Playlist: I Almost Do, All Too Well, The Last Time, Sad Beautiful Tragic, The Moment I Knew, Come Back Be Here and Everything Has Changed by Taylor Swift – Almost Lover by A Fine Frenzy – Almost is Never Enough by Ariana Grande - Skinny Love by Birdy
I stayed in bed for hours after I had woken up, my eyes staring at the ceiling. I hadn’t thought about him much in the last few days in California, always keeping myself busy in order to not think about the memories but there was nothing I could do about them when they came to me in dreams. The sound of his laughter echoing in my head, along with every promise he made to me.
“Happy birthday to me…” I murmured quietly as I wiped a tear that escaped my eye. Slowly I stood up to see that Sydney and Heather weren’t in the room. They probably had fallen asleep in the boy’s room.
My feet moved across the floor, making me shiver and jumpy all the way to the bathroom. I almost cringed at how sleep deprived I looked. The fire and happiness he had brought to my eyes had completely died out with every day I spent without him.
Did he remember what day it was? He had been so excited when he had found out that they could celebrate her birthday in LA. He had said that he had a show that night and it would be his last night in California so they could all party together at a club or gone somewhere for dinner.
Seems silly now but she wishes she could of gotten the chance to celebrate with him. She hated birthdays and he had actually made her excited about her 18th one…
“Wakey, wakey birthday princes!” Heather called out loudly as I stepped out of the shower. “We’ve got a big day ahead of us.”
“It’s my birthday, I don’t think you should be annoying me and bossing me around today.” I teased as I walked out in the white hotel robe towards my opened suit case on the bed.
“True, but if I don’t keep you in shape you might end up all day in bed watching films.” She pointed out, making me shrug my shoulders even though I knew she was right.
“Besides, do you even know what time it is?” She asked at my lack of response as I slipped on some shorts and a tank top.
“Hmm almost lunch time?” I tried with a small smile as I cheated and looked at the clock on the nightstand.
“Exactly! And that means that we will go eat and come back and get ready so we can go out clubbing!” She said with a proud grin as she pulled the hair grip I was holding for my pony tail. “Not today.” She warned as I began to protest.
The whole day went like that, everyone trying their hardest at making this the best birthday for me. They took me to eat at my favorite place (Olive Garden), they took me shopping at my favorite stores and even got me some chocolate cake to sing me happy birthday with.
I hadn’t even felt time pass me by until Sydney and Heather were forcing me into this tight blue dress and doing my makeup.
“Do we really have to go clubbing? I’m perfectly happy staying in and eating junk food.” I said as Sydney stood behind me curling my hair.
“Yes, we do need to go! It will be fun and it’s something different! Plus we found the perfect club to sneak into, Zack’s brother works there and he says he could definitely get us in.” Heather said in excitement as she pulled back to check on my eye makeup.
“Knock, knock! Are you ladies ready?” Zack said as he came into the bedroom with James.
“Almost.” Heather sung the word as she walked over to James to wrap her arms around him. The two of them have gotten quite cozy with each other on this trip and it actually made me quite glad that they were happy. The bad part was that it had all been Ashton and Michael’s idea to get them together, according to them they were crazy for each other and they had been right.
“Well good, we better get going because we don’t want to get there when there is a rush of people trying to get in and security gets tighter.” Zack said as he helped Sydney off the bed.
And by the looks of it I was a fifth wheel on my birthday. How wonderful!
The walk to the club wasn’t far, five minutes at most. As we arrived there was already a forming line but we ducked through a side entrance where Zack’s cousin was already waiting for us to escort us in. One by one we stepped into the hot dark room with blasting music that slowly was filling in.
“Just stay out of trouble!” Zack’s cousin told us with one last thumb up before he disappeared.
Around me everyone seemed much more excited than me but the girls were dragging me into the dance floor. It took me a few tries to relax but soon enough we were all moving to the beat of the music, our skin growing moist with sweat as the room became crowded.
“I’m going to get some water.” I whispered into Heather’s ear before I walked away from the girls and towards the bar. I quickly sat down on one of the empty stools and signaled one of the bartenders for a bottle of water.
“One vodka soda.” A guy said as he stood next to me, flashing me a smile when I looked his way. “Can I order you a drink?” He asked. He looked like he was freshly 21, if he was even legal. He was wearing jeans and a t-shirt and his hair was nicely done into a quiff kind of look. I had to admit he was kind of cute, even though his over confident attitude wasn’t really my type.
“No thanks, I’ll stick with water.” I told him politely as the bartender handed him his drink.
“I’m Aiden.” He introduced himself, extending his hand in front of him for me to shake.
“Mia.” I replied simply, taking his hand because I felt bad if I had just left him hanging.
“I’ve never seen you around here, is it your first time at a club?” Aiden asked with a knowing smirk; probably at my refusal to let him buy me a drink.
“I’m from out of town, here on vacation with friends.” I screamed over the music. We were pretty close to each other, the music too loud for any type of normal conversation to be had.
“Mia!” Heather said as she drapped her arm around me, stealing the opened bottle from my hands. “Come on, let’s keep dancing!” She said, pulling me away from Aiden. I flashed him an apologetic smile and gave him a small wave before I followed after my best friend.
“Who was that guy you were talking to?” She questioned into my ear as she guided me through the crowd back to where my little group of friends was standing.
“His name is Aiden and that is as much as I know about him because you interrupted.” I told her, raising my eyebrow suggestively so she knew it wasn’t much appreciated.
“I’m sorry! It’s your birthday though; you shouldn’t spend it talking with a stranger.” She pointed out before she broke into a fit of giggles, letting go of my hand and walking over to James and began dancing against him. I averted my eyes quickly and scanned the room, not being able to see much other than a sea of bodies dancing against each other.
From inside my purse, I felt my phone vibrate and temptation got the best of me as I pulled it out. It was probably my parents or some friend from back home wanting to wish me a happy birthday.
1 New iMessage
The screen read and I quickly unlocked my phone and almost gasped in surprise at who had actually texted me. The boy who had tortured my every thought and even my dreams, the one who hadn’t remembered I still existed after the countless of days we spent together and the night where I gave myself to him.
I mentally debated with myself if I should opened it and without thinking I threw my phone back into my bag and excused myself towards the bathroom. There weren’t many people there and I was glad as I quickly grabbed a stall.
Wasn’t the place I really wanted to be but I also didn’t want to be in front of everyone when I opened his text message. No matter what it said…
Once again, I slowly removed my phone from my bag and unlocked it, opening the text message this time.
Ash xx:
Happy Birthday, Mia x
I stared at the words for what seemed like forever, tears filling my eyes and threatening to spill the more I did. He did remember my birthday, then why wasn’t he here? Why had he chosen to send me the most generic text message he could think of to wish me a happy birthday but he couldn’t have messaged me for the last 7 days?
Just the thought made me feel sick as angry tears fell from my eyes. How dare he make me feel so miserable on my birthday…
With that anger boiling inside of me, I stormed out of the stall and quickly checked myself in the mirror before I was back out in the dance floor. My eyes searching the crowd for the man who had offered me to buy me a drink.
It wasn’t hard to find him, sitting down on some lounging couches at the corner of the club with some friends. I marched