Always | Ashton Irwin

Chapter twelve.

‘So you’re the famous Alison?’ The girl next to Harry asked with a grin when I greeted all the boys with a hug.

She had blond hair that came till under her shoulders and her eyes were a really nice mix of brown and green.

I smiled ‘Yeah I guess so, and you are?’ 

Harry wrapped his arm around her waist ‘This is my girlfriend Solange,’ he said with a big smile.

‘I can talk for myself Harry,’ she giggled as she playfully shoved him. 

‘I’m Solange but you can call me Sow,’ she said as she shook my hand. 

I laughed ‘Nice to meet you Sow, you have your hands full with that guy I see,’ I teased as I stuck my tongue out to Harry. 

She giggled and kissed his cheek ‘Oh I do, but I don’t mind.’ 

The girl next to Niall also giggled ‘She really does, I’m Lizzy by the way.’ She said as she gave us a little wave. 

I smiled to both girls ‘Hey Row, are you gonna introduce yourself or..?’ I asked my best friend. 

She was staring at the boys and I didn’t think she even heard what I said ‘Uhh Row?’ 

Luke tugged at her arm and finally she looked up ‘Huh?’ was the only thing that came out her mouth. 

We all laughed as her cheeks turned bright red ‘Oh er hi, I’m Rowan.’ She said when she saw everyone staring at her. 

‘Boys, it’s time for the sound check!’ a voice screamed form the other end of the hall. 

‘Can we watch?’ I asked. 

They nodded and with a smile I grabbed Rowan’s arm and dragged her along with me. 

‘She’s a big fan I assume?’ Solange asked when Rowan started squealing again. 

I grinned ‘Yes she is, and I guess she finally realized they just spoke to her.’ 

Before the boys were off to go sound check I gave Ash a kiss on his cheek ‘Please smile Ashy,’ I whispered in his ear. 

He gave me a small smile and kissed the side of my head ‘I see you in a few.' 

‘He looks sad,’ Lizzy said with a frown when Ash walked away from us. 

I sighed ‘Yeah I noticed, something’s wrong but he wouldn’t tell me.’ 

‘Do you think management said something to him?’ Rowan asked, she finally stopped fangirling and looked a bit worried now. 

‘Yeah I think so, he’s never like this. Ashton is always happy..’ 

Solange patted my back ‘He’ll be fine, just try to talk to him when you get back to the hotel.’ 

I smiled at her and for the next few minutes we got to know each other a little better. They were both really nice girls and I had a feeling I would see these two more often. When the 1D boys came on stage to do their sound check we all cheered for them and sang along with the songs. Half way through what makes you beautiful, Luke came running towards us. 

 ‘Did you guys see Ashton? He asked out of breath. 

I frowned ‘No, why..?’ 

‘He said he had to make a call but when we wanted to go get him for the sound check he wasn’t in the hall anymore and we can’t find him.’

‘Did you check the bathrooms?’

‘Only the one closest to the dressing room.’

I jumped up from my seat and started walking towards the big black doors ‘I will help you look for him.’

‘You go left, I go right. I see you back here in the middle.’ Luke said as he started walking into the right direction. 

I nodded and slipped my phone out of my pocket to call Ash. It went straight to voicemail.

‘Ashton?’ I called when I walked into the man’s bathroom. 

Just when I was about to go find the next one I heard something. ‘Ash, is that you?’  

This time I heard someone crying and immediately I felt my heart break. 

‘Ash?’ 

‘Go away!’ 

I sighed and walked over to the last booth ‘Open the door Ash, please.’ 

I heard him sniff and a few seconds later the door opened. He sat on the ground with his arms around his legs. His eyes were red and puffy and his cheeks were covered with tears. I sank to my knees and grabbed his hands. 

‘Oh Ashy, are you going to tell me what’s wrong now?’ 

‘I can’t Ali, I can’t tell you.’ 

‘What do you mean you can’t tell me?’ 

He bit his lip and more tears fell out of his eyes ‘I can’t tell anyone, I can’t tell you, I can’t tell the boys and I can’t tell the fans. They won’t let me, not yet at least.’

Okay now I was really confused ‘Who Ash? Who said you couldn’t tell anyone?’ 

‘Management, they want me to do something but-‘ 

‘You don’t want to do it?’ 

He shook his head and pulled me closer to him. I sat on his lap and grabbed his face in my hands ‘It’s gonna be okay Ashy, they can’t make you do things you don’t want to do.’ 

He let out a weird laugh ‘Oh they can Ali, I wouldn’t do it if I had a choice in this. I don’t want to go o-‘ he stopped talking, probably because he realized he almost told me what he had to do. 

I wiped his tears away with my thumbs ‘Is it that bad?’ 

He closed his eyes for a few seconds ‘I don’t know, maybe I make it worse than it really is but I just don’t want to do it. I think it’s stupid and I already know that everyone is going to hate it.. And the thing is, when they told me what I have to do, I realized something and it scares me but it also confused me.’ 

‘Tell me,’ I whispered. 

He shook his head and smiled sadly ‘I can’t, I want to, I really want to Ali but this is something I have to figure out by myself first. I will tell you when I’m ready okay?’ 

I slowly nodded ‘Okay, so what are we going to do about that thing you have to do?’

Ashton sighed and buried his face in my neck ‘I have no idea.’

‘Are you sure you’re not going to tell me what it is?’

I had this feeling I already knew what they asked him. They did it before with Harry and since me and Ash were really close it would make sense why they chose him. It could also be his age, he was the oldest out of the band and that would make it a lot easier too. 

When he didn’t answer me I decided to just ask him and see how he reacted.

‘They want you to date someone, don’t they?’ my voice was soft and almost a whisper but I knew he heard me.

He stiffened a bit and tightened his grip around me ‘No.’ 

I snorted and leaned back a bit so I could look at him ‘Are you sure?’ 

He sighed ‘Why do you know me so well?’ 

I smiled and squeezed his hand ‘Because I’m your best friend Ash, that’s why.’ 

For the first time today his smile was real ‘True.’  

‘Are you going to tell me why you’re so upset about this now? I mean, I get why you don’t want to date a stupid bimbo but you’re never like this. It kinda scares me and I just want you to know that you can tell me everything. Whatever you do or say, you’ll always be my best friend.’ 

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No she did not friendzoned him, you can be friends and lovers okay?! Haha (;

I hope you guys like it! Thanks for the votes and comments, I love you <3 xx