Secluded (Ashton Irwin)

Chapter 9

"Hey sweetie how was the concert?" Ashton's mom asked as he shut the front door behind him.

"It was a lot of fun," Ashton said with a smile. He told his mom all about it as she made things for lunch.

"I'm gonna have to run out in a little bit, but Harry and Lauren are in their rooms. Harry still isn't feeling very well, and Lauren's watching a movie."

"Alright I'll check on them in a little bit," Ashton said.

"Your dad called last night," his mom said slowly making Ashton's face become still.

"And," Ashton spat. He was trying to call now? It was a little too late for that. Ashton's home life was complicated and he didn't like to talk about it or even think about it. It took him a long time to get over it.

"I guess he was just trying to reach out, I thought I would mention it," his mom said lowering her voice surprised by Ashton's sudden anger.

"Well no thanks," Ashton said getting up from his seat in the kitchen.

"Just because things with him and I went poorly Ash, doesn't mean you can't have a relationship with him," his mom said as Ashton walked out of the kitchen. He didn't want a relationship with his dad, simple as that.

When Ashton was younger his dad mistreated his mom. Not in an abusive way, but in a way he made her feel insecure and unspecial. He necessarily didn't care for her wellbeing, or even the fact that they had three kids together. He went out when he wanted, he came home when he wanted, and when he wanted to leave, he did. He left with no warning, only divorce papers and not bothering to even talk to his kids for two years. It was really a complicated story, but bottom line was that his dad didn't care for a long time, and now it was too late.

He forced Ashton to grow up without a father figure, and even Harry who was just recently born. Ashton was forced to grow up and take care of Lauren and Harry, while his mom struggled as a single parent. Ashton could never understand how you could abandon a family like that.

Ashton walked back into his room and let out a sigh as he sat on his bed. He suddenly felt stress and he could already feel the tension building up in his neck. He took his phone out of his pocket, scrolling down his contacts list. He needed to get out of the house already and he had just gotten there. He stopped on Reagan's name and before he hit call he remembered how she blew him off when he went to drop her off at her house.

Ashton tossed his phone to the side of him and stood up. He went to his closet and changed into a pair of black running shorts and a black nike tshirt before pulling on his shoes. He grabbed his headphones and made his way out of his bed room.

"Going to the gym," Ashton stated as he blew past his mom in the living room and made his way out to the car.

Reagan plopped on her living room couch, rubbing her face with her hands for a second.

"I'm an idiot," she mumbled to herself thinking about how she blew off Ashton and rushed inside. She didn't want him to think she was mad at him. She wasn't, she was the one who kissed him. But she didn't know why, and she didn't know how to face him now. She knew they were probably gonna have to talk about it eventually, but she wanted to avoid that as long as she possibly could. Ashton acted like nothing had happened, but she knew eventually one of them would break and questions would be asked. The scary part was, she didn't know the answer to any of them.

Did she kiss him to make sure she forgot about Ryan?
Did she kiss him because she was lonely?
Did she kiss him because they were in the moment?
Did she kiss him because she actually liked him?