player ♚ lrh

12 - frustration

Ashton Irwin was a pretty tough person to dislike, Elise found.

For one, she kind of, maybe, definitely thought he would leave her to stand alone the second he didn't feel like keeping her company. But she was sorely mistaken, as usual, because Ashton was no where near bored enough to ditch her—and even if he was, he would never do it.

Elise didn't know it, but that was exactly the reason why Luke allowed her to stay in the first place. There was quite literally not another person in the world that he trusted enough to stand in his place. For as much shit as he gave him, Luke knew fully well that his best mate was a good person—better than himself, that was for sure, and he was very grateful that he'd made his presence known before Luke went and did something stupid out of frustration.

Like, say, make the girl cry unintentionally. Or, at the very least, cancel his fight entirely just to drive the girl home himself.

For peace of mind. Is what he told himself—a lie, but a comforting one nonetheless.

Whatever the reason, Elise had a feeling Ashton Irwin would not leave her side until Luke was there to take his place, and it put her at immediate ease. He was a comforting presence—easy going, clearly likable, and she couldn't get enough of the joking words he used to describe the boy in the center of the circle.

Though she couldn't be completely sure before, Elise knew fairly well that the two boys actually were good friends. From behind the teasing, and the somewhat harsh words from Luke's end, she could very well tell that they thought pretty highly of one another, even if they didn't outwardly show it.

It made her smile, hopelessly, because as he continued to nudge her and explain what was happening, she had to guess that Ashton was sort of Luke's rock, and she thought he deserved to have at least one of those.

In a strange, slightly unexpected outcome, Elise wasn't at all disgusted by the scene playing out in front of her. Sure, she had never seen anything like this, and it certainly wasn't pleasant to see Luke put himself in a position to get hurt, but she was mesmerized.

He was quick, sharp, and strong. It was clear that he knew what he was doing, and that's what kept Elise from running for the hills out of pure worry. He was good at it, just as Ashton had continually reassured her, but seeing him in action was a completely different story. It was bittersweet in the best way, for every jab was a gamble, but the cards always seemed to be in Luke's favor.

"Fuck, that was a good one," Ashton murmured from beside her, eyes trained intently on his friend centered by the crowd.

Elise was watching steadily too, though she really couldn't distinguish one hit from the rest of them. To her, each one was just as painful looking as the last, and she had to grimace for the poor boy at the receiving end of Luke's relentless swings.

"Will he win?" She let the question slip out, hardly meaning to voice her concern.

Ashton grinned as he glanced at her. "You worried?"

Puffing her cheeks out, she didn't know how to respond. She decided to go with the truth. "A little, yeah." She mumbled.

Cute. Ashton chuckled to himself. He merely shook his head before attempting to ease her mind. "Don't be, buttercup," he teased. "Your boy knows what he's doing."

There was a lump in Elise's throat that she attempted to swallow, Ashton's suggestive words undoubtedly the cause. Her boy. Luke was definitely not her boy. She was fairly certain he was no one's boy, and she couldn't picture that ever changing. She knew Ashton wasn't serious, only teasing with her, but the words clung to her mind in a way that made her feel, well, odd. She couldn't really explain it.