Author's note: This story is part of a loose series of stories I have written that begins with Ashlee and Naiya's Sleepover and Macy's Crush and is directly preceded by A Sudden Change. There are also other stories in the series that follow Naiya's path that I've already written (Naiya's Fresh Start and Naiya's Homecoming). Those technically come after this one, so if you feel yourself enjoying the story, but also a bit lost regarding the back story feel free to ignore Naiya's stories and just start from the beginning and work your way back.
I'd also like to point out that I edited this myself, so please be forgiving of any small errors you might find while also feeling free to let me know if there's any glaring oversights I've made either editing or just in the story itself. As long as it's constructive I'll be glad to read whatever it is any of you have to say.
That being said, I do hope you enjoy my incredibly long and at some points very slow story. If you do rest assured there will be more to come. If you don't, well... that's okay too. Either way I thank you.
Oh and disclaimer: All characters engaging in any sexual activity in this story are at least 18 years of age in the author's mind.
Ashlee loved Macy more than she'd ever loved anyone or anything in her life. She knew this was true without even having to think about it. It was just an indisputable fact that was beyond question just as it was a fact that Macy returned that love fully and truly without any reservations, qualifiers or any other such nonsense. Their love was beautiful and true and it was something that Ashlee cherished more than life itself.
Of course, it hadn't exactly been an easy love. After all, the beginning of their relationship had hardly been perfect, but that hadn't mattered then and it didn't matter now. So what if they had both been on the rebound from the first real relationships of their young lives? So what if they'd both discovered on that very same night when they first made love with so much soft passion that they'd both been keeping secrets from each other? Did it matter now that they were together? Of course not. All that really mattered was the new closeness they felt for each other and the comfort they felt in the other's arms and lips and so much else whenever they were together. The emotional and awkward beginning was nothing compared to that.
By the time they'd left for school the awkward beginning was barely an after thought. About the only awkwardness that remained was the strain their love put on Macy's relationship with her step sister Naiya, but even that hardly seemed to matter. After all, any strain there was a direct result of Naiya's actions and that made it easier for Macy to fall in love with Ashlee guiltlessly even as she tried her best not to let her relationship with Naiya completely fall apart. It would take quite a bit for Macy to succeed in doing that, but eventually she found something of an equilibrium when she discovered that Naiya realized that the fault for destroying the friendship and love she'd had with Ashlee rested entirely within herself, but that was another story altogether.
The love that had quickly developed between Ashlee and Macy was strong from the very start and even that seemingly significant hurdle was no true obstacle to their feelings by the time they'd left for college to start a new adventure together seemingly far, far away from the life they had back home. In fact, when they got in the car with Ashlee's mother to follow Ashlee's father and older sister Tabitha in the small moving van they didn't even bother wasting a thought on Naiya. Their thoughts were more focused on the frustration of having to control themselves during the long, tedious drive halfway across the state while also trying not to get frustrated with the constant stream of advice coming from Ashlee's mother about what not to do once they were on their own and out of the reach of direct parental supervision.
It was hard to do especially since Ashlee's mother made it a point to bring up the dangerous and foreboding creatures known as frat boys and their evil, lustful ways seemingly once every five minutes or so. A couple of times the girls had a hard time just trying to keep from laughing as she kept harping on the importance of making sure they didn't get themselves knocked up or infected with some horrible disease, but they managed to hold it in and Ashlee's mother was sufficiently embarrassed to not notice the knowing smiles Ashlee and Macy exchanged on more than one occasion through the rearview mirror.
There was one warning that Ashlee's mother had given, however, that they later learned was quite relevant despite the fact that at the time they just found it amusing to even consider the fact that living together would be anything but a paradise of endless Sapphic joy and wanton sexual exploration which, of course, it was in a lot of ways. Sadly, when Ashlee's mother had warned them their youthful arrogance had easily won the day even as Ashlee's mother had said wisely "Seriously girls, try not to get on each other's nerves too much. I know you think I'm just some old fuddy duddy hausfrau, but trust me, living with anyone, even your best friend, can be a major strain on a friendship. Heck, when I was a sophomore I lived with this girl Carmen who was my best friend in the world before we rented an apartment together. Six months later I was ready to strangle her every time she brought some frat boy home with her or left her towel on the floor after a shower. God, by the time our lease was up we weren't even talking. Hell, I never talked to her again."
"Mom," Ashlee had said at the time in all seriousness and with more than a hint of the usual teenage parental frustration evident in her voice, "That won't happen to us. We've known each other since like forever. I doubt we'll be strangling each other over towels on the bathroom floor."
"Yeah, that's what you think. Seriously, Ashlee and you too Macy, I want you both to promise me that whatever happens, whatever little annoying issue crops up that drives you mad with irrational rage or anything else you guys won't let yourselves hate each other. I mean it, promise me."
"Don't worry, Rhonda," Macy said from the backseat. She'd always called her friends parents by their first names even though only Rhonda had ever actually insisted on it, "I promise we won't kill each other."
"Thank you, Macy. I appreciate that. Your turn, Ashlee. Don't look at me like that. Promise your mother you won't kill your friend over something stupid."