On The Line (Ashton Irwin)

Chapter 20- Now

Chapter 20- Now

-Ashton's POV-

"Ashton," a voice said, and I turned around to see Mr. Holmes himself walk in through the door and take a seat next to me, extending a hand, which I shook.

"Good morning, Mr. Holmes," I said, before glancing back at Maddy quickly.

"You really love her, don't you?" he asked, and I nodded.

"More than anything," I said. "She's my world."

"I can see it," he said. "The way you look at her. It's like you would go through anything just to protect her, or make her happy."

"I would," I said without hesitation. "I would in a heartbeat."

"Ashton, I want to thank you." he said, then. "I know that, when you two were in your last year of high school, we weren't always there for her. But you always were, even when we moved, you cared so much for her that you stopped her from leaving."

"I love her," I said simply. "That's all there is to it."

"I know," he said. "Tell me, Ashton, had you ever thought of proposing?"

I nodded. "I had it all planned out, actually." I admitted.

"You did?" he asked.

I nodded again. "Every bit. The ring's back in my apartment, in my suitcase. I had gotten it while on tour, and I was going to propose in the airport when we got back from LA, which would've been in the next few days."

"But you never got the chance," he finished. "I'm sorry,"

"I just can't wait for this all to be over," I said. "For her to wake up, for us to spend some time outside. For me to actually get the chance to ask her."

"Well, you have my blessing." he said.

"Thank you," I said.

"You're a fine young man, Ashton." he continued on. "And, I know it's a little too late, now, but my wife and I want to try to be in Madison's life as much as we can. We never told her this, thought we'd have the chance later, but we decided to look for jobs back here in Sydney."

"You did?" I asked him, surprised.

He nodded. "We did. It was a bit of a tough decision, but we've already got the house in Perth all packed up and we're looking for homes around here."

"That'd be amazing." I told him.

"You think?" he asked.

"Yeah," I nodded. "I know she doesn't like to show it, exactly, but Maddy really misses her parents. A few times we've talked about it, and she just wishes that she could've been able to see you both more. So that'll really make her happy."

My phone buzzing in my lap brought my attention away from him and down to the device, where I had a text from Luke.

Luke: In the cafeteria, you hungry yet? Come meet us.

"I've gotta go," I told him. "The boys are waiting for me downstairs. I'm gonna grab some lunch."

"Yeah, go ahead." he said, shaking my hand once more. "Nice talking to you, Ashton."

"You too, sir," I told him, leaving the room and getting in the elevator to go down to the cafeteria.

"Hey, there he is," Michael said.

"Here I am," I said.

"What took you so long?" Calum asked.

"Talking to Maddy's dad," I told them.

"What'd he want?" Luke asked.

"To thank me," I said, grabbing a tray. "For being there for her. Just pretty much everything in these past two years. Alright, Luke, what all do I still need to eat?" I asked the blonde boy.

I guess I was beginning to grow my appetite back, but most of the time I still just wasn't very hungry. After the flatline, I kept worrying about Maddy more and more, and again, food just wasn't exactly a priority anymore.

"Well, you get to pick between a piece of pizza, or a burger." Luke said.

"Easy, pizza." I said.

"Okay, so go get one of the big pizza slices, and then get one of those French fry cups for your side." Luke said, going up with me and grabbing a slice for himself as well.

"Is this all?" I asked, hopefully.

"You need a drink, mate." Luke said. "Go take your pick," he said, pointing behind him at the drink machine.

Grabbing a bottle of water out of the machine, I went to stand behind Luke in the line to pay for the food, Calum and Michael soon joining us.

"So, this is it, right?" I asked Luke.

"Yeah, Ash, that's good," Luke said. "You're getting better at this."

"Getting better?" I asked, smirking. "I just put whatever you told me to put on there."

"But you're not refusing food anymore," Luke said.

I remember when I used to do that. That first night, when Luke made toast and I didn't want to eat it, so he practically had to force it down my throat. Now, I've given up on arguing and I pretty much just eat whatever he tells me to, when he tell me to eat it.

"Alright guys, table." Michael said.

Sitting down, the guys all looked at me expectantly, and I looked back confused.

"What are you waiting for?" I asked. "Dig in,"