castle on the hill » lashton one shot

single chapter

HI I'M ED SHEERAN TRASH SOMETIMES I HOPE YOU LIKE THIS GOODBYE i love you

-ana rita (moony)

_________________________

And I'm on my way, I still remember

This old country lanes

The old country sights still looked the same, he noticed that when the plane was landing. When he met his mother at the Arrivals spot and saw the smile on her face there was no other thing that could satisfy him as much. They drove to the small town Ashton used to live in, not too far from Manchester, where he had landed.

The tone of the lights still looked the same it did a few years ago. The green of the grass and even the small forest near Ashton's house. Everything still looked the same and that's what Ashton didn't like. It's not that he hates his town, he actually thinks it's quite lovely, but the fact that no one wants to change makes him sad – he likes change, a good change. People just don't want the good change and that upsets him.

Ashton wasn't planning to come back, at least not this soon or for this reasons but he had to – it was coming back home to visit his mother or not seeing her for another 3 months. Of course, he still saw his mother since she usually went to France to see him. She knew Ashton didn't want to go back, especially after what happened with his ex-boyfriend, Luke. Let's just say, it was a bad break up (just because Ashton was going to another country and Luke wanted to stay in England).

"We're here!" Ashton's mother said in a cheerful tone of voice "Do you want to eat anything?"

"Nah mom, I'm fine." He said with a smile, taking his bags off of the car "Do you mind if I go for a walk? I want to see how things are now."

"Oh, sure! Just be back by dinner time alright? It's your favourite."

Ashton walked in his old house, no, his old home, and felt the nostalgic sensations filling his mind. He could see his younger self walking through the corridor at 3AM on summer vacation because he couldn't sleep since he went to bed at 5 in the morning (or later). He could have a memory of his dog running through the house to his room to find comfort in Ashton's bed or even lay on top of him while the boy was sleeping.

It hurt his heart that he could see the friends he had brought there before, friends that are not with him anymore. One of them moved away and never talked to them again, the other one changed classes and started avoiding him at all costs. Of course he felt like a burden as soon as he knew what had happened, but to be honest it's just a life thing – it happens and he can't avoid it.

He put his bags in his room and everything still looked the same, as always. The wall was still blue and the familiar dark-orange sheet was laying on top of the bed. The notes he had put on his wall as a pick-me-up when he felt bad were still there (just stuff his internet friends had told him, they eventually had gone to their own lives too and Ashton respected that). He smiled at the kind words and put his bags on the floor, right next to his bed so he could unpack as soon as he got back from his walk.

Ashton told his mother he was leaving and stepped outside, closing the door behind him. He adjusted his glasses and smiled at the old lady passing by, wishing her a good afternoon. He greeted the people at the café when he walked by and stopped to talk to the old woman – that was now nearly 70 years old (at least the thinks so) and knew Ashton's mother all her life. It's a small town, people know each other and don't leave so easily.