. I don’t know. I travel a lot, I guess is all that I’ve been up to. I travel and meet people and…play music all over the world. Work a few odd jobs here and there, but um. Just kinda living the vagabond life.”

“Okay, now that’s just absurd. We’re doing well, but not...quite that level,” she snorted, glad that at least it seemed to not be a topic they had to avoid entirely. The band was doing exceptionally well, probably always would be, and Noah had been a big part of getting it off the ground. “So you just...I mean, you don’t have any career goals or anything of the sort? That’s not exactly prudent.”

“Hitting people?” she asked with a laugh, “I can teach you how to do that. It’s all in the art of throwing a punch.” Though she was joking, Hayden genuinely could teach Ashton to passably defend herself if need be. She had training, after all. “Mm,” Hayden hummed out, tilting her head back and forth, “True. Still though. I bet even that gets tiring after a while.” Pushing aside what you really wanted to do, regardless of the situation, was emotionally exhausting, Hayden thought. She remained quiet, letting Ashton get settled next to her. “No, not every day can be perfect,” she agreed, “But you’re welcome.” Her expression softened, and Hayden scooted closer, looping an arm around Ashton’s shoulders. “Well, lucky for you, I have no life, so you can see me whenever you want.” She was joking, aiming to get a smile, but she sighed after a beat. “No though, really. You do know I’ll be here whenever you need me, right? Doesn’t really matter what it’s for.”

“Oh, I don’t think I’d be much good at it. I’m too weak,” Ashton admitted. She worked out to keep in shape, sure, but by no means did she have strength enough to imagine she could defend herself. “It does. It gets tiring, but...it is what it is. I wouldn’t change it.” She loved her career and there was nothing else she could imagine wanting to do with her time. With Hayden’s arm about her shoulders, Ashton leaned into her, resting her head on the other woman comfortably. “Whenever I want? And what if that starts to be a lot more often?” Ashton mused, teasingly. If she were being honest, though, she was starting to want it to be more and more often. “Thank you, though, it...means a lot. And the same goes for you, of course, if there’s ever anything I can do.”

The band had soared in popularity over the years, so Noah could only imagine the type of paychecks the others were bringing it by that point. Hers were still quite good and she was only with them at the start. “Sure, yeah, you guys…it’s been good to listen to,” she shrugged, not sure if that was a subject they should stay on. “Fair, though, me neither. I can make like two things averagely and that’s about all I can do in the kitchen. I eat out mostly, I guess.”

It was odd talking about the success of the band with Noah, but Ashton was proud of what they had accomplished. Even if it was weird to bring up with someone who had been such a big part of it all, she was proud. “Eating out is the way to go, or have someone that cooks for you. Much easier,” Ashton agreed. “So...tell me more about what you’ve been doing. I mean, it’s been...years.”

Sliding into the door once opened, Noah’s eyes only grew wider as she looked around. There was no lack of grandeur to the place, the sheer size breeding an overwhelming feeling. “Shit, you’re not doing too bad for yourself with this place, huh?” she asked, her head shaking just a tad as she glanced back over towards Ashton. “Food sounds brilliant, though. Are you cooking?” She’d figured they would just order something in, but she wasn’t going to turn down a home cooked meal either if that were the case.

The amazement factor of the place had long since worn off for Ashton, but she knew for other people it was a stunning home to enter into. “No, no I suppose we’re doing pretty well for ourselves. It’s...obviously continued to be...good.” Maybe it was weird to talk about the band’s success in the wake of Noah leaving them. She wasn’t sure what was appropriate chat topics. “Oh, absolutely not. We have a chef in cooking today. Still don’t have a domestic bone in my body.”

“It’s what I’m good for,” she said with an uncomfortable laugh. “I can listen and hit people. It’s a surprisingly useful combination a lot of the time.” She’d punched people for her friends before and it generally made the culprit shut up for a while. Advice though…advice wasn’t so much Hayden’s thing. “I can only imagine,” she murmured, pressing a hand against Ashton’s back as she led her into the park. “Dealing with people all the time is exhausting on the best of days, but having to be nice to all those people? Makes me glad I don’t have fans.” Hayden just did not have the personality to do anything in the public eye. “Here’s generally…where I hang out when I get tired of having to be on all fucking day.” She leaned against a tree in an out of the way clearing. It was a prime location for both people watching and not being easily spotted. “Knew all that training would come in handy some day,” she murmured to herself. “Here, c’mon, let’s just…eat and see if that makes you feel any better at all.” She sat down with her back against the tree, patting the space next to her. “I’m sorry your day’s been so shit.”

