"Ashton... I-I'm so sorry." I manage to get out. I can't believe what he just told me. No wonder he seems scared to get close to me after what happened to Meagan.
"Don't be. I never told anyone about her. You're the first to know. It's all my fault." He brushes away the tears rolling down his cheek. I'm completely lost for words. How am I supposed to react to something like that?
"Listen to me. It wasn't your fault at all. I know for a fact that she'd hate to see you blame yourself like this. Don't think of the bad things, appreciate the good things." I tell him nervously. It probably wasn't very good advice.
"Thank you. I used to think I was never going to get over her..." His voice trails off slightly and he brings his head up to look at me. His eyes are glistening with the water in them. I lean my head forward slightly for him to continue.
"... Then I met you." He whispers. I feel like my heart's about to explode. The butterflies in my stomach feel as if they're going to flutter out of me. I don't mean to but I suddenly find myself smiling which makes Ashton smile too.
This is it. It's finally going to happen. We both stare at each other for a moment before his eyes trace down my face and land on my lips. For a moment I think he's leaning slowly towards me but it's me that's leaning in. I feel a wave of embarrassment come over me but that soon disappears when he copies my actions.
"Hey Asht- oh shit sorry!" Calum bursts through the door and quickly leaves again after seeing us.
Are you freakin' kidding me?! We were so close! I'm going to kill that boy.
"Um... We should go do something." Ashton swiftly gets up from the edge of the bed and fidgets with the hem of his shirt. Why can't we just carry on from where we left off?
"Okay. What do you want to do?" I ask and put my hands in my pockets and walk out the door with him. I really wish I could understand what thoughts go through his mind. I want to know what he thinks we are.
"We should go somewhere with Calum. It's his last day."
"What do you mean?"
"He signed himself up for rehab. He's leaving tomorrow morning and won't be back for six weeks." Ashton explains. I don't know what to think. I'm proud of Calum for doing that. I'm also surprised. It's strange actually, that's what happened in that dream I had.
"Okay, I'll go get him." I walk to the end of the corridor and knock on Calum's door which is open anyway. I look around the side to see him sitting on the edge of his bed with a phone in his hands.
"Hey. Wanna hang out with me and Ash?" I ask awkwardly. He jumps slightly when he realises I'm at the door but reluctantly follows me out of the room.
"We should go get some ice cream at that little parlour place down by the park." Ashton offers brightly and me and Calum both nod.
It shouldn't be but I'm finding this kind of awkward. I'm not sure why. Ashton and I are walking side by side and Calum is following close behind. I smell smoke behind me which catches Ashton's attention too.
"Calum! What are you doing?!" Ashton yells to him and Calum stares at him and looks around, obviously confused as to what he's yelling at.
"Take that thing out your mouth right now!" Ashton warns him but it only makes Calum roll his eyes and take a deep breath of it before throwing it to the ground.
"Happy now? I just get stressed a lot. It's my body, I can smoke if I want to." Calum spits at Ashton and shoves in front of us.
Ashton doesn't say anything else. He looks at me and gives me a weak smile as if to apologise and I give him one back. Well that just made this a whole lot awkwarder.
As I go to break the silence I almost fall over with shock when Ashton moves slightly closer to me and intertwines his fingers with mine.
Oh shit. Holy shit. Stay calm Kylie. Don't mess this up or he'll hate you forever. Oh my god. I'm freaking out! What do I do?
I realise that I've got my head down and I'm looking at the ground and as I bring my head up I see him staring at me from the corner of my eye. I turn my head to see him smiling down at me and I smile back. Actually, I can't stop myself from smiling now. And then of course he had to go squeeze my hand just to make my smile even wider!
Calum turns around just at the right moment and at first he looked like he was about to yell but I notice that he has to bite his lip to stop himself from smiling. He slows down his pace and walks beside me. I'm in a Calum and Ashton sandwich. What would that be? I'm in a Cashton sandwich.
"You two are cute." Calum bends down slightly to whisper to me. I feel myself blushing when he says it. I want this moment to last as long as possible but we're almost at the parlour.
"What do you want?" Ashton asks and lets go of my hand to find his wallet in his pocket.
"Surprise me." I bite my lip to conceal my smile and Calum and I find a bench to sit on in the park.
"I'm not kidding you know. You two are seriously adorable. I'm gonna miss seeing you both being so cutesy." Calum laughs. His smile wavers slightly at the last sentence though.
"Ash told me that you're heading to rehab tomorrow. I'm really proud of you. That's a really brave move you made."
"Thanks. I'll miss you guys. And Michael." I internally cringe slightly when he mentions Michael.
"Luke?" I ask once I notice he missed him out.
"I'm pretty sure he hates me. That's okay though." He looks down at the table and rubs the back of his neck.
"I mean, he has seen your nudes..." I smirk and he shoots his head up and stares at me.
"W-what?" He asks in disbelief. Oh yeah, Calum doesn't know about that. Oops. What am I supposed to say now?
"Here you go guys!" Ashton walks up to the bench and hands Calum and I an ice cream each. Thank god he got here just in time!
He takes a seat next to Calum so that he's opposite me. He taps his foot against mine which makes me smile. I'm not even sure if he realises that it's my foot he's tapping on.
"So Calum, where is this rehab place you're going to?" I ask as I lick the drips from my ice cream. Ashton got me blueberry whirl, my favourite.
"I can't remember where the place is. It's six hours away though. I'm only aloud visitors on the weekend. Will you guys visit me?" He asks so sweetly. It's making me kind of emotional that he's going to be gone for so long.
"Of course we will!" I smile and put my hand over his. He looks up at me and gives me a weak smile back and Ashton rubs his back.
"We'll be there every single weekend whether you want us to be there or not." Ashton laughs lightly.
We finish off our ice creams in silence and I can't help but notice that Ashton keeps glancing over to me. As I finish the last piece I realise that Calum's crying. I hear him sniffling and as I bring my head up he bursts into tears.
"I don't want to go." He gasps in between breaths and I rush around the bench to his side and hug him.
"It's okay. It'll be worth it." I reassure him and he folds his arms on the table and rests his head in them.
No one else is in the park. It's strange considering it's a Saturday. Only two more weeks left of summer break before school starts again.
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A/N
Hello! Thank you so much for all the views and votes!! It means so much! I can't believe Save Me has 80 votes, that's crazy!
I hope you're all enjoying the story :)
Love you, stay safe
- C