Speak//Ashton Irwin

Chapter 23

Brooke:
Everyone but Ashton and I were downstairs setting up the decorations and moving furniture around to make room for the DJ. It wasn't my birthday until tomorrow, but my party was tonight.
Don't suppose you can skip your own party...
"We get to tell everyone soon," Ashton said, grinning as he tied string to a balloon. He was excited to have our relationship out in the open. I was on the fence.
I dropped my gaze and busied myself with a banner.
"You don't want to tell them, do you?" Ashton asked quietly, his face falling. I hate that I was responsible for that look. "Brooke?" He prompted. Sighing, I nodded.
"You don't mean that. You're worried about what they'll all say." I nodded again. "They'll be happy for us, you know they will. Things will calm down after a week or two when it's old news."
So he knew they were going to be watching us like crazy, too.
"Look, I don't like it, but we can wait longer. Whenever you're ready."
He said the words, but I knew he didn't mean it.
Smiling, I shook my head and kissed his cheek quickly. I missed being physically affectionate with him. I wanted to hold his hand and have his arms around me whenever we wanted, no matter who was around.
I missed being intimate with someone I trusted with my life, someone I knew would never hurt me. It was time to come clean about our relationship and be a normal couple.
I was ready for that.
I deserved that, surely.
Ashton deserves that with someone worthy.
Ignoring the voice in my head, I playfully shoved his shoulder and made him laugh.
Two hours later, I was dressed for the party. My nerves grew with every step I took downstairs until I thought I was going to explode. I was thankful that Ashton, Kerry and Ben would be with me. At least I could spend the evening with them and ignore everyone else.
People had come to see what my life was like, what my family were like. None of them wanted to celebrate my birthday.
Some of my family had already arrived and were standing around drinking and chatting. My grandparents from both sides of the family sat on the sofa with overflowing wine glasses. I didn't see Dad's parents often; they lived quite far away so they only visited on birthdays and at Christmas.
How would they react if they found out what he really was?
They won't believe you, either.
The doorbell rang, and I took a deep breath, taking a peek at Ashton to stop myself freaking out. He smiled and mouthed, 'Love you' which made me forget everything and everyone.
"Happy Birthday, Brooke," Harry shouted from across the room, throwing his arms out like an idiot.
Ashton glared, and if looks could kill, Harry would've been a goner by now. There was no need for him to be here, the guy hated me? It made no sense.
I smiled through distaste, and Ashton tugged me into the kitchen.
I can do this. By midnight, it'll be winding down and everyone going home.
Rolling my eyes as I looked around, I shook my head. The whole house was covered in decorations. Pink decorations. You could barely move around all the balloons, banners, streamers, and enormous pink feathers. Yeah, feathers. What was I, eight? It was probably what Mum wanted for her sixteenth.
My mouth dropped open in shock as I saw what was on the kitchen counter. What on earth? Blinking in disbelief, I stepped closer to the giant ice sculpture. It was of a girl doing a cartwheel. Me doing a cartwheel.
She's really lost it.
"Honey, here." Mum gave me a plastic cup of punch and one to Ashton, too. Forcing my lips to twitch in a brief smile, I turned, pretending to look at something different so she wouldn't see how much I hated all of it. She still saw me as a little girl.
Just a few hours. For her, I reasoned with myself, again.
"Well, this is all very pink," Ashton commented, stating the bloody obvious. "She knows your favourite colour is yellow, right?" Of course, he knew that. "Come on, I need some vodka in this before I hang myself."
As we made a move, Kerry hopped in front of me and laughed as I jumped. "Sorry. Happy birthday! This party's awesome, by the way."
Is it, though?
"I'm guessing you like pink," Ben said sarcastically and threw his arm over Ashton's shoulder.
I stared at him flatly. Nope.
"She doesn't like pink. Her mum organised everything." Ashton explained.
"Ah. Ouch." Ben winced in sympathy.
Kerry waved her hand. "Don't worry, Brooke, you have us to save you now." She pulled me into the living room. Her grip was tight, and she strode confidently through the small crowd that had gathered by the doorway.
"Sit," she ordered, pointing to the smaller sofa that had been pushed into the corner of the room. Ashton and Ben joined us, both sitting on the arms of the chair.
"This is our corner. If anyone tries to take it, kill. Okay?" Kerry looked at us sternly. I grinned in amusement and sat back in the sofa. Maybe this party won't be too bad after all. Or maybe those are famous last words.
We settled into conversation and managed to have a good time. Ashton and Ben bickered like an old married couple which was providing most of the entertainment. I wasn't even required to socialise with others much. Family were happy to catch up with family and leave me to blend into the background.
Occasionally, I saw Mum chatting happily and laughing with Joy and Nan. That was why I put up with the stupid party. She's smiling and it's genuine. She deserves this.
Louis knelt down in front of me and leered towards someone. I thought he had gone out for the evening, but of course he'd want to be around lots of girls.
"The blonde girl over there," he said, gesturing towards Jennifer from my class. "She over sixteen?" I nodded, and Louis rubbed his hands together. "Legal. Fair game." He made it sound like a joke, but we both knew he wasn't kidding.
Suddenly, I caught sight of Harry dancing with Stephanie. I noticed how he'd move her closer to where we were sitting until they ended up right in front of us. I didn't know how Steph could even touch him. With a sick feeling in my stomach, I turned back to Ashton and our friends.
"She's not pregnant, dipshit, she's just put on weight," Kerry said, looking at someone in the room.
Okay, what have I missed?
After six cups of punch, my bladder felt like it was going to burst, so I went upstairs to the bathroom. Just as I was about to open the door, I heard someone giggle from inside my room. Oh, hell no! My room was off limits, and I was ready to flip out on whoever was in there... But I want to see whatever was happening?
No, but I had to stop it.
