Painting Flowers // Ashton Irwin [au]

Twenty-three

Ashton's POV

"How did babysitting go?" Calum asks, stuffing his face with pizza.

He and the others had called after Emmie and I had woken up from our nap to tell us that they were bringing pizza to the hotel for dinner. Luke had arrived shortly after we all congregated into his and Michael's room. Judging by the displeasure written all over Luke's face, he must not have had a good time staying at his house.

"I didn't babysit," Luke says. "Jack and Mum did. I checked on Reina every once in a while when they had to leave for a second, but I didn't interact with her. She tried getting me to play, but I walked away from her."

"You're already setting yourself up to become Uncle Lucifer," Michael jokes. "She's technically your niece. Don't give her the cold shoulder just because you hate her mother. She didn't do anything to you."

"I know, but I wasn't expecting to gain a niece on this trip. I can't automatically love her just because she's family. I spent one afternoon with her. Just because Jack taught her how to say Uncle Lukey—even though she can't fully pronounce it—doesn't mean I care for her."

At least I'm not the only one who has no emotions towards Reina. How can you feel anything towards someone who suddenly jumps into your life without any previous knowledge of their existence?

"Maybe we shouldn't talk about this right now," Emmie suggests, eyeing me.

Their wary stares are unavoidable; each one casting a wave of sympathy with every blink. The least they can do is make it less obvious, so that I don't have to awkwardly bite into my pizza to shake the tension. It does bother me that Reina has been brought up again, but it's a topic that will inevitably pop up because she affects Luke as well. He unfortunately has to share the same hurdles I'm facing but under different circumstances. He may not be happy and is annoyed that Jack didn't tell him, but at least he's holding it together better than I am.

"So what did you guys do while we were out?" Julia asks, taking the last slice of pizza from the box that Emmie had claimed earlier but feels that her stomach will implode if she even looks at it.

"We went swimming," I answer. "Then relaxed and took a nap."

"Relaxed," Calum snickers.

"Keep it up and you won't be relaxing," Julia warns, lashing out her invisible whip. Calum is quick to shut up.

"Oh, I forgot to mention that I'm taking you, Harry, and Lauren out tomorrow," I tell Emmie. "They don't have school, so we'll finally be able to hang out."

Emmie's eyebrows furrow. "When did you make these plans?"

"While you were asleep. I sent Mum a text to tell them that they don't have a choice but to come with us."

"I see you're taking advantage of your older brother authority," she says, giggling. "Where are we going?"

"You should know by now that I don't answer that question."

She shrugs. "It's always worth a shot."

There's a moment of peace as we all hang out together, crowded on the beds and bantering with one another. Hearing everyone else talk and refocusing my attention towards them and not my own life is a temporary remedy to the chaos inflicting so much damage on me. That's all anyone can ask for sometimes. But like all good medicine, the effects wear off eventually.

We finish eating and clean up any crumbs that have fallen onto the sheets to keep from Michael flipping shit before splitting off to our rooms. As we get ready for bed, I leave one of the curtains open, the Sydney Opera House glowing softly and presenting us with a spectacular view, before crawling into bed with Emmie who has her nose stuck in a book. I pry the hardback from her hands, bookmarking the page with a sheet from the notepad on the nightstand and turn off the lamp.