phobias // 5sos au

.5

Faye had a bad habit of constantly missing class, so as she sat on the kitchen counter in Ashton's apartment while she should've been attending a lecture she wasn't concerned in the slightest way.

"Don't you think that it would be fun?" Faye smiled widely, nudging the curly haired boy with her foot.

Faye had been hanging out with Ashton ever since he helped her fix her "decor issues". Ashton didn't protest due to the fact that she actually wanted to be around him, and he finally had a friend he didn't want to shut out. So at the moment, she was trying to get him to drive out to Arizona with her for a quote-unquote "spontaneous road trip".

Did Ashton want to go? Of course he did. Nobody could deny a weekend alone with someone as intriguing as Faye, not even the incredibly awkward and shy boy. But Ashton kept saying no due to the fact that he didn't want to be around people. He just wanted to stay home and watch Netflix like he normally did. Netflix couldn't judge him. People could.

"Faye." Ashton sighed, standing in front of her. Due to Faye being situated on the counter they were now at eye level with each other.

"Ashton." Faye sighed right back, imitating him. He couldn't help but smile at her childish behavior.

As much as Ashton hated to admit it, he had developed a small crush on Faye. It wasn't like an "oh my god let me father your children" crush, it was kind of like an "let me hold your hand and tell you dumb jokes" kind of crush. Ashton liked the friendship they now had, even though it had barely even been a week. They even cuddled once while watching a movie; stuff like that worked for Ashton. He didn't necessarily want a full on relationship with her because he was obviously scared of her getting to know him and then backing out if they ever were to date.

"Fine, but I want to avoid people as much as possible." Ashton grumbled, turning away from her.

"Why don't you like people that much? I mean I've just never seen someone try to avoid other humans as much as you do." Faye hopped off of the counter and hugged Ashton from behind.

Faye liked physical contact like that. Everyone she was acquainted with knew that about her. She would hug someone she just met and find subtle ways to touch people constantly. She didn't really know why she felt the need to touch people, and she didn't really feel like knowing. It was just her way of showing friendship and it was probably one of the reasons people were instantly drawn to her. She was just open and friendly and people tended to like that.

"I just- I don't know. Other people's opinions just scare me." Ashton said quietly. He never really stated his fear out loud other than to one other person, but it felt good to tell her. Ashton felt he could trust Faye with something like that, and that was important to him.

"But Ashton, you're preventing yourself from doing amazing things. Hell, the amount of people that have judged me and said fucking horrible things about me is insane, but at one point I just stopped caring. Once I stopped caring it helped me realize that there's more to life than what people say about you. You aren't the opinions people have about you." Faye spoke against Ashton's back. He could feel her warm breath through the fabric of the shirt he had on and it made him shiver slightly.

"Not everyone can just not care like you do. Its not that easy." Ashton shook his head and slipped from her grasp. Faye was somewhat offended that he pulled away but she wouldn't tell him that. She never told anyone when she was offended. She was just better off letting everyone think she was okay; it was easier.

"Ashton, I-" she began to try and apologize to him but he cut her off by putting a hand up in the hair in a 'stop' motion.

"No, Faye, it's fine. I'm just overreacting, I'll go to Arizona with you." Ashton sighed, looking down at her small figure.

Ashton liked how short she was compared to him. He was 6'2" and she was only 5'4" which wasn't that short compared to a lot of people, but there was still a major difference between the two, and it was undoubtedly adorable. Ashton also liked a lot of other things about her appearance, like her slightly tanned skin, green eyes, and brown hair that reached a few inches below her shoulders. Faye was undoubtedly pretty even though she never really saw it, everyone else surely could though: it was obvious.

"Really?" Faye smiled, putting her hands on his shoulders and attempting to reach his height by standing on her toes.

"Yeah, it might suck, but I know I'm not going to win against you." He shook his head slightly as the corners of his lips curled up into a small smile.

"That makes me feel so much better." She rolled her eyes at him. "I promise you'll have fun, alright?" She now had her arms wrapped around his neck and he had to find his deepest inner self control to stop himself from kissing her.

"Okay." Ashton smiled as she kissed his nose lightly, giggling as she did so.

Despite the little amount of time they had known each other, Faye felt comfortable with Ashton and the feeling was mutual. He didn't mind her constant need to be touching someone, he often questioned why she liked physical touch so much but he never asked and she never explained. Ashton secretly wanted to return the favor when it came to small hugs and nose-kisses, but he was afraid for some reason. He was afraid he would be judged.

"Ashton?" Faye whispered in his ear as if it was some secret.

"Faye?" He whispered back, making a grin break out in her face.

"You're the best, you know that? Thank you for being my friend." She giggled quietly.

"And thank you for being my friend too." Giggling as well, he smiled down at her. "You have no idea how long I've wanted to be your friend."

Despite how seemingly meaningless the short conversation was, it meant a lot to the two giant dorks hugging in the middle of Ashton's kitchen. Neither of them knew practically anything about each other, yet they had never felt closer to anyone before. The only difference between the two being that Ashton didn't want to be just friends, and Faye wanted nothing more than something completely and utterly platonic.

a/n: this sucks lol, and I've realized that I use the word despite a lot. this is a major filler just so y'all know and it was painfully boring to write. I apologize.

thanks for reading and don't be afraid to vote and comment :)