Sticky Notes ~ Ashton Irwin

~Part Eight~

I woke up this morning feeling at home. With my eyes closed, I began to sit up and stretch like I used to before all of this. Something about today simply felt right, and I could not wait to leave this horrid room. My bed almost felt comfortable, my mind was at ease, I could her the birds chirping outside above me, and the sweet smell of hot pancakes filled the air; if only they were for me. Mornings were always my favorite when nobody was there to wake me up, that is what this felt like.

After about a minute of peace and quiet, Joseph's deafening screams came blaring down the stairwell. He warned me of what he had the day before in a more violent tone, insisting that "Justin" was going to be on the watch the entire time and he would not resist to kill me should I "make a move". I knew that this was not what Ashton and I had planned, so I came into view and said okay in a hushed tone. I heard him slam the door, leave the room and shut the front door, then open his car door. I'm guessing he doesn't like the doctors? Either way, the process was taking forever due to all of my exitement and eagerness to see the sun. Joseph started up his old black convertible car and drove away. I looked outside from the ground, my eyes level with the grass to make sure he was gone and out of view. As I looked I heard a knock on the door up the stairs.

"Kelsey? Can I come in?" Ashton asked before opening the door and walking in anyway. I put the block in place as he walks towards the corner of the room, around the bed to begin to talk. He is wearing no bandana so his hair is loosely draped just above shoulder-length. He has a beat up maroon colored tee on and has paired it with balck skinnies. He smiles warmly at me.

"Finally he is gone! Ashton, can we please go outside and do something out there? I just need to get outside and see the sun and, and, and smell the-" I am cut off.

"Kelsey, we are going outside, relax, that's why I came down here. I have a surprise. Well, not really a surprise just a - " he pauses to think for a moment. " - a trip. I have a trip to take, run some errands, or something. You're coming with me." He says to me confidently. I don't trust him completely even though everything in me tells me to; I believe it is from all I've been through the past couple months.

"Uhm, Ashton, I really.... Forget it. Anywhere is better than this, this prison." I say a bit uneasily.

"You're going to be so excited. I have got a car since the closest neighbors we have are the nicest couple on Earth. She dropped it off a few minutes ago, just after Joseph left. He should be gone all day, he usually is. We can't leave for good, though, 'cause I am afraid that we don't know how far he'll go in order to find us. Anyway, you coming?" Ashton asked, clearly more excited than I was. I nodded my head and began to walk with him toward the stairs. I hoped this was going to be exciting as he had planned, but since that night I have had no one to trust, even if I wanted to.

We headed outside and I immediately sighed at the fresh air. I walked out to the driveway with Ashton and breathed in the crisp autumn air. It was beginning to feel cool, but not so cold I needed a jacket. The car Ashton borrowed was old and beat up, but it was still more fascinating than that basement of Joseph's. It was a red car, an old Ford. We walked silently and got into the worn car.

As soon as we closed the car door we both began to talk, then stopped, each letting the other one speak. After a minute he finally spoke. "The only reason I am not telling you where we are going is because of how excited you'll be when we get there. Personally, I haven't been to the place in years, but I am under the impression that it's still the same adress." As we drove, I began to forget what I was saying and get lost in Ashton's words. We passed three deteriorating homes before actually getting past a sustainable house. Along the way, we drove down a long, seemingly endless road with farms and old barns on either side of us. It was the beginning of autumn, which meant that the trees were outside showed a beautiful range of color. Varying from oranges to yellows, some brown, red, and few green leaves, it may have been my prior living conditions, but somehow I managed to see everything in a different, more beautiful way than before.

Ashton began to play with the different dials and controls on the dashboard to search for the radio button. Most of the lettering on the dials had been rubbed off with age and use. When he found the radio button he had already without intention raised the volume to it's highest point, so Iggy Azalea's Fancy nearly shot out our eardrums, more than it would have at a normal volume. My heart was already racing by the time he turned it down, frantically pressing everything until the music was silenced. We both took a deep breath and let out a loud laugh.

After our horrible attempt to turn on the radio, I took it upon myself to look for any CDs that may be in the car from the people Ashton borrowed the car from. I blew off the dust and found a Barbara Streisand CD, an old high school play soundtrack, a few CDs by artists we had never heard of, and an All Time Low CD, across it a piece of masking tape with the name Claire on it. Perhaps these neighbors have a younger niece, cousin, maybe even a granddaughter or grandson. I took out the copy of "So Wrong, It's Right" and put it into the CD slot. This Is How We Do began to play, at a reasonable volume this time, as I pretended to take a bow for my amazing CD finding skills. Ashton was still driving, but began to drum along with Rian on the wheel. My entire body relaxed and I sighed of joy. This was the first real music I had heard since I'd been taken.

"Are we almost there? We have been driving for ten minutes and you said a few minutes." I asked him as we continued to drive into the middle of nowhere.

"Yeah, if you would wait three seconds I could have told you that myself but whatever." He giggles and rolls his eyes at me. This was honestly the most adorable giggle I have ever heard. I laughed and stuck my tongue out back at him and began to feel myself staring at this curly headed, giggly mess. After a few silent seconds he glanced at me and I quickly looked away, feeling embarrassed. I could almost instantaneously feel myself blushing and Ashton caught on and a smirk appeared on his face.

"You're not the most subtle person." He said confidently. I cringed. There it was.

"What are you talking about?" I'd been caught.

"You were staring at me."

"Uh, no I wasn't! I was, well, I was just looking past you at the ... the tree! The tree out there it's, well it is sure a sight." I said in a panic. He knew. I was a terrible liar. The tree?! Who says that?

"That's what I thought." The smirk on his face lasted the entire rest of the drive, and so did the blushed red in my cheeks.