The Runaway | Ashton Irwin AU

Part 15

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[Ashton's POV]

I wiggled my toes in the sand as I stood a few feet from where Michael was shooting. Taking a large breath I shut my eyes letting the salty breeze hit my face. I have really missed the beach.

"Ash!" Michael sounded irritable, "Label this for me. 'Vineyard 6'."

I barely caught the roll of exposed film that he had just thrown my way. I never would have guessed how seriously Michael took his job by the way he acts on a regular basis. But he does, quite a bit actually. It's refreshing.

When Michael asked me along to one of his shoot I never thought I'd have to assist him. But I also never thought I'd be standing on a deserted beach on the other side of the country at 5:30 in the morning. Michael hadn't told me where we were going, so when we left the airport and took a taxi to Falmouth Ferry port I was beyond surprised. I have seen many pictures and heard about how great Martha's Vineyard is but I knew I would never be able to visit it in person. But here I was, all thanks to the lavender haired spaz standing next to me.

I glanced toward Michael as he plopped down in the sand by my feet. I wouldn't say Michael particularly hated the beach but he definitely didn't like it. After another moment I too took a seat in the cool white sand.

"I wouldn't go swimming if I were you." Michael had a playful smirk on his lips.

"I wasn't planning on it." Even though the idea had definitely crossed my mind.

"You sure?" He chuckled and I shot him a look.

"Yes, Michael." I rolled my eyes, "You just want to watch me make a fool of myself by jumping into freezing cold water."

He laughed loudly, surprisingly wide awake for such an ungodly hour, "Yeah, pretty much!"

"I hate you," I mumbled as I laid back in the sand.

An involuntary smiled formed on my lips as I shut my eyes and listened to the sound of the crashing waves. I wasn't going to go on this trip in the first place. I was worried that if I left my grandmother was just going to drop dead. I would never forgive myself if something happened to her while I wasn't around.

This was something that I've always wanted to do. But honestly, who doesn't want to travel the world? I have to make sacrifices though because my grandmother's health is the most important thing. So if it meant only taking weekend trips like this with Michael then I was fine with it. But I could never just leave Arizona. At least not right now.

"So are we just waiting now?" I spoke up after a long silence.

"Yup. I got the shot all squared up and now I just need the perfect amount of light." He pulled his knees to his chest resting his chin on them.

"Photography is boring!" I chuckled to myself.

Michael scowled in my direction, "No, it's an art form! And a waiting game." He cracked a smile.

I clicked my tongue in fake annoyance before closing my eyes once again. It really didn't matter to me how long it took to get the right shot. I was perfectly fine right where I was.

There is a faint memory of a time when I was still young and still living in Australia. It was one of the only times that I ever remember my father being around. I don't remember his face or anything. It's more just the silhouette of who I thought he was. He had taken my mother and I on a day trip to the beach. I remember my mother smiling fondly at my father and I remembered the warm water lapping at my toes. I clung to that memory because I didn't like to think about how our tiny family had ended up. We weren't a family at all.

We finally left the beach a little after 9am and found ourselves sitting out on the wrap-around porch of the general store eating prepackaged donuts and drinking delicious iced coffee. If it were socially acceptable to be a beach bum I would gladly do it for the rest of my life. There was no better feeling than being able to walk around in public without shoes on and have no one stare at you oddly. This was my kind of town.

"So what do we do now?" I tipped my head up toward the clear blue sky thoughtfully before looking at Michael.

He just smiled, "Whatever we want."

I have never felt so free in my entire life. I had a routine back in Page: wake up, make breakfast, go to work and come home. It was a dull life but it was what I was used to. But now having the whole weekend to do and see whatever I wanted, I couldn't help but crave more freedom.

When I had brought up the idea of this trip to my grandmother it was almost funny how quickly she jumped at the chance of getting me out of the apartment. It was like she almost felt bad for me for not having a life. I think she wanted me to travel more than I did. But even with this excitement there was still that lingering guilt. I felt horrible about making plans for my future while my grandmother wasn't even sure if she'd have one.

I snapped back to reality as Michael nudged my arm lightly. I turned my head in the direction he was looking to see a group of very pretty girls talking beside what I guess was their car.

"Surfer babes." Michael smiled and waved at the three girls and they returned the gesture.

"I like your hair!" One of them called over and I could only roll my eyes.

"Why, thank you!" A cheeky smile appeared on his face as the three girls giggled to themselves. Let me introduce you to the biggest flirt I know, Michael Clifford, everybody.

I could only imagine how the rest of our trip was going to go.

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A/N: Another short chapter! I was thinking about putting Calum into this too, but I can't quite remember what I wanted to do for his character.. So we'll have to wait and see. If you guys have any ideas for what you might think his character should be like leave it in the comments. :)

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