Romeo & Juliet - 5SOS // Ashton Irwin (Book 2)

His Return

It was a normal day in the diner, refilling ketchups after we had closed, earbuds in as 5 Seconds of Summer's cover of Killer Queen blasted, most likely doing permanent damage to my hearing. It was totally worth it.

I sang along loudly, dancing from side to side as I filled the bottles. Over the loud music, I hadn't heard the bell above the door ring as a familiar curly haired man stepped inside the diner. Out of the corner of my eye I saw movement, catching my immediate attention. My gaze lifted to see the one and only Ashton Irwin stood in the middle of the dining area, smiling widely at me. I pulled out my earbuds, a wide grin spreading across my face.

"Hey, Juliet," Ashton said, laughing happily. I ran around the counter, tackling him in an affectionate hug.

I pulled away, glaring teasingly, "Hey Juliet?" I laughed, unable to keep a straight face, "That's all you have to say after not seeing each other for so long?"

"Sorry," Ashton laughed, "Let me start again."

Ashton turned away from me, and walked out of the diner, before walking back in. He looked to me, smirking, before exclaiming obnoxiously loud, "Juliet! I haven't seen you in ages! I thought you were dead!"

"Ha ha," I mocked, rolling my eyes with a smile, "so how are you?"

Ashton sat down at the counter and I sat down beside him, both of us smiling at one another, "I've been good, the tour was great, but I've already told you that. Calum, Luke, and Michael keep asking to meet you now that we're back."

It was true that I had known that Ashton's tour had gone well and that he had enjoyed it as we had continued communication the entire time he was gone. Ashton and I had dated for a short while before he'd gone on tour and it had truly been amazing, but we decided to not do the long distance thing. I laughed, saying, "Well, it's about damn time I meet them."

Ashton laughed too, agreeing, "Yeah, I guess it is a bit overdue. I talk to them about you so often, I feel like I owe it to them."

"You talk about me?" I asked, unintentionally smiling at him.

"Of course I do," Ashton smiled. There was a moment of silence before Ashton blurted, "Okay, I have to ask. Are you seeing anyone?"

"Ashton, you go on tour in three days. We have to talk about it," I groaned, as Ashton had once agin tried to avoid the topic.

"Juliet, I don't want to talk about it because I know you and I know what you're going to say," Ashton shook his head as he got off the couch we had been laying on.

As he moved to my kitchen, I jumped up, following behind him, "Where are you going?" I asked.

"I need water," he responded, grabbing a bottle of water from my fridge. Once he closed the refrigerator, I think he realized his mistake. I was stood in the doorway to the kitchen and he couldn't run away from the conversation.

"What do you think I'm going to say?" I asked in response to his earlier comment.

"I know that you're going to say that we haven't been dating for very long, so we shouldn't put the pressure of distance on such a new relationship," he recited as though he read it off a teleprompter, putting his water down on the counter.

I sighed, "How'd you know?"

"Because you're a realist, Juliet. And, realistically, it's a bad idea for us to go long distance," Ashton spoke begrudgingly, eyes dropping to look at the floor.

I moved toward him, taking his hand in mine. He looked up, my eyes meeting his beautiful hazel eyes, "What do you want, Ashton?"

He spoke quietly, vulnerability evident, "To be with you."

I pulled him closer to me by the belt loops on his pants and kissed him softly to make his smile return. Once I saw his smile, I spoke again, "How about this? We take a break while you're away-" Ashton pulled away, beginning to disagree with me, but I stopped him, "Wait hear me out," Ashton sighed, but quieted nonetheless, "We take a break while you're gone, but if when you come back, you're still single and I'm still single, then we can pick up right where we left off and it will be like no time passed at all."

There was silence for a moment as I waited for Ashton to talk. When he did, he said, "Do I have to go?"

I laughed, making him smile as well, "Well, it is your job, so I'd say yes."

He groaned, "I hate my job."

I laughed even harder at this, "Ashton, you love your job."

He smiled, "Yeah, I do. I love my job."

I hesitated in responding as the elephant in the room presented itself, "I am, actually," I watched his expression drop, hating myself for making the smile I adored so much disappear.

"Of course you are," He murmured, a heartbroken and sad smile forced upon his lips, "How could I expect for no one to see how incredible you are?"

"Ashton..." I spoke softly, placing my hand atop his, my cold fingers immediately being warmed by his skin.

"It's okay," he shrugged, smiling painfully at me, "as long as you're happy, Juliet."

"I don't want to lose you because of this. That's why I didn't tell you before," I spoke, Ashton's feelings the only thing on my mind. I didn't even consider how my boyfriend may feel about him being back.

He laughed lightly, though there was still the hint of disparity that coated it, "You won't lose me, I promised that a long time ago. I'm not going to go back on it now."

Ashton drove me home that night, in which he was surprised to find I had moved. I spared him the detail that I had moved in with my boyfriend, not able to harm the man I cared for so much any more than I already had. I left Ashton's car feeling relatively well about how Ashton had taken it, and slightly surprised that he still vowed to be by my side nonetheless. When I reached my apartment, walking in through the door, I was greeted by the smell of dinner. I walked into the kitchen, greeted by a smiling Elliot. I grinned, closing the distance between us and kissed him shortly in greeting.