Imagines and One-Shots (Book Two)

New Year, Same Love (Ashton Irwin)

You didn't even hesitate before walking over to him, wrapping your arms around his waist. His own arms wound around your shoulders and you felt him press his lips to the side of your forehead.

"I've missed you," Luke murmured into your skin, "You've been pushing me away since what happened with Ashton – Calum and Michael too. We know you were upset, but we didn't think you'd cut the rest of us off – especially since you still talk to Anne, Lauren, and Harry."

"I'm sorry..." you whispered into his shirt, not really sure what you were supposed to say.

"I'm not trying to make you feel bad, princess," he said, "I just wish you would have told us you needed time to move on rather than drop off the face of the earth."

"H-How much more time do you think it's gonna take?" you asked.

"It's okay that you're still hurting, you know. No one expects you to move on that quickly from someone you were that in love with."

"Guess he never really loved me then, did he?" you swallowed thickly. Luke opened his mouth to speak, but you just kept going. "There's a difference between having one-night-stands to cope and having one-night-stands because you're finally free of a relationship," you mumbled, more to yourself than to Luke, "It just would have been easier to move on myself if all of his business wasn't something I saw every time I got on Twitter..."

Luke didn't know what to say, so he just settled with squeezing you tightly. You felt him press another kiss to your head before his grip on you loosened. He grabbed your cheeks so he could move you back and look at you.

"I know you don't want to, but will you at least come back downstairs before the ball drops?" he asked you, "You don't have to talk to Ashton, but can you just spend 10 minutes in the same room with him to ring in the new year with us? Anne invited you and Lauren and Harry love you to death, so at least do it for them." You sighed softly, making him grin.

"I'll give you 5," you replied.

"Don't think I won't drag you down there if I don't see you at 11:55," he kissed your forehead. You finally allowed yourself to smile as he let go and made his way back out to the party.

You closed your eyes for a moment before walking out of the guest room. You didn't immediately go downstairs though – instead deciding to make a pit stop in another bedroom.

Ashton's room hadn't changed much since the last time you'd been in there – when you were still together, obviously. You couldn't remember exactly how many times he'd been home since the breakup, but you knew it was less than five. So why was it, when you looked over at the nightstand beside his bed, that you saw a photo of the two of you?

You cautiously walked inside, going over to the side of the bed the nightstand was on. You sat down just enough so that you weren't entirely on the bed but you wouldn't slide off either, and took the picture frame. You held it in your lap as you looked down at it, trying not to get emotional.

The picture had been taken at 5SOS's appearance on Ellen in 2014 – you only going because Ashton had begged you to – and you were with the band in their dressing room. You were sitting on the couch with Ashton while he was waiting for Luke to finish getting his makeup for the show done so he could take his turn.

He had insisted on you sitting on his lap despite the fact that the couch had more than enough room for you to have your own seat with him, Calum, and Michael all sitting there as well. You agreed nonetheless, getting comfortable before laying your head on his shoulder.

You couldn't remember who took the photo – all you knew was that it was a member of Ellen's staff – but they had taken it right after Ashton said your name, causing you to tilt your head to look at him before he kissed your nose and made you smile.