Shattered (Continuation of: The Chase) ▹ Ashton Irwin

Chapter Thirty One

The next morning, I was surprised to feel as though nothing was wrong. My eyes opened, slowly as they usually do, and for some reason I had the most relaxed and lethargic feeling over me. It took me a couple seconds to really recognize where I was, for it always takes me a few moments to wake my senses up. I was laying down on my stomach on the left side of Ashton's bed. I could tell these were the familiar soft sheets of his, because they had that faint scent of Ashton on them. I could feel that it was a decently late time in the morning, which is fine by me since I ended up becoming very tired last night. It was warm as well, since one of the first things I noticed was the fact that I was not alone in this mess of blankets and pillows.

I opened my eyes and let them fully focus out, and turned to look to the other side to see a sleeping Ashton right next to me. Our shoulders softly brushed against each other as he layed on his stomach too, with his arm draped over my back. He was obviously still sound asleep, with his eyes gently shut, his mouth letting out soft little snores, and his body laying there still and relaxed as well. He looked so deep in his slumber with his such heavy breaths and quiet grunts as he repositioned himself and tightened his arm around me. I shut my heavy eyelids and breathed in, longing for the scent of Ashton to fill my nose. I scooted closer to him, which caused his unconscious self to shift onto his side and hug me to his chest.

"Ash," I whispered, checking to see if he was awake. He said nothing in response, besides dropping his head so our foreheads rested against one another. I planted a soft kiss to his warm lips, but even that didn't wake him up. I sighed, but decided on letting him sleep in this morning. He obviously needs a lot of sleep...and I also don't want to talk to him about...that.

When I say that, I mean a lot of things. And a lot of these things have to do with last night, which I am still very confused about. I know he's been acting weird this whole week (actually much longer than that, but still.) But last night was just...freaky. Yeah, it was weird. Ashton laughed at himself, scolded himself, and said such discouraging things about himself like he didn't care anymore. Like he was nothing, and that he was over so many things that I just couldn't put my finger on. I'll admit, I think that some things have been a little...awkward, I guess...between us, but why? I didn't see what was so different than before, other than the fact that Ashton is just really quiet and reserved all the time. And as much as I would love to know why, maybe the reason isn't worth freaking out over. Maybe he's freaking out over nothing? Again?

I decided to get up for a couple seconds, so I slowly and softly pried Ashton's arms off of me. Luckily, he was still fast asleep, so he didn't notice me dismiss myself from the bed and tiptoe over to the door. I stopped the at door to the sound of a faint groan come from him, but he still layed there with his face burried into a pillow. I pulled the door open into the other room, turning to the kitchen to get a bottle of water. To my surprise, Ashton's grandmother was sitting at the counter with a cup of coffee in one hand and the newspaper in the other. As soon as I entered the room her eyes met mine, and the room fell to an awkward silence.

"Good morning," I spoke up, telling myself to not feel the lest bit uncomfortable around her. Irene is very nice, and I'm nice back to her. It's always been like that.

"Hi Brooke," she shot me a warm smile, which encouraged me to shake off the uneasiness that I felt. I walked up the other side of the counter as she waved me over, and I stood across from her.

"How did you sleep?" I asked.

"Good, good..." her voice trailed off, and she glanced down at her hands for a few moments. "Uh..I have a quick question."

"Sure," I replied.

"Okay well, correct me if I'm wrong," she said slowly. "But did I hear crying last night?"