you don't go to parties • an Ashton Irwin fanfic

one

   "Dude get your ass out of bed! It's already noon!" The sound of Ashton's roommate woke him out of what was the best sleep he's had in probably months. "We have to go get stuff for the party tonight!"

   Right. The party. There's always a party. Going to a party school and being in the biggest frat house, Ashton Irwin knew a lot about parties. He and his roommate (and best friend), Michael Clifford, would throw parties pretty much every Friday and Saturday. It's the beginning of the school year meaning there are freshman and new pledges all over. The best way to get them to join this frat? Buy them alcohol of course. Every college freshman is eager to join the best fraternities and sororities. Kappa Tau Gamma holds the spot as the number one fraternity at Cyprus-Rhodes University, and Ashton intends to keep it that way.

   "Right. I'm up, I'm up." Ashton sits up and groans from the pounding in his head. No matter how many hangovers he experiences, he never gets used to them. The man is a child. "Has Luke dropped off the money yet?"

   "Luke? Luke Hemmings? Up before 2pm on a Saturday? After a party? You're too optimistic. It's adorable." Mikey laughs and pics up his shirt. He sniffs it, shrugs, and puts it on.

   "You're disgusting and I am not too optimistic. I just have faith in our friend...okay maybe I am too optimistic. But I thought for sure for alcohol Luke would do anything." Ash gets out of bed and looks at all the empty beer cans laying around his room. Hosting parties always seemed like a good idea, until he woke up the next day. No amount of Tylenol and Liquid IV could cure the endless hangovers he feels every weekend. Now look, he is easily to blame. He is the one hosting them. But he can't help it. Not since she started coming to his parties.

   It all started a couple weeks ago. Rush week. Also known as: the first parties of the school season. College freshman were going to any and as many parties as possible, bouncing from frat house to frat house. Sorority girls coming, looking to get laid, stoned, and/or drunk. And no matter how many places they go to, they always end at Kappa Tau. And the boys would provide them with whatever, or whoever, they were looking for. Ash never though much about the sorority girls who would show up to their parties. They were usually freshman after all. But then he saw her. He didn't know her name, didn't know anything about her other than she was probably the most gorgeous girl he had ever seen in his life. Now look, he knows it's pathetic that he's down this bad because of a girl he had spoken to twice (she asked him what time it was and if he could get her a drink, he swears his heart DIDN'T skip a beat but Michael calls bullshit).

   She must be a freshman. She has to be. He's never seen her before. And there's no way in hell he'd ever forget someone that stunning. He noticed her as soon as she walked into the frat house. He couldn't take his eyes off her. She was wearing a red dress that fit her body perfectly. And Ashton was positive he had never seen anyone in the world look that good in red. He was determined to figure out who she was, and since she was a freshman they likely didn't have many classes together. Especially if she's a different major than him. Now Ashton was stupid but he wasn't quite "change his major from performing arts to whatever the hell major this random girl was just to get close to her". He worked hard to get to his major, and honestly that seemed a bit too stalker-ish for his liking. His only solution is to continue throwing a shit ton of parties and pray to all of the gods that she continues showing up. And to his dumb luck, she did. But he never got the courage to actually approach her. But he will. He's determined to approach her...eventually. Maybe even today.

   Ashton and Michael had met Luke, and his friend Calum Hood, during rush week. They had both been looking to join Kappa Tau and whether that was for the place or booze was never fully figured out. Ashton and Michael liked them a lot. They reminded Mikey and Ash of them when they had joined Kappa Tau, even though Ash was older than Mikey. Since they had clicked immediately, there was no hesitation in Ashton and Michael becoming Luke and Calum's big brothers respectively.

   Look, if Ashton was smart, he'd piece together that Cal and Luke were freshman just like mystery girl and ask them if they knew who she was. But sadly, he isn't. He instead just decided to build up his courage and ask her himself.

   "Ashton! Good to see you, big brother." Luke said as he walked down the stairs to the main entry way. Ashton was setting up all the alcohol and music for the party and insisted that he didn't need any help.

   "Hey, Luke. How's the hangover?" Luke was only 19 so he hadn't built up a tolerance to the pounding headaches yet. Ashton felt bad for the kid, he remembers being that age and drinking all the time. They never pressured the freshman into doing anything they didn't want to do. But often the freshman did everything anyway, enjoying the freedom of finally being in college.

   "It's getting better. Michael left out some Tylenol and water for me, that seemed to help. I'm ready to experience it all again tomorrow though. How's the decorating coming?"

   "Pretty good, I think. We're all set." Ashton sets up the last of the alcohol and starts getting the music playing. "People should be arriving sometime soon. This is just the calm before the storm."

   Ashton was right. That really was the calm before the storm. This might have been the biggest party Kappa Tau has seen since rush week. People from all years, all houses, possibly even other colleges were here. But Ashton didn't care. All that he was thinking about was finding his mystery girl. The only person he wanted to see there, and there's no sign of her anywhere.

   "HEY MAN THIS IS A KICK ASS PARTY!" Calum yells over the loud music playing in the living room.

   "Thanks! But you don't have to yell, I'm right here!!" Ashton chuckles and looks over Calum's shoulder quickly. What a mistake. Because at that moment, she walks in. Ashton can tell that Calum is talking, but he has absolutely no idea what he is saying. He refuses to take his eyes off her, afraid that if he does she'll disappear proving that someone that perfect can only be created in his mind. "Hey man, I'll be right back. I-I got to go..." Ashton trails off and starts walking to the door, leaving a drunk and confused Calum behind him.

   He walks as fast as his semi drunkness will allow him to, pushing through and sneaking past every person in his way. It felt slightly ridiculous, and he'd possibly regret it in the morning. But he just had to get to his mystery girl before she disappeared.

A/N: well. I really wasn't expecting this to be talked about so much on Twitter honestly. It started as a joke and then a ton of people commented on it. I honestly have so many ideas for this fic but have no idea if they can be executed. Also if you understand that the school name and frat name are a reference, I'll love you forever. I may ended up editing this story later so make sure to keep an eye out for any updates :) Thanks for reading guys, gals, non-binary pals, and others! Hope you enjoyed!

Word count (minus A/N and this): 1,234 words