phobias // 5sos au

.1

Faye was beyond exceptional at a lot of things. She could draw like it was nobody's business. She was an amazing tattoo artist. She was practically a walking, talking people magnet. She had in incredible sense of humor, and she had a great future ahead of her. But the one thing Faye Oliver was not good at whatsoever was cooking.

So as she stood outside her apartment building in a crowd of other residents living there, everyone automatically knew that it was her who had set her kitchen on fire once again. It was practically a normal occurrence, about once a month the fire trucks would come pulling into the little apartment complex parking lot to put out the fire. You would think she would give up cooking after failing so many times, but if there was one thing that was for sure about Faye Oliver it was that she never ever gave up. It was both admirable and annoying, and for some reason people supported her because of it.

"There's smoke everywhere in there. I wouldn't go back in there until tomorrow so it all has time to air out. Do you have a place to stay, miss?" One of the firemen who had previously put out the fire told Faye who was biting her nails in anticipation.

Faye just nodded and told him that she would figure something out even though she didn't really have a place to stay. She didn't have any family even remotely close to California and all of her friends either went back to their homes or were somewhere near the equator for summer vacation.

She thought about her possible options as everyone else began to file back into the now safe building. She could stay at a hotel, but she really didn't have the money for that. She could try and call one of her coworkers, although she didn't really want to bother them. As she tried to think of more ideas a voice interrupted her thoughts.

"You could stay in my apartment for the night if you want to, I just- I heard what one of the firemen said to you, and you look kind of unsure is all." A boy with curly hair and hazel eyes who she had seen throughout the building a few times said to her.

"It's fine, I wouldn't want to be a bother or any-" The boy quickly cut her off and insisted that it was fine, blushing afterwards.

Faye thought it was cute how embarrassed he was about being so straight forward. From what she had collected about him he mostly kept to himself. He was shy (and maybe a little self conscious) for the most part, mostly wearing sweatpants and sweatshirts, and occasionally some jeans and a t-shirt. He appeared to be uncomfortable around people and she could tell by the way he fidgeted while waiting for her response.

That was the thing about Faye, she was amazing at reading people. She wanted to be a therapist or counselor when she graduated college, so this natural gift of seeing straight into a person was something she took great pride in. She never really told anyone the things she could tell about a person by watching their body language or hearing them speak. She figured everyone would think she was a freak, so she kept quiet about knowing the way people felt without them telling her, and she was content just like that.

"If you're sure it's okay..." She tried to remember his name but couldn't think of ever hearing it before.

"Ashton." A small, closed-mouth smile appeared on his face as he introduced himself.

"I'm Faye." she explained as they walked into the building and towards the elevator.

"I know." Ashton nodded with a smile, but it quickly faltered after in the realization that he was probably making a complete fool of himself in front of the beautiful girl from his apartment building that would soon be spending the night in his very own apartment.

Ashton didn't want Faye to think he was weird or a stalker or any of that crap. He wanted her to like him. He wanted everyone to like him because he had this overwhelming fear of other people's opinions about him. It was a horrible thing to have, and that's why he was shocked he was talking to Faye in the first place, let alone that he invited her to stay over his place. He just hoped that she thought he was normal because Ashton didn't want to be judged. He wanted to be her friend, he wanted to be comfortable around her.

What he didn't know was that Faye wanted to be his friend too. She thought the awkward boy was cute, like a baby giraffe or something. The more she thought about the weird comparison, the more she thought it was funny so she started to giggle at herself, and that made Ashton think about everything he could have done to make her laugh at him.

They didn't speak until they actually got inside Ashton's apartment, and the only words spoken were from Faye who absolutely adored how nice his apartment looked. The walls were a soft brown with dark brown, almost black, furniture to match. He had assorted splashes of color throughout the space too such as rugs, pillows, light fixtures, and pictures. Faye was slightly jealous of how well put together everything was and she didn't hesitate to compliment Ashton on how well everything worked together.

Ashton just shyly accepted her compliments with small thank yous and shrugs. Ashton wasn't used to compliments, especially about his home, because let's face it, Ashton shut himself out from the world and never really had anyone over except his family (but that was very rare). Ashton liked these compliments though, especially from such a beautiful girl. They made him feel all giddy inside, and the blush of his cheeks showed how he was feeling.

"You're seriously going to have to help me fix my apartment." Faye smiled at him with a chuckle. "I've been living there for a year and it still just doesn't work." She shook her head at her inability to design homes.

"I'll help." Ashton nodded affirmatively. "Just call me 'Ashton Irwin: Interior Designer to the Stars'." He joked, making Faye break out in one of the cutest laughs Ashton had ever heard.

"Well, 'Mr. Interior Designer to the Stars', you and I are hanging out tomorrow so you can help me make my apartment look more homey. No ifs, ands, or buts." She stated matter-of-factly.

Ashton didn't have any problem hanging out with her though, so there wouldn't have been any ifs, ands, or buts anyway. He was nervous about spending time with her. Hell, he was nervous spending time with anyone. But he would get over it, he was starting to get over it, actually.

And that's how Faye started her fear-fixing mission that Friday night.

a/n: This is cute, and writing in third person is harder than I thought it would be but its kind of fun since you can see everyone's point of view.

Ashton is a baby giraffe awh.

OKAY SO EACH PART IN THE BEGINNING THAT EXPLAINS THE FEARS HAS A DIFFERENT AMOUNT OF READS AND IM JUST HERE LIKE "YALL NEED TO READ EACH PART FOR IT TO MAKE SENSE"

anywho, thanks for reading :)