Storm | Ashton Irwin AU

chapter one // hurricane

Willow

When her phone rang at almost 1am on Saturday night, Willow didn't even need to check the caller ID to know who it was. 

Despite the ridiculous hour of the morning, she wasn't asleep. That wasn't unusual for Willow. Her friend Jasmine liked to make fun of her nocturnal habits, joking that she was part human, part owl. It didn't help that Willow had large eyes too.

"Where are you this time?" Willow answered quietly, cautious to keep her voice low so that she wouldn't wake her mother. Technically, there was no rule in place saying Willow couldn't leave the house in the middle of the night, but if her Mum woke up she'd definitely try to stop her.

"At some lame party," Ashton Irwin slurred. "Can you come and get me?"

Willow was already putting her shoes on when he asked. He didn't even have to ask. There was nothing she wouldn't do for that boy. 

Even if she rarely admitted that aloud.

"Text me the address. And drink some water in the mean time, I don't want you throwing up in Mum's car again," she told him, remembering the last time she picked Ashton up from one of these parties. Willow scooped up her long brown hair, pulled it into a bun, then grabbed the car keys from her cluttered night stand. 

In the darkness of the night, the quiet roads of their small suburb seemed even more secluded than usual, but she didn't mind. She wasn't afraid of the dark. She wasn't afraid of much at all. 

Thirty minutes later, she parked her mums small blue car outside the address that Ashton had messaged her. Even though the street was only dimly lit, she could already make out his long figure laying across the driveway.

He was either passed out or looking for shooting stars; both were frequent happenings for Ashton lately.

"Come on, kid," she sighed, crossing the grass towards him. She grabbed one of his hands and pulled him into standing position. Not an easy task given their vast difference in height. At least Ashton was conscious this time.

Ashton's foggy eyes lit up at the sight of his best friend and he gave her a drunken smile as she helped him into the car. Willow helped him put his seat belt. "You owe me," she whispered.

Before climbing into the driver's seat, Willow brushed the hair from his eyes.

They hadn't always been best friends. In fact, when Ashton and his family moved into the house next door ten years earlier, they couldn't stand each other. Willow thought Ashton was a dork and Ashton thought Willow was a brat. 

Things changed a little as they got older. When they were both around 13, Willow figured out that boys didn't really have cooties, and Ashton realised that girls had boobs. Not that Ashton had ever gotten near Willow's boobs. Their friendship was strictly platonic, or so their seventeen year old selves thought at the time.

The drive back was silent with Ashton's head pressed against the window and his eyes firmly shut. Willow wondered how much longer these episodes were going to go on for. Funnily enough, she was usually the one who went out partying but since Ashton and his girlfriend broke up, the roles had seemingly reversed.

Hey, at least I won't be the one waking up hungover tomorrow morning, she thought.

It seemed odd that Ashton was the one who ended the relationship with his ex-girlfriend and yet, he was struggling more than she seemed to be. After three weeks of Ashton pouting over Hannah's latest Facebook photos - featuring lots of underage drinking and even more hot guys - Willow made Ashton delete her from Facebook. 

"Nobody likes a Face-Stalker," Willow had told him with a raised eyebrow. At least Hannah went to a different school. Willow wasn't sure Ashton would be able to face seeing his ex-girlfriend every day. 

She looked over at her drunken best friend. His hair had fallen back over his closed eyes again. Willow always teased him about his hair a lot, telling him to cut it. Secretly it was one of her favourite features of his. That was a habit of hers, I guess. Saying one thing out loud when she felt another internally. Sometimes it felt like her limbs were made from secrets stitched together.

Ashton jolted up from his sleep when Willow's foot pressed too forcefully on the brake. "Sorry," she said quietly as she parked the car. "We are home anyway."

He didn't make an attempt to get out of the car so Willow walked around to his door and helped him out. Ashton looked especially tall as his legs wobbled, with Willow trying her best to hold him up.

They reached the front door of the brick house that Ashton shared with his Mum and his little brother. "Do you have your key?"

Ashton nodded, taking the key from his jeans pocket and handing it over to Willow to unlock the door. They did their best to walk quietly but Ashton's Mum had super-strength hearing. He'd probably be in trouble in the morning.

Ashton sat down on his bed and removed his shoes, throwing them onto the floor. Willow looked around the familiar blue painted walls and the old basketball trophies that were gathering dust on the shelf in the corner. On the opposite side was an old drum kit. Willow didn't even know if Ashton played anymore.

"Your boyfriend was being a dick tonight," Ashton mumbled, climbing underneath the covers of his bed. Still in his jeans and t-shirt.

"He is not my boyfriend," Willow said with an eye roll. She tucked Ashton in and moved his hair out of his hazel eyes again.

"You want him to be," Ashton reminded her, closing his eyes. 

Willow didn't need reminding about her crush on Michael Clifford. She had been infatuated with him for the past three years. They had even hooked up a few times, but Michael was the ultimate player and Willow knew that. She accepted it, too. He wasn't a bad guy, just a typical seventeen year old kid.

That was another secret: Willow didn't want a boyfriend.

She decided to change the subject. "Do you need anything else before I leave?"

Ashton didn't answer. He was already asleep. She smiled, taking on last look at her best friend before she shut his bedroom door and snuck back out of the Irwin's home. "At least you didn't throw up in the car again."

song for this chapter: hurricane by the fray