Dear Ashton » Ashton Irwin

part two: tattoos // january 14th, 2011

        Ashton’s pupils drifted from his midnight black shoes, and his tongue grazed his chapped lips. “My house,” he replied, pushing his hair from his eyes.

        Nova hadn’t willingly obliged to receiving tattoos. More or less, she was absolutely petrified of piercing her skin permanently. With all feelings aside, Lia had stopped by her locker, and practically dragged her out of school to encounter the other three boys. Then, with Ashton there, he’d flung his arm across her shoulder — the three boys had a bad habit of doing that — and gave her a cordial smile, repeating himself when he said doing illegal things was not how he rolled. Somehow, Nova ended up believing him, because she trusted Ashton whole-heartedly.

        Now, digging into his pocket, Ashton drew out a set of brass metallic keys, eyes analyzing each key. Nova’s eyes fluttered across the area, as she admired the scenery. Then, her eyes flickered back to Ashton, and a cluster of questions flashed throughout her mind. To sum it all up, she inquired, “So we’re getting tattoos at your house?”

        He shrugged dismissively, “I guess you could say that.” Then, after finding the right key, he placed it into the gap, and twisted it.

        Ashton pushed the door open, leaving it agape for his friends to enter. As Lia helped Grayson with his crutches, Nova stilled, and as hard as she tried to enter his house, she found herself standing outside in the wintry season. Noah’s head veered into Nova’s direction, and he gave her a compassionate smile, his hand stretching back, reaching for Nova’s, and pulling her inside the house.

        “Hey mom, I’m home.” Ashton yelled, hanging his coat in the closet. Then, after a pause, he glanced at the group of people, “And my friends are here.”

        Nova imitated her friends’ movements, while she pulled her shiny charcoal boots off, and placed it onto the mat. She gazed at them as they meandered further in the house, and began hanging their jackets up in the closet, as if they were so accustomed to the movements. And it made her think, how long have these four been friends? It seemed as though they were inseparable, and even if she were to lacerate the rope that had connected the four of them, they would be clinging to each other as if their whole existences depended on it.

        A voice promptly pulled her from her reverie, and Nova took a glimpse at the person who stood before her. Ashton’s left hand stretched forward, waiting patiently as his voice swam placidly into the air, “Pass me your coat.”

        For a moment, Nova raised her eyebrow, a confused look imprinted on her face while she stared blankly down at his hand. Ashton laughed, a refrain of chuckles echoed throughout his house. “I’ll hang it up for you, unless you plan on wearing it around in the house.” Ashton concluded.

        Blood rushed to Nova’s cheeks, staining them with pigments like hollyhock flowers. Casually shrugging off her ebony trimmed coat, Nova placed it onto his arm.

        She peered at Ashton as he sauntered further into the house, as she trailed behind him insensibly. Her pupils darted across his house, observing the area. And to be quite frank, the residence was a work of art. She swore, Grayson could have intricately sketched the abode, and she would have framed it on a billboard for the entire world to see.

        And it wasn’t as if his house was as massive as the Titanic, filled with exquisite chandeliers and ornate tea sets.  To be precise, it wasn’t anything near that. Instead, plastered on the burgundy walls were frames filled with quotes — from authors, artists, musicians, historical figures, you name it — and she admired them quite greatly.

        What stopped Nova from trekking around Ashton’s house to read each and every one of the quotes was a woman with electric blue irises, sandy blonde hair and a bright smile. Her voice was gentle when she spoke to Ashton, as if she was coaxing a child to stop crying, and her eyes flickered across the room, lips quirking into welcoming grin after noticing the circle of friends. “Hi.”