Easier [Ashton Irwin]

7

I love you so much that I hate you
Right now, it's so hard to blame you

~~~

    "S-Sydney?"

    Sydney's eyes widened as she pressed the phone closer to the right side of her face. The broken sobs her phone was emitting made her heart race; the loud, choked back gasps made her breathing quicken.

    "Ashton?" She tried to keep her voice calm and steady, but it still shook ever so slightly as she spoke, hidden by the static of the phone call. "Honey Bee? What's going on?"

    "I— I don't— I ne—ed you."

    "Where are you?" When Sydney received no answer except sobs and gasps for air, distorted by the static of the phone, she asked again. "Ashton? Honey, please, I need you to answer me?"

    "I—" He sobbed, shattering his already broken sentence. "I'm at ho—me."

    "Okay, okay." Sydney murmured. "I'm on my way, alright?" She grabbed her keys off the kitchen counter, stuffing them into her jeans' pocket. Rushing to the front door, she stuffed her feet into her worn out, baby blue Converse's, holding her phone between her cheek and shoulder as she bent down to tie her shoes.

    Hearing Ashton gasp again, she frowned as his breathing picked up, the gasps becoming closer together as he cried. "Okay, Ashton, I need you to breath for me. In," She exaggerated her own breathing, talking as she did so, in hopes that Ashton could hear her on the other side. "and out." She repeated the process, and she could hear Ashton attempting to follow along, his breathing choppy.

    "I can't." His desperate cries breaking the girl's heart.

    Sydney was on her feet once again, practically flying out of her front door and down the stairs.

    "Yes, you can." She spoke as she leapt down the stairs of the apartment complex, knowing that the elevator would only slow her down. "I need you to keep trying, Honey."

A loud bang sounded through the phone's speakers, followed by a sad whine escaping Ashton's lips.

"Ashton?" Sydney pushed open the door to her apartment complex, stepping outside.

Ashton didn't answer, instead opting to ask his own question. "Are— are you coming?"

"Yeah, don't worry, Honey Bee." She unlocked the door on the driver's side of her car, pulling it open and sitting in the seat. "I'm literally just getting into the car now, m'kay? I'll be there in no more than fifteen minutes." She placed her phone in the stand she had attached to the dashboard of her car, allowing her to talk hands free.

Another broken sob fell from Ashton's lips. Fifteen minutes seemed like a lifetime to the poor boy when all he wanted was her.

As Sydney pulled out of the parking lot for the apartment complex, Ashton dropped his phone to the ground. Sydney heard as it hit the floorboards.

"Ashton? Ashton!" Her desperate attempts at keeping herself calm and collected were becoming useless. "What was that?"

The only reply she was offered was the sound of Ashton's cries, seemingly muffled from the other side of the device.

"I need you to breath for me, Sweetheart." His breathing was becoming increasingly rapid, once again. "I need you to stay on the call until I get there, too."