My Girls| a.i.

ten

The sound of my phone ringing cuts over the commercials playing across the screen, my heartbeat picking up as I pull the phone out of my pocket. I quickly swipe to answer the call, my fingers fumbling for the remote to turn the TV volume down.

"Elsie?" The familiar voice sends warmth through my veins, a smile immediately forming on my lips.

"Hi, Ashton," I say back softly, playing with a string on my blanket as he returns the greeting.

"How was your day?" He asks sweetly, my gaze flipping to the clock to realize it's already almost 7 at night, the whole afternoon had flown by without me noticing.

"It was pretty good. I cleaned a little and then Addy came over." I reply. "How was yours?" I ask, his soft chuckle ringing down the line.

"It was interesting." He starts, letting out another giggle. "Maisie decided that she wanted to give herself a makeover while I was making lunch, except she doesn't have any makeup and resorted to using Sharpies." He explains. "She didn't come down when I called her for lunch and when I went up to her room to grab her, she was covered in marker. She had red all over mouth and blue on her eyelids and crazy little lines all over her cheeks." He finishes.

"Oh god," I let out with a small laugh, picturing the small girl covered in permanent marker. "Did you get it off?" I ask, knowing just how hard it is to get Sharpie off your skin.

"Yeah, about that...She's gonna have a colorful face for a couple more days," He admits with a sheepish tone, letting out a small chuckle. "I called up Luke to try and get Mara's help, and we both tried to wash it off but it only faded a bit. I finally phoned my mum and she just laughed at me and told me we'd have to keep washing it but it would still take a couple days to come off." He explains.

"Apparently I did the same thing, but I have no recollection of that fact," He exclaims, my mind wandering to try and picture a baby Ashton.

"Like father, like daughter," I tease, his groan echoing down the line causing me to laugh as Addy walks back into the room.

She places a plate with some pizza on my lap, raising her eyebrows in question as she points to the phone. I return the look with a smile and a small nod, biting down on my lip when she lets out a small squeal.

"You there, love?" Ashton questions, pulling me attention back to him. "Yeah, sorry, Addy walked back in with my pizza and distracted me." I say, sending her a wide smile as I take a bite of my food.

"Mm gotcha," He hums in response. "Other than our little mishap, my day ended up pretty good. Maisie was pretty wiped out from last night since Luke always lets her stay up late and we just kinda lazed around all day." Ashton explains, his voice tired even though his day seemed pretty relaxing.

"You sound pretty drained," I comment, Ashton letting out a small mumble of affirmation. "Did you not sleep well last night?" I ask hesitantly, placing the pizza down on my plate while I wait for his response.

"No, Elsie, that's not why I'm so tired. I didn't sleep badly at all," He assures me quickly in response. "Quite the opposite really," He admits softly. "I slept amazing--after I finally got to sleep; it was falling asleep that was the problem. I got a little distracted looking at the beautiful girl who was lying next to me." He murmurs, his tone raspy yet gentle and adoring.

"Such a charmer," I say softly in response, my cheeks hot as I smile at my lap.

"Only for you," He whispers, the words sounding of a promise that set my heart racing and my cheeks blazing. "Can I see you again soon?" Ashton asks after a pause, the question soft and hesitant as his nerves shine through the simple syllables.

"I would like that," I reply, a small happy sigh echoing down the line.

"Are you free on Thursday night? Maisie would join us for a little but then after she goes to bed we'd have the house basically to ourselves." He offers, the opportunity to see the two of them to enticing to resist.

"That sounds amazing," I admit, Ashton letting out a happy hum at my affirmation in response.

A loud yawn follows his hum, revealing just how tired Ashton was, even though he had tried to conceal it before.

"Go get some rest, bub," I urge, his soft groan sending a shiver down my spine as it reverberates through my ears.

"Nuh uh, wanna talk to you," He mumbles, the soft words so innocent and warm, my feelings for him growing stronger at the raw honesty in his tone. I shift onto my side, placing the forgotten pizza onto the coffee table and waving goodbye to Addy as she lets herself out of the apartment after miming for me to call her later.

I curl tighter into the blanket, leaning my head down onto the pillow while holding my phone to my ear, listening to the soft sounds of Ashton's breaths drifting through the phone.

"I like you a lot, Ashton Irwin." I whisper, the words falling past my lips easily.

"I think I like you more, love." He murmurs with a soft chuckle.

"Mmm, I doubt it but for the sake of your sleep I'll let you win," I concede, his soft giggle proof of how much he is enjoying the fact I didn't argue him too much on the statement.

"G'Night, Ashton," I whisper. "Goodnight, Els," He murmurs in response, his deep breaths the last thing I hear before I gently hang up the phone, choosing to follow his lead and get some much needed rest.

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Thank you guys so so much for 1K reads! I'm super excited you guys are liking this story as much as I do and please let me know you like it by voting, commenting, and sharing! Hopefully I'll be able to get another update written for you this weekend to post before my birthday on Monday, but it may not happen so sorry in advance if I can't get another one up for you.

I love you all to pieces!

-Eryn xx