Painting Flowers // Ashton Irwin [au]

Thirty-one

A/N: Okay first off, Paint You Wings hit 1 million reads this week! Holy crap. That's absolutely insane and I'm still overwhelmed by it. I never thought I would get 100 reads let alone 1 million. Thank you thank you thank you. I love you so much.

In addition to this, Sugarscape mentioned Paint You Wings in their 10 5sos fanfics to read in February. I don't even know how they found my story or why they chose to include it with those amazing fanfics, but I'm so happy! This is so cool and I'm still in shock by it.

Luke's POV

I lean back against the wall of the elevator once the last person steps off on their floor. I patiently wait for the doors to close on their own before I continue my ascent to my hotel room.

I need to remind myself that whenever I get married I will never have as large of a wedding party as Natalie's. Does she really need six? I can understand four or five but six bridesmaids and groomsmen is pushing it. We look like a fucking conga line walking down the aisle.

I didn't have to be a groomsman. I could have told Jack to tell Nathan that I decline his offer, but of course, my altruism got in the way. I blame Mum for raising me to be such a nice person. However, it has gotten me out of trouble for the most part.

For the most part.

I forgot how stressful weddings can be. Not just for the bride and groom but for the wedding party as well. Natalie has always been a little bossy, but she's even worse in 'bride-mode.' During the wedding ceremony rehearsal she kept getting after me for walking too fast and constantly reminded me to shorten my strides because Colleen, her best friend, couldn't keep up with me. Jack had trouble containing his laughter whenever I was scolded, and I had to restrain myself from flipping him off because the ordained minister was overseeing everything and I didn't want to be rude. It's not my fault Colleen's legs are as short as a turtle's. However, I should take some of the blame because I couldn't keep in time with the music playing as we practiced walking down the aisle. Even so, Natalie didn't have to bark at me.

I'm not thrilled that I have to walk down the aisle with my arm hooked with Colleen's. We weren't really close as friends before we moved and I have nothing against her, but she just reminds me of all the girls I've been dating recently. Clingy and unwilling to commit. During the rehearsal dinner, she sat as close to me as possible, her knee brushing against mine. I had to scoot my chair away from her several times until she finally took the hint to stay back. Maybe I'm being too judgmental. She not a completely terrible person; she has a sense of humor. It was funny hearing her curse at Natalie under her breath for making Myra the maid-of-honor and not her. But that's the extent of her good qualities in my eyes.

All this wedding stuff is making me tired and I cannot be happier that there's only two days left until this is all over with. When Jack had his wedding, it wasn't nearly this stressful. He and Myra handled all the arrangements without breaking a sweat or having a break-down. Not to mention Myra was much nicer than Natalie. They may be sisters but they couldn't be more different.

The elevator comes to a stop and I shove my hands deeper into the front pocket of my hoodie as I step off. The piece of metal that I've been carrying for a few weeks brushes against my hand, and I wonder if today will be the day I return it. I fiddle with it between my fingers as I walk down the hallway. I turn the corner and begin to reach into my back pocket for the room key, but I stop when I see Emmie and Ashton stepping into mine and Michael's room. I jog towards them and catch the door before it slams shut.

"My mum always said holding doors open for others is the polite thing to do," I joke, and they finally turn around and acknowledge me. My smile slowly falls when I don't see a look of despair on Ashton's face. That may have sounded a bit cynical, but he just spent two or so hours with his daughter and he looks like he just got back from an amusement park.