temper, temper || irwin a.u

six

Ashton woke up with a tall teenage boy in his lap. The four of them had fallen asleep playing GTA and now Luke was sleeping soundly with his head rested in Ashton's lap, like a puppy. He reached for his phone and saw it was way later than he expected. 1.37 am? Time went by really fast when you were having fun, he thought to himself. He moved Luke's head gently so he could stand up and stretch, he looked around the room to see Michael curled up on the armchair with Calum laying on the floor with his head perched on the edge of the chair. Ashton laughed a little to himself, this happened way too much, and Luke fell asleep on him way too often, but then again, Luke just wanted cuddles. Ashton smiled at the sight before letting himself out the door and jumping on his bike and riding home. His mum hadn't called to see if was okay, she probably knew what had happened, this happened a lot. Ashton rode quickly and was down his street in minutes, it was dark and there were a lot of drunks around.

Ashton was outside his house, just about to unlock the door when he heard a thud not to far away. He looked over to Finn's house and to his surprise, she was hanging out of her window, attempting to jump on to the tree located outside her window. He laughed to himself before heading over there, he unlocked the gate and walked across the drive so he was beneath the window.

"You okay there, Finn?" Finn let out a small scream before giving Ashton a dirty look.

"You scared the shit out of me! What the fuck are you doing?" She hissed at him.

"Hey! Don't swear! And I could be asking you the same thing."

"Fuck off, Ashton." He could see her smile slightly in the dim glow from the streetlights, but it soon went back to default bitch face.

"Are you gonna stand there like a dick or help me." She questioned, Ashton sighed and moved closer to the wall.

"Just jump." She glared at him before replying.

"I'm not jumping you idiot, I might break my neck."

"I'll catch you. Just trust me." He sighed and held out his arms. Finn groaned and let out a small squeal before she let go of the window pane and jumped, Ashton grabbed her waist and put her down gently, with a sigh of relief that he actually caught her, luckily she was tiny.

"Um, thanks, Ashton." She said quietly so it was practically inaudible. He nodded and walked towards the gate, letting himself out.

"Could you," Finn grabbed his arm as she spoke, "not, you know, tell anybody about this?" She bit her lip and let go of his arm when she felt him tense up.

"I wouldn't have told anybody anyway, there's nothing to tell. Although, I always thought you were more of a good girl, but then again, I don't really know you." Ashton turned away and walked back towards his own house, leaving Finn standing there with words in her mouth, unspoken.

Finn left her house early the next morning, partly to avoid her family and partly to avoid Ashton and his questions. She didn't want an interrogation session about what happened last night and hoped he wouldn't mention it in their classes together, but she couldn't bet on him keeping his questions to himself.

When she entered the school premises, Finn avoided anyone and everything and rushed to her locker, and to her surprise there was somebody standing against it.

"What the fuck do you want." Finn glared at the tall boy looking down at her.

"Stay away from Ashton. He doesn't need somebody like you fucking with him." He replied, a smirk on his face.

"What do you mean by that? He's the one that always seems to be right next to me, I try to avoid him." The boy laughed coldly and bent down to reach Finn's eye level.

"You know what I mean, and don't act innocent. I know what you're like, remember?" He gave Finn another smirk before walking off to his lesson, she presumed.

"Fuck you, Clifford!" She shouted, not caring about the glares she got from other students.

"My office. Now." Finn whipped around to see her English teacher stood behind her, a disapproving look on her face. Finn groaned and followed her, slamming the door of the locker as she walked past.

Finn sat down in an uncomfortable wooden chair, waiting for whatever punishment swearing got you.
"Want to tell me what was happening between you and Mr. Clifford?" Finn looked away from Mrs Dray's stern gaze.

"I could always go and fetch Michael, if you'd prefer him to tell me the story." I glared at her, she raised an eyebrow but continued.

"I know about your anger issues, Finn. I'm trying to help." She sighed, knowing she was losing the battle.

"He made me mad." Finn said quietly.

"Well that much was clear." Mrs Dray laughed. "About what, dear? What did he say?"
Finn thought for a moment, did she really want to tell her what Michael said? She'd asked what he meant by those words, and that was something she couldn't bare for anyone to know.

"He told me not to speak to Ashton." Mrs Dray's face softened at the mention of Ashton, she had a soft spot for him.

"Is there a reason you can't speak to him?"

"Because I'll hurt him." Finn spoke so quietly there was barely any sound that came out of her mouth, but tears filled her eyes. Mrs Dray reached over to the tissues on her desk and handed a couple to Finn, she nodded in gratitude.

"Finn, you won't hurt him. Ashton's strong, I'm sure he could handle whatever you threw at him." She laughed slightly, trying to lighten the mood.

"I don't even like him, why would I want to be near him anyway? I don't even understand what Michael was saying." Finn threw her hands up in frustration and stood up, walking over to the window and ironically, Ashton was walking into school at that very moment.

"So you and Ashton aren't seeing each other?"

"God no!" Finn near enough screamed. This crazy old lady clearly had gotten the wrong end of the stick.

"I'm sorry, I just thought Michael was being protective, didn't want Ashton to get hurt. It's not an offensive thing though, dear." Finn took a seat again and frowned.

"What do you mean?"

"The idea of you and Ashton together isn't such a bad thing."