Lullabies

fifteen

I'd successfully managed to ignore Ashton the entire weekend and even during lunch at school. It was my last class for the day and instead of Mrs. Yates we had some lazy substitute who played some old black and white documentary on the projector and allowed us to get on our phones, provided we didn't click any pictures or anything.

I quickly opened up Instagram, scrolling through my feed and liking some random pictures when suddenly I received a new message.

New Message from Ashton.

Originally I planned on ignoring him but I could feel his piercing gaze on me from all the way across the classroom so I had no choice but to reply, messing up all the effort I'd wasted on ignoring him for the past couple of days.

Ashton: Why are you ignoring me?

Me: Ignoring you? Pfft, never...

I looked up the exact moment he gazed down at his phone, tapping away furiously before he paused and pressed the left side of the screen, presumably deleting what he just typed before typing again, this time at a slower rate.

Ashton: Where were you this weekend then? I texted you like, a million times

42 times, not that I kept on checking or anything.

Me: I lost my phone, finally found it last night :/

Ashton: Oh okay.

Me: Yeah

He locked his phone after reading my text and asked the substitute if he could use the washroom. The man warned him to come back in five minutes but I had a feeling even he knew that Ashton wasn't coming back any time soon.

****

Ashton didn't come back to class, just like I'd suspected but what I didn't expect was the text he sent me at 11:30 p.m.

Ashton: I'm picking you up in 10. Don't argue, just get dressed please.

Twelve minutes later I was standing outside my house after I had painstakingly climbed out of my window, making sure not to make any sounds so that I didn't wake up my parents or worse, my dog after getting dressed in a pair of skinny jeans and wearing one of my dad's old college sweatshirts that completely engulfed me.

I was only doing because he said please.

Ashton slammed on the brakes once he saw me outside, waited for me to get on and then gave me the helmet he was wearing. 

"You seriously need to buy another helmet," I said, strapping it over my head.

He just nodded before speeding away from my house.

****

We were back at that half constructed building with the great view but this time, there was no talking as we silently got on the service elevator and walked to the terrace again.

This silence was really freaking me out.

"Um Ash, what are we doing here?" I mumbled out, wrapping my arms around me to warm myself up.

"You really fucked me up, you know," he suddenly said.

"Huh? What?"confusion laced my words as I tried to understand what he was saying.

He sighed and paused, contemplating what he was gonna say before continuing.

"There I was, not being able to sleep and I had come to accept it. After hating it for 3 years, I had finally accepted it and fuck, I'd actually begun to enjoy it. Sure, I'd only function on one, maybe two hours of sleep all day but do you know how fucking beautiful New York is at night? It's something out of those books you read. It's calm and quiet. And after I was done exploring my poetic side, I'd go and get wasted and eventually fall into a restless sleep and everything would be perfect."

"...but then you walked in with your attitude and your stupid Stevie Wonder lullabies. And now that's the only way I sleep. You know the only days I've slept peacefully ever since I started high school? That night you sang to me and a couple nights before, the night I spent at your house. Just these two nights, and it's honestly freaking me out."

I was struggling to muffle my smile while he stared into the distance. Aw, Ashton.

"Even sex doesn't work anymore," he exclaimed once again, finally turning to look at me with a bewildered expression.

The grin I was desperately trying to conceal broke free, prompting Ashton to furrow his eyebrows.

"It's not funny," he huffed.

"I agree."

We paused, my smile not leaving my face.

I was the only one that made Ashton sleep.

Me.

My awkward self.

I honestly couldn't stop the weird tingly feelings bubbling up in my stomach as he continued to stare at me.

"I want to propose a deal," he said.

"What deal?"

"Every night, you sneak into my house, sing me a lullaby, wait until I'm asleep before you go back or you can crash at my place, whatever suits you."

"I can't take the car. My garage door is really noisy and my dad will probably figure it out..."

I was honestly surprised that the only thing stopping me from accepting his proposal was car problems. Not the fact that I would be sacrificing my own sleep, not that my parents would kill me if they found out or that I simply didn't want to be his personal lullaby-singer.

"You can borrow my car or I can sleep in your house, sneak out before school."

"Nope, nah your house is cool," the words tumbled out of my mouth before I could stop them.

Wait what?

"Cool, and in return I'll save you from James's creepy behavior," he said, with a triumphant grin on his face.

"Wait whoa, hold up. James isn't creepy," now it was my turn to huff.

"Yes, he is," he declared.

"You know what, you don't have to do anything for me, just get me home right now."

"You mean my house," he clarified, sliding down the wall.

"Really? We're starting today?" I slid down beside him, leaning my head against his shoulder, my previous rush to get home forgotten.

"No time like the present."

He wrapped his arm around my shoulder and rested his head over mine while a sense of security enveloped me and I found myself snuggling further into his body (due to the cold, obviously).

And that's how I spent the first night of the deal, falling asleep with Ashton on a abandoned building, under the stars.

****

vote and comment, please.