Smile (Ashton Irwin || A.u) *discontinued*

Chapter 7

|| Old And Wise - The Alan Parsons Project ||

Alicia was sat at her desk writing her letter when there was a knock at the door. She was just finishing off with her usual goodbye.

She turned around and looked through the door window to see a visibly shaking head of curls.

Finishing the letter, she stood up and walked towards the door, looking down at herself before so. She was wearing a pair of Winnie the pooh shorts and short sleeved top, these were her pyjamas.

She opened the door and was shocked to find Ashton standing in the doorway looking down at the floor. He was holding his arm nervously and crying.

"C-can I come in?" His voiced broke as Alicia sidestepped to let him in. He looked up for a brief second, long enough to Alicia see his hazel eyes rimmed with tears.

"Sure take a seat." Alicia motioned to her bed as Ashton stumbled in. She shut the door behind him as he broke down on her bed.

"I j-just hurt so b-bad.." Alicia was confused as to why Ashton had come to her whilst in this state, but she decided to let it pass as she already felt bad for him. His wrist was visibly red and sore and he was in a pair of chequered trousers and top.

"Ashton what's wrong?" She sat next to him and debated on whether to put her hand on his shoulder in a comforting manner. She didn't even know who he really was and why he had gotten into this state.

"Everything. I h-hate this p-place! Why won't they let me die?" He put his head in his hands and sobbed uncontrollably. Alicia watched him and bit her lip, attempting to control herself in this situation.

"Ashton. It's all going to be fine, I promise. We have all been through this here, it's normal to feel like this in the first week." She placed one hand on his back and made circles on his back. He leaned into her and she watched his shoulder blades move underneath his top. She felt his back muscles tighten and release under her palm.

Ashton slowed his breathing and attempted to stop crying. His head still rested in his hands for a few minutes, before looking up and staring at Alicia. She smiled at him, attempting to make him feel slightly calmer.

"Thank you, I'm sorry for this." Ashton went to stand up and leave the room before Alicia stopped him. She grabbed his arm and sat him back down on her bed.

"Ashton, I'm sorry but I don't think you should de alone right now. Do you want to sleep in here?" Alicia felt slightly more comfortable around Ashton, since obviously he trusted her enough to break down.

"Alicia, are you sure?" Again Ashton looked down at the floor and grabbed his arm. Alicia had found out why his wrist was red and sore, he had been scratching at the non-healed cuts.

Alicia didn't even hesitate. She grabbed his arm and pulled it away from his wrist as he looked up at her confusingly.

"Why do you care?" Ashton attempted to fight against her pinning his arms down, which didn't work.

"I want you to stop. Understand?" Alicia demanded and looked into his eyes.

"Why?" He stopped struggling against her hands as she looked back down. She debated on whether or not to tell him. She had come to the support group to get better, this might have helped.

"I don't want you to get as bad as me..." Alicia sighed and let go of Ashton's arms, standing up as she did so.

"What are you talking about?" Ashton looked at her intently as she lifted up her top, she looked away embarrassed as she showed Ashton the deep scars covering her stomach. After about 20 seconds she lowered her top and pulled up the legs of her shorts, revealing a collection of slices across the top of her thighs. She dropped her short legs and turned over her wrists, showing different scars of varying sizes and lengths.

"Ashton. I might not know you, but you can never get this bad. Please. I hate it." She went back to feeling self-conscious and rubbing her arm.

"I-I don't know what to say..." He looked down at the floor. She but her lip and held back the tears, sitting on her desk chair.

"Nothing." Alicia looked down, "just try and sleep please." Ashton buried himself in Alicia's sheets as Alicia laid down on the floor.

She was just falling to sleep when she felt a warm duvet placed on her. Alicia opened her eyes, quick enough to see Ashton laying back on the bed.

His scent radiated from the duvet as she got comfortable. She fell asleep, smiling until she could no longer stay awake.