The New Irwin {Adopted by Ashton Irwin}

Chapter 7

   I'm pulling an all nighter today. There's no way I could go through one of those dreams again. I've learned to live off of little to no sleep, because I'm terrified of my dreams.

  I pull my hair into a bun and get to work on a painting. What feels like a few minutes later, but is really about two hours later, I hear a knock on my door. I put my paint brush down and go to my door. I open it to see Ashton standing there.

  "Hey, I set up your phone. It already has all of the boys numbers on there, but you can do whatever else you want with it." He says, handing me the IPhone XR. I nod and thank him. "Also, I'm going to bed. Try not to stay up too late." He says, kissing the top of my head. I nod and he leaves. I sit down on my bed and open my phone. I put in a password and put my Face ID in. I download Instagram, YouTube, Twitter, Pinterest, Spotify, Netflix, and a few games. I decide to watch The Office to kill some time.

§

  Turning off The Office for a minute, I check the time.

5:29 A.M.

  Sighing, I get up to get a drink. I quietly open my door, wincing when it squeaks. I tip toe down the stairs and walk to the kitchen. I reach up and grab a glass and run the tap, filling the glass with the cold, clear liquid. I take a sip from the glass and turn around, only to find a dark shadow with a baseball bat. I scream loudly, dropping the glass to the floor. The light flickers on and the shadow becomes Luke. My heart is beating and my hands are shaking like crazy and my breathing increased.

  "Jesus Christ, Luke!" I whisper-shout. Luke blows out a breath and sets the bat on the counter as I look around at the shattered glass and wet floor. Suddenly, footsteps can be heard racing down the stairs. An alert looking Ashton with messy hair comes into view as he emerges from the stairs. His eyes meet mine, then Luke's, then the shattered glass all over the floor preventing me from moving without stepping on any.

  "What the hell happened?" He asks.

  "Luke happened! I just wanted a glass of water, and when I turned around, Luke was ready to swing a fucking baseball bat at me!" I shout.

  "I thought you were an intruder!" He shouts back.

  "People are sleeping, be quiet!" Ashton scolds. I huff, still breathing heavily and shaking. I take a step aside, not thinking, and stepping on a piece of glass. Blood starts to drop on the floor in little puddles. I hiss and Ashton rushes over to me, avoiding the glass. He picks up my shaking body and sits me on the counter. "Luke, go back to bed, I'll clean this up."

  Luke nods and walks away. Ashton stands in front of me, noticing my shaky body. "Hey, hey, it's okay. It was just Luke."

  "I know, I know." I sigh. "I'm just a little shaken."

  Ashton bends down to inspect my foot. He makes sure the glass isn't still in my foot, before grabbing a rag and dampening it. He bends down, once again, dabbing the rag on my bloody foot.

  "Why were you up in the first place?" He asks, focused on my foot

  "Uh- I just woke up and decided to grab a glass of water."  I lie. He nods and hums in response. After a few minutes, he gets up and throws the rag to the side.

  "Stay here, don't jump down." He demands. I nod and he walks away. He comes back with a broom. He starts sweeping up the small pieces of glass. About ten minutes later, he's done, he puts the broom up and then helps me down.

  "So, I guess since it's basically morning time, why don't we go get some breakfast?" He suggests. I smile and nod.

  "Sounds good. I'll go get dressed." I say, practically hopping up the stairs, due to the cut on my foot. I walk into my room and change into some high waisted, acid wash, skinny jeans, a white crop top, and white, lace up, platform, ankle boots. I walk downstairs to see Ashton in his normal black jeans, white T-Shirt, leather jacket, and black boots. "Add a pop of color to your outfit every now and then." I joke as we walk out the door.

  "Hey, don't be mean!" He says, smiling. He nudges my shoulder with his before we walk our separate ways to get into the car.

§

  Walking into the diner that Ashton drove to, we're met with the smell of coffee and sausage. Neither of which I'm very fond of, but at least I don't have to taste them. We sit at a two person booth and look over the menu.

  A few minutes later, we order. I order some hash browns and Ashton orders a whole breakfast meal. How can anyone eat that much so early in the morning?

  "So how are you liking it with us?" He asks.

  "It's interesting. I have to live with four men, but I've never had so much love thrown at me before, so it's a nice change. Just gotta get over this 'scared of everyone' thing." I say. He nods, looking into my eyes. Suddenly, his eyebrows furrow.

"You're eyes are red. Did you lie about sleeping last night?" He asks.

How the fuck did he even notice that. No one ever noticed that. It's like this man can see through me.

"Uh- no, just... allergies." I lie.

"You're lying."

"Am not!" I protest.

"Are you having trouble sleeping?" He asks, concern lacing every part of his face.

"Ashton—" I sigh, getting cut off.

"No, Autumn, just tell me." He pries.

"Ashton, I can't. I physically can't. When I do, I have nightmares. Nightmares that haunt my days. I can't sleep, and I don't want to." I say quietly.

"Auttie, you need sleep. You can't live without it. The nightmares will stop, eventually." He says softly.

"How do you know that?" I ask.

"I just do." He says as the food comes.