after you left |ai|

45

Ashton woke me up at 6am, saying he had something he wanted to show me. The sun wasn't even up yet but he was desperate to get me out of bed. It was about 10 degrees colder than LA here so I had wisely decided to put on one of my warmer sweaters and a jacket. While I got changed, he got Olivia ready in complete silence.

"We can't wake my mom or siblings up so have you ever snuck out of the house before?" He asked and I let out a soft chuckle before nodding. I looked at him with a smile, excited about whatever it was that he wanted to show me this early. His eyes were shining so bright and his smile formed dimples in his cheeks. His hair still a mess and there were still wrinkles in his cheeks from laying on his pillow.

We walked down the stairs as quiet as we could and he grabbed the car keys from the kitchen table before we left the house behind. I didn't ask him where we were going, I didn't ask why we had to leave the house at 6:15am but he was determined enough to convince me. To be honest, I think I'd wake up at 3am for him just to see him this excited.

"You haven't asked yet where we are going." He said once we were in the car.

"I trust you enough not to kill or ditch me before the sun comes up." I replied and a laugh filled the otherwise silent car before he started the engine, the radio playing so soft it was barely audible. "It doesn't feel like 6am though." I mumbled while I looked outside at the streets that were lit up by the lights. A few cars passing us on our way to god knows where.

"It's 11am in LA, your mind is still there." He replied before placing his hand on my thigh like he always did. I placed my hand on his before looking his way. I studied every detail of his face. The small stubble that had formed over the past days because he was too lazy to shave and the longer curls that were falling infront of his face. He removed his hand of my leg for mere seconds just to run in through his hair. He knew I was watching him, I could tell by the grin that was plastered on his lips but I didn't care.

He's my favourite work of art.

"We'll be at the closest parking lot in a minute, there's a short hike we need to do to get there but it'll be worth it." He said with a smile and he looked at me for a second at a red light.

"I look forward to discovering what is so amazing that we had to wake up at 6 to see it." I replied with a smile, he parked his car a little further right next to a small walking trail. I waited until he had turned off the car before getting out of the car and stretching my legs. Even though in my mind it was 11am, my body knew it was only 6 and my body was tired as hell.

He didn't say much while we walked up the trail, Olivia resting on his hip and his free hand holding mine. I looked at him every now and then but he was focused and had his eyes glued on the rather dark road even with the lights next to it.

About 15 minutes after we started walking, we reached the final destination and a smile filled my face when I saw our surroundings. We had a perfect view of the city he grew up in and the beach laying a little further. The sun was starting to be visible by the horizon and we were only just in time to see the sunrise.

"You don't get to see this when you come later." He said with a smile before we walked over to the small bench and both sat down, Olivia decided she wanted to sit with me now so I took her on my lap while he wrapped his arm around my shoulder and I leaned my head against his.

"This is perfect." I told him and he stayed silent for a few seconds.

"It's my favourite place in Sydney. You wanted to see the places that shaped me into me, we only have 32 hours but this is the only place that really matters. This is the place that shaped me, where I went when my mind was fu- messed up and where I learned to fix myself again. This is the place where I wrote so many of our first songs, from sunrise till sunset." He explained and I lifted up my head to look at him. "I was messed up Elle, so fucking messed up." He said not holding back the curse word. But I didn't say anything about it, I just looked at him while he stared at the horizon where the sun was starting to show more of itself.