Deeper (5SOS Ashton Irwin Fanfic)

Chapter 25

Ashton’s POV:

I drop Lily off at her house, pecking her quickly on the lips before she opens the door & slides out. As I pull out of her neighborhood, I let out a breath I didn’t know I was holding.

Well of fucking course I’m a virgin. Lily’s my first girlfriend for Christ’s sake! My hand rakes through my curls over & over, uncurling them a bit from the force my fingers induce on them. In an effort to distract myself, I crank up the stereo & attempt to drown out my thoughts. It works actually, & my mind is calmed down, taken over by the strum of the guitars & the banging of the drums.

My phone buzzes in my pocket, & I fish it out to find a text from Luke:

hey Ash, i need a guys night. wanna come over later & hang? lemme know

Luke & I have become rather good friends in the past few weeks. We hang at school because of Ainsley & Lily. He’s a cool guy, great music taste. We like a lot of the same stuff, & recommend new bands or musicians to each other. I shoot him a text back:

yeah man sure. send me your address & ill be over at 5

I pull into my driveway & turn off my car. Twirling the keys around my fingers, I open my front door to find Alice lying on her stomach in the living room. She hears the door open & looks back, a smile stretching across her face when she meets my eyes. I return the gesture with a warm smile of my own. I walk over & sit down next to her, leaning over her to see her doing her homework.

“Atta kid, doing your homework,” I say, ruffling her hair. Alice groans a bit as I get up, & looks back at me as I walk into the kitchen to get some food.

“It’s not even hard! It’s so easy! Why can’t they challenge me?” She yells, throwing her hands up in frustration. I laugh out loud. This girl cannot get any more like me.

“Alice, you’re a 3rd grader doing 5th grade math. How is that not challenging you enough?” I yell back, slapping the peanut butter on the bread & folding it in half. Taking a bite out of my semi-sandwhich, I go back into the living room & sit down next to my little sister. She’s sitting with an annoyed look on her face, writing down something on her paper & closing the notebook.

“Well, it’s too easy. Maybe I should skip a grade,” She thinks out loud. I chuckle again, unable to hide my happiness with this little girl.

“Maybe you should stop being such a smarty pants,” I add, taking another bite of my sandwich. She shrugs her shoulders & turns to get the tv remote behind her. My phone buzzes in my pocket & I find a text from Luke with his address. Punching it into the GPS on my phone, I see his house is about 10 minutes away. The clock says 4:45, so I get up & grab my keys from the counter. Just as I’m about to head out the door, I hear a little voice from behind me.

“W-where are you going Ash? You just got home,” Alice peeps. I turn around & see her sitting on the carpet, a sad look in her eyes.

“Oh, I’m going to my friend Luke’s house.”

“Oh,” she says, dropping her head. Furrowing my brow, I go back & sit next to her. She’s twiddling her thumbs, head still down. Her pigtails flop down, hitting her shoulders lightly. I grab her hands & stop them from moving.

“Whats wrong Al?” I whisper, genuinely concerned. This is my little sister, & basically my only family. If I don’t have her, I don’t have anything.

“It’s just that, I miss you. You’re always with Lily these days,” she mutters, lifting her head to meet her eyes with mine. They shine with tears, & her bottom lip quivers. The light from the window behind her illuminates her, making her look angelic. I frown a bit & kiss her forehead. When I pull away, her frown has lightened a bit, but still remains.