“It’s plenty helpful in my lifestyle to have people around that are good at all that. I am...not at all,” Ashton shrugged. It was why she needed bodyguards to look after her. She certainly couldn’t have managed it all herself. “See, that’s where I’m fortunate. People expect me to be a bitch, it’s the whole public persona I’ve built up, so...at least I don’t have to be nice all the time.” Ashton usually was when she wasn’t specifically on a job thing or interacting with people that seemed to be big fans, though. It wasn’t in her nature to be a complete asshole all the time. Following Hayden’s direction, Ashton settled down next to the other woman, sighing slightly when she finally got a chance to catch her breath for once since everything had started going on. “Mm, it is what it is. Every day can’t be perfect, I suppose. But...thank you for all of this. I just. I don’t know. Wanted to see you.”

“You got it,” Hayden said with an approving nod of her head. “They’ve got really good quesadillas. I get that normally, or the tacos.” She preferred the chicken tacos over anything, but now didn’t feel like the time to make suggestions. Family stuff didn’t sound great, but Hayden remained quiet for a moment before she turned a frown Ashton’s direction. “Family stuff,” she repeated, weighing the statement. “Well…I know you don’t want to talk about it, but you can, you know. I’ll listen. I’ll just say, sometimes even family needs a good punch in the mouth sometimes. My offer still totally stands.” She’d punch someone for Ashton, even if it meant getting on her family’s shit list. It wasn’t like herself and Lynn hadn’t gotten into it before. She knew family could be a pain in the ass. After a few moments of driving, they pulled up to the restaurant, and Hayden ran inside and got their food, directing the driver to the place she wanted them to go. Once they’d come to a stop, Hayden jerked her head in the direction of the door. “C’mon,” she said quietly, slipping outside. They were at Lake Eola, the time of day making the park utterly deserted. “It’s nice here. It’s uh…it’s nice to get away from all the crowds for a while.”

It was entirely the case that Ashton didn’t want to talk about it, at least she didn’t think that she did. However, hearing it from Hayden that she could if she wanted to did bring some strange sense of comfort to her. “No, it - well, I don’t know. Nobody needs to get punched, I think. But, thank you?” she replied, her lips pursing together in thought. Maybe at some point that night she would open up, talk about everything that was going on, but that was always a hard ask for Ashton. She could put her emotions on paper in a song, but talking openly about it with someone else seemed too personal. Lounging in the seat of the car as Hayden instructed the driver about, grabbing the food before they got over to the local park area. It wasn’t an area Ash had been to before and she hopped out of the car, looking around. It was quiet enough, not too many people milling about, which was a nice change of pace. “Yeah, it...definitely is. Crowds get...exhausting.”

There was a small sense of trepidation as she got transported over to Ashton’s place, not sure what she was really going there for. Ashton called it lunch, but Noah didn’t know if she believed that was all she was in store for. There was just…too much history there to assume otherwise. Regardless, she hopped out of the taxi, walking up to the front door of what could only be described as a miniature mansion. “Oh, bloody hell Ashton,” she mumbled, blinking as her neck craned up to take it all in. Crossing the rest of the front walkway, she rapped softly on the door a few times, assuming Ash would be expecting her.

@ashton-davidson

It would be a lie if Ashton didn’t admit she was waiting in the front room for Noah’s arrival. The appearance of Noah back in her sphere had been all at once confusing and emotional and...oddly exciting. The younger girl had been a large part of her life for such a long time and in such a big way that her absence had never truly been filled. As the door was knocked on, Ash walked over, waiting for a pause before unlocking and opening up. “Hey, come on in, then. Food should done shortly.” Stepping aside, she gave Noah room to enter the house before closing the door behind.

“What did you want from it?” she asked quietly, pulling the menu up on her phone for Ashton to browse. “Yeah,” she said with a nervous chuckle, “That’s no problem. I”ll just run in real fast, grab it all to go.” She didn’t actually know if Border Grill did shit like that, but whatever. Hayden would throw her weight around and be annoying and borderline scary if she had to. “And I can bring us somewhere quiet. I know a few places.” She spent a lot of time away from people, so Hayden knew a number of places where, odds were, they wouldn’t be bothered. She let the silence settle between them for a minute, frowning as she worked to gather her thoughts. “Don’t talk about it if you don’t want to but…do I need to kick the shit out of someone?” It was the only thing she could think of to offer at this point. “Because I will. Just like…break some kneecaps…some noses, some light maiming.” She was joking, mostly, aiming for at least a smile.

“Mm, let’s see....how about the quesadilla? With carna asada?” Ashton shrugged. She didn’t know whether it would be any good from there, but she wasn’t incredibly hungry either so it wasn’t of pressing importance. All she really felt like was a few bites to put something in her stomach before she got a drink. “That all...that sounds perfect.” Somewhere quiet where she could just let her thoughts dissipate without a bunch of people around sounded ideal. Her face drew in tight for a brief moment, looking deep in thought before she shook her head. “No, it...it’s nothing like that. Just uh...family stuff?” Kind of family, anyway. Ashton spent so much time avoiding talking about personal issues that it was as if she didn’t even know where to begin trying to explain any of what was going on with her. But, she trusted Hayden in some weird way, even if that would prove to bite her in the ass later.

