Burn ▹ Ashton Irwin

twelve

I woke up the next morning to the sound of someone pounding on the front door. With everything that has been happening to me in the past few weeks, I still get shaken up by the most ordinary sounds. This one in particular, made my eyes shoot open and me sit straight up. The few harsh knocks on the door stopped, and I took that time to look around my surroundings. I was in one of the beds in this disgusting motel, and it looked to actually be a decent time in the day to sleep in. From the possition the sun had, it looked like it was at least 9:00, which is the latest I've slept in within the last two weeks. I then glanced over to the other bed, and to my surprise that one was empty.

The knocking came again, and I slowly got out of bed, hoping the person at the door was who I thought it was. I padded over to the door, and quickly gripped the knob. I pulled the door open, and to my relief I was right. Ashton stood there, wearing a pair of dark skinny jeans and some band tee on, with his hair pushed back by a navy blue bandana. As we stood in a few moments of silence I took in the way he looks, and my thoughts of him being a physically beautiful person were still pondering on in my mind. It was weird to finally relaize it after this long, but I finally did. And even though Ashton is like the way he is, he really is perfect in the way he looks.

"Hi." I said lamely.

"I got you a burrito." he stated, holding up a to-go bag. He had a blank and tired look in his eyes, and I olnly prayed that he was still in a good mood from last night. Last night was...really, really odd. All of a sudden Ashton was laughing and actually smiling...and just being nice in general. It was really weird to see him in such a great mood, where he actually understood me when I told him about myself growing up. Even though it was a pretty quick summary on my life, he still didn't judge me or assume that I was some spoiled little girl. Even though I was, I'm glad he didn't think that in a bad way.

"Thank you." I smiled, taking the bag from him and opening the door wider. He shoved his way through, staring down at the ground.

"Don't mention it." he muttered. "Literally, don't mention it."

My heart sank to the tone he had, but I decided to ignore it. I quietly shut the door back up, and walked back over to the bed. Ashton was on the other one, texting away with his head hung low. I sat down on mine, and took the food out of the bag. I was actually extremely grateful for this, since I haven't eaten in a while. I was starved.

"How long were you gone?" I asked him after we were both quiet for a little. This time, I was expecting an actual answer, but he didn't reply to me at all. I stopped eating this quite yummy burrito and glanced over to him, but he seemed to be busy with...something. I wasn't quite sure what he was doing, actually. Ashton was sitting on the edge of the bed, with his hands resting in his lap and his shoulders haunched. His eyes were shut, and for a second I thought he somehow fell asleep sitting upright. I stared at him, clearing my throat to get his attention.

"What?" he said, slowly blinking his eyes open. He stared back at me, and I froze at the sight of how tired he actually looked. His eyes were blood-shot with dark circles around them, with his eyelids looking heavier than usual. As he started to turn his stare into a harsh glare, I noticed how hard it looked for him to keep them open.

"Um..." my voice trailed off, and I ditched my last question. "Did you sleep last night?"

"I've already told you," he spat. "I don't sleep."

"But why?"

"And, I fucking hate your irrelevant questions." he finished, going back to looking at his phone. And, just like I had guessed, that attitude I was with all night last night was gone. Ashton was right back to being mean to me, and that was honestly the last thing I wanted. I just want to be his friend, and I don't know what's so bad about that. And, I also don't understand why he is this moody. I get moody too, sometimes, but he is almost unreal. One minute he laughs and makes fun of me, then he barely speaks to me for a week, then he's sweet and actually smiles, and now he's right back to being mean.