The Chase ▹ Ashton Irwin

CHAPTER THIRTY FIVE

"Can you help me look for jobs now?" Ashton asked as we both settled back down on my bed. 

"But what about geometry?" I replied.

"It will only take a minute! Pleaasse?" He pleaded. I sighed, but scooted next to him so our crossed knees brushed against one another. Ashton opened the newspaper that Michael had given him this morning. Ashton 's glasses fell a little bit down his nose and he pushed them up and flipped through the pages. "Okay found them." He mumbled, his eyes glued to the paper. I leaned slightly into him, looking through all the job adds as well.

"You can work at the grocery store?" I suggested. Ashton chuckled.

"No thanks babe." He said. I rolled my eyes but kept looking. "Hmmm..." I said, somewhat to myself.

"Starbucks?"

"No."

"Pizza Hut?"

"Nooo."

"Oh! Guitar teacher?"

"I'm a drummer, Brooke." He laughed and let out a frustrated groan. "These all suck!"

"Just keep your eyes out," I assured. I gave him a quick kiss on the cheek, and pulled the geometry book back onto the bed. "Now lets do geometry."

...

"Why don't you ask Ashton to stay for dinner some time?" My mother asked after Ashton had left for the night. I thought about that for a minute, and thought about how nervous Ashton would probably be around my parents. For obvious reasons, of course.

"Uh yeah, I don't know." I replied as I rumaged through the refridgerater for water.

"Why?" she asked. "He hasn't met your dad yet, either."

"I just...don't know." I said quietly. I can tell Ashton gets awkward and nervous around my parents, because he's just not used to it. I didn't know if it reminded it of his parents or anything, but that could be a possibility.

"And when can I meet his parents?" My mother went on. My heart sank as she kepy talking. "C'mon Brooke, you should be more open about your little relationship-"

She ceased speaking when I turned around to face her. "He doesn't have parents, mom." I said. With that, I grabbed my phone off the counter and walked out before my mother could say anything else. 

The thought about Ashton's parents and what happened seemed to distract me everyday, and it didn't even happen to me! It pisses me off, yet there's nothing that I can do about it. I always found myself wondering what Ashton's parents were like. Well, I knew his dad was a dick, but what about his mom? It seemed like she loved Ashton very much, and I never understood why she wasn't able to take care of him herself. I sighed and pushed my bedroom door open to work on my own homework.

 -

*Ashton's POV*

"Maybe I should just get an intervention." My mother said into the phone in the other room. It went silent for a couple seconds.

"No no no...he wouldn't care enough to say anything." she kept talking.

"Its harder than it looks, mother." she said at almost a whisper. I guess she was talking to my grandma.

"I just...can't seem to stop." By now, there were sniffles inbetween her words, and I didn't understand what she was talking about. "It haunts me e-everyday, because what kind of a parent am I for my s-son if I do this to myself?"

There was some more crying, and I wanted to cry as well. I decided to go into her room, because my dad wasn't home yet to ruin the somewhat calm atmosphere. I slowly opened the door, and peaked my head inside. My mother was sitting on the bed, the phone shaking in her hands next to her ear. Her eyes met mine, and she quickly wiped her weary eyes and whispered something into the phone.