stutter » a. irwin

chapter 14. falling

❀ J U L I A ❀

After my sudden realization, I hoped things would feel a little easier. The only thing I was afraid of was being reduced to a stuttering idiot the moment Ashton walked through the door. Before I could even properly prepare myself, the door burst open and the devil himself walked in, followed by a dejected Luke and a carefree Michael. Both of them looked completely exhausted.

"What took you so long?" Calum sighed dramatically as he threw his notebook to the side. "I think Julia and I just wrote the entire album in one go."

"It's all his fault," Luke pointed accusingly at Michael. "He said he knew which buses to take, and after 30 minutes he realizes we're heading the wrong way!"

Michael shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly and threw himself on the couch between Calum and I. "All of the streets looked the same, how was I supposed to know?"

Before Luke could respond, their argument was interrupted by the arrival of a guy who I assumed to be one of the producers.

"Guys, stop arguing over whatever silly thing you're arguing about and start setting up, yeah?"

Michael gave Luke a lazy grin just as Calum shot the producer a thumbs up. The guy nodded and disappeared as fast as he came, and Luke threw a piece of wadded up notebook paper at Michael's head.

"Hemmings, I swear-"

Before a full out war could happen, Ashton darted forward and snatched up the ball of paper while Calum stood up and began to push the other two boys towards the booth.

"Alright guys, break it up." Calum's voice was the last thing I heard before Luke and Michael's bickering faded away as they entered the recording studio.

I laughed to myself, and Ashton paused, lingering by the door for a few seconds before making his way over to me.

"Hope Cal didn't annoy the hell out of you," he began, ducking his head down to rub the back of his neck. "Sorry it took so long; if I knew I would have just brought you with me."

To be honest, Calum was one of the funniest people I knew besides Rachel. After he stopped pestering me about Ashton, we spent the hour talking about everything and anything. Calum's tour stories had me dying of laughter, and 5sos fans definitely came up with some creative tweets.

"Surprisingly, he's not completely full of bullshit." I smiled, shaking my head. "I actually do feel better."

"That's what they all say." Ashton said as he gave me a disbelieving look. "Anyways, we're gonna record, so you can watch or just do whatever you want." His voice suddenly lowered as he spoke in a hushed tone. "If you wanna crash here too, go for it. The boys won't care and I'd be less worried if you do."

It was times like these where it was so hard not to be completely smitten by Ashton. He was a genuinely sweet person, but it was also so hard to read his true feelings. However, the smile forming on my lips couldn't be stopped as I saw the concern in his eyes.

"As comfortable as the couch looks, I think I'm okay for now. You should go join the guys, they look pretty ready." I glanced at the band, who were just messing around with their instruments as the producers set up.

"Always so stubborn." Ashton mumbled under his breath fondly. "Okay, I'll leave you alone for now. Don't miss me too much, okay?" He laughed, walking backwards towards the door like he wanted to prolong his conversation with me. At least, that was what I hoped.

"Wouldn't count on it!" I called back. My brain immediately contradicted with me, but I did my best to ignore it.

Right before he walked into the actual studio, Ashton turned around. "By the way, listen out for a song called Long Way Home. It kind of reminds me of you."