september 2015
houston tx
The next morning, Ashley is more than happy that she's waking up in Awsten's arms.
All she's wearing is his tshirt and some underwear, and she can't help but blush as she recalls the events of the night before.
Awsten is still sound asleep, and she finds herself watching him.
She reaches over to her nightstand to grab her phone, slipping out of Awsten's secure hold as she does so.
Ashley notices him frown, mindlessly feeling around for her body; he seems restless for a moment, and she feels a little guilty that she might've woken him up, but Awsten's concerned expression soon irons out, when his hand finds her figure, and he lays his arm over her waist again.
In a state of sleep, his fingertips trace patters on Ashley's side, and it makes her feel warm all over.
She unlocks her phone, and checks the time, flicking through her reminders and notifications.
"Fuck," Ashley mutters, quietly to herself, when she realises that it's nearing nine thirty, and she has plans for breakfast with Gracie at ten o' clock.
Slowly, she sits up and slides out of bed, earning the same reaction from Awsten as before; in an attempt to disperse his frown, she moves her pillow from the head of the bed, to replace where she was previously laid.
Awsten pulls the pillow close to him, breathing in Ashley's scent that lingers on it, and she can't help the giddy smile that creeps onto her face.
When she leaves her bedroom, she closes the door behind her quietly, before heading down the hall to shower.
Ashley tip toes back into her room again to get some clothes, but she finishes getting ready elsewhere, to avoid waking Awsten.
She's surprised at how long he's sleeping for, but he seems exhausted, and so peaceful when he's asleep, so she doesn't want to wake him up; it's as if nothing can bother him while he's asleep— the thoughts that usually trouble him are far away, and his brain is finally shut off.
It's not long before there's a knock at her front door, and Ashley grimaces, hoping that it wasn't too loud, as she hurries to open it.
"Happy birthday!" Gracie cheers, engulfing Ashley in a tight hug.
"Thank you," she replies, fairly quietly, with a small laugh. "Ready to go?"
"Yeah!" Gracie grins, excitedly. "I didn't think you'd be ready yet, so I got here a little early," she adds, narrowing her eyes slightly.
"Oh, uh, I was just awake fairly early," Ashley tells her. "Shit, uh— I just need to grab my bag," she sighs, "I'll be back in a second."
"I'll come with—"
"No, it's fine, I'll be just a second," Ashley insists, motioning for Gracie to stay where she is.
She sneaks back into her bedroom, thankful that Gracie didn't follow her— she really doesn't want to deal with the fallout of Gracie finding her brother, shirtless, in her best friend's bed.
Awsten is still fast asleep, and Ashley considers waking him up to let him know that she's leaving, but she'd rather let him rest than feel guilty about interrupting his peaceful state for the rest of the day.
She reminds herself to text him once she's left, to let him know where she's gone.
She grabs her handbag, and turns to walk away, but pivots back briefly to place a gentle kiss on Awsten's forehead, before hurrying out of the room again.
"Why are you being so quiet?" Gracie asks, accusingly, once Ashley joins her in the hall.
"Huh, what?" She responds, cluelessly.
Gracie stares at her for a long time, with narrowed eyes, before her jaw drops and her gaze widens.
"What?" Ashley panics. "What's the face for?"
"You brought a boy back last night, didn't you?" Gracie begins to smirk. "Is that where you disappeared to?"
"I, uhm—"
"Oh my god!" She whisper-yells, punching Ashley's arm out of excitement, earning a small groan. "I can't believe you didn't tell me. Were you even going to tell me? Who is he? What's he like? Is he hot?"
Ashley grimaces, and begins steering Gracie out of the door.
"Uh, that's a lot of questions," she says, trying to avoid answering, which only earns a disapproving look.
"Come on, give me something," Gracie nudges, as the two of them climb into Ashley's car.
"Okay, uhm, so—" She pauses, trying to figure out a way around this. "You don't know him," Ashley lies, as convincingly as she can. "He's nice, and yes, he's hot," she says quickly, in hopes that it'll cut the conversation as short as possible.
"Is that really all I'm getting?" Gracie raises her eyebrows, as Ashley pulls out of her complex.
"Yep," she confirms, with a stern nod, earning a small sigh; but, thankfully, that seems to end the conversation— for now, at least.
