Secrets // An Ashton Irwin FanFic

Chapter Three

(Hey guys! I know this doesn’t really sound like a big deal, but considering this story has been up for two days and it almost has 30 reads is amazing! Please comment if you have any ideas or guesses of what will happen and please vote!  And trust me, I love Michael but every story needs a bad guy  ;) Thanks for the reads, and if you could please vote!!!! I love you all!! Also, please follow me on twitter! I promise I’ll follow back! Twitter: @5SOSOhio_ )

***MAY BE TRIGGERING FOR SOME PEOPLE, SELF HARM IS MENTIONED IN THIS CHAPTER. IF YOU DONT LIKE THAT, PLEASE SKIP THIS CHAPTER. I’M SORRY. STAY STONG xx***

CHAPTER THREE

I hastily walked up the stairs, skipping every other step. Michael knew that I’m scared to death of the water, and to make matters worse, I told him I had my phone in my pocket. My head hung low as soon as I made it to the top step. I wasn’t paying attention to my surroundings, causing me to run right into someone. I looked up and saw Ashton. He looked up from his phone and bit his lip.

“Uh… sorry,” He shut off his phone, causing the glow from his screen to stop shining on his face. 

“It’s fine,” I spoke quickly and bit my cheek. I was on the verge of tears already and this didn’t help.

“I’ve missed you, Hadley.” I just nodded in response. I didn’t know what else to do. “Good to know you still care about me,” Ashton sighed and pushed past me before heading down the stairs. 

Coming here was a mistake. I needed a break already and it hadn’t even been thirty minutes. All of the sudden, I heard Michael’s voice arguing with Calum downstairs.

“Goddammit! She shouldn't have even come if she’s gonna act like this the whole time. I wanted my fun girlfriend. Not some girl with a pole stuck up her ass,” Michael complained loudly. He was practically yelling.

“Well, you sh—“ Calum started but was soon cut off by another voice.

“Maybe you shouldn't have thrown her into the pool. You know she's scared of the water. Plus she had her phone in her pocket. That was a dick move, Michael,” Ashton came to my defense so quickly. Once again, he had to mess with my feelings. 

In a way, Ashton was the reason I was with Michael, but he was the reason I couldn’t really trust anybody. Ashton and I had dated for two years before he decided to tell me that I wasn’t “putting out” for him enough. It was a dumb reason to break up, but I didn’t know what else to do and I was caught up in the moment. Michael just happened to be there that night and comforted me. Michael and I started dating about a month after that, and were still together to the day. Except maybe not anymore.

As I heard the words come from Ashton’s mouth, my eyes flooded with tears. I thought I was over him, but obviously I had some feelings that were unresolved. I quickly walked further down the hallway and turned into the bathroom to shower and change.

…

I spent the rest of the night sulking on the couch downstairs completely avoided Michael. Luke ended up having to take him out to dinner and to get me a new phone. I ganged over at Calum as he sat down on the opposite side of the couch without a word. I couldn’t even begin to describe how awkward it was. Calum turned on MTV before pulling out his phone. I glanced at the TV and pretended to watch it.

“Hadley?” Calum asked as he glanced over at me.

“Yeah?” I bit my cheek before glancing at him as well.

“He still really cares about you…” 

“Then why the hell would he throw me into the pool?” I snapped at him, not liking the fact that he was involved in the drama.

“Not Michael. I was talking about Ashton. After you left him he went spiraling downwards for awhile,” Calum glanced at me once again and turned up the volume on the TV. I assumed he did that to drown out of conversation incase Ashton were to be listening in on us.

“Well thanks for playing the guilt trip, Calum. I’m not in the mood to be talking about this right now.”

“Just hear me out real quick. I need you to promise you aren’t going to flip a shit when I tell you…” He looked at me with pleading eyes before I nodded at him. “Michael has been cheating on you with some girl named Claire from around the area. He’s spent a few nights at her house and uh, he’s talked about them having sex.”

No, no, no, no, no. This couldn’t be happening. My first reaction was to deny it. I tried to push the thought out of my head, but I couldn’t. He told me he loved me. He wouldn’t be cheating on my if he loved me. But then it became so real. He never answered his phone. Not even a little text. And on Facebook when I tried to add him as my boyfriend, he would deny the request. My eyes flooded with tears as I stood up and raced up to the bathroom in the hall.

I slammed the door shut and locked it. I couldn’t help but breaking into sobs as I could literally feel my heart breaking. I needed out of there. My sobs soon became violent. It was to the point where I could barely breathe. I thought I loved bastard and that I could trust him. I threw my hairbrush and a bottle of body soap onto the floor in frustration before attempting to catch my breath. I was crying so hard to the point where I barely heard a knock on my door.

“Hadley, it’s me. Please answer the door.” It was Ashton. I didn’t respond and fell back against the door as my fingers ran through my hair. “Hadley, please.”

I refused to reply to him again. He groaned outside of the door before everything became quiet. I thought he left, but within thirty seconds the door flung open. Ashton held a wire hanger with the end pulled into a straight line. He must’ve stuck the hanger in the hole of the doorknob to unlock it. He stared at me with a sympathetic expression before setting the hanger on the counter.

“Maybe you were right! I don’t put out enough! I must suck as a girlfriend,” I yelled at him and tried to push past him before he grabbed my wrist gently. “Let go of me!”

“Had, I didn’t mean it. I tried to call you but you never answered me, so I stopped trying. Please try to forgive me. Please. I was a jackass,” He slowly let go of my wrist and looked down. “Wh-what is this?” He lifted up my wrist again. I tried to recoiled, but his grip was tighter this time. 

“Nothing. Let go of me,” I tried to yank my hand back, but he wouldn’t have it.

“Please tell me you aren’t hurting yourself,” Ashton looked down at me and bit his lip. His eyes were full of worry and terror. I stared into his hazel eyes, unable to speak. He didn’t need me to answer the question. He already knew the answer to his question. “Why? Please say it’s not because of what I did to you…”

“You’re part of it,” I answered truthfully, causing him to gently run his fingers up and down my forearm.

“Please don’t ever do this to yourself again. You’re a beautiful girl, Had. You deserve so much better than all of this. I’m so sorry. You have no idea,” He glanced down into my eyes again. His words felt like I was being stabbed in the heart, and with that, I broke down into sobs again.