What is Love? (Ashton Irwin || AU)

Samantha || 25

It's been a week and I've called Ashton every night to dance with me. I feel such a familiar wave of happiness when he puts me on his toes and we dance like that around my room. It reminds me of when I was a little girl and my dad would do that. Back when everyone was happy and nothing was complicated. Now everything is so complicated and no one is ever happy.

"What are you thinking about?" Ashton asks me. We are laying in my bed and just taking in this moment as if we'll never have another like it again.

"I'm just reminiscing on the old times when my family wasn't broken and life was simple." I say softly.

"I know what you mean." He states and I look up at him. The moonlight is sneaking in from the window and lighting up his face, putting a beautiful sparkle in his eyes. "I think about that every night before I fall asleep. The simple times when my mom was happy. When Harry and Lauren had a father. When I didn't feel like I had to be like a father figure and take care of my family. When it was simple." I hug Ashton tighter and place a kiss on his jaw line.

We continue to lay in silence after our brief conversation until I think about the plane tickets my mom sent me. She sent two so my grandma could fly out as well, but she's stuck at work almost everyday now.

"Ashton?" I ask in a whisper as I drift off into a sleep.

"Yes?" He asks in the same sleepy whisper.

"Will you come home with me? I want to see my mom, but I don't want to go alone."

"Of course I will." That's the last thing I hear before I fully fall asleep.

~~

I wake up to the familiar steady beat of the heart I fell asleep to. I open my eyes and let them adjust to the light.

"Hey." I hear a whisper and look up at Ashton. I smile and he brushes the hair from my face. "I don't mean to move you right now, but I'm two seconds away from peeing in your bed." I giggle and roll off of him so he can get up. "Thank you." He leaves the room and goes into the bathroom. Just then my stomach rumbles in hunger and I get up from the bed, grabbing my crutches and making my way to the stairs. I sit down on the top step and go down the stairs on my butt like I do every day.

"What the hell are you doing?" I hear Ashton giggle from the top of the stairs.

"I'm going downstairs, what the hell does it look like?" I say sarcastically. He giggles again and walks down the stairs until he's in front of me. He grabs my hands and helps me up, then he turns around so I can get on his back. I carefully get on his back and he carries me the rest of the way down and in to the kitchen.

"Good morning." My grandma chirps from the stove.

"Morning." Ashton and I mumble in unison.

"Pancakes?" She asks. We both nod and she prepares our plates. We eat in silence for a while and then I decide to bring up the plane tickets to my grandma.

"Hey grandma, I was thinking about using those tickets mom got me and flying home for the weekend."

"Ok, but you know I can't go." She says.

"Yeah I know. I asked Ashton to go." I say glancing at him and then looking back at my grandma.

"Oh ok. That's fine then. I'll drive you two there and I'll be there to pick you up when you come back." She smiles.

"Great, thanks." I say.

~~

"Mom, we are on our way to the airport now. Stop calling." I say through the receiver. After the conversation with my grandma a few days ago I called my mom letting her know I was flying home. She's called me everyday, three times a day, since.

"I know, I'm just excited." My mother responds and I sigh. I know she's excited. She's my mother and I haven't seen her face since I left somewhere around a month ago. I should be just as excited, but her excitement speaks for the both of us and it is quite suffocating.

"I know. I'll text you when we are boarding the plane. I'll see you in about four hours, ok?"

"Ok sweetie, I love you."

"I love you, too, mom." I hang up the phone and sigh. I love my mother to death, but she's a bit much sometimes. I'm just waiting for her to call me at least once more before I get the chance to text her.

We reach the airport and bid my grandma goodbye and head in to do all the boring stuff like security and waiting.

"Tell me about your mom. I want to know what to expect when we get off that plane in Minnesota." Ashton says, carrying both of our bags as I have my crutches.

"Well for starters she loves to talk. She will talk and talk and talk for hours about anything. She'll ask you your whole life story before you step foot into the car, and by the time we reach my house she'll already make plans for visits and stuff. One thing she might say first when she sees you is something about your hair being long. At this point I agree with her and your mom. You need to cut it Ash." I tell him.

"No! I will not cut it!" Ashton exclaims as we walk through security.

"You will and if you don't I'll shave your damn head. Some guys can pull it off but you can't. I hate to say that but it's true." I say after we've made it through security.

"Question: does your house have a guest room? One with a lock? Preferably on the second floor?" He asks.

"Oh shut up." I say catching on to his sarcasm. He laughs and finds a spot for us to sit while we wait to board the plane.

"You know we never went on that date." Ashton says next to me. He has my hand and he's looking at our hands together, smiling as if he's looking at the most beautiful thing in the world.

"This is true. We can go in Minnesota?" I suggest.

"No. I don't know anything good there. I can't plan anything like I had planned here." He says.

"So then we'll wait until we get back."

"I'm tired of waiting." He groans and looks at the ceiling.

"You don't have to let something like this get to you. We really don't need to go on a date. I mean let's face it, you're coming home with me and meeting my mom. You've already got ninety percent of the trouble that comes with dating out of the way."

"What's the other ten percent?" He asks.

"Just being with me is a full time job, honey. Have you met me? I get tired of myself sometimes." I say. He shakes his head and smiles at our hands again.

"I've put up with you for this long and even went as far as risking my life to save yours. We might as well put rings on and say we're married." He says. I giggle at his comment and start to reply, but I'm quickly stopped by the sound of the intercom.

"Flight 867 to Minnesota is now boarding."

"That's our cue." I say.

"Let's go."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I've literally had this chapter written out for like a month and I just finished it now because I'm waiting at work until I actually have to work. This is probably literal shit and I'm not rereading for errors so don't point them out. Everyone makes mistakes and I'll fix them later.

-Kourtnie<3 xxx