When Awsten wakes up, it's almost eleven o' clock; it takes him a little while to feel awake enough to realise where he is, and he panics for a moment when he realises that he's clinging to a pillow, rather than Ashley's body.
Reaching for his phone, Awsten finds various texts and a couple of missed calls from his friends; they're all wondering where he is, as if he's been missing for days, but in reality, he's just slept in unusually late.
He eventually scrolls through the notifications to find a text from Ashley.
🐚
good morning! i hope you slept
okay. gracie came to get me this
morning because we had plans for
breakfast, but you looked cute so
i didn't want to wake you...💕
btw, your shirt is on my dresser:)
Awsten can't help but smile at the text, unable to stop blushing as he reads over it again.
He lets out a groan though, when he realises the time, and rolls out of bed with the intention to find the rest of his clothes.
His jeans are in a pile at the end of the bed, from where he'd kicked them off the night before.
He finds his tshirt on Ashley's dresser, just like she'd said, and it triggers the memories of last night— when she was pulling his shirt off, and the way she giggled when he threw it across the room.
Pulling on his t-shirt, he realises that it still smells of Ashley from when she's worn it last night— he hopes the scent lingers all day.
After that, he wanders out to the kitchen, collecting the rest of his belongings on the way.
Awsten's phone ringing loudly, causes him to jump, as he digs into his pocket to answer it.
He glances at Geoff's contact photo, lighting up the screen, before preparing himself to answer it.
"Hi, man," he greets, as casually as possible.
"Hey, where the hell have you been?" Geoff questions, with a slight laugh.
"Oh, uh, I just slept in real' late," Awsten replies; he doesn't feel quite as guilty as he normally would, because it's not really a lie— he's just planning on leaving out a few details. "What's up?"
"Otto and I were just thinking, we should move band practice to tomorrow," Geoff pitches, "it's Ashley's birthday, so we figured you'd want to celebrate with her, and stuff."
"Oh, uh, yeah," Awsten nods, "sounds good to me," he agrees. "I kind of forgot we had practice today, anyway," he adds, feeling a little sheepish.
"No problem, man. I'll see you later," Geoff replies, before they bring their call to a close.
Awsten lets out a sigh as he hangs up the phone.
He looks around, feeling like he should probably go home and shower.
But first, he unlocks his phone again and opens up his messages with Ashley to reply to her.
awsten🌀
Hey, sorry I woke up so late. I hope
you have a good time at breakfast.
Is Gracie coming back to yours after?
🐚
no i don't think she is, so don't
worry if you leave anything behind.
i can bring it to you if you do forget something. you know where my
spare key is?
awsten🌀
Yeah, I got it. Am I still
seeing you later?
🐚
of course, if you want to:)
i definitely want to see you
awsten🌀
I want to see you too
I think we should probably talk
about some things too, yeah?
🐚
yeah i agree
are you still gonna be at
mine when i get back?
awsten🌀
Probably not. I need to
go home and shower :(
I can come back though? Or I'll see
you at home later anyway right?
Mom said something about
you coming over
🐚
yeah! i think we're going out
for food:) they said they want
to treat me for my birthday
because your parents are
the cutest ever
awsten🌀
That's clearly where I get it
from then huh?
🐚
stop making me smile at my
phone i look like an idiot
awsten🌀
🙃💗
Awsten locks his phone and puts it away as he prepares to leave, partially wishing he had enough clothes with him to show and stay for when Ashley return.
•••
TWITTER
Not Awsten Knight ••• @awsten
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ONE OF MY FAVOURITE PEOPLE EVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
[tagged @ashleyyy]
@ashleyyy
thank u :') this pic is cute
↪️@awsten
You're right!!!!!
@waterparksfan1
happy birthday ashley!!! :) see u at the next waterparks show??
↪️@ashleyyy
thank u :) & you know it!!
@silvergeoff
happy bday ashley!
↪️@ashleyyy
tysm!
@iwhuypbily
omg happy birthday ashley
↪️@ashleyyy
aaahh ty!
•••
Not Awsten Knight ••• @awsten
I did not realise how many of y'all paid attention to the people around me lmao. Is this a bad thing?
[sent to drafts]
•••