genesis ♡ irwin [3]

27 > REAL

INCOMING CALL FROM: ASH

odette was woken by the shrill ringing that filled her room and she looked at her phone in confusion. she picked it up from her nightstand and continued to simply stare as she shifted to sit against her headboard. her and ashton had only a few video calls, never a phone call. it made her anxious that he was calling her out of nowhere.

it dawned on her that she should probably answer, and she slide her thumb across the screen and mumbled, "hello?"

"oh shit," the man on the other end cursed, "did i wake you up?"

"yup," odette smiled to herself at the sound of his voice. "but don't worry. what's up?"

ashton hesitated. "i just wanted to talk to you."

the words sent the butterflies in odette's stomach fluttering. she managed to stay quiet as her grin widened and began to hurt her cheeks. "well here i am."

"yeah," ashton's reply was breathy. "um. how are you?"

"tired," replied the woman, "since it's nine o'clock and i was texting some guy until two in the morning."

"wow, pretty rude of him to keep you awake for so long."

"nah, i can't help it that i'm such an interesting person to talk to."

neither of them replied as they both chuckled.

"are you guys doing band stuff today?" asked odette, throwing the covers off herself and deciding to get dressed. her stomach was growling quietly.

on the other end of the phone, ashton lay down on his couch and threw an arm over his face. "nope. absolutely nothing today. we're recording tomorrow though."

"i'm gonna ignore that as a fan of your band," odette said, putting the phone on speaker as she rifled through her dresser. "what are you up so early for?"

"couldn't go back to sleep," ashton answered. "my mind has been racing all night."

"oh?" odette hummed curiously. "anything you want to talk about?"

the man paused before he responded. "i really want to meet you."

odette halted in her movements, which sent her tumbling to the ground as her leg got caught in her jeans. "oof!"

"ode, you okay?" ashton asked through the phone, worry lacing his tone.

"yeah, just tripped!" she assured him, pulling herself onto her bed and putting the phone back to her ear. "what did you say?"

"i want to meet you," he repeated. "you know. just. eventually."

"i'd get on a plane right now if i could," odette said, then mentally face palmed as she realized how clingy that sounded. "i mean–"

"me too," ashton interrupted, smiling even though she couldn't see. "you're really important to me, odette."

she couldn't contain her happiness. she felt like she was going to burst. surely her cheeks would be stuck like this forever. "you're important to me, too, ashton."

"can i tell you something?"

"of course."

"i really like you."

"i really like you, too, ash."