Daisy (lashton)

Chapter 21

For the first time in what felt like forever, Ashton wasn't awoken by Daisy's crack of dawn morning energy, but instead by the soft glow of the early afternoon sun warming his skin. The first thing Ashton saw when he fluttered his eyes open was a mess of shaggy blonde hair covering the pillow next to him, and instead of freaking out like he had last time, Ashton only smiled. What harm would a few more minutes of sleep do?

The next time Ashton opened his eyes, it was to a buzzing on his nightstand. The young blonde beside him shifted restlessly, and Ashton reached out to silence the buzzing before it could fully wake him.

"Hello?" Ashton whispered into the phone as he slipped on his boxers and made his way quietly into his ensuite.

"Hey, Ash, how was your night?" Ashton could hear the smirk in Calum's voice and he rolled his eyes as he leaned back against the counter.

"I'm not giving you any details, Calum." The Maori boy on the other end laughed.

"Okay, okay, fine. I was just calling to see if you wanted your daughter back anytime soon." Ashton cursed before smacking a palm against his forehead.

"Shit, Cal, I'm so sorry I-"

"Dude, calm down, it's fine," Calum laughed before continuing, "I kinda expected the night would end in a sleepover anyways, don't worry, Daisy had a great time with the girls and now Mallory has baby fever again, thanks a lot." Calum joked before clearing his throat, "I thought I'd call because Mal asked me to run to the store, so I could drop Daisy off on my way there if now would be a good time? Otherwise I could bring her over later if Blondie is still there..."

Ashton shook his head before breathing out a sigh. "God I'm so sorry, honestly what was I thinking? I'm such a shit dad..."

"Ash, stop. You're an amazing dad, literally dude, I wish I could be half the dad to Mal's girls as you are with Dais. You're allowed to still do things for yourself, okay? Just enjoy the night you had, we're more than happy to watch Daisy any time." Ashton felt only slightly reassured by Calum's words. Regardless, he was still about to whip up a huge brunch of Daisy's favorite foods to make it up to her. Even if she had a great time at a sleepover with her friends, it didn't change the fact that Ashton pushed her off on other people to watch for selfish reasons, and yeah, he still felt guilty as hell about it. "Now, do you want me to drop Daisy off at your place? I'm worried if I don't soon Mallory will become too attached and will try to kidnap her."

Ashton laughed before running a hand through his hair. "Fuck, Cal, I really can't thank you enough."

"You can thank me by letting me drop off your daughter before Mal starts badgering me for another kid." Ashton laughed, nodding as he turned around to prepare getting ready for his day.

"Okay, yeah, that would be great, thanks again, Cal."

"No problem, bro. Is blondie still at your place?"

Ashton held the phone between his shoulder and ear as he put toothpaste on his brush. "Yeah, he's still sleeping."

"Long night?" Ashton rolled his eyes at the smirk in Calum's voice.

"Yeah, actually. I'm still limping."

Ashton could hear Calum fake gagging "Too much information there, Ash." It was Ashton's turn to bark out a laugh. "So, what's the next step now? I mean, it's clearly not a one night stand anymore."

Ashton took his time thinking up an answer as he spit out the toothpaste and rinsed his mouth.

"Honestly? I have no clue. I'd like to think that he's willing to give this a try now, I mean what he did yesterday, Cal, was just so... God! It was so sweet. And who would do that for the kid of their one night stand? We're definitely something more now, I just don't know what. What am I supposed to do, Cal?" Ashton chewed his lip as he waited for Calum's response.