Easier [Ashton Irwin]

20

But I know that I'm never, ever gonna change
And you know you don't want it any other way

~~~

By the next morning, Ashton's emotions had taken a complete and utter u-turn to how he had felt the night before.

Ashton's palms were sweaty as he tugged at the cuffs of his suit. He was stood in front of the wall length mirror in Sydney's guest room, adjusting his clothes and playing with his hair in a desperate attempt to make himself presentable.

His anxiety has most definitely made itself known as his hands shook unconsciously. His heart thumped loudly in his chest and Ashton could hear his blood in his ears. He nibbled nervously at his bottom lip, staring at himself in the mirror.

"Hey," Sydney spoke, snapping Ashton out of his distressed state as she knocked lightly on the door before walking in, "you okay?"

Ashton breathed in sharply, looking over at her quickly. "Yeah, yeah," he breathed out, his eyes softening and his muscles relaxing as he looked at her, "I'm fine."

She walked over to him, moving his hands away from the tie he had been adjusting previously. "No, you're not. I can tell. You're stressed — you keep fiddling with your suit and it's unnecessary." She adjudged his tie a little before standing back, smiling at the man. "There — you look great."

"I know." Ashton sighed heavily, playing twiddling his fingers as he looked down at them. "I'm just worried."

"You have nothing to be worried about, Ash." Her voice was soft and gentle, a contrast to her personality.

"Just— what if it goes wrong?" He spoke feverishly. "What if we don't get the outcome that we want? What if they think I'm the bad guy? The band would get a bad rep and then the boys would be screwed—"

"Honey Bee, no." Sydney grasped his hand, gently squeezing them to reassure the man. "You've got nothing to worry about. There is so much evidence; it would be impossible for them to find her anything but guilty."

"But—"

Sydney cut the man off. "And Luke, Calum and Michael love you so much. They wouldn't give a shit if it gave the band a bad reputation — you are so much more important to them. We all know you're not the bad guy, and that's all that matters. If it doesn't work out this time, we'll go back to court and do it again."

She pulled him into a hug, her arms wrapped around him as if to protect him; him clinging on to her as if she were his lifeline.

She was his lifeline, the pair just hadn't realise it yet.

"I don't wanna make you do this all over again, Sydney." Ashton mumbled into the crook of her neck.

"If it meant you were safe and happy, Ashton, then I'd do it a thousand times over."

~~~

Ashton was petrified as he sat beside his lawyer behind the wooden table, thousands of papers placed in front of them. To him, it seemed like a never ending catastrophe of meaningless words, but his lawyer seemed to have made order out of the chaos.