Invisible || Ashton Irwin

Chapter 42

Zoe's POV

Last week Ashton had found my sister for me and organised a meeting. When I first heard I was so excited to have my sister back but now as I stand looking at myself in the mirror, I'm not so sure. Why did she never come back for me if she had her life so together? Did she not care?

"Zoe I thought you had tutoring this morning? Why are you still here?" My dad knocks on my bedroom door.

"I'm leaving now." I say back to him before picking up my bag and heading for Ashton's house. My sister insisted on meeting the person who brought us back together but should we save that for next time? But then again it would be nice to have Ashton there for moral support.

"Hey, ready to go?" Ashton says when he opens the front door. I nod knowing he isn't looking for an answer. We head to his car and drive in silence for a while before he turns on the radio. "Just let me know if you want me to leave at any time." He says as we pull into the apartment complex. We park in the visitors car space and head for the elevator. This is it. Floor 36. Apartment 309. What am I going to say to her? We arrive on floor 36 and head for apartment 309 and when Ashton knocks on the door I think my heart stops. Maybe this was a bad idea. What if she doesn't want to know me? Ashton grabs my hand and keeps me grounded. The door is pulled open and I'm shocked at the sight before me.

"Zoe?" The woman in front of me whispers. She looks nothing like the Zali I once knew. Sure she had pictures on her Facebook wall but she seemed the same there. She pulls me into a hug which in turn separates me from Ashton. I accept her hug and take a deep breath; she still smells like the same old Zali. When she lets me go she looks to Ashton. "You must be Ashton. You don't know how grateful I am." She kisses him on the cheek before giving him a brief hug.

"Thanks for having us." Ashton says as she leads us inside her apartment.

"Aaron?" She yells into another room. "My sister is here if you want to come meet her!" She sits on the couch and pats next her for me to sit. Everything about this is strange but all I can think about is that one question playing on my mind.

"Why didn't you come back for me?" I say softly and her face falls as she looks up at me.

"Oh Zoe, you know it isn't that simple. You know how mum is. She would have freaked if I came back."

"You still could have tried for me. It's been hell in that house without you." She looks away from me and sighs.

"I know. I'm sorry." Should I accept that? When I sit on the couch next to her I think that means I forgive her. "So how's dad?" She says trying to change the subject.

"He's fine, still a pushover." She nods to agree with me before thinking of something else to say.

"Hey, I'm Aaron." A man appears from another room before she can say anything else.

"Ashton, what's up?" Ashton says to him and they start chatting about something. Aaron is a tall but built man who I never imagined my sister with. He's rugged and charming and unlike anything she used to date.

"So is Ashton your boy?" She says when Ashton and Aaron start discussing something else.

"Yeah." I say with a smile. "It was his idea to contact you." She then smiles at my comment.

"So what of my promises have I missed?" She asks with an arched brow.

"You haven't missed formal yet." I look up at her with hope in my eyes. Maybe we can really reconnect.

"Is formal the only one left?" She sighs and slumps in her seat clearly feeling guilty for missing everything she said she would be there for.

"I mean you haven't missed the first time I have sex with a boy yet, but I don't want some big lecture, I get enough crap from his little sister already." I say and we both start laughing.

"Well he seems like a good man." She says looking at Ashton. "You let me know if he hurts you and I'll beat him up." Ashton looks over at us clearly not listening to Aaron anymore and gives me a smile telling me he heard that last part.

"So what have you been up to?" I ask her.

"Oh you know, everything that mum hates. I've been selling my paintings to the local art galleries, pursuing music and love." She looks over at Aaron. "It has been quite liberating, I'm even a dog mum." She laughs and Aaron gets up and opens a door. A little fluffy brown dog runs out from behind the door and bolts over to us to see what is going on. "His name is Vincent, or Vinnie for short." I furrow my eyebrows, unsure of why she would call a dog that. "I got drunk one night with friends and we hadn't decided on a name yet and when I came home I kept calling him Vincent after Van Gogh and Aaron held me to it." She rolls her eyes. "I know it's pretty lame and cliche to name your dog after a famous painter but apparently that's what drunk me wanted." She shrugs and all I can do is laugh.

"Well I think Vinnie is cute." I say after I stop laughing.

"So what about you? How's your music? What about art?" Vinnie jumps in her lap and she ruffles his fur.

"Music is good, Ashton is actually in a band." I look over at Ashton." They let me come to their rehearsals and I tell them what they're doing wrong." My sister laughs as Ashton diverts his attention back to me.

"More like we tell you what you're doing wrong." He laughs along with Zali and I roll my eyes at him.

"What do you play, Ashton?" My sister asks him and I know she's going to be impressed with the answer.

"I can play a bit of everything but in the band I play the drums." She looks over at me and raises her eyebrows with a huge smile on her face. Zali loves a drummer.