You were lying on the trampoline in your backyard with your boyfriend. It was Friday night and you and Ashton were spending it the same way you always did; Tangled up together, looking at the stars. You were simply enjoying each others company as this was something you only really got to do once a week. You had seen him at his basketball game a couple hours earlier – being on the cheer squad, it was nearly impossible for you to never not see him – but you could never just go up to him and talk to him.
Your relationship with Ashton was a total secret to everyone at school. You were the one that wanted to keep it a secret though, honestly terrified that your two best friends wouldn't approve. They absolutely despised nearly everything about Ashton – the only positive things they would ever agree on was that he was a phenomenal basketball player as well as extremely good looking. You were scared that they would stop being your friends just because you were dating Ashton.
"Babe?" Ashton whispered, snapping you out of your daydream.
"Hmm?" you hummed.
"I think we should tell everyone about us..." You slowly propped yourself up on your forearm.
"Ashton-" He cut you off.
"I don't want to have to sneak around the way we do anymore, Y/N," he sighed, sitting up. You sat up with him. "I don't like doing this. I don't like seeing you at school or at the mall or at my games and not be allowed to kiss you or tell you how beautiful you look. I hate not being able to pick you up in the mornings or take you out after school. It hurts knowing that you don't want to tell everyone that we're together," he mumbled, "It's like you're ashamed to be with me."
"I'm not ashamed to be with you, Ash," you said quietly. You crawled into his lap and took his face in your hands, making him look at you. "I just... I'm nervous about how my friends will react."
"If you're nervous they'll say mean things about me, just say it." You bit your lip and he knew he was right. "I can handle rude comments, Y/N," he said softly, realizing that his previous tone was a bit harsh, "I just want to be with you openly and let everyone else know that you're mine and I'm yours."
"I know, Ash," you whispered, brushing your thumb along his cheekbone, "But I want to tell Mia and Allison when we're alone; Not at school. And I'm just not ready to do that yet."
"Okay," he sighed and nodded, kissing you gently, "I love you."
"I love you so much, Ashton," you muttered, wrapping your arms around his neck.
~
A little over a month had passed and things with you and Ashton were a little tense. He would still come over as often as he could to hang out with you, but you could tell he was hurt that you still hadn't told your friends about the two of you yet. You were trying to gather the courage to, but it just wasn't building up as quickly as Ashton – or you – would have liked. You had been so close to telling them multiple times during cheer practices, but you would always chicken out.
You were mad at yourself, honestly. Ashton was hurt because of something you wouldn't do for him and that made you feel terrible. You hated sneaking around too – he knew you did – but you still couldn't make yourself go public.
~
One Friday night, you saw Ashton standing with his friends as you were making your way into the gym for the basketball game. It took everything in you not to tell him how good he looked in his uniform and to resist every urge you had to just grab his face and kiss him right then and there.
You and Ashton made eye contact for a few seconds before he quickly looked at his feet as you passed him. You sighed quietly, swallowing the lump in your throat. He looked back up, obviously hearing you, and watched as you put on a smile for your two friends standing in the area behind the hoop waiting for you.
"He's just so..." you heard Allison whisper, groaning to finish her thought.
"Who is?" you asked, walking up to them as you straightened your uniform.
"Ashton Irwin," Mia answered lowly.
"What's so-" You mimicked the groan. "-about him?" You looked over at him and he quickly looked away again.
"He acts like he's on this high horse just because he's captain of the basketball team," Allison said, "He's always being so loud and obnoxious around his friends. Plus, he's always showing off in choir just because he can sing super low and super high notes."
"That's pretty impressive though," you said, "I mean, can your voice do anything even close to what his can?" You swore you saw him smile slightly and knew he must be able to hear the conversation despite the fact that Mia and Allison weren't speaking that loudly.
"Are you seriously defending him right now?" Mia asked, a look of shock mixed with confusion on her face.
You shrugged shyly, turning back to face them, "Have you guys ever actually talked to him? He's not that bad."
"Have you talked to him?" Allison raised her eyebrows.
"We're lab partners," you reminded them, "We kind of have to talk to each other."
"But he's so...arrogant."
"Ashton Irwin may be a lot of things," you said, "But arrogant isn't one of them." Mia and Allison looked at each other while you and the other cheerleaders got into position as the game started. The two girls simply shrugged and took their places beside you.
~
By the time the buzzer went off for halftime, your team was losing by 7 points. They had taken – and lost – the lead several times in the beginning, but it just faltered after the first 10 minutes and they haven't been able to get it back. Everyone was shouting at Ashton to get his head in the game and you felt awful. You knew he was distracted because of you; He had been all month.
And now he was being blamed for it.
You and the other cheerleaders walked onto the court to perform your halftime routine and you noticed Ashton staring at you the whole time. You kept the smile on your face as you cheered, but inside, you felt like you were going to throw up. Ashton shot you a worried look while you were walking back to the sidelines, but you quickly averted your eyes, knowing you would break down if you continued looking at him.
~
With 10 minutes left in the game, the boys were now only 2 points behind. You watched from the sidelines, cheering on your team, when your heart skipped a beat as Ashton got shoved to the floor.
The referee blew his whistle, signalling that he would get two free-throw shots for the technical foul, but he wasn't getting back up; He was just sitting there. You were standing on the sidelines, chewing on your lip as Ashton's coach was practically screaming at him to get up.
