direct ↠ a.f.i. :: discontinued/ in editing

1.7

i slowly cracked my eyes open, rubbing them as they adjusted to my dark, blurry surroundings. the blinds were drawn, but the faint moonlight illuminated the room slightly, allowing me to see a little.

out of habit, i reach over to the side, feeling around for my clock but my fingers grasped nothing but air. something was latching onto my waist, but that was probably the duvet that i'd somehow managed to get myself tangled into. groggily, i recognised that i was in a hotel room, and it was still nighttime.

that was when everything came flooding back to me; the record deal, los angeles, everything. my body clock was messed up because of the timezones, so i flipped over on my side to go back to sleep, snuggling into my pillow. however, something was a little different. it was too hard to be a pillow, and seemed to be moving.

i lifted my head, only to see ashton lying right beside me with an arm draped over my waist in a spooning position (him being the big spoon). our legs were tangled in a pretzel as his long, even breaths tickled my neck slightly. my heart started thumping wildly, not knowing how and why he was in bed with me. i mean, not that i was complaining, but i barely knew him!

my slight shift in position must have woke him up, as he hummed slightly and stretched. "ashley? are you up?" he asked, his morning voice coming out raspy and scratchy.

"yeah, i'm sorry if i woke you up, you can go back to sleep," i apologised sheepishly. i actually wasn't that tired anymore, and was feeling more alert.

"it's alright," he sat up with a groan, and picked up his phone from the bedside table. he squinted at the harsh glare from the screen when he unlocked it, tilting the phone away from him slightly. "it's 3am, we've been asleep for about 10 hours."

"how did i get here?" i asked, genuinely curious. the last thing i remembered was me falling asleep on ashton... right.

"i carried you back here. the boys originally wanted to take you out exploring but you were too tired, so they went out together instead. i wanted to let you have the entire bed, but you held onto me and wouldn't let go so i got into bed as well," he explained as i blushed because of the last part. "thanks," i muttered as i sat up as well, rubbing the sleep out of my eyes.

"we're sharing this room, by the way. the boys thought it'd be the best thing to do since i knew you the longest," he added on.

"i'm sorry for taking your day off away from you."

"stop apologizing, it's not your fault. i would've stayed in to catch up on sleep anyway," he smiled, flicking the bedside lamp on. the lamp cast a faint orange glow in the room as i watched him untangle himself and get out of bed, heading to the bathroom.

the sudden loss of warmth made me feel... empty, for some reason. i suppressed the urge to make him come back to bed as i cuddled into the sheet some more, soaking up whatever warmth was left.

i shut my eyes for a while more before the bathroom door opened with a click, and ashton walked out. shirtless. i tried hard not to stare as he strode over the black suitcase in the corner of the room, tugging out a black tank top and slipped it on.

"are you hungry? i'm absolutely starved," he asked, passing me the menu for room service. we flipped through the booklet together, finally deciding on sharing a large pizza and splitting a carton of apple juice. our hands brushed occasionally as we turned a page at the same time, sending a weird tingling sensation down my spine.

the food finally arrived after a long 20 minutes, ashton practically sprinting to the door when the doorbell rang. we slid the tray onto the floor, both of us settling down in a crisscross applesauce position next to each other, leaning against the foot of the bed.

ashton picked up a slice of warm pizza and bit into it, closing his eyes as he chewed. "oh my god, this is so good," i followed suit, and soon the room was silent for a while before ashton broke it. "so, what do you want to do now?"

-

ok i lied i'm sorry the next chapter's supposed to be the long chapter

my exams are in like 3 days and lasts until next week so i'll probably not update until then but the long chapter will definitely be written and updated once my exams are done soz

so ashley and ashton don't really know each other well yet bc they've only just "officially" met, that's why they're still as little awkward around each other (in case you're wondering idk)

sidenote: not proofread bc it's 3am and i'm supposed to be studying/in bed lmao

also thank u all so much!!

that's it for this extremely weird author's note ayy

vote, comment and stuff ilu all so much

kym x