Paint You Wings // Ashton Irwin [au]

Twelve

Emilia's POV

It's an uncomfortable feeling when the first thing you think of when breaking out of unconsciousness is: why are there voices in my room? The last thing I can remember was going straight to bed after the drive-in movie last night and now I'm hearing voices; familiar voices, but that still doesn't change the fact that I'm being woken up in a way that would probably freak me the fuck out and scream bloody murder if I didn't know the faces behind the voices.

"Should we just flip the bed?" One voice says, probably Calum.

"We want to wake her up, not scare the living shit out of her," another voice defends. Definitely Ashton.

I'm dreaming right? This has to be a dream. There is no way that I'm hearing my five friends talking to each other around my bed. I shuffle my feet a bit, making sure that I am indeed, lying in my bed. Blindly, I search for my blanket and pull it over my head in an attempt to drown out the cheery voices.

"Oh, she's up!" A deeper voice says, informing the others of my state of consciousness.

No I'm not, I want to say, but all that comes out is a loud groan as I tug tighter on the blanket, becoming a human cocoon.

"I told you she's not a morning person," Julia states matter-of-factly.

Ashton shakes my shoulder. "Come on, Emmie. You need to get up."

"Go away," I groan, trying to swat his hand away, but I end up just waving my arm aimlessly in the air. "What are you doing here?" I groggily ask, my face planted into the pillow.

"If you'd open your eyes, you'd find out," Michael says.

I flip onto my back—struggling slightly thanks to my make-shift cocoon—and peek through one eye to view the cause of my awakening. Standing around my bed is Calum, who is holding onto a series of ribbons with a variety of balloons attached with the words 'Happy Birthday.' Luke shifts back and forth on his heels while holding onto a small blue gift bag and Michael stands with his hands in his pockets. I open my other eye and lean up to get a better look. Julia stands next to Calum, taking pictures with her phone, and at the foot of my bed, Ashton glances down at me with the cheesiest grin I've ever seen.

"Happy birthday!" They all cheer in unison.

I fall back onto my bed, still annoyed that they woke me up for this. As hard I try, I can't hide the smile that slowly creeps onto my face. "Thank you," I finally say. "What time is it?"

"About one thirty," Michael answers nonchalantly.

"What?" I almost yell, throwing my blanket off and standing upright.

"Calm down," Ashton says. "It's your birthday. You're allowed to sleep in."

"But—" I try to argue, but Ashton holds up his finger, cutting me off.

"No buts. Luke, give her the present," he instructs.

Luke takes the two short steps to the bed and hands me the small bag. It is much lighter than I had expected it to be. Like there was nothing in it. I pull out the white tissue paper, revealing a brown box. My eyebrows furrow as I grab the box because it weighs absolutely nothing. They all giggle around me.

"It's empty," I say.

"That's because it's in the dining room," Ashton hints.

I go into our small dining room where on the table sits a plate of pancakes, bacon, eggs, and hash browns. But what catches my eye is the light blue mug that sits next to the plate, causing a loud squeal to fall from my lips. It's the ceramic mug that I had seen at Starbucks last month with the two elephants holding each other's trunk. I realize that the box in the gift bag fits the size of the mug and that makes my current smile grow even wider. I turn and give each one of my friends a hug while thanking them profusely.