The Get-Go [Ashton Irwin]

17: Get Down (Under) [Part B]

    “Wynny?” Ash scrambles to his feet, and I promptly put the popcorn on the arm of the sofa before he reaches me. As soon as he’s within an arms’ length, his arms are wrapped around my waist, pulling me right into his broad chest.

    “Hey, Ash,” giggling, I bury my face in his hoodie, breathing in the smell of detergent and his body spray and cotton. There's a small pressure on the top of my head that I just know is his lips, soon replaced by the feeling of him resting his chin there as he continues to squeeze me tight.

    It's nice just to be physically close to him again, clinging onto each other with equal excitement. The rest of the world seems irrelevant to me for now, leaving the two of us completely detached from and unaffected by anything going on around us. This feels different from our reunion at the Billboards. More intimate, maybe. There isn't a crowded room full of strangers staring at us while they eat breakfast, no relationship 'break' that we have to mend. And there's no more secret relationship. It's just us, being us.

    He loosens his grip just enough that I can lean backwards to look him in the eyes. There's a single tear stain on his right cheek that I use my sleeve to wipe away, and he does the same to me. I hadn't realized that I let a tear drop out of my eye until he's gently patted it dry. To be honest, I don't even know why we're crying, but I don't want to ruin the moment by questioning it aloud. Instead, I wait for him to speak first. "What are you doing down here?"

    "Happy birthday, babe," I smile, pulling his head down so that I can peck him on the lips. "Love, Mikey, Cal, and Luke. They sent me a giant bow, but I forgot it at home."

    Ash shakes his head slightly, a small smile on his lips. "They didn't."

    "Uh huh. It was silver and blue, and the blue matched my eyes… whoever picked it has a really good eye," I tease.

    "You know that's not what I mean."

    "I do. And yeah, they did haul my maple syrup drinking butt down here to see my doofus boyfriend hit double-decades."

    He chuckles quietly, his arms still wrapped around my waist. "Aw, don't say it like that. You're ruining the romantic mood we had going on here."

    "Oh, am I?" I tease, scrunching my nose as he kisses the tip of it.

    "You kind of are."

    The sound of someone clearing their throat drags me back to reality. I totally forgot that we aren't alone, but there Lauren is, sitting on the sofa, rolling her eyes at the both of us. A heat rises to my cheeks, and Ash chuckles before he addresses his sister. "Sorry, Lo. Here, I'll finish setting up the DVD, and we can all –"

    "Nu-uh. No way. I'm not watching anything with you two… you're just going to make out and be gross the whole time. Go to the cinema or something and ruin someone else's movie."

    My boyfriend turns to me with a hopeful, impish grin, which dissolves into laughter when I smack his chest. "Honestly, Ash. You're so cliché."

    "Fine, we'll go get ice cream because I'm hungry and ice cream dates in the dead of winter are as not cliché as I can come up with. Is that alright with you?" He teases.

    "I suppose," I sigh dramatically, rolling my eyes like eating ice cream is the last thing in the world I want to do. Of course, as dumb and cheesy and cliché as it is, I would be more than happy to do anything, as long as it's with Ash.

=X=X=X=X=X=