On The Line (Ashton Irwin)

Chapter 17- Then

Chapter 17- Then

-Madison's POV-

Waking up in the morning, I did the first thing I could think of.

I called Ashton.

I mean, what else would I do?

"Pick up the phone, pick up the phone!" I said eagerly, Ashton finally picking up on the other line.

"Merry Christmas, babe," he said in his sleepy voice. "And happy birthday! My girl's finally eighteen."

"Did I wake you up?" I asked.

"No, I've been up for awhile," he said, yawning.

"Ashton, you're a horrible liar." I said, giggling.

"Am not," he protested.

"Whatever," I said. "When will I see you today?"

"Come over now," he groaned, yawning again. "I wanna see you,"

"Okay, okay, I'll be over in a bit." I said. "Don't you have that video thing to record today too?"

"Yeah, the Teenage Dirtbag cover," he said, sounding a bit more alert. "But that's not until later today. Seriously, come over now."

"I am, I am," I said, grabbing clothes out of the closet for today. "I'll see you in a bit."

Hanging up the phone, I quickly changed, exiting the room to see that neither of my parents were up yet, despite it being seven in the morning. Pulling on my shoes, I left the house, practically sprinting down the street to get to Ashton's.

"Happy birthday, Maddy," Anne said as she opened the door. "And merry Christmas," she said, giving me a hug.

"Thanks," I said. "Where's Ashton at?"

"He's in his room," she said, and I walked past her, running up the stairs and opening up his bedroom door without knocking, to see him sprawled out on his bed, phone clutched tightly in his right hand. After talking on the phone with me, he must've fallen back asleep.

Giggling softly, I crawled in the bed next to him, pushing his hair out of his face and kissing him softly on the forehead. He groaned in response, and then I kissed him on the lips, seeing his eyes flutter open quickly before he responded to the kiss, rolling over so he had me pinned beneath him on the bed.

"Eighteen," he whispered, nuzzling his nose into my neck and planting a few soft kisses. "You're so old."

"Ashton, you'll be eighteen in less than seven months." I said in response, and he pulled back from his spot buried in my neck to look me in the eyes again.

"You're still old," he said, rolling off of me and off the bed, going into a standing position and pulling me with him, so I was pressed up closely against him once more, and for the first time I realized that he was only in his boxers.

Cupping my chin in his hand, he tilted my head up so I was looking at him as he towered over me, his other hand resting on the small of my back.

"It's Christmas," he said.

"No shit Sherlock," I said, smirking.

"But this will be by far the best Christmas I've had," he promised, kissing my forehead quickly.

"How so?" I asked him.

"Because," he said. "I'm drumming later today, and I get to spend the entire day with this cutie standing next to me."

"Ashton," I said, standing on my tiptoes and kissing him quickly.

"Merry Christmas, Maddy," he said, grabbing a package off his desk and handing it to me. I unwrapped it quickly to reveal a necklace with a heart on it, the numbers 11.1.11 engraved on it for the day we began dating.

"Ash," I breathed, turning around so he could put it on me. "It's beautiful. I love it,"

Grabbing my purse off the floor, I spun back around to face him, taking out the box that contained his Christmas present. He opened it up to reveal the dog tag necklace with the heart cut out of it that read 'She stole my heart...'

I held up my hand to reveal the ring on my finger, the one that contained the heart missing from his necklace. On the band the words were engraved 'And I'll always carry it with me.'

"I love it," he said, kissing me softly. "It's perfect. You're perfect."

****

"There's the birthday girl," Cal said as Ashton and I entered Luke's garage, where the other three boys were waiting for us, like always.

"Merry Christmas and happy birthday," Luke said, hugging me.

"Happy birthmas," Michael said, hugging me then.

 "Thanks," I said, smiling.

"So, who's ready to record my first YouTube cover?" Ashton asked the guys as his arm wrapped around my waist, pulling me closer to him.

"I'm ready!" Luke said. "But, we're recording in the house, not in here."

Following after the boys in the house, I saw Luke's family gathered around the kitchen table. Liz, who I'd met several times, whenever the boys had practice, and also his dad and two brothers, whom I'd never met.

"Maddy," Liz smiled, standing up and hugging me quickly. "This is my husband, Andrew, and my two older sons, Ben and Jack. Boys, this is Madison, Ashton's girlfriend."

"Hi," I said softly.

"Now come on," she said, gesturing towards where the boys were setting up their stuff, Luke sitting on the ground, Cal next to him, with Michael sitting on a chair with his guitar and Ashton on the other chair with the little acoustic drum that he had. "Let's see the magic happen."