SICKLY SWEET | TERE

Pulling Tere outside the tent and towards the beach, Ashton found a more quiet place for them to sit and talk. The love in that room was almost suffocating, especially to someone who wasn't quite a part of it. Maybe if he had been related to one of the parties in question, he would've stood it better. "There. Now we can breathe a bit more and not be trampled to death in the rush to congratulate the happy couple."

@tere

Tere smiled as she followed him along the beach towards where they could sit and just enjoy each other. She laughed softly at his words and gave a little nod. "Yes, well, I've been to a fair few... or I should say... I've crashed a fair few, and that always seems to be the deal" She said with a bit of a smile before she leaned up against him and sighed contently. "It is much better out here though, means I get you all to myself." She leaned up and kissed him softly on the jaw and then looked out at the ocean.

"I try to avoid them whenever possible. If it weren't for you, I'd have sent a fruit basket and then went on my merry way." Alright, fruit baskets were cheesy, but hey. Using resources was not a sin. Besides, he had no connection to the happy couple outside of the beautiful woman leaning against his arm. "What better way to spend a day, than on the beach? Then again, I did enjoy my brief time at sea a little bit too much." Rum. Rum was not his friend, especially on that particular voyage. Thank the Gods it was only temporary and that he didn't remember most of it.

She smiled as she nodded to him, glad that he had come for her. He made being at that happy party better to the point that the jealousy she normally felt at things like that was almost non existent. Tere glanced at him and smirked "There are some other fun things to do on a beach, but if you ever get an hankering to go to sea again, I do have a ship." She said with a wink and then glanced down, watching as she slid her hand into his.

"As long as the dark rum is limited, we shall be fine. If not, shenanigans will occur that I refuse to take credit for." Grasping her hand tightly, he chuckled slightly at the mental image the memory afforded him. "I have no idea how I ended up in the crow's nest in nothing but my skivvies, but I've been told it was quite an adventure." It dawned on Ashton in that moment that he had never told anyone that story before. She'd be the first, ever, to really have heard about his more colorful misdeeds at sea.

Tere laughed softly as he said that he wouldn't be at fault for the shenanigans that the rum would cause. Then he continued to tell her about one of them and she lifted one brow while smirking and letting her eyes lower. She had seen him in far less, but it was an amusing image none the less. "Note to self: Lots of Rum." She said softly as if she were talking to herself but she was teasing him.

"There is a Lot of rum on the Song. So I wonder what evil shenanigans I can get you doing..." She continued to tease, running her free hand along his arm for a moment.

"Well, you are the captain. Maybe I won't get kicked off this time." He teased back, his eyes sparkling as he laughed. "Now tequila and I have had some good times. Mexico in the summer is always entertaining." The real stuff, that got him dancing. He'd never forgive his father for introducing him to it as soon as humanly possible. Strange old man, he was.

Tere's brow rose again and that smile grew a bit. She was the captain, that was the fact, he wouldn't get kicked off... At least not for long. No, it was more likely he end up in her cabin than in the crows nest or off the ship. "Hmmm so Rum gets you naked, Tequila makes you dance, how about Vodka? Or have you tried Saki?" She asked, licking her lips. Saki, good, true Saki was delicious and boy did it have a kick.

"You know, the more we get to know each other, the more I want to test your limits, see if I can scare you." She teased, she could be quite the handful and a kinky one at that, but she really really liked him, so trying to scare him wasn't high on her list of things to want to try. It would be nice to see just how much trouble he'd be willing to get in with her.

"Vodka and I don't grace each other's presence very often. I tend to stick to what I know." Absentmindedly, he started rubbing circles on her side, watching the waves crash against the beach in front of them. The movement was slow and steady, just like the water. "It takes quite a bit to scare me, especially when I know what I want. I'm sure your up for the challenge though."

Tere smiled a bit more, a cross between truly happy and the cat that ate the canary. "I'm always up for a challenge, don't think I like the idea of scaring you though... At least... Not away. But putting the spotlight back on you... What do you want?" She asked softly as she ignored the ocean to look up at him.

Ashton pulled away from her slightly to look her in they eye, placing one hand on the side of her face. The other wrapped tightly around her waist as he contemplated his words. "You." Millions of words in all the languages couldn't have summed up what he wanted to say right then more than that one small word. "You and nothing else."

Tere looked up at him, her smile going from playful to content. She wondered if he was always this romantic or if he was just playing it up to get into her heart. Most of her believed him, a tiny part was scared though. That insecure part that she did well at keeping hidden from most.

After a moment, Tere wrapped her arms around his neck, looking into his eyes as she whispered in a quiet tone "I think it is pretty safe to say, Ashton, that you already have me." Then she pulled him to her, kissing him softly but deeply.

Ashton's heart swelled as he wrapped his hand around the back of her head, craddling it in his palm. The laughter from the tent behind them caused him to pause momentarily, chuckling when the kiss ended. "Be careful Tere, or people may start to think this is our happy day instead." He teased, looking down at her with glittering eyes. He wasn't quite sure when the last time he felt this way had been, if ever.

Deciding that it was time to either go hard or go home, Ashton placed his free hand behind him to grow a small rose bush. It was only enough to grow one flower, straight and thorn-less. Plucking it out of the ground, he passed it to her with a gentle smile, keeping her hand grasped in his when they finally connected.

Tere glanced back at the tent, she had actually forgot that they were sitting just outside of the reception to her sister's wedding. Had nearly forgotten that she was sitting in a blood red princess dress that was the bride's choice of bridesmaid gown. "You know, I actually forgot abou..." she turned back to face him and stopped what she was saying as she spotted the rose.

She smiled brightly again, taking the offered rose from him and then leaning in to kiss him softly. "It's beautiful, thank you..." She whispered against his lips, then pulling back to look into his eyes from under her long lashes before bringing the rose up to her nose, smelling her softly.

Yes, the rose was beautiful, but not nearly so much as she was. He wouldn't say that out loud though, out of fear of sounding like a cliche. "It's easy to forget when we're in our own little world." Ashton observed, running his fingers through her hair while trying to ignore the laughter invading their space.Weddings might not be so bad afterall. At least, not if they were all like this.