instagram • ashton irwin

nineteen

Michael POV

6 days left

Bzzz. Bzzz. Bzzz.
I pushed my phone further away from my face, too tired to stand the constant buzzing. I assumed it was from the group chat, we all talk much more than we should. We're very good with the time difference now, so as soon as 8 am hit there we began to spam her. She called us her makeshift alarm.

Thalia had become a lot closer with all of us, but sometimes we texted individually too. She was funny, and she appreciated my hair, and she was really pretty. She didn't judge and could tell in a second whether I was happy or sad, and she always knew what to say when the latter rolled around. I hadn't even spoken to her in person, but I could easily tell why Ashton liked her so much.

She was a little wary of Ashton, especially when we talk about him because he's becoming closer and closer with Sophia. It was true, none of us have told Ashton that we've been talking to her, but even if he did get mad, he didn't have a right. He's the one who stopped talking to her- not the other way around. So it was perfectly fine, and no one had anything to worry about.

"Hey Mike, can I borrow- are you still in bed?" Speak of the devil. Ashton barged into my room in sweatpants and a nirvana tee shirt with a hole covering half his shoulder. I waved him off, rolling over. Normally I didn't sleep till noon, but I was up late last night texting. He walked over to me, tearing the covers off.

"Come on, get up. Luke and Calum are outside, we're going to eat."

"Will press be there?"

"Nah, Calum found a good spot on the edge of town. Michael, get up! It's the first day of the American tour! We haven't been here in ages!" I groaned, grabbing a random shirt from my suitcase and slamming the door to the bathroom behind me.

"Who's texting you?" I heard from outside and I chocked on my toothpaste.

"No one!" I yelled through the water in my mouth, spitting harshly and opening the door, still shirtless. My pants weren't buttoned either. But when I got outside, he was already on my phone. He looked betrayed, but mostly shocked.

"Are you..." he looked up at me just as I opened the door, and I furrowed my eyebrows together, sighing.

"Oh, Ashton, I'm sorry." I sounded condescending and I knew that, but I couldn't help it. This felt ridiculous- he had no right to be upset. I shook my head and turned to go put on a shirt, but just as I was about to close the door, he yanked it open.

I whirled around. He looked angry now, and I flinched. Would he really hit me? He grabbed my arm

"Michael-" I stopped him.

"Ashton-"

"No, shut up. Just, please, shut up. I was gonna ask you what the fuck you were doing, but I know. You got her number off my phone, right? Because she was texting me so much that one night when I was wasted..." he was breathing heavily, he looked like he was sick too. I only nodded, I didn't want to make him more upset. He let go, and my arm went behind me- I was afraid of he touched me again it would be a blow to my head.

"Just- why?" There was silence, I didn't know whether this was my cue to talk, but after a beat I answered.

"I was, um, curious at first. I mean you used to talk about her all the time and then you went to see her but after that she just sort of disappeared. And she was talking to you, so I thought she might know how drunk you were-"

"And Luke and Cal talk to her too?"

"Yeah, we made a group chat."

"Why didn't you just tell me?" I chuckled.

"Look at you Ashton, you look like you're going to pass out. It's not really a big deal, but we kinda figured that you'd freak out. Ashton, hey, calm down." He had looked away for a second, but he focused on me again. "Go get Sophia to blow you or something, seriously." I turned around again, but he looked even more frustrated.

"I- I don't-" and then he was crying. Not sobbing, but a couple tears slipped out of his eyes. The air seemed to deflate out of my chest. I moved closer to him and in a second I was hugging him. At first he looked like he was trying to hide it, but he just hugged me back. Fuck masculinity, he was my friend. I couldn't let him just stand there. We were about the same height so we both put our heads in the crook of our shoulders. I felt like shit- god, what have I done.

"Ash, I'm-"

"No," his voice was firm. "No, you're right. I fucked this up, not her. I shouldn't be mad right now." He pulled back, smiling slightly. "Go get a shirt on, Luke and Calum are probably waiting." I nodded, going back into the bathroom. "Hey, I'm gonna respond to Thalia, she's flipping out. I'll just tell her you're out." I smiled, glad he was okay.

"Yeah."
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A/N
I feel like each chapter just gets worse and worse and it's fucking me up but I mean I don't want to abandon this book so whatever. I hope you guys still like it. Honestly, I really don't like this chapter. It all worked better in my head. I'm hoping (praying) it sounds okay to you. But hey Mashton amirite? Lol no I'm 100% cashton

If I ever end up with Ashton Irwin you guys have to help me cover up any evidence that this account ever existed.

So sorry for the late update, I have no excuse. I just didn't get around to it for ages. Hopefully I'll get back on schedule for chapter 20.

Thank you guys so much for 530 reads! We are over halfway to 1k (wOw) I love you all so much. Please keep voting and commenting and all that great stuff.

Also, I realize that the length of my chapters varies a lot. I'm trying to regulate it.
-Claire