The Preacher's Daughter

Ashley's POV
I wake up the next day and quickly get ready, excited to be going on tour again. Especially with Grace joining us on this tour. Not going to lie, I've grown quite attached to my best friends little sister. There's never a dull moment with those two around, that's for sure.

CC loves playing jokes on her, getting her to laugh or roll her eyes at him in a playful manner, so I can only imagine what he's got up his sleeve for tour. Over the last week, I've learned Grace is a bit more reserved but still knows how to have a good time, which makes her a mixed bag. You never really know what you're going to get with her.

As I add a bit of eyeliner around my eyes, I think about the crazy outfit she picked out last night. No way she'll be brave enough to wear that out...right? I mean, she's not the type of girl who likes to draw a lot of attention to herself, so it would shock me if she actually wore that outfit. Hell, she doesn't even like to show cleavage.

Once I'm ready, I grab my bags and bass heading downstairs, just as someone knocks on my door. Checking the peephole, I find its the girl who takes care of Tokyo and Killer for me when I'm on tour, so I open the door.

"Hey!" I greet her, letting her in the house.

"Hey, Ash," She replies, walking inside as Tokyo and Killer race down the hallway, barking in excitement. She kneels down, greeting them and letting them lick her like mad.

"Seems they've missed you," I observe with a smirk.

"Yeah. Hard to believe it's only been a week," She says with a laugh.

"Yeah. Well, I hate to do this, but I gotta run. There's food and beverages in the kitchen, they should have everything they need, and the place is all yours for the next three months, so enjoy," I tell her, kneeling beside her to say bye-bye to my pups.

"Thanks, Ash," She replies, smiling at me again.

"No, thank you. I owe you so big for this," I say, then grab my bags and bass, before heading out. I toss my bags on the passengers seat, resting my bass against the seat on the floorboard.

I wave at Zandria and the pups before backing out and heading for Andy's place. We have so many last minute things we have to do on the first day of a tour, it's amazing we can even get to the show on time, half the time.

As I pull into his driveway, I honk, smiling and waving at Juliet when she opens the upstairs bedroom window and looks down at me. She smiles and calls out, "He'll be out in a moment, Ash!"

"Thank you!" I call back, then she nods and pulls her head back in.

While I wait, I move my bass and bags to the back, and I then hear their door open. Andy gives Juliet a quick but passionate kiss, hugging her tightly, before she passes his bags to him and closes the door behind him, as I get back in the car.

He gets in with a smile, waving back at her, as she watches him through the window. She waves back, blowing him a kiss, and I can't help but smile at the two lovebirds.

"Ready?" I inquire, popping my car in reverse, but holding my foot on the break.

"Yeah. Who else are we picking up?" Andy asks, looking over at me.

"Umm...CC asked me to pick up Grace, because he was going to pick up Jake and Jinxx and they live in the complete opposite direction," I explain, as I make my way towards Grace's apartment.

"Alright. Makes sense," he says, then teases me with, "You want me to move to the back, so you two can sit next to each other?"

I roll my eyes at him with a smirk and say, "You can try, but I think Grace would have a fit about it. You know how she is, man."

"Yeah. She'd chew me out," he replies, laughing and together we mimic what she would say, "'Andy, get up front! You're too tall to be sitting in the back!'"

I chuckle at the whiny voice I can just imagine her using to say that. She's always so selfless, thinking of others comfort and happiness before her own. Not that that's a bad thing, it just makes it hard to gauge how she's really feeling. She's one who would prefer to suffer in silence than to hurt someone’s feelings.

Don't get me wrong though, she will tell someone off in a hot New York Minute when they've wronged her or someone she cares about, but even that's a rare sight. She's not the girl we all remember and I know that hurts CC, but I have faith she'll come out of this better than before.

I pull into the parking lot of her building, then get out with Andy, heading up the stairs and knock on the door. Taylor opens it, smiling and letting us in. I can't help but laugh, seeing Grace running around the apartment in a tizzy, her hair wrapped in a towel and a flustered look on her face.

"Tay! Come on, now!" She cries, "Where the hell did you hide them?!"

"I haven't hidden anything," Taylor replies with a chuckle, "Besides, I don't know what you're even looking for."

"My boots!" Grace demands, dropping to her knees, looking under the furniture. She huffs and says, "Nevermind, I'll just wear these."

I watch her reach under the couch, pulling out black, high heeled boots and slips them on. She quickly stands as Taylor says, "She had a rough night and slept through her alarm. Sorry about this guys."

"No worries. I'll text Jake and tell him to let Jinxx and CC know," Andy responds, as Grace bolts for the bedroom, re-emerging with her bags, tossing them on the couch and Taylor moves towards the kitchen.

"Breakfast," Taylor says, holding up a plate with toast and what looks to be strawberry jam.

Grace takes a piece of toast, calling out a quick thank you to her, before popping the corner in her mouth and grabbing her bags.

When she stands before Andy and me, I do my best to hide my laughter. Oh, she really is a hot mess this morning...

"Here," I say, carefully pulling the towel from her head, as a light blush tints her cheeks. I pull her bags from her arms, dropping them by the door, then pull her to the bathroom.

I take hold of the toast still hanging from her mouth, telling her to bite, then pass it to her as I look through the closet and pull out a can of moose. Adding some to my hand, I run my fingers through her damp hair, tousling her long strands a bit to give her a beachy look. I then pull her to her room and plucking a black cowgirl hat off the top of her teal lamps lampshade, resting it on her head.

"There we go," I tell her, "Absolutely gorgeous."

Her blush deepens as she thanks me and apologizes for being such a wreck this morning. A sweet, shy smile playing on her lips, and I notice her outfit for the first time, as I brush off her apology. She actually wore what she picked out yesterday and I have to say, she looks good.

"I'm a disaster," She murmurs, looking down.

"No. You're a beautiful disaster," I reply, smiling down at her, "If you're going to say it, say it right."

If it were even possible, I'd swear her blush got even darker, as I take her free hand and lead her from the room. She hugs Taylor and I wonder what happened to Andy. When I see her bags are gone, I quickly realize he took them to the car for her.

"Ready to go, Gracie?" I ask, when she and Taylor pull out of their hug and she nods, smiling shyly up at me. I hold out my hand, which she happily accepts, then lead her to my car.

When she opens the back door, we see Andy sitting comfortably, and he says, "Nope. You get the front seat, girly."

"But Andy," She whines, but he cuts her off with a shake of his head, pointing to the front seat before pulling the door closed again.

"You heard him," I tell her with a shrug, when she gives me an incredulous look.

I walk with her around the car, opening the door for her and offer her a hand up. She accepts it with another shy smile and I gently shut the door once I know she's tucked in, then get into the driver's side and start the car. As I back out, I see Andy shoot me a look and hold up his hands, clasping them together, then points to Grace.

Smiling at him, knowing exactly what he's trying to say, I put the car in Drive and slowly take hold of Grace's hand. Resting our hands on the center console, I carefully linking our fingers. She makes a small, adorable noise at my touch, which makes me smile again.

Andy gives me a lopsided grin in the mirror, knowing how I feel about Grace, who was sitting next to me looking shyly down at our interlocked hands. If I didn't know any better, I'd say I was falling for my friends sister. I just hope he'll understand...

Notes