Burn ▹ Ashton Irwin

twenty four

"...But the trick is," Ashton said as he layed on his side across from me, softly running his hand down on my side. I was laying down on the bed beside him with my body faced his, propping my head up on my hand as he talked. He's been explaining to me what's to do with all the methamphetamine we stole last week because I was curious about it. I didn't know where Michael or Calum were, but I think they were in the other room getting ready for the night. We've been in Miami for a whole day now, and apparently there was some business to take care of.

Last night Ashton and I walked around until 3:00 in the morning. At first it was around the city because I was really interested in it for some reason, and then we sat in the sand on the beach all by ourselves for an hour. It was kind of weird, considering we were sitting on an empty and dark beach at 3:00 AM, but I liked just sitting there and talking to him. Ashton's a fun person to talk to; he always keeps you on your toes when he tells you a story about his life.

"Well, it's not really a trick. It's just common sense," he giggled. "We have to sell it to someone who will actually buy it. Now, I'm not even gonna lie - I'm pretty sure more than half the people in this city will recognize me and try to kill me if we try to sell it to them. So that crosses them out of the list."

He laughed and flipped onto his back, still trailing his fingers through my hair.

"I don't get how you remember every single person you've ever met," I said. "I can barely remember my old boss's name."

"I just do," He shrugged. "I remember a lot of things. Kinda sucks that way, sometimes."

"Why?" I asked. I would think that being able to remember everything would make life a lot easier to keep track of.

"Cause I remember all the bad stuff," he replied. "All the things I wish I didn't have to think about every single day."

I didn't really know how to respond, even though I now understood what he meant. I didn't think of it that way at first, and I could see how it would suck to have such a good memory sometimes. I nodded and that was kind of the end of the discussion, so I just scooted over and settled down with my head on Ashton's chest. He moved his hand from my hair and started rubbing like my back like he usually does, before the bathroom door opened and Michael strutted out.

"Working the black hoodie, I see," Ashton laughed. "Wait - is that mine?"

"Yeah," Michael shrugged, fixing his hair in the mirror. "I figured I could borrow it."

"You could've asked."

"I pull it off better."

"Whatever," Ashton chuckled. "Where's Calum?"

"In there," Michael said. "We were listening to you corrupt Skylar."

"I'm not corrupting her!"

"You're telling her how to auccessfully steal and sell methamphetamine," Michael replied, pointing over to me. "Look at her. You're scaring her."

"She's not scared!" Ashton retorted, looking over to me and beaming. "She's tough. Isn't that right, Stubby?"

"...Eh," I shrugged, making the two of us chuckle. I don't consider myself tough, really. I'm just letting Ashton do everything because I never know how to handle all the situations we get into. "I'm alright, I guess."

"You're better than that, C'mon." Ashton smiled, inviting me to lay back down on his chest.

Just as I was about to say something else, Calum walked into the room, wearing dark clothing from head to toe just like the rest of us. "When did the sun set?" he asked, staring out the window. I checked the time on my phone to see it was already 7:30. Ashton and I have been flopped down on the bed for hours I think, and I guess the time just flew by. I also think we both had a little nap somewhere in there, but still. I thought it was way earlier.