Runaway - Ashton Irwin *completed*

thirteen

"Maybe I'm too busy being yours to fall for somebody new, now I've thought it through. Crawling back to you."

What the hell?

I sat up in my bed, looking at the time. 5:30 in the morning?

I wrapped a blanket around myself and walked into the living room to find Luke was dancing with his stuffed penguin and singing rather off key to Arctic Monkeys.

"Luke, what the hell are you doing? It's 5:30 in the morning!" I turned the stereo down and he frowned.

"I don't know, I couldn't sleep so I came out here to find my voice." He shrugged, laying on the couch with his penguin.

"What the hell?" I said again. "Are you high?"

"No." He rubbed his eyes. "I don't know, I couldn't sleep. Did you spike my soup last night with something weird? I feel funny."

"Well thanks for waking me up an hour earlier than I usually get up," I rolled my eyes. "And no I didn't spike your soup with something. Maybe thinking about anal so much last night made you feel weird."

"Possibly," he said. "Anyways, I think I should head back to bed or I'll be way tired after work today."

"Oh YOU should go back to bed?" I scoffed. "I'm gonna go take a shower now that you've gotten me up already. If I go back to bed then it'll be too hard to get back out of bed."

"Sorry," he giggled, wrapping a blanket around himself and rolling over on the couch.

I took a quick shower, drying my hair and doing my makeup before deciding to curl my hair and make myself breakfast since I had so much extra time to get ready.

I fried myself some eggs and made toast, enjoying them somewhat slowly while I scrolled through the news on my phone, uninterested in all the negativity going on in the world.

Before long I was out the door and at work, saying hello to Michael before heading into my office to get started.

The day went by slowly, and by the time it was 4:30 I was relieved I could go home. I changed before walking to Starbucks and spotting Ashton, who I smiled at when I saw.

"Hello Taylor Parks," Ashton smiled back at me, helping me take my jacket off. "How was your day?"

"Slow," I shrugged. "I need to get myself some tea."

"I'll go up with you, I was feeling like getting some tea myself." Ashton took my arm and walked with me to the counter.

"Taylor, nice to see you and Ashton are getting along today," Luke smiled at me.

"Well I always try to get along with her," Ashton said. "We'd both like some tea please."

"What kind?" Luke asked Ashton.

"What kind do you want?" Ashton asked me.

"Oh I already know what she wants," Luke said.

"Well I'll just have the same thing as her thing, whatever it is," Ashton smiled at me.

"It's good," I assured him, and Luke put the order in.

I reached into my purse for some money, but Ashton beat me to it.

"Stop paying for me!" I crossed my arms and Ashton laughed, wrapping an arm around my shoulder. His familiar scent brought me a sense of peace.

Luke handed us our drinks, and Ashton walked us back to our spots with his hand on my back, and I heard Luke whistle at us behind me. I made a mental note to kill him for that later.

"So Luke and his friend wanted to invite us to go out with them Friday night to have a couple drinks," I said. "Are you interested?"

"Yes, definitely," he said. "What time is it exactly?"

"I'm not sure, I can text you when I find out." I replied, taking a sip of my tea. The warmth relaxed me instantly.

"Okay, that sounds perfect." Ashton leaned back against the couch after picking up a magazine from the table. God he looked good in that navy blue sweater.

"I always love to look at all the weird recipes that are in these old women magazines," he said, flipping one open to a recipe to make snowmen cupcakes.

"They are not 'old women' magazines," I said. "I read them sometimes, you know. They have pretty good recipes."

"Oh my, do I have a crush on an old woman?" Ashton teased. "You know, my mom always told me I had a thing for older women. I loved Angelina Jolie and Jennifer Aniston."

"I am not an old woman," I laughed. "I am only 23."

"That's good," he said. "I would have been concerned if I were dating an 18 year old."

"Oh god no," I shook my head. "My life was horrible when I was 18 anyways. I never want to go back."

"How was it horrible when you were 18?" he asked.

"Oh nothing," I said. "My mom was just in jail a lot and ended up coming home drunk like all the time. I didn't really have anyone but my brother at that point in time. But my life is better now. I'm happy."

"Your mom came home drunk all the time?" he asked. "Was she an alcoholic?"

I nodded. "But I don't wanna talk about it anymore. It's depressing and I would rather focus on the future. Like the fact that we're going to have fun Friday night with Luke and his friend."

Ashton frowned, but quickly recovered. "I haven't been out in a while. This ought to be fun."

"Oh it will be," I laughed. "You've seen how Luke gets when he's drunk. He's so funny."

"What about me?" Luke appeared next to us, suddenly, seeming suspicious of our conversation.

"Ashton said he would come with us on Friday," I smiled up at Luke. "And we were just remembering how funny you were when you got piss drunk at Michael's party."

"Let's not speak of that," he cringed, which made both Ashton and I laugh.

"Well I think I better head home soon and make myself dinner, and it looks as though Luke is done working too," Ashton said, standing up and pulling his jacket on.

"Yes," Luke nodded. "And it's Taylor's night to make dinner."

I groaned. "I don't even know what to make."

"You always have some sort of plan," Luke smiled as Ashton helped me pull my jacket back on and I pulled my purse over my shoulder.

"I'll see you on Thursday," I said to Ashton, who smiled and pulled me in for a quick hug.

"I'll see you on Thursday, Taylor Parks," Ashton winked at me before Luke and I walked outside.

As I got into bed that night, my mind flooded with memories of my mom and how concerned Ashton seemed when I mentioned her. I didn't want him knowing about her. It was embarrassing what she put my brother and I through growing up and I didn't want Ashton or even Luke knowing about it.

I just wanted the past behind me. That's what I moved to Seattle for in the first place.

I turned my lamp off and tucked myself into bed, falling asleep almost instantly.