Inseparable | Ashton Irwin

CHAPTER FOUR

"Elizabeth?" The shock on Ashton's face mirrored hers exactly.

With the amount of contact they've had within the past two years, he was the last person she expected to show up on her doorstep -- quite literally. So to see him on the floor in the middle of the hallway of her brand new apartment, she wasn't sure what to think.

"Lizzie!" He exclaimed, seemingly getting his thoughts together. He quickly pushed himself off the ground and leapt towards her, engulfing her a giant hug. Her arms hung stiff at her sides. "Long see no time..."

God, his breath reeked like alcohol.

"Have you been drinking?" She wasn't sure why she even asked; the answer was obviously yes. She let out a heavy sigh, pushing him off of her.

He shot her a quizzical look, as if there was absolutely no reason for her actions. She shut her eyes tight for a moment in order to clear her head.

"Ashton?" A female voice called. Definitely Carolines. He cautiously looked around."Where did he go?" She shouted over the sound of the guitar. It abruptly stopped.

"Hey- What are you-?' Elizabeth stuttered as Ashton pushed passed her, into her apartment. He dragged her along inside and shut the door. He stumbled over his own feet, nearly falling to the ground. "You're a mess." She stated.

Ashton simply nodded.

"Come on." She grabbed his arm and guided him to the kitchen. He tried his best, in his drunken state, to pull himself up onto the counter. Ultimately, however, Liz had to help him. "Here, drink this." She instructed, pulling a water bottle out of the fridge.

"Thank you." He replied, taking rushed sips.

Suddenly there was a knock at the door, causing them both to jump. Elizabeth brought a hand to her forehead, letting out a forced breath. She looked at Ashton, who looked back at her. The knocking came again. She took that as her cue to answer the door.

"Hey sweetheart!" Caroline hummed. Her blonde hair was thrown back into a pony tail, each strand neatly curled. "You didn't happen to see a boy around here, did you?" She inquired, her thumbs anxiously moving around one another. "Tall, messy brown hair, probably wearing a bandana." She gestured towards her head.

Elizabeth looked back towards Ashton, who was still on the kitchen counter, currently out of Carolines sight. Sure enough, his hair was held in place by a red bandana. He was also wearing a captain america muscle shirt and some black skinnies. They locked eyes, and Ashton vigorously shook his head no. 

"Uh..." Elizabeth started. She noticed that Caroline was trying to see past her, so she put herself in the doorway as much as possible. "No, uh, no, I don't think so." She tried to say casually. Key word: tried.

The blonde girls face immediately dropped.

"Oh, ok." She said. "Yeah, I guess he bailed then." At that she turned around and began to walk back across the hall. She stopped midway. "Just uh, let me know if you see him, ok?"

"Mhm." Liz replied, shutting the door. She walked back over to the kitchen, giving Ash a stern look. "Caroline seemed pretty upset, y'know." She scolded. Ashton shook his head.

"I know... She's just so... overbearing sometimes." He answered, waving his arms around haphazardly. "I just needed a break."

"I'm not sure why you're looking for that break in me." Elizabeth retorted, opening the fridge.

"Because you're my best friend!" He exclaimed, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. She took the brownies Caroline gave to her earlier out of the fridge and extended the plate towards the boy. He shook his head. "No, I want pizza."

She rolled her eyes, putting the brownies back where she found them. Standing on her toes, she reached into the freezer and grabbed one of the frozen pizzas. "I was your best friend." She corrected. She preheated the oven and got the pizza ready. "In fact, as soon as this pizzas done, you're leaving."

He pouted, giving Elizabeth the biggest puppy dog eyes he could muster.

She simply shook her head.

The pizza took about a half an hour. That was half an hour spent in silence, and half an hour Elizabeth spent wishing she could be anywhere else.

Who is she kidding? This was her home. She wasn't sure why she was taking care of him in the first place. It's not like he deserved it.

She pulled the pizza out of the oven and set it on the counter to cool off. She grabbed a paper plate and handed it to ashton.

"Make your plate and leave." She crossed her arms, not breaking eye contact with him.

"But-" He leaned forward, trying to grab her attention. The only thing he achieved was a free fall, straight off the counter. Elizabeth tried to catch him, stumbling a little as well. She steadied both of them, leaning Ashton against the stove.

"Come on." She repeated, gesturing towards freshly made pizza on the stove. He nodded discouragingly, clearly getting the message.

He sloppily tossed two pieces of pizza onto his plate.

"Goodbye, Ashton." Having had enough of the situation, She spun on her heel and marched out of the kitchen, straight to her bedroom.

She glanced at the clock. It was now 10:00pm, which on a normal day wouldn't be too late, but today her muscles were on fire.

She had to deal with the most intense soccer try outs she'd ever seen, and Ashton Irwin.

She wasn't sure what was worse.