Rhythm || Ashton Irwin

Chapter Forty-Six

Lauren's POV

Silence filled the room as the six of us waited patiently for any sort of news. My leg twitched nervously, my eyes locked on the hall we had watched Calum and the doctor walk down what felt like hours ago. The restlessness in my leg was soon stopped by the light touch of a hand on my knee. My curious gaze was met with the worried eyes that belonged to none other than Michael Clifford.

"Hey, I'm going to get some coffee, you need anything?"

"No, but thank you," I sighed, turning my attention back to the hall. Without another word, Michael was up and made his way out, walking past Ben, Luke and Annabelle, who were talking quietly by the door.

I couldn't tell you how long I had continued to stare down that hall before I felt another presence sit beside me, not bothering to look and see who it was. It wasn't until the quiet murmurs from the rest of the group ceased that I decided to look the other way for just a second, only to meet dull hazel eyes and a head of messy curls,

"Oh," I sighed, nervously turning away, wanting to look longer, but knowing I shouldn't, "hey,"

"Hey," he sighed, repositioning himself in his chair. Silence fell on us as I tried to ignore the feeling of him watching me, "could we... Could we maybe talk?" He mumbled, waiting patiently for me to respond. I turned my gaze back to him, our eyes locking briefly before his eyes flickered to our friends, who were blatantly staring at us, then back to mine, "In private?"

"Uh—"

"If you don't want to talk, that's fine, but you should at least get some fresh air," he whispered, placing a light hand on my own which had been fiddling with the hem of my shirt, "take a quick walk? I promise you she'll be fine," he sighed, noticing my eyes flick to the hall. I nodded, repositioning the hat Calum graciously gave me on the taxi ride over, standing with Ashton and making our way through the doors, careful eyes watching as we did so.

The halls were bustling with nurses and doctors taking care of patients and paperwork, creating enough of a distraction to the slightly awkward position I had put myself into. Just as we reached the end of the hall Ashton spoke up, his voice soft, hands stuffed into his pockets as he stared at the ground,

"So... how have you been?"

"Fine."

"Good... good," he sighed, the silence that had become so familiar between the two of us quickly returning. We had made it down another hall before Ashton spoke up again, "Can I say something? Like, stop me at anytime, but, I just need to say something," shrugging, I mumbled a small 'sure', waiting for him to continue, "So, I'm assuming that hat is covering this half done hair cut of yours?"

I couldn't help but laugh realizing Ashton, of course, knew about the whole disaster that was my morning, "Uh, yea, it is," pursing my lips, I continued to look ahead of me, trying to not to run into anyone.

"Well?" He questioned, making me look up at him, a small smile on his face, "Am I going to see it or what?"

"Absolutely not!" I chuckled, shaking my head

"Oh, come on, it can't be that bad! It's not like they shaved half of your head!"

"Well, they might as well have!" I sighed, remembering how much hair they actually cut off, "Get rid of a girl's hair and you basically get rid of everything she is!" Then, before I could react, the beanie was swiftly pulled from my head, revealing my now shoulder length hair, "Give that back!" I hissed, trying not to make a scene.