twelve
It had been about a week since Ashton and I spoke. I saw him at school a few times but the both of us always tried to avoid eye contact. He had been skipping art class which meant I had been working on our project alone.
"Why are you here?" My thoughts were interrupted when Luke noticed me in the kitchen.
"It's my house?" I laughed.
"Shouldn't you be working on some project with Ashton?" He asked. He headed over to the fridge a pulled out a carton of milk.
"We aren't really talking right now."
I had quickly realized that I wasn't wearing a long sleeved shirt today. I put my hands behind my back in hopes that Luke wouldn't notice the purple bruises Ashton had given me last Friday.
"Oh," Luke answered. It was silent for a few minutes while he made himself breakfast.
"You're mom called and said you should probably come home today," I mumbled. He rolled his eyes and nodded his head.
"She's probably right, I'll catch you later Shannon!" He yelled as he headed up to his room. I chuckled and grabbed a sweater off of the counter. I headed for the door and stepped outside to see that it was sprinkling out. I knew Luke would be taking the car to his parents so I walked down the street for a while until I reached Ashton's. I stopped for a minute and took a deep breath. I had left my paint brushes there last week and I really needed them if I was going to be finishing this project.
I sighed and rolled my eyes in disbelief that I was actually going to do this. I started walking towards the front door.
I felt my hands softly knock on the wood. Within a few seconds, his Aunt answered the door.
"Shannon right?" She asked. Her mouth was slightly parted and you could see a cigarette bouncing up and down in her mouth as she spoke.
"Yes, I'm just here to grab a few things, that's all." I said softly.
"Of course honey, I was out last night, I just got home so excuse my appearance," she chuckled. She opened the door a bit wider so I could step through.
"Ashton is up in his room," she said. I nodded my head and made my way up the stairs. I took a deep breath once again when I reached Ashton's door. I knocked softly, when I didn't hear a response. I slowly started to open the door.
His body was sprawled out on the small twin bed, his eyes were shut and you could hear faint breathing sounds coming from his lips.
I let out a small sigh and started searching for the paint brushes. I looked on top of his dresser to find the brushes neatly spread out and cleaned. I smiled slightly and grabbed them. I gripped onto them tightly and started heading for the door.
"Shan?"
I turned around to see Ashton rubbing his eyes as he woke up.
"Hey," was all I could say. He slowly sat up. I noticed the sun from the curtains reflecting off of his tan skin. He ran his fingers through his tussled hair as I watched his bare chest move up and down with each breath.
"W-What are you doing here?" He asked softly.
"I came to grab my paint brushes," I said quickly. "S-Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you, your Aunt let me in, I was just leaving."
"It's fine, you should stay," he mentioned. I nodded my head and awkwardly took a seat at the foot of his bed. He stood up and walked over to his dresser. He was wearing a pair of dark jeans, my eyes seemed to look up, little purple marks seemed to run up and down the sides of his neck. Hickeys. I looked down at my soft leggings and chuckled to myself quietly.
Ashton pulled on a plain black shirt and took a seat next to me.
"So, why were you passed out?" I chuckled.
"I had a long night, I was out for a little bit," he simply stated.
"I assume with a girl," I smiled slightly while I ran my fingers up and down his neck, pointing to each purple mark. He flinched at what I assume was my cold fingers.
His eyes met mine for a moment before he quickly looked away. His eyes widened and he started to panic.
"You really have to go," he panicked. "Shannon, I was really drunk last night and I think I made a big mistake." He said. His breathing got heavier with each word.
"Ashton I'm sure it's fine."
"You just have to leave, I call you later."
I gave him a confused look. I looked down at the floor and saw a pink bra laying on the ground. Once I looked up again, I saw Amber standing in the doorway. Her hair wrapped up into a soft towel, she was wearing one of Ashton's tee-shirts and a pair of his boxers. By the way she felt so comfortable in his house, it seemed like she had been here a few times before.
"Amber, I forgot you were here," Ashton sighed. He fell back onto the bed and covered his face with a pillow in frustration.
"I'm gonna go," I said quickly. Amber just gave me a glare and took a seat next to Ashton on the bed. I just quickly grabbed my things and walked out of the room.
This was very weird, I felt bad for coming over while Ashton and Amber were obviously in the middle of something. I just started to walk down the stairs when Ashton chased after me.
"Shan!" He called.
"I'm sorry Ash, I didn't mean to interrupt anything," I said. I could feel myself chuckle at how awkward the situation was.
"I forgot she was here, I must have fallen asleep while she was in the shower," he sighed. "I'm sorry."
"It's fine," I said. My eyes fluttered up to meet his. "I'll call you later, we have some more work to do on the painting." I could feel myself giving him a slight smile.
We stood there in silence just looking at each other for a few seconds before he finally answered me.
"Yeah, I'll see you later Montgomery," he smiled.
"You too Irwin."
-
Sorry for now updating for like a hundred years.
But on the bright side, Shannon and Ashton are becoming closer friends!