The road stretched quiet and endless before them, the only sound in the car the low hum of the engine and the occasional soft tap of raindrops on the windshield. It was already past 1:00 a.m., the city lights distant now, just a faint glow behind them.
Ash kept one hand on the wheel, the other resting loosely on his thigh. His hair was still messy—disheveled from Celeste's fingers, heat, and movement. His office uniform was back on and the top two buttons of his top hung open lazily. The collar had shifted wide, revealing a map of kiss marks and bites scattered across his neck—framing the raw evidence left behind. The bite mark at the crook of his neck was bold—new, red, and barely healed.
His glasses sat on his face again, slightly off-center, but he hadn't bothered fixing them. His breaths were calm, but his jaw held a lingering tension, like his body hadn't fully come down. Every part of him said composed, but the mess on his neck told the real story.
Celeste leaned against the passenger seat, legs tucked up slightly, still wrapped in Ash's black outer layer of his uniform. His jeans hugged her hips, and the slim-fit shirt she'd pulled on clung to her chest in a way that left little to the imagination. It stretched snugly over skin that was flushed and tender—concealing the trail of kiss marks and love bites scattered across her breasts. They burned beneath the fabric like secrets she'd barely managed to hide.
Her hair was wild—finger-tangled and soft against her warm face, lips parted, gaze half-lidded. The jacket swamped her shoulders, but the rest of her spoke in whispers: touched, tasted, claimed.
There was something intimate in the air still, like the echo of everything they'd done clung to the fabric of their clothes. She could still feel the way his hands gripped her, the way his breath hitched with every thrust, the way their bodies had moved—hot, breathless, and raw in the backseat just earlier.
Celeste's phone buzzed.
She lowered her gaze and unlocked the screen, lashes casting soft shadows over her cheek. The glow of the display lit her face as she read quietly, lips unmoving.
"…Oh no."
Ash glanced over.
"What is it?"
"There's signal now," she muttered, her screen lighting up with missed calls and unread messages. Her brows knit. "Rowan… called me, like, more than ten times. And texted me… a lot."
Ash groaned, rubbing the bridge of his nose with the heel of his hand.
"Oh no... he might be worried," he muttered, eyes wide and suddenly restless.
She gasped softly.
47 missed calls.
Most were from Rowan.
And just below those, a barrage of messages filled the screen:
[9:03 PM]
Where the hell are you, Celeste???
[10:19 PM]
Ash is also not in his apartment—what did you do?!
You better not have dragged him off to one of your chaotic schemes!
Wait. Don't tell me… DID YOU KIDNAP HIM?!
Give me back my best friend you villainous witch!!
Celeste bit her lip.
"I need to call Rowan," she said with a sigh, tapping the green icon.
The phone barely rang before Rowan answered, his voice exploding through the speaker:
"CELESTE?! Where the HELL have you been?!"
Celeste pulled the phone slightly away from her ear.
"Hi, Big br—"
"It's 1 A.M.!" he snapped. "You vanished! You didn't come back to the apartment, Ash isn't home either—and then I tried calling him, and his phone was off! I even went to knock at his door! He wasn't there! I thought—" he gasped, dramatic, "I thought you abducted him! Like full-on tossed him in a sack and dragged him off to your lair!"
Ash, still focused on the road, tried not to laugh, his ears already turning red.
Celeste sighed and narrowed her eyes on Ash.
"I'm okay, I'm sorry."
Rowan groaned. "Then why didn't you answer your phone?! You're seriously making me lose hair—"
"I was with Ash," she cut in.
The line went dead silent.
Then—
"…You were what?"
Celeste tried not to smirk.
"I said—I was with Ash."
A beat of silence passed.
Then Rowan erupted, his voice rising with disbelief and concern.
"You were with Ash?! Put him on the phone! I need to hear it from him directly—make sure he's alive and not suffering from some kind of mind-altering Celeste spell!"
Celeste laughed softly and handed the phone to Ash.
"Here. He's freaking out."
Ash hesitated for a second, then took the phone and held it to his ear with one hand while the other remained on the wheel.
"Uh… hello? Rowan."
"ASH?!" Rowan nearly shouted. "Are you okay?! Where the hell have you been?! I went to your apartment and you weren't there. I thought Celeste kidnapped you! Or drugged you! Or—or married you in secret!"
Ash flushed, ears going red.
"I'm okay. I… I'm driving right now."
"…Driving?"
"Yes."
There was a suspicious pause on the other end.
"Wait a minute. You're driving?"
"Yes."
"You have a car?!"
Ash blinked.
"I do."
"Since WHEN?! You never told me you got a car!"
Ash adjusted his glasses, sheepish.
"Uh… I just got it recently."
"Why am I finding this out now?! I'm your best friend! I was supposed to be in the passenger seat on day one!"
"I-I didn't mean to keep it from you…"
"Wait, hold on—where did you go anyway?! What kind of mission did Celeste drag you into?!"
Ash's voice remained soft and apologetic.
"We went up to the hilltop. There wasn't any signal. We… just wanted a quiet place to talk." He paused. "And then the rain hit hard, so we had to wait until it calmed. That's why it took this long."
There was silence on the line, then Ash added more softly, "I'm sorry, Rowan. I should've checked in. I really didn't mean to make you worry."
For a few seconds, Rowan didn't answer.
Then, his voice came through again—but gentler.
"Hah… I get it." He sighed. "You're grown up now. You don't have to tell me everything. But man… I was really worried."
Ash gripped the wheel tighter, his voice quiet.
"Thanks. And… not just for worrying about me. I know you were scared for Celeste too."
Another beat of silence.
"Yeah," Rowan murmured. "I'm glad you're both okay. That's what matters."
Celeste leaned a bit closer toward Ash, speaking into the phone with a soft smile.
"Thanks, Big bro."
Rowan sighed, voice dropping into something brotherly and sincere.
"Just get back safe, alright?"
The line went quiet. He had already hung up.
Ash glanced down at the phone in Celeste's hand… then back to the road.
His fingers relaxed slightly on the wheel.
"…We'll be home soon," he murmured.
__________