Skinny Hips // Ashton Irwin

eighteen // i kissed him back

//Annie//

Matty's car stunk of cigarettes and weed but I didn't mind all too much as long as I was getting out of the situation I was just in. I eyed him subtly from the corner of my eye, hoping he was paying proper attention to the road and wouldn't notice me.

We drove in silence for quite a while until we reached the south side of town; the scummy side. "You live here?" I questioned, trying to sound polite and genuinely interested but I could tell my voice leaked with shock and desperation.

"Don't act so surprised, Annie, look at me, we can't all be posh and live on the north side."

There was an ultimate difference between the south side and the north side of the town. The south side was cheaper which was mostly the reason it was scummier. Not only that, but it was dirty and overcrowded and it was difficult to walk down the street without standing on a crack pipe or a heroine needle.

"I'm not shocked, Matty. Well..." I cleared my throat, trying to find a way to speak my sentence without it seeming like I was making it up to make him feel better; I wasn't. "I am, I guess. I live four blocks over. Ashton lives on the north side, my mom lives on the south side."

I watched Matty as I spoke, waiting to see the expression on his face. He stayed cold and stern, but I could see his lips quirk, almost wanting to smile but deciding against it; deciding he was too tough for that.

"Is she going to be looking for you?" Matty asked.

"Who?" 

"Your mum."

I scoffed, chuckling lowly. "No, she won't notice I'm gone."

Matty nodded at this, driving further down a dark alley and coming out the other side on to a small street filled with battered houses, almost looking as if nobody has lived in them for years. He stopped outside the fifth house on the left and parked, turning to me slowly. "Can you, like, wait here for a minute? Need to check if my mum's boyfriend is home."

He didn't wait for an excuse before beginning to climb out of his car and jog up the steps to his house, pushing the wooden door open and taking a step inside. I watched him disappear in to the house and took this opportunity to have a look through the state of his car.

Empty cigarette boxed and McDonald's rappers were littered throughout the back seat. On the floor by my feet was an empty shoulder of vodka and some baggies he probably once had a drug in. I almost bent down to pick one of them up but a banging on the window had me frozen in my spot yet almost jumping out of my skin at the same time. I sat upright and turned to the window, calm instantly taking over me once I realized it was Matty.

He opened my door for me and allowed me to climb out, mumbling something about his mum as he rushed me towards the house.

His house had the same dirty smell as his car, but yet I still did not mind. It wasn't as dirty as the smell made it out to be yet there were illegal substances scattered around the rooms, giving off the south side aura. 

Matty grabbed my wrist, surprising me as he began to drag me through one room and towards the stairs but once in the room I was yanked in to, fear instantly took over me. 

A blonde woman lay passed out on the couch, a needle in one hand and a tiny hole in the vein on her other, clearly showing what had just happened. I gasped as Matty continued to pull me through the room and towards the stairs. "Second door on the right, go inside and wait for me," he told me before pushing me towards the stairs. I stopped moving as he turned around, intently watching him go to this woman's help.