"Y/N," Allison said, nudging your arm, "Are you okay?"
You ignored her question, unable to listen to the coach yell at Ashton anymore. Your classmates went dead silent as you ran out to the middle of the court where Ashton was sitting and dropped to your knees.
"What are you doing?" he asked, his eyes widening at seeing you next to him.
"What are you doing?" you returned the question.
"I'm gonna miss," he mumbled, shaking his head, "I know I am. I've missed every single shot I've tried to make in this game."
"I'm sorry, Ash," you said quietly.
"Y/N-" You shook your head.
"Don't try to tell me it's not my fault, Ashton," you said firmly, although your voice was shaking, "I know you're distracted because of me." He was about to respond when the referee walked over.
"Are you going to take the shots or not, kid?" he asked politely, but you could tell he was agitated.
You stood up, holding your hands down to Ashton. He looked at you for a moment before taking them and allowing you to pull him off of the floor. You opened your mouth, but closed it again. Ashton gave you a confused look, tilting his head and waiting to see if you were going to say anything.
"I'm ready, Ash," you told him quietly.
"Ready for what?" he asked, not sure what you meant.
"I'm ready," you shook your head again, "I'm ready to tell everyone about us. I'm ready to walk around school with my hand in yours and argue with you about how I can carry my own books to class. I'm ready to wear your jersey everywhere I go and show everyone that I'm yours and I don't want anyone but you. I'm ready to let everyone know that I am in love with the captain of the basketball team."
You heard the players from both your team and the opposing team as well as classmates in the crowd who were close enough to hear you start whispering to each other. You let out a nervous laugh and talked more loudly so everyone – especially Mia and Allison – could hear you.
"I am in love with you, Ashton Irwin," you stated confidently, "And I don't want to keep it a secret anymore."
You felt your heartbeat in every part of your body as Ashton stared at you. His mouth curled up into a smile and he wasted no time in grabbing your cheeks and pressing his lips to yours. You let out a sigh of relief and smiled into the kiss, putting your hands on his sides and balling his jersey up in your hands. You looked at your two best friends when you pulled away from Ashton and saw they were looking on with shocked expressions, but it seemed as if they were also trying not to smile.
"I'm in love with you too, Y/N Y/L/N," he grinned, pressing another kiss on your nose, making you scrunch your face up slightly.
"Now tie this game up, take the lead, and never give it back to them," you told him firmly. He nodded and you reached up to kiss him again. "Make me proud, babe," you whispered before going back to the sidelines. The other cheerleaders had smiles on their faces as you made your way back to them.
"What was that about?" Mia asked, obviously trying to keep a straight face.
"I might be with Ashton Irwin," you trailed off, watching Ashton shoot his first free throw shot. You grinned widely and cheered along with the crowd as it went into the net.
"Might be?" Allison smirked, making you giggle under your breath.
"Okay, I'm definitely with Ashton Irwin."
"Why didn't you tell us?!" she exclaimed, shoving you playfully.
"I thought you guys would hate me or something because you don't like him," you shrugged shyly.
"We didn't like him," Mia corrected, "But if you do, maybe we were wrong about him." You smiled at them and they hugged you excitedly.
Ashton shot his second free throw and everyone in the gym cheered again when it went in the net. He looked over at you and winked before running off to continue the game. You blushed lightly and Mia and Allison started teasing you.
"You guys are so cute together!" Allison gushed, "I can't wait to officially meet him." Mia was quick to agree, making you smile and wonder why you were so worried about telling them in the first place.
Meanwhile, on the court, Ashton was playing better than he ever had before. He had scored 6 times in the past 4 minutes, putting the team in the lead. Every chance he got, he would look at you – sometimes making a funny face, sometimes winking at you, sometimes simply smiling – just to see you blush.
When the other team tied the game up with 10 seconds left, everyone was on the edge of their seat. Everyone in the crowd supporting your school was cheering Ashton's name while everyone on the other side of the gym was cheering for the other captain.
One of Ashton's teammates had stolen the ball and was racing down the court, dodging everyone in his way. Everything seemed to start moving in slow motion when he threw the ball to Ashton with 3 seconds left. Ashton tossed the ball toward the net and you could practically sense everyone's heart skip a beat.
The moment the ball went into the net, the crowd absolutely lost it. Ashton's teammates ran to him and they all had hugged each other. You were jumping up and down with excitement as well before running over and squeezing your way through the group of boys to get to your boyfriend.
You finally got to him, jumping into his arms and wrapping your arms around his neck and your legs around his waist. Ashton held onto you tightly and you could feel his smile as he pressed his face into your neck. You moved back, taking his face in your hands and kissing him roughly. He let out a breath when you pulled back.
"You're wearing my jersey on Monday, right?" he asked you.
"Only if you wash it first," you said seriously, making everyone around the two of you laugh.
Ashton smiled again, "I love you, Y/N."
"I love you too, Ash," you grinned, kissing him again.
~
because i have no self-control, i've posted a new one already. please don't get used to this. i only have one more finished one (nudge nudge please request things i'm begging you)
title??????? i mean. that's all i have to say about that.
that hsm reference though. am i right. of course i am. it was beautiful.