temper, temper || irwin a.u

twelve

Ashton went home soon after making sure Finn was okay, or at least as okay as he could make her. He left his phone at home when he visited her and when he got back, he had missed more than a few calls from Michael.

"Dude, where have you been?" Michael sounded mad, which wasn't unusual. Ashton had to think of an excuse quickly so he didn't get suspicious, because Mikey had a habit of calling out bullshit.

"I was in the shower."

"And you couldn't answer your phone?" Ashton rolled his eyes before speaking again, completely ignoring his question.

"What's up and why are you in such a bad mood?" He asked.

"It's about the band, we can't practice at my place. My mum just went off on one, she's probably just hormonal but she told me we can't use my house as a practice space anymore, or she'd shave my eyebrows off while I slept." Ashton stifled a giggle but cleared his throat instead of having a laughing fit.

"So what are we gonna do about it?"

"You have a garage don't you?" Michael asked, Ashton could practically hear him rolling his eyes for Ash being so stupid.

"Yeah, I guess we could practice there, I mean, I doubt my mum would care."

"Good, that's sorted then. My dad's dropping off all our instruments in about an hour."

"Dude! You made the decision without even asking me?" Ashton asked, he was just a little more than pissed off.

"I knew it'd be fine, so get moving and make some space for our stuff." Ashton quickly hung up and sighed, why did Michael always do stupid stuff like this? He always expected everybody to be okay with his decisions, like who put him in charge of everything anyway? Ashton quickly sent a text to his mum explaining that practice would now take place at their home, as he and Michael expected, she was okay with it. 

Michael and his dad showed up not long after and when Ashton heard them pull up he headed to the front door. Michael was stood staring up at Finn's house, as expected, she was on her window sill where she had been earlier. Michael glared at her and Finn mouthed a 'fuck you' and jumped off and back into her room, closing the window behind her. What really happened between them? That much hatred couldn't be formed after just a one night stand, could it?

Michael turned back towards Ashton with a smirk on his face. "Come on man, let's move all this shit." He said leading the way to Ashton's garage, like he owned the place. Ashton wouldn't be surprised if he actually thought he did.

They left as soon as everything was in the garage, Michael used Ashton a lot, and he knew that once Ashton actually passed his driving test he would get used a lot more, by him and the other boys. It was getting late and Ashton was bored. His mind worked in weird ways, he would often feel the need to do something spontaneious but all his friends were too lazy, he wished they shared the same need for adventure and thrill as he did. Most of the time he didn't bother because none of the boys were remotely interested in spending time doing anything with him outside of banding. 

Michael was always with a girl, or eating, or sleeping. Calum was usually in his feelings, writing songs and whatever. And Luke? Luke's mum wouldn't let him. Maybe one day they'd want to see the world the same way he did, perhaps this camping trip would change their minds.

Ashton gave into boredom and took a nap to kill some time, not realising he would sleep until 2am and be fully awake, his mum didn't even bother to wake him up. He sighed and went to his window, the sky was clear and dark, the stars were shining brightly. He was about to shut his curtains when he saw Finn sat on the step leading up to her house. What was she doing out so late and not going anywhere? Ashton grabbed a hoodie and went to go see what little miss Finn was doing up.

"What are you doing out here?" Ashton said as he approached her, no trace of a smile from Finn.

"I couldn't sleep. You?"

"Can't get back to sleep." They sat in silence for a while and Finn's teeth started chattering.

"Why aren't you in your house? Why did you come out here if you couldn't sleep?" Finn didn't say anything for a while and the only sound was her teeth colliding.

"You really want to know?" Ashton nodded. He took off his hoodie and covered Finn with it, she didn't say thank you but he assumed she appreciated it because she didn't throw it at him.

"She kicked me out." Finn said quietly.

"Who?"

"The one that calls herself my mother." Finn scoffed, it was clear she didn't have a great relationship with her family, Dylan was obviously not the only issue.

"It was because of earlier, if you're wondering. Dylan told her I went off on him again and she said she'd had enough, so she screamed at me a little more and told me to get out."

"That happened tonight?"

"Yeah. I've been sat here for like two hours."

"Why didn't you come over? Friends help each other, I'm here for you, you know that." Ashton muttered the last part, not sure if he actually wanted Finn to hear it.

"I don't need rescuing, I made that clear."

"I know. But it's not a sign of weakness to ask for help sometimes." Finn stayed silent, not that she spoke too much anywaym but Ashton knew he was right and it got to her in some way.

"You said you went off at Dylan again, does it happen often?"

"What are you my therapist?" Finn spat and glared at Ashton, her eyes gleaming in the light of the street lamps. She looked away again before giving an actual answer.

"Yes. It does, we've been arguing ever since it happened. I think my mum thought I would stop after a while, but it's gotten worse." Finn never specified why she had an issue with her brother, and Ashton wasn't sure if he would ever find out. It worried him though, he liked to think he somewhat knew Dylan, they'd hung out when they were kids, but he knew Finn wouldn't have gotten that mad over nothing, what he did must have hurt her a lot.

 Ashton stood up and held out his hand, to which Finn just stared at him, frowning.

"Come on."

"Iriwn, I know we're friends now but you don't owe me anything."

"Just come on, I'm not letting you stay out here all night." Finn sighed but stood up anyway, swatting Ashton's hand away earning a laugh from him. He could tell she was smiling, even if it was 2am and pitch dark outside. The pair walked across the street and quietly entered Ashton's house, Finn was curious as to what it looked like inside, but it was just like hers, only more homely.

"Everybody's asleep so be quiet." Ashton said in a hushed tone, Finn just nodded and followed him up to his room. They entered his room and Ashton slowly shut the door, as if the smallest of noises could wake someone. 

"You wanna change into some clothes? I've got a pair of shorts and a t-shirt if you want it." Finn nodded again, staying silent because she felt quite uncomfortable in his house, even though it was much more homely than her own. Ashton threw her a t-shirt and a pair of jersey shorts that wouldn't fit her, but it was better than sleeping in her underwear. Ashton headed out of the room to let her get changed and he thought about what was happening.

He wasn't sure what to make of Finn, she wasn't that kind but she was nice enough to him. Everybody else seemed to have an issue with her but that didn't matter for Ashton, he'd never been one to judge somebody based on others' opinions.

When Ashton re-entered Finn was laying on the bed, he heard her sniffles from outside and it was apparent she was crying. He hesitated for a moment before walking over to her and putting his arms around her small frame. She didn't resist nor did she fight back, she just sobbed quietly into his t-shirt, which was now a darker shade of grey thanks to her tears. Finn must have realised what was happening because she quickly sat up away from Ashton and lay down on the other side of the bed.

"Thank you." She whispered.

"Any time, Finn."