genesis ♡ irwin [3]

30 > REAL

ashton sighed as he checked his phone only to see no new messages. he's been home alone all day, and none of his friends will answer their phones to say they want to hang out. even odette, who he had been talking to until approximately three hours ago, had gone silent. he was beginning to feel extremely lonely, and ready to just throw his phone out of the window.

that is, until there was a knock on his door. confused, he threw the blanket off his lap and stood to open it, peeking through the peep hole to see nothing. he almost debated leaving it alone, but his curiosity got the better of him and he tugged it open, and almost screamed.

"hi," odette lifted a hand to wave, a wide grin across her face. "so like–"

"holy shit!" ashton interrupted, rushing forward to wrap his arms around her. she copied his actions, giggling when he got so excited that he lifted her off her feet and twirled her around. "ode! you're here!? what the fuck?"

the girl waited until she was steady on her feet to respond. "so you owe violet and lily big time."

"shit," he said again, "remind me to buy them something nice." then, upon realizing she was still outside, rushed to welcome her in. "oh! come in, sorry."

odette grinned as she stepped into his house, looking around at the walls in wonder. a few months ago, she had only been staring at this man through her phone screen, and now she was standing in his house. she couldn't believe how important he had become to her in such a small amount of time.

"this is nice," she commented with a nod.

"thanks," ashton grinned, staring at her as if in awe. he paused for a moment before stepping closer and pulling her into another embrace. she let out a sharp breath in surprise before relaxing and burying her face in his shoulder.

the hug was surprisingly long, but not awkward, even when they both realized how much time had passed and pulled away. odette stared at ashton with such fondness and her heart felt warm and happy in her chest. she would never notice that his expression was just as full of love.

"what are we supposed to do?" she asked, feeling suddenly out of place. "the bad part about surprises is that you can't plan things to do ahead of time."

ashton thought for a second. "i kind of just want to hang out with you for a bit? is that okay? how long are you here?"

"until tuesday," she replied, "i have to go back to work wednesday."

"that's only three days," he frowned, but tried to shake it off. "are you cool with chilling here for a bit and then the guys can come over later?"

"shit," odette's eyes widened. "it never crossed my mind that i would get to meet them. oh my god."

"i forget that you're a huge fan sometimes," ashton chuckled. "it's okay, they love you."

odette raised an eyebrow, "they love me? they don't even know me."

his cheeks reddened and he rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment. "uh, i've kind of talked about you before..."

"good to know," she smiled. "my best friend and i talk about you all the time. she's a fan too. we freak out together."

his lips tugged upwards at the way she brightened. "do you wanna sit?"

-

"holy shit. holy shit. holy shit."

"woah, ode, it's okay."

odette shook her head vividly. "listen, ash, you guys are literally my idols. i've gotten used to talking to you over time and i also had time to prepare myself for meeting you. but i never even thought about the rest of the boys and–"

"odette," ashton placed his hands on her shoulders and looked at her directly. "they're nice. it's alright, i promise. trust me."

she visibly took a deep breath and nodded, "okay."

then the door flung open, and five smiling figured entered his house. ashton rolled his eyes at the lack of knocking, but was already being pushed away from odette.

"it's so nice to meet you!" violet exclaimed, pulling odette into a hug. the girl's eyes were wide as she did her best to return it. "wow, you're really pretty."

"th-thank you," the curly haired girl stuttered with a shy smile. "and thank you for all this."

violet waved it off as lily stepped forward to take her turn, "oh my gosh, this is so exciting! ashton hasn't had a girlfriend in so long and now finally—"

"babe," calum chuckled, wrapping an arm around the blonde's waist and pulling her back to give odette some space. he smiled at her. "hi, odette. i'm calum."

"i think she knows," lily whispered in her boyfriend's ear.

michael squeezed odette tightly as calum stepped back. "hello! welcome to california."

"great to be here," odette said, obviously starstruck.

"is it really?" luke asked, being more gentle to embrace the younger girl. "it's great to have you, though."

ashton stepped forward to intervene, "okay, guys, don't overwhelm her."

violet rolled her eyes and shook her head. "we brought her here. we get to be excited."

"okay, i really have to ask," calum began, sounding serious. "before you started talking to ashton, who was your favorite in the band?"

"hey!" ashton exclaimed, "don't ask her that!"

"afraid of the truth, ash?" michael smirked, wiggling his eyebrows. "so, odette?"

"uh," at the mention of her name, odette looked like a deer caught in headlights. she looked back and forth between all the boys before sighing. "sorry. it was luke."

the blond man cheered excitedly as calum and michael scoffed in disbelief. ashton rolled his eyes and looked at her, "okay, but now it's me, right?"

odette's smile returned as soon as she looked at him, which did not go unnoticed by the rest of the group. "yeah, ash, now it's you."