Hayden’s brows drew together sharply, but she held her tongue. Ashton would talk if she wanted to, and it seemed she was still a little spacey. She figured whatever happened had happened pretty recently. “Okay,” she said, reaching over and squeezing Ashton’s shoulder. “How about dinner first and if you still feel like shit, we can do a bar.” Getting some food in her stomach would probably be better if Ashton intended to drink tonight. “How about…fuck it. Border Grill? It’s Mexican.” She wasn’t sure how many people would be there, but Hayden could just run in and grab something for them both if it was busy. She figured the last thing Ashton needed was to be rushed by fans right now. “We can either eat there, or I can pick it up and we can go somewhere else. Fans probably aren’t high on your list right now.”

Food wasn’t top of mind for Ashton, but it was probably a good idea to get something in her, that was true. It would still be a distraction, which was ultimately all Ashton wanted. “Okay...okay, sure. Border Grill it is,” she agreed with a slow nod. She’d never heard of the place, but food was food and she was willing to eat whatever was put in front of her most of the time. Biting down on her bottom lip, Ashton nodded once more at Hayden’s follow up. She loved fans most of the time, but now wasn’t the time for her to be dealing with them at all. “Maybe...yeah, it might be best to just...go elsewhere. There must be...somewhere quiet in the city.” She hadn’t spent enough time exploring to really know where the best place to go would be, but surely there were places around that would be a little less crowded.

Noah: i resent that.

Noah: but you're right. fine. i'll come over.

Dylan looked at Ashton as she spoke and then at her mother for confirmation but her silence and expression were confirmation enough and she shook her head at Ashton’s apology. “You… It’s not on you, you didn’t know, I…” She trailed off sighing heavily and then looked at her mother too waiting for a reply.

She explained it, the whole being young and stupid and not being ready and in a way Dylan could understand, she was 24 years old and she was in no way shape or form ready to raise another person, she could understand, it wasn’t right but she could understand and could understand her stance on not feeling like she had the right to contact Ashton once she was at a better place in her life after leaving her all those years ago, it wasn’t right but she could understand, though she could also understand Ashton’s anger or resentment.

“I…” She began after their mother was done explaining. “I don’t know what to say and… I do realize it’s not my place to have an opinion on that, I’m pissed off that you kept it a secret from me since daddy apparently knew and I’m pissed off that you decided to reveal it like this…” She shook her head as their mother nodded in understanding and then she turned to Ashton. “And I understand that you have your own family.” Wether by blood or by choice. “And I can’t speak for my… our mother and this… well this is too much to process right now for us to… get really anywhere but if you’d like to… I don’t know get to know each other and be… friends.” She said scribbling her name and number on a napkin and passing it to her.

It was good that Dylan wasn’t blaming her, she didn’t want to have that on her head as well. It was enough to have to deal with the issues with her mother, let alone another person that was now involved. Ashton sat back and listened as the woman explained everything, citing how young she was, how hard it was living overseas, all of it. The answer, though, left Ashton...empty. There was no harrowing experience that had kept her mother away, it had just been a choice. Simple as that. And that probably hurt more than anything else.

As Dylan spoke, Ashton’s fingers curled together tightly, her lips pursing together. She had only ever had her father as a family, if not counting her band, and now that he was gone...she felt a lot more alone in the world. It had been a longshot that her mother would be open to any type of relationship after so long, but maybe this could become something. Dylan, at least, seemed open to trying and that meant a lot. “That...would be fine, yes,” Ashton replied after a few moments,reaching over to take the napkin. “As long as it isn’t too weird for you...I’d like that.” Friends was a start, even if it never went anywhere really. Ashton didn’t know what to expect of it, if there would be any real chance at building a familial relationship, but it was something more than she’d had coming into the conversation.

The offer to hang out had been kind of unexpected, but not unwelcome. Annoying as it was, Hayden was coming to terms with the fact that she liked Ashton. Liked her probably more than she should. Instead of trying to distance herself like a smart individual, however, Hayden was jumping at the chance to hang out with her more. She could hear Lynn making fun of her now. Grinning as she settled into the seat of the car, Hayden felt it slip off her face as Ashton’s bloodshot eyes came into view. “Okay,” she said, willing to do whatever she needed for the moment. “Seven drinks it is. Are you alright?” Her brows came together in a sharp frown, fingers brushing over one of Ashton’s cheeks. “I can kick someone’s ass for you, if you want.” She was joking, but only slightly. “Hi.”

Alright was probably not a word Ashton would use to describe herself then, but she wasn’t sure she wanted to talk about what had happened yet. It was all still too raw and she hadn’t had time to really let any of it process. “I’m...no. I suppose...not,” she answered. It was an honest answer, at least, though she didn’t want to expand past that for the time being. “But, um. Hi, yes. I don’t know where we’re going, just....anywhere. Dinner, a bar, I don’t care, just. Anywhere?” She was still a little too frenetic to formulate thoughts on where she wanted to go, motioning towards her driver to just head anywhere Hayden wanted if she had a place in mind.