stutter » a. irwin

chapter 23. broken

❀ J U L I A ❀

I stirred on the couch, my vision swarming as I struggled to peel my eyes open. I didn't remember much of what happened after last night, and even then, my memories of my time at the club were fuzzy. Frowning at the pounding that was echoing through my eardrums and rattling my brain, I pulled my blanket over my head to try and block out the noise.

It refused to stop and seemed to be getting even louder, so I sighed and slightly opened my eyes to find Calum groaning on the floor, looking like a wreck.

"Who the hell is at the door?" he mumbled blearily.

Maybe the pounding wasn't in my head after all. I didn't have any time to contemplate my sanity, however, because the door flew open and Ashton stumbled in. His hair was everywhere and I managed to make out his bloodshot eyes, even in my half-conscious state.

Calum, now visibly awake, glanced between Ashton and me cautiously, slowly starting to crawl away as inconspicuously as possible. I shot him a pointed look, hoping he wasn't seriously planning on leaving me alone with Ashton. However, the next words to leave his mouth diminished any probability of that happening.

"Uh- I think I'm going to give you two some space. See you later." Calum quickly muttered, stumbling out the door. As much as I wanted to be mad at him for leaving, I realized I couldn't, considering I always ran away from my problems whenever I could.

When I realized I still had a blanket over me, I quickly got to my feet. However, I soon found out that that was a very bad idea; the room around me was spinning and I felt myself tilting before I held onto the arm of the couch to steady myself. Ashton reached his hand out towards me, but just as quickly dropped it.

Once I was able to stand up straight without wanting to fall over, I took a good look at Ashton. Up close he looked even worse. His usual bright hazel eyes were now glazed over, and I noticed the hint of stubble beginning to grow on his jawline.

"Julia," he began to say, but all I could focus on was the smell of alcohol on his breath.

He was drunk.

Looking over his shoulder I saw his car parked sloppily on the curb, and my heart began to pound when I noticed that it was still dark outside. It must have been around three or four in the morning.

"Did you drive over here drunk?"

The club that we had been to was at least a good half an hour away, and I could feel myself pale at the thought of Ashton driving that far in the condition he was in.

"What are you doing to do about it?" he challenged. His lips pulled up into a smirk, an expression almost foreign compared to the warm smile that usually graced his face. All I could feel was anger towards him for being so reckless.

"Are you out of your mind?" I shoved his shoulder, which probably didn't hurt as much as I wanted it to because my movements were sluggish. "You could've killed someone- damn it, you could've killed yourself! All because you didn't feel like calling a cab."

His eyes darkened and his playful demeanor was gone. "Yeah, call a cab. Just like you and Calum did, right?" He spat as he stared at me accusingly.

I opened my mouth, but no words were coming out so I quickly clamped it shut. My emotions betrayed me and I felt a flicker of hope, thinking back to the look of concern in Ashton's eyes that I thought I had been imagining when I was getting into the cab. Maybe deep down the Ashton I grew to adore was still in there.

However, as he continued to stare at me, the hope slowly began to dissolve. His eyes were filled with cold resentment, but if he wanted to be angry with me then damn it, I had every right to be mad at him.