Pushing the door open quickly with the hope that I'll keep dinner down, I prepared for what I was about to see. My jaw dropped. I wanted to bleach my eyes. Steph and Harry were all over each other on my bed, and now I was going to have to burn the sheets.
Steph gasped and looked up in shock. What on earth was wrong with her? Glaring at her furiously, I pointed to the door. She immediately ran out, sneering at me as she shot past me. At least they were fully dressed. It could have been much worse.
Sorry I stopped you making a huge mistake with a complete dickhead.
"Well, well, well. Looks like we're alone now, huh," Harry sang. I stood my ground as he slowly moved off my bed and took one step towards me. This was my room. I wasn't going to let him intimidate me here. Straightening my back to try to make myself appear taller, I stared him in the eye.
He stopped a couple inches in front, and my stomach tightened. What was he going to do? Everything inside me was screaming to run away, but I refused to do that. I'd done that for too long.
"Sorry you had to see that, babe. She wasn't taking no for an answer."
Babe. No.
I glared at him. I couldn't really care less what he did with Steph, to be honest, they deserved each other. I just didn't want it in my room. Or my house. He cocked his head to the side as he watched me with caution.
"Stop playing hard to get, Brooke," he finally said and took another step closer. We were far too close now, but I didn't waiver. Who was playing hard to get? I wasn't playing anything. I hated him and had good reason to.
"You think I don't see how you look at me?"
How I looked at him? What the hell was he seeing? He's drunk. That's the only explanation.
"Don't look at me like that," he growled. "I've had two years of you ignoring me and pretending you don't give a shit! I have to fucking insult you just to get you to acknowledge me," he shouted, stepping forward one more time.
Adrenaline coursed through my veins as his arms reached out to touch me. All I could think about was stopping him. His arms stretched nearer, I balled my hand into a fist and punched him as hard as I could. We both stumbled back in shock.
Oh God.
The sound – like a dull, crunching thud – rang through my ears. Harry's hand shot to his mouth, and he groaned in pain. My hand immediately started throbbing. I shook my hand and winced. The movies didn't show the puncher hurting after.
Harry straightened his spine. His dark eyes were stone cold. Blood started to seep through a small slit on his lip. Whoa. I'd done that. I was a little proud of myself for standing up to him.
It felt good.
You should've done that a long time ago, too.
How? I was a kid.
"Stop being such a bitch," he spat. I took a step backwards, turned slowly and walked out of my room. I half expected him to follow me, but he didn't. Taking the stairs two at a time, I flew to the bottom.
"Whoa," Ashton cried as I slammed into him. "You okay?"
Yes, actually. I'm really okay. Jerk Harry.
Ashton glared, and I spun around to see what'd earned that look. Harry, of course, was standing at the top of the stairs. He ducked into the bathroom when he noticed Ashton with me.
"What happened? Was his lip bleeding?"
Ashton's eyes widened in surprise and, I think, awe.
"Did you just punch him?" I nodded and watched pride sweep over his face. "You're amazing," he said and stroked my sore hand with his fingertips. "But you need to get that fixed." Shaking his head he guided me to the downstairs bathroom.
After Ashton made me keep my hand under cold water for a few minutes it was starting to feel better, but that could be just because it was turning numb. He kissed my temple and then wrapped my hand in a towel to dry it. "Let's go get you a couple pills for the pain." I threw the towel in the washing basket and reached for the door handle.
The pain was fine. It was a nice reminder of the fact that I'd defended myself. It was the first time.
Ashton grabbed my good hand and spun me around. "Have I told you how beautiful you look in that dress?" Blushing, I reached up on tiptoes and kissed his lips. I wore a simple, summer maxi dress with a paisley design. It was nothing fancy, but I loved that Ashton thought I looked good.
He made me sit back down with Kerry and Ben while he went to get me some painkillers. Harry still hadn't left like I thought he would, he was now back downstairs with his friends. Why would he stay? If he was trying to make me feel uncomfortable in my own home he could stop wasting his efforts – I was already there.
"Here you go." Ashton handed me two pain killers and a glass of water. Smiling gratefully, I slung the pills in my mouth and swigged a couple mouthfuls of water.
"Headache?" Kerry asked, letting Ben up for air.
I gave her a nod, not wanting to get into the real reason why I needed them.
Ashton, always wanting to save me, grabbed my hand and gave it a tug. "Want to dance?"
In front of all of my family and most of the people I hated from school? I wanted to dance with Ashton, but I didn't want to draw any extra attention to myself. And I didn't want Dad to see me and Ashton getting closer. This was my party though, and I should enjoy it.
I got up and followed him about three steps to where all the dancing was happening. And I use the term 'dancing' very loosely. Some of these people would be having sex if it wasn't for clothes. People dry humping in her living room, that'd teach Mum for throwing a party she wanted me to have.
Dad was probably seething.
Good.
When I was in Ashton's arms, the party didn't seem that bad at all. Nothing did.
This is going to end badly. He won't want you when he finds out.
That was fine, because I'll never tell.
Silencing my inner demons, I stepped closer to him. We'd been this close before. I'd left a small gap between us so we didn't look a little too cosy. Throwing my arms around his neck, I grinned.
A few times I noticed Harry watching us dance. I was tired of being intimidated and scared, so I ignored him. The only thing I cared about was the way Ashton looked at me.
Just as I thought I could start to relax properly and enjoy the evening, the music was cut.
Mum tapped a microphone, and my heart dropped.
Shes going to make a speech.

Authors Note: Thank you guys so much! I love writing this book and it makes me so happy to see you guys enjoying it. Always remember to leave a comment letting me know how you like it or if you have any questions don't hesitate to ask :) Make sure to follow me on my social medias
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