Begin Again - A.I

twenty five.

"I mean, the very beat alone is enough to, like, cure cancer. I mean, the drums? The drums are damn insane. If anyone tells with me that John Bonham isn't Jesus, I'll kill them. You know? I mean, Stairway To Heaven will forever be one of the most iconic songs. You know? Led Zeppelin rocked, man."

I try and follow everything that Ashton is saying, but I got lost after the first time he said 'Led Zeppelin'. But I continue to look at him because the smile he wears, to me, is enough to cure cancer. He's sitting in the spot I'm used to seeing him in, behind the wheel of his truck, one arm steering and the other tapping against the window. God, he's so ... mesmerising.

"And I feel like everyone just tries to copy them," Ashton continues. He's so passionate about this topic that it almost makes me passionate too, I just have no idea what or who he's talking about. And I'm definitely not going to ask. "But no one can copy them, you know?" I didn't. "So, it's like, just stop. You're never going to be John Bonham, or Robert Plant. Or even Jimmy Page. You're never going to successfully be able to recreate the absolute sheer beauty of the-" He pauses and looks over me, his cheeks tingeing red. "You don't give a shit, do you?"

I'm so lost in his mind that I nod in my dream-like state, then I snap out of it and sit up straight. "What? Huh?"

He smiles sheepishly, bringing the hand that's not on the wheel up to his neck to rub it awkwardly. "Sorry, I was doing it again. You should've stopped me."

"N-No," I stammer. "No, I like it when you do that."

He looks shy. "You do?"

I smile at him. "Yeah."

He looks back onto the road. "You're just so easy to talk to," he tells me, and I feel a warmth in my chest spread to my entire body. "You just ... listen."

"I like it when you talk about music," I tell him. "You're passionate about it, that's cool."

He looks over and raises his eyebrow at me. "Did you just say it was cool?"

I roll my eyes. "You know what I mean."

He just laughs and shakes his head, and we fall into a comfortable silence. Ashton and I had been ... well, uh, I don't know what we were, but we had been it for about three days now. Whatever we were was a definite change from what we previously were. We talked more, and hung out more. Things were still kind of awkward, but we were getting closer. It made me extremely happy to know that Ashton actually enjoyed spending time with me. I didn't know how long it would last, so I took each day as it came. 

"The boys never listen," Ashton says. He was taking me somewhere that he wouldn't say where. But apparently it was just outside of the valley. Whatever it was, it was just going to be me and Ashton. I was both nervous and excited. "There's no point having smart conversations with them, because they can't focus. Plus they never appreciate opinions."

"What about Calum?" I had had a lot of smart conversations with Calum. He was the most normal one out of them all. 

Ashton glances at me quickly. "What about him?"

"Can't you talk to him?"

"I guess. He's a bit quiet. I've never really been that close with him."

"Do you hate him?"

"What? No." Ashton winces. "I mean, I wouldn't call it hate exactly ..."

"Did he do something?"

Ashton sighs. "He kind of played a part in the whole Marie thing. I guess I've never really forgiven him for it."

My eyes widen. "Was he the one ... did he?"