terrible things - ashton irwin

fifteen

Over breakfast the next morning Ashton told me he had something to confess. We were in Starbucks, eating microwaved Artisan Breakfast Sandwiches, which, FYI, have nothing Artisanal about them.

"Spill it," I said. I felt a slight fluttering beneath my rib cage. He's going to got say he's sorry, that he should have kissed me last night.

"I want to see where Bruce Willis lives." Ashton looked at me from beneath his fedora, which I had to admit suited him very well.

I felt like knocking my head against the table. Sometimes he made me wonder if the human adolescent male was a a completely different species from the human adolescent female.

But this trip was his trip as much as mine, and I wanted to be a good sport. So after breakfast, we flagged down the nearest open-top tour van. The guide promised it would give us an incredible look at the stars' jaw-dropping homes, and a secret window into their enviable lives.

I thought it might make me feel like a Peeping Tom, but Ashton had no suck worries.

"If you don't want strangers staring at you, don't get famous," he said. 

"I guess I should cancel my American Idol audition, then."

Since we bought tickets for the deluxe route, we took our time on the tour, getting off one van, wandering around, and then hopping back on the next.

It was late in the afternoon when we finally wound our way up into the hills.

"We're getting closer, Lav," Ashton said, grinning. "Good ol' Bruce is going to invite us in to dinner."

"Sure," I said snidely. "Then we'll have dessert at Jennifer Aniston's house.

Ashton looked hurt. "Sarcasm doesn't become you, GG." But then his irrepressible smile shine again. " I bet Jan makes a wicked Creme brûlée. She probably makes nice coffee, too, which is cool, because I like coffee with fancy desserts." He sounded utterly, completely sincere.

Crazy as it was, I loved this about Ashton: how he was capable to believing in something he didn't actually believe in. Does that make sense? He knew what he wanted to be true, what he felt should be true, and for a certain amount of time, by the power of his will, it was true.
Believing in believing. Ashton was exceptional at that.

The tour guide kept talking, but we'd stopped listening. We drove through lush green neighbourhoods, peering past iron gates and elaborate landscaping to catch glimpses of enormous mansions. The air smelled like roses...and money.

The driver slowed down around a particularly steep curve and then stopped at let a group of cyclists past.

I grabbed Ashton's hand. "Let's split."

He turned to me, uncomprehending.

"Over the side," I whispered. And because he still didn't seem to get it, I showed him. I swing a leg over the edge of the open top van and dropped down on to the street.

If the other passengers noticed they didn't say anything. A second later, Ashton landed beside me, looking utterly baffled. The van started again and pulled away.

"So what's the brilliant plan now?"Ashton's hand were in his hips. "We don't know where Bruce lives, and were probably ten miles from our hotel." 

I only smiled. "Follow me," I said and led him towards what I'd seen: a for sale sign and a gate left open.

"Oh, duuuude," Ashton whispered. "Really?"

I looked up and down the street. Except for a line gardener, whose back was to is, it was utterly deserted. We crept up the driveway, then along side a vacant house to the back gardens. 

Whoever had lived in this large house was gone, but the pool was still full, it's water glassy and aquamarine blue.

The sun was on its way down and the sky was the colour of persimmons. Ashton turned to me. "GG...," he began. 

I threw my arms out and spun around. "If this hasn't proven to you I'm not GG anymore," I asked, "what will?" Ashton didn't say anything, but I already had an idea.

In one fluid motion, I stripped down to my underwear, tossed my clothes in a heap, and dove into the pool. 

"Come in if you dare," I called to Ashton. "Scallywag."

He hesitated for a moment, but Ashton could never back down from a challenge. He took of his shirt, revealing his broad, tanned chest, his flat stomach, and the low v of muscle there. I'd never seen that much of his skin before.

Ashton reached up to plug his nose, and he on longer looked remotely like a Renaissance hero. "Cannonball!" He yelled on the way down. He came up spluttering.

 "Oh my God, it's cold!" I laughed. "You mean invigoration," I said. 

Ashton rolled his eyes at me. "Nerd. I can still call you word nerd, can't I?" Then he swam towards me, smiling, and he put his hands on my shoulders. Suddenly I was sure he was going to kiss me. He was close, and his fingers were on my skin, and there was nothing but water between us.

He moved forward another step, and the he stopped. He opened his mouth like he was going to say something. But then he vanished under the water.

 The next thing I knew, he was picking me up and tossing me backward into the deep end, and I was squealing, gasping laughing, and he was saying, "Shhh, shh, we don't want the cops to come." We swam as evening fell and distant lights from the inhabited houses flickered on his back in the shallower end, and I wondered what it would be like to live in one of these castles.

I'd have everything money could buy, but it wouldn't be the same as having everything I wanted. Not even close.

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word count - 970