Paint You Wings // Ashton Irwin [au]

Thirty-six

Ashton's POV

"So where are your wings?" she asked hesitantly.

As I gazed at my wings—my Emilia, I could no longer say that I was falling in love with her. I had been falling harder and harder for her as each day passed to the point where I was no longer falling anymore.

I am in love with Emilia.

It felt so good to say it in my head, but I couldn't voice it. I wanted to tell her right then as we stood in the studio together that I am so fucking in love with her, but I couldn't. She's never been in love; she doesn't know how to handle a confession like that. She ran away when I told her that I liked her, so who knows how she would react if I tell her that I am in love with her.

So I bit my tongue, intertwined our hands and lovingly smiled at her. "I'm looking at them right now."

___

It has been twenty-four hours since I stole Emilia from work to show her the painting of her wings.

It has been twenty-four hours since I came to the conclusion that I am in love with Emilia.

And in these twenty-four hours, things carried on as normal.

Yesterday, after stealing Emmie for over an hour or so, I took her back to the library after we were caught making out by the canvas by some art student who came in to work on her clay sculpture. I swear almost every time we have a nice slightly intimate moment, someone always has to ruin and interrupt it. I need to take her out somewhere where we won't be interrupted one of these days.

When we got there, no one even cared that she left. The other workers continued on with what they were doing and Emmie went back to her position behind the front desk. Since I had nothing better to do, I sat in the rolling chair next to her and stayed with her while she finished her shift. It kept her from being bored from doing nothing and it gave me a chance to annoy her a bit by throwing paper balls at her while she was typing things on the computer and stealing chaste kisses out of the blue. Even though she was irritated with me because of that, her forgiving nature kept her from staying mad at me.

Once her shift was over, I brought her back to my house where she was supposed to study with Luke, but everyone, including Julia, was there talking amongst themselves and let's just say that there wasn't much studying happening. Emmie and Julia began to catch up with one another as if they haven't seen each other in weeks, and I couldn't help but smile as I watched the two best friends talk with one another. They didn't stay long and decided to leave early because they didn't want to annoy us guys with their chatting—which we didn't mind, but Emmie's growling stomach gave the true reason as to why they wanted to leave.

Now that it's finally Friday, the day seems to have come and gone in a flash. The school day is over and Emmie is back at my house to actually study once again. I wrap my arms around her waist as she sits on my lap and works on trigonometry with Luke in the dining room. I had to make a deal that I would keep my mouth shut and not do anything to distract them—and by them, I mean Emmie—in order for me to not get kicked out like last time. She shifts around on my lap and her boney butt is actually making my thighs hurt, but I endure the pain and tighten my grip around her and rest my chin on her shoulder to which she doesn't react to; she just keeps the pencil in her hand moving against the notebook in front of her.

As I study her profile, all I can think of are the thoughts that were swirling through my mind from yesterday when I was showing her my painting—no, her painting; the thoughts that continue to eat at me because I so badly want to say them aloud.