A Heart Doesn't Forget (Fanfiction)

Chapter 20: How long have I been gone?

I couldn't possibly say no then.

***

"Here, let me help with the dishes." I said to my mum, picking up a towel.

"Thank you. Harry and Lauren will probably want you to say goodnight to them though."

"I can do that after, or do they go to sleep early?"

She shook her head, Harry's up all night playing video games. Lauren is either doing her homework at the last minute, or talking to her friends until midnight."

"Wow." I breathed out. "Has it really been that long?"

"Mhm," she hummed in response, "over a year."

I turned to look at her. "I really am sorry-"

She shook her head. "Ash, it's fine."

"No, it's not okay for me to do that. I should of at least called you. Texted you. It's not right for a son to not talk to his family for over a year."

She smiled gratefully at me. "Well, you're here now. That's all that matters. So, now we just have to make the best of it." She ruffled my hair, then went back to washing the dishes.

She washed, and I dried in silence for a few minutes. Eventually, she said,

"So, what's happened in the past year? It better be something pretty big if it made you forget about us." She said jokingly.

"Uh...not much." I said, not knowing what else to say.

She rolled her eyes. "I can tell when you're lying."

"I'm not lying. I'm still living with Michael. I quit my job. They wouldn't have let me take so much time off. Um...that's pretty much it."

"Yeah, I doubt it. I'm your mother, Ash, I can tell when something's wrong."

I continued to deny it. "No...no, nothing's wrong."

She put down the rag she was holding. "What is it?" She asked.

"It's nothing-"

"Ashton Fletcher Irwin stop acting like a child right now and tell your mother what's wrong." She demanded.

I sighed, running a hand through my hair, setting down the towel I was holding.

"I...I messed up, Mum."

"What happened, baby?" She asked, putting a comforting arm around my shoulder.

"I...it's a long story, and...I'm afraid you'll hate me."

"Ashton," she said sternly, "I could never hate you. You said the same thing before you told me you are gay. What is it this time?" She asked, concerned.

"It's...it's a long story." I said again.

"You've got two weeks. More than enough time. Now, you can either tell my now, or later. But you will tell me sometime before you leave."

I sighed, before finally saying,

"Okay. I'll tell you. Just...not now." I said, and she patted my back.

"It's alright. You can tell me when you're ready. I just want to know what's bothering my baby."

"Mum," I giggled, "I'm almost twenty-two."

"You'll always be my baby. Always." She said, kissing me on the cheek before going back to doing the dishes.

***

I opened the door slowly, not wanting to wake him up if he was asleep.

I stepped into the room, and soon knew that he wasn't by the sounds of gunshots and high-pitched sounds coming from the tv.

"Whatcha doing?" I asked Harry, sitting beside him on the bed.

"Playing Plants Vs. Zombies."

"Oh, cool. So, what's new?" I asked.

"Um, like, with the game or...?"

"Anything. Whatever you want to tell me."

"Well, uh, there's this girl-"

"Ew."

He laughed, playfully punching my shoulder.

"You said to tell you anything!" He said, laughing.

"I meant anything interesting." I said teasingly.

"She is interesting! She isn't one of those annoying girls. She's really funny, and she likes playing video games. I'm playing with her right now." He said, pointing to the screen.

"'TheHuntress900'." I read. "What's her real name?" I asked him.

"Mary." He answered. "She doesn't like that name, though. So she goes by her middle name, Ryan. Her full name's Mary Ryan Cole. All four letters."

"Ah, that is kind of interesting." I said, smiling at him.

"Yeah, I really like her. I'm thinking of asking her out. I haven't told mom any of this yet. You and Lauren are the only one's who know."

"Well, mom's going to be upset. You know how she likes to know everything." I said to him.

"Yeah...I just don't know how to tell her, though. I don't want her to think she's weird or anything. She doesn't really act like a girl. She's always wearing guy t-shirts and black skinny jeans, like yours. Other people think she's weird. I like her, though."

"Then go for it," I told him, "Just because she's different doesn't mean she's weird. That just means she's not afraid to be herself. I was kind of like that in high school. People kind of picked on me for playing drums, when everyone else was doing sports. I didn't care, though. I just did what I enjoyed. I'd ask her out, if I were you. She seems like a great person," I said.

"Thanks Ash," He said, "I'm really glad you came back."

"Yeah, me too." I smiled at him, giving him a sideways, brotherly hug which only lasted about three seconds. He pulled away after that, saying it was getting awkward.

___________

I wanted to update for you guys because you're all so nice and supportive and like I've never even thought I'd get this much attention for a story. I just write because it's fun and I enjoy creating stories and making my own characters.

Sorry this was kind of a filler. I felt like I needed to do it from Ashton's p.o.v. though, mainly because I tried writing it in Luke's three times and nothing worked out.

Anyway, please tell me if you enjoyed this chapter, or what you thought of it. Please share any guess, thoughts, predictions, questions, etc, you have. I love hearing anything you guys have to say.