haze / afi

part 57. the new and improved violet

after dropping violet off at calum's house, noticing michael was there too, luke decided to head straight over to ashton's place. he wants things to be right again, knowing it's not normal for ashton to shout at someone, even if he was mad.

he pulls into the driveway, getting out of his car to quickly walk up to the door. he knocks a few times, stepping back as he waits.

the door opens in record time, having only waited a few seconds. ashton looks disappointed when he sees it's luke. he takes a breath, stepping back to let luke inside.

"hi to you too." luke chuckles.

"sorry," ashton says as he closes the door. "i was hoping it would be violet."

luke walks himself to ashton's living room, sitting down while he waits for ashton to join him. noticing the mess on the table in front of him, he turns to ashton to ask, getting an answer before he said anything.

"i haven't got around to cleaning up from last night," ashton explains, running a hand through his hair in frustration. "what's up?"

"we need to talk about what happened between you and violet." luke says. ashton seeming confused. "i spoke to her earlier."

"oh, is she okay?" ashton asks.

"she's upset, ash." luke tells him the truth, seeing his face drop even more. "she wanted me to tell you that she just needs some time to think, but for now she's safe at calum's place."

"that's good to know," he nods, glad that she's at least with their friends. "i was worried, she walked out so late and then i couldn't find her. i thought something bad had happened."

"cal picked her up, she stayed over last night," ashton nods again. "she thinks you're mad at her, and she's taking the blame for you shouting at her."

he sighs, perhaps he thought this might happen. he didn't want it to, doesn't want her blaming herself, doesn't want her being upset. he really messed up.

"it's not her fault," ashton folds his arms. "and i'm not mad at her in the slightest, she did nothing wrong."

"then why did you shout at her?"

"i don't know, i really don't know." the annoyance in himself is clear in his tone. "i overreacted for no reason, i told her that communication is key, and yet i didn't let her talk to me about how she felt."

"you're not the kind of person to shout," luke says. "so, what's going on with you? i can't remember the last time you shouted at someone, or punched someone."

"she told you about that?"

luke nods, confirming that. ashton shakes his head. he doesn't regret punching nathan. he deserved it. but shouting at violet was a big mistake and he wishes he'd never done it.

"he wouldn't leave violet alone," he didn't want to think back to that day, how bad she felt. "i got angry at something he said, so i ended up punching him."

"were you still feeling weird about that?" luke asks. "is that why you shouted?"

"no, i don't think so," ashton shakes his head. "i'm fine with the fact i hit him."

luke frowns, trying to figure this out seeing as this isn't at all like the ashton he knows. ashton could tell what he was doing, shuffling in his seat so he's facing forwards, not directly towards luke.

"i think i've just been tired, confused maybe," ashton admits. "confused on how to handle things, i don't want to do the wrong thing or say the wrong thing. i've been trying to figure out ways to make her feel better, but nothing i've tried has been working. maybe i was frustrated, and took it out on her when i really didn't mean to."