instagram • ashton irwin

twenty-one

6 AM-Concert Morning
Their outfits look like this:

Thalia POV

I called Connie last night and told her to come over as soon as she could, and at around 6:15 my doorbell rang. She was standing there, all dolled up and ready to go. At 6:15. She looked perfect, makeup, hair, outfit, everything.

"...woah..." I stuttered. She laughed, a light, fluttery sound.

"I got up at like four thirty in the morning. I told you to get ready early, didn't you get my text?"

"No, my phone died at like six pm last night. I didn't bother to charge till about fifteen minutes ago." She rolled her eyes at me, and I scoffed.

"Well, lets get you something to wear then." I nodded and followed her into my room. It took almost an hour, but she picked out the perfect combination of clothes- clothes I didn't even know I had. And I purposefully had waited for her to do my makeup- she was going to beauty school so she could professionally do makeup for celebrities. She was amazing at it. Once we were done, she looked tired, but altogether exactly the same. Perfect. And when I looked in the mirror, I looked perfect too. She was magical. I laughed.

"That was pretty impressive." I said, giggling. She nodded, laughing with me.

"I got some pizza pie for the road. Come on, I want to get there early." She dragged me out, and I grabbed my backpack which I had filled with all my concert needs last night.

"So, what did you bring?" She asked. "I, uh, hope you brought a lot because I only brought my phone, some pizza and a half bag of pita chips." I rolled my eyes at her now.

"Half bag?"

"I get kinda hungry." We both laughed.

"I brought my phone, my wallet, a jumbo bag of those watermelon sour patch kids, pizza flavored goldfish for you, a portable charger, extra makeup slash waterproof mascara in case they play Gotta Get Out or something- you can never be too careful, and water."

"Damn, you are prepared." I smiled at her, turning up English Love Affair on the speakers.

8:30 AM

We pulled into the parking lot at around 8:30 and I looked around, seeing that it was already half full. The place didn't open until 6:30 and then Hey Violet came on at seven. At 7:45, I would finally see Ashton again, and I didn't know whether to be excited or upset. My phone didn't have service so I still couldn't check my texts, but I knew there was some inside and I didn't mind waiting. There were many dedicated fans outside, so we decided to join them.

1:00 PM

Connie and I had been chatting with a girl named Gina who was a hardcore Calum girl, and we couldn't help but laugh with each other about her past 5sos experiences. She said that she got a black eye at the last concert because "the fight with that bitch Zoe for Ashton's drumsticks got too real." Water had come out of Connie's nose twice already, and it wasn't even three pm. We had eaten all the sour patch watermelons.

3:00 PM

When 3 pm rolled around, I had decided I didn't regret coming. No matter my standing with Ashton, this was really fun. Everyone was so nice, and I was excited to meet Michael and Luke and Calum for the first time. Ashton was totally avoidable. He didn't want to speak to me, and I had come to terms with that. I was tired of chasing after him, because obviously it only lead to more heartache on my end. Whatever Ashton wanted to do was his choice, and I shouldn't be wallowing in self-pity that he didn't want to do me.

6:30 PM

The doors were finally opening to the arena, and I think everyone was relieved. Despite how fun it was hanging out with all the fans, it was freezing and there wasn't enough to do for the eight hours we were there. When I got inside and connected to the free (!) wifi, my phone began blowing up. Over 20 texts from the group chat, five or six from Michael, 74 from Connie, and one from...Ashton? My breath quickened, and I went to the bathroom as soon as I could. When I opened the text inside the confines of the bathroom stall, I almost cried out.

Ashton: I am so sorry.

I changed my mind. I did want to go home. I didn't want to see Ashton onstage after this, I didn't want to sit inside my stupid hotel room and think about him, and I didn't want to be in the city where I could run into him. And, god, what about the meet and greet? How could I even be in the same room after his ignoring me and this? I couldn't even think about him knowing he even remembered me. I had come to terms with him not caring, so I just forgot. But what if he didn't? What if he wanted to really be the way we were before? I couldn't handle it. I turned off my phone, running out to join Connie and praying I wouldn't start crying. I found her outside the entrance to our seats.

"We need to leave," I said, rushed. She looked up.

"Thalia! You're back...what?" I tried running a hand through my hair, but it caught in the knots.

"We-we need to leave."

"We aren't leaving. Are you okay?" She took my hand, but I yanked it back. I felt like I was going to hyperventilate, I was so conflicted.

"We need to leave." That was all I could say. She sighed.

"No, Thalia, we don't. Look, Hey Violet is already on.... let's just go in, if you need some air later then you'll go get some. This is going to be really amazing, just you wait, okay?" Slowly, I nodded. I wanted to go with what she said, but more than anything I just wanted to leave. I was too scared to really talk to him. Connie dragged me inside and then turned to Gina.

"Sorry, we had a mix-up. Is it cool in here?"

"It's great!"

7:45

The music that had been playing over us talking quieted, and then hysterical screams began erupting from every corner of the crowd. Even Connie nearly started crying. She bumped my shoulder with her own.

"WATERPROOF MASCARA, BITCHES!" I laughed despite myself. The screaming died down when Luke got onstage, and the rest of the boys followed him. Then it erupted again, ten times louder. I saw them look out into the crowd, Michael quickly waved at us. I waved back enthusiastically. Way in the back was Ashton, and in the brief moment our eyes met, he winked. I just dropped my gaze. I promised Connie I was going to stick it out, so I just tried to not react. I saw his gaze drop, and then the music started. I never sung along, too careful. Ashton looked at me again, and I left.