High Hopes || Mashton AU

Chapter 7

"Um, what is this?" Michael found himself asking as a small wrapped up item got pressed into his hands. He looked up, meeting Ashton's hazel eyes, which were rather bright and seemed to shine with excitement. That didn't take away Michael's confusion though, considering it wasn't his birthday yet and he couldn't think of anything else why he would receive a gift. From Ashton Irwin, out of all.

Ashton simply pushed his hands into the pockets of his jeans, grinning at the other boy. "Just open it. You'll see."

With a soft shake of his head, Michael turned the item around and carefully tugged on the tape. He wasn't sure why he always opened presents carefully, trying not to rip the paper, but there was some sort of satisfaction in getting the paper off in one piece. It was just one of his many quirks.

Once the paper moved, Michael started to reveal a small book, with a red and white cover, the upper half being red and the lower half being white. As he pulled the paper off completely, he noticed the black writing on the front, his eyebrows furrowing together as he read the swirly handwriting. 'Reasons for Michael to go to the dance'.

Michael's eyes widened lightly, his heart skipping a beat at the idea Ashton was trying this again. But, he had to admit that the way he approached it, was making Michael curious. He wanted to know what Ashton had made out of this. If it would have made him reconsider, if he weren't already doing that like he was.

The first page was filled with a list, of actual reasons why Michael should go to the dance. They weren't in a specific order, nor were they numbered, but they all made sense. One nearly made him laugh though, because it was a typical thing for Ashton to say. 'Because I am going and I am the life of the party!', which was also an All Time Low song and thus made the reason amazing as well as funny.

Michael couldn't help but actually read all the reasons, a soft smile on his face at the way they seemed to be written down so carefully. But readable, most of all, because Michael knew how unreadable Ashton's handwriting could be.

Once he had read all the reasons, Michael turned the page, only to be surprised by a hollowed out book. The middle section of the blank white pages had been cut out and instead, there was a rolled up paper with a black ribbon around it. Curious as ever, Michael took it out and carefully removed the ribbon, rolling out the page to read what had been written on it.

The first thing Michael noticed, was that there were two images printed on the paper. To the left a Charmander, and to the right a Squirtle. It added to the confusion, even if there was a slight flutter at the idea of Ashton remembering he liked Pokèmon.

'Charmander is red, Squirtle is blue, I know the dance is not quite your thing, but please let me take you?'

Silence was around the two for a moment, as Ashton looked at Michael with nearly hopeful eyes. The black and red haired boy couldn't help but stare at the paper, letting the words sink in and eventually able to realise that Ashton was actually asking him to the dance. In the most amazing way ever, he had to add. Was this what it was like to be romanticised by the real Ashton Irwin?

"You want..." Michael managed to bring out, honestly a little shocked by the whole thing. Ashton had actually put some thought and effort into this, just to ask him to a dance. Was it as friends though, or did Ashton mean it as a date? Considering Sophia did say they already looked like a couple –somehow- it could be...

"I want you to come to the dance with me. I'll let you see it's not as bad as it seems. We'll have fun together." Ashton still looked as hopeful as before, having shuffled a little closer and now looking down a little, considering Michael was slightly shorter than the jock. The dark haired boy bit his lip lightly, looking back at Ashton and letting the question ring through his mind. What was one night opposed to it all anyway?