flowers ❀ lashton [𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐝]

𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 - 𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐟𝐭𝐨𝐩

Ashton had spent days inside, drowning in coffee and school work, he hadn't managed to leave unless he was getting forced by his mother - even then it was only for an hour at a time.

His grandmas funeral took a rough toll on Ashton, and he hadn't been acting the same since. All the flowers in his room had died, and any drawings on his walls had been ripped down and replaced with cracks and holes.

His social media was dead, he hadn't posted to Instagram in days, and his twitter was a solid mix of retweets from sad accounts and pictures of white button up shirts and alcoholic drinks - the two things that really reminded him of Luke Hemmings.

But today was the day. Today was the day he'd leave the house. The day he'd face his fear of walking past the flower shop and push past the urge of walking inside. The day he'd finally bandage his knuckles and take a breath of fresh air for the first time in a week.

Ashton had barely worn his glasses in days, so it took a few seconds for him to adjust to actually being able to see. His hair was a mess and he looked pale thanks to all the crying and barely eating. His hands were covered in bruises and little cuts from the constant punching his bedroom walls, but his torso was now covered with a deep green hoodie, and his legs were covered with a pair of black jeans that he could barely get up.

He slowly slid his pair of black slip on vans, and he ran his fingers through his messy hair, grabbing his phone from his bed and then his earphones from his bedside cabinet. He plugged them into the bottom, and he put them into his ears, taking a deep breath before he unlocked his phone and opened his apple music.

He was quick to select a playlist, and was rather happy with the first song to come on, Daylily - Movements.  He slid his phone into his pocket and walked out of his bedroom and across to his bathroom, looking in the mirror, and reaching for the toothpaste, squeezing some onto his finger, quickly rubbing it against his teeth and smearing it across his tongue. After he was sure his breath was no longer a problem, he spit the remaining toothpaste into the sink and washed it away quickly before he walked down the stairs and out of the house, not even bothering to say bye to his mum.

As soon as he took a step outside, he stood for a second and took a deep breath, closing his eyes, feeling the wind through his hair and against his face, giving him an excuse to pull his hood up over his hair. His hands immediately slid into his pocket, and he started slowly walking out of the garden and in the direction of the very little high street that was in the tiny town.

It was very lightly raining but it wasn't something that bothered Ashton, in fact, it almost soothed him. The feeling of the drops against the tip of his nose and occasionally against his cheeks was a nice feeling - the last thing he felt there was the feeling of Luke Hemmings, and his soft hands. It was almost as if the rain was washing away that feeling, and as much as Ashton didn't want to have that feeling disappear, it had to. It just had to.

The rain became a little heavier, and the wind slowed down, but Ashton was walking slowly. Several soft songs had played over the fifteen minute walk, and Ashton had kept his breathing even the whole time, not wanting to get himself too worked up over the littlest things, like how the flower shop was nearing, and how he knew that Luke worked on Thursdays.

Ashton took his phone out of his pocket and looked at the time. 18:47. The pharmacy closed in thirteen minutes, and Ashton really needed to have his hand looked at. But Ashton stopped in his tracks as he saw the flower shop door opening, a shaky breath falling from his lips.

After a second, watching a customer walk out of the shop, he let himself calm down, his breathing becoming slow and steady again, his eyes closing for a second. He slid his phone back into his pocket and he continued walking with his head down, not even taking a second to look into the flower shop window. He just couldn't bring himself to see the blonde boy again.