What Doesn't Break You (Ashton Irwin Fanfic)

Chapter 24

A.J.’s POV:

Getting to sleep was a near impossible feat that night. After Ashton left last night I had too much on my mind to be able to sleep. I had walked him back to the garden gate and gave him one last kiss goodbye before he snuck back to his car and left.

Walking back into the house, I made sure to say goodnight to my Aunt and Uncle so they knew I was back in the house. They were both thankfully occupied by a TV show in the back room and seemed to not hear any of the loud sobbing from Ashton.

Once I was in bed in my silent bedroom my mind started buzzing with all kinds of thoughts. Some were good, but most of them were bad. I was happy that it seemed Ashton trusted me enough to tell me all these things.

I was afraid he might not, given how tight lipped he was when it came to personal stuff like his father. I wanted him to open up to me, and I wanted to help somehow. Whatever news he got regarding Michael and his dad, I wanted to be there to support him.

And then there was the act of actually comforting a broken person. Having Ashton sobbing in my arms was a frightening experience. I didn’t know what I was going to do once Ashton found his answers.

If it turned out he and Michael were brothers, then he was likely to be both angry and hurt. Whether his father had a reason for leaving, or that he just ran away from his problems and left his wife and son behind, it was going to hurt Ashton when he found out.

When all of this came out, Ashton was going to be suffering from the hurt of abandonment, being lied to by a parent, and the revelation that a school enemy was actually his brother. He was going to be in pain.

But maybe that was where my part came in, I thought.

I knew how to deal with pain. By now, I should be a fucking expert on how to deal with pain. The only problem will be relating my pain to his. He still had a family despite the fact that his father was out of the picture.

I had mourned the death of my family. I came to terms with the fact that it was my fault that I lost them. And I have learned how to harness my pain. Box it up and control it where nobody could tell that I was hurting.

But Ashton was fighting a different battle than I was. I was a broken person, dealing with the loss of my family. He was a lost person, dealing with a broken family.

…

I woke up to the extremely annoying sound of my alarm screeching at me Monday morning. I groaned and reached over to my bedside table to punch it off and then buried my face in my pillow.

This was going to be a long ass Monday.

I got up and groggily made my way to my bathroom and took a shower. I didn’t even bother looking in the mirror. I knew my eyes would be bloodshot and my overall appearance would look like hell warmed over.

After a short but very hot shower I got dressed and put a small layer of makeup on my face. I towel dried my hair and then twisted it into a bun on top of my head while it was still damp. After grapping my books I made my way to the kitchen for some toast before I left for school.

My Aunt was sitting at the table reading a book when I entered. She didn’t say anything to me, or even look up when I started pouring myself some orange juice. I made myself some toast and slid into one of the chairs at the table across from her.

“Morning” I said quietly as I began eating my toast.

She looked up for a second, and then cleared her throat as she turned the page of her book. “You are to come straight home after school today” she said.