hitchhiker // c.h (au)

10. on the road again

A/N: Ashton's hair later on looks like the picture above or on the side, like excuse me while I faint. 

The sun that filtered in through the window seemed brighter than usual as it lifted Iris from her sleeping fog and sent her spiraling into a headache and a blurry memory. She could feel pounding in her head and throughout her entire body. There wasn't a place in her body that wasn't pounding with the aftermath of her drunken night or the onslaught of her hangover. Her body was now made of pain and pounding; there was not blood running through her veins, there was now alcohol.

Her body curved in a stretch and yawn, except it was cut short as her arm reached out and hit Calum gently in the side, causing him to shift in his sleep and tighten his arms around her. Her mind was still reeling from the past night, and this new turn of events did not help her spinning thoughts, and as she lied there (needing to pee slightly) her memories come back in slow pieces; the drinking, the talking, the dancing, and the kissing; oh god the kissing. Even now she felt affected in so many ways by the memory of that kiss; she could still feel Calum's urgent and needy mouth pulling kisses from her, his hands clutching onto her. She could still feel the fire she felt underneath her skin where his hands met her.

But after her running to the bathroom last night, Calum holding her hair back and soothingly rubbing her back; she remembered very little. Ashton leading her to a taxi, and driving to his apartment. And apparently falling asleep with Calum, his arms finding their way around her, his legs crossing hers, his breath moving her hair around her face gently.
She could see his face so clearly from the tight grip they held on each other, she could see Calum's eyelids fluttering in his sleep, his calm breath leaving his mouth and blowing gently between them, his hair falling softly down in front of his forehead. She wanted to settle further into his arms, to lose herself in his warmth and in his scent; only she knew that if she did that, she wouldn't be able to escape her growing feelings for him, she wouldn't be able to sweep them under the rug and hide them from herself. (Plus, she did really need to pee, so if she did snuggle into his arms; she'd have to get up and leave right away anyway.)

Iris' choice was made for her, when she squirmed out of his arms and fell heavily onto the floor, causing Calum to shift around in the bed; Iris froze in her position from the floor, hoping he didn't wake up to see her sneak out. She got up from the floor quickly and ran lightly to the door, thanking god that she was still dressed; as she made a mad dash out of the room, and ran right into Ashton coming out of the bathroom, a towel draped around his hips.

"Oh!" Ashton said, as she ran into his bare chest and bounced off of him, his hands reaching out to grab her falling frame and steadied her, "I didn't know you were up. So.. how was your sleep?" His raised his eyebrows suggestively at her, and she rolled her eyes at him.

"It was fine thanks, but the rest of my night I'm still a bit hazy on. So maybe you can get yourself dressed, and then help me figure out what the fuck happened last night."

Ashton laughed slightly, and shook his head in disbelief, "sure, go on through to the lounge room, I'll get dressed and make some coffee and then we'll talk."

---------

Iris found the lounge room (after scrambling to the bathroom and peeing for what felt like hours) and she practically threw herself onto the couch and waited for Ashton to make his way to her. She clumsily plonked her head in her hands and rubbed her temples, trying to soothe not only the pounding, but the confusion that clouded her mind. Her mind was running a mile a minute, jumping hurdles of what ifs.
What if Calum woke up and regretted their kiss last night?
What if he didn't remember it?
What if he did?
What if he wanted more?
What if Ashton had fallen over and hit his head whilst getting dressed?

The last what if scenario was quickly dispelled from her mind as Ashton strolled in, his hair slick with water and pushed back from his face, two steaming mugs of coffee held in his hands. He placed them on the coffee table in front of her and slumped down onto the couch next to her, his eyes expectant and wide.

"Start talking Ash." She figured they were on a nickname basis after she stayed at his apartment and vomited in front of him. He had probably seen her at her almost worst, so they were practically friends now.

"Well what was the last thing you remembered?" He reached for his coffee cup and his slender fingers grasped it and brought it back in front of his face, as he blew on the hot liquid for a moment before taking a sip.

They fell into conversation over the events of the past night, and Ashton helped Iris fill the patches of hazy memory in her mind, as she cringed and flinched at the events of the night. Dancing on tables, crying, stumbling into the apartment, and Ashton helping Iris into the bed and tucking her in. He assured her that Calum hadn't partaken in any funny business, and fell into bed and into sleep just as quickly as she had.

Their conversation was stopped when there was a cough from the doorway, and Iris looked to see Calum standing, his hand scratching the back of his neck awkwardly, his fluffy hair standing up all over the place, and his eyes still blurry from sleep. And his voice, when he spoke, was deep and gravelly with the remnants of sleep and the night before.
"What's for breakfast?"

-----------

"Call me when you get to California, and keep me updated on the band situation, because I really want to get in on that action. Say hello to the breadstick for me." Ashton said to Calum as he wrapped his arms around him in a farewell hug. Iris wondered once again who the fuck was the breadstick? But she couldn't ask once again, as Ashton released Calum and pulled Iris into a bone crushing hug.

"It was really nice to meet you," Ashton lowered his voice to whisper in her ear, "I think he really likes you, if you're gonna hurt him, do it gently." And when he stepped back and released her from his arms, his smile was genuine and warm, and she felt herself grow sad that he wasn't joining them on the road.

Somehow he had already wormed himself into her mind as a friend after only 2 days of knowing him, and she would surely miss his giggle and his warm personality.

Iris got into the passengers seat as Calum and Ashton hugged once more, and then Calum was sitting next to her, turning on the car and pulling out onto the road, leaving Ashton behind as he waved at their receding car, until they turned a corner, and he disappeared from view.

"On the road again," Calum started to sing loudly, and a laugh broke out of Iris' mouth and spun around the car, signifying that maybe everything would be alright between them.

---------

yeah yeah yeah idk either okay

but anyway, so this isn't too short a chapter, so that's great, and it's pretty interesting I guess, so that's good too. and yeah ANYWAY

there is now a playlist for hitchhiker, so go check it out; it's the second like chapter type thing in this story. SO YEAH, i'll probably add to it whilst I finish writing all of this, but yeah whatever, so far so good.