terrible things - ashton irwin

twenty

Suffice it to say that I did not want to go. What is Chrissy was a ax murderer? But Ashton said that for one, the chances of that were very slim: and for two, being killed with an ax was conceivably more appealing than spending another night with that emergency break poking into his side. So we followed Chrissy towards the old Las Vegas Strip and into a modest apartment complex.

"Here we go," She said, pointing toward a sagging red couch in the middle of a dingy living room. Neon lights from the signs outside reflected on the bare walls. "You sleep in there, and your boyfriend can have the floor in the kids' room. It's carpeted."

"He's not my boyfriend," I said, out of habit. I could see Ashton getting ready to deliver his line 'She asked me out, but i turned her down' so i quickly added, "He's not my type."

Chrissy raised one thin, painted eyebrow. "Oh yeah? 'Cause looks to me like he'd be everyone's type."

Ashton, who seemed ready to fall over from exhaustion made a show of kissing his biceps. He was such a beautiful goof- of course he was my type.

"Dork," I said

"Nerd," he retorted.

Chrissy cackled. "God, you two are seriously the cutest things ever. If you aren't together, i don't know what your problem is."

Then he handed Ashton a pile of blankets and shoved him toward the door of a bedroom. "The kid on the left snores," she said. "Fair warning."

She gave me one last tired vaguely maternal smile and disappeared into her bedroom. I lay on the soft couch and though about what she'd said: that if Ashton and I weren't together, she didn't know what was wrong with us.

I didn't know, either. I mean, there was plenty wrong with us. But was that the thing keeping us apart? I couldn't sleep, thinking about it. About him. Close to dawn, I tiptoed into the room where he was sleeping. He lay on his side, his hand tucked under his cheek. I watched him for a long time, counting his slow breaths and imagining I could hear the strong beat of his heat.

It sounded ridiculous even to me, but I couldn't stand not being near to Ashton, especially now that I'd gotten to spend every night with him since we started this totally, insane-but-also-the-best-thing-ever trip. He made me feel the kind of joy I hadn't felt since i was a kid and my family was whole. And he also made me feel...a kind of rush I'd never felt before in my life.

How could I ever go back to being by myself, being with-out him, now that i knew these feelings were possible?

Before i knew what i was doing, i crept forward and lay down beside him, matching my breath to his. Whether or not he wanted me the same way i wanted him, we were in this together, that was what Ashton had said. It has never occurred to me before what a complicated word together was.

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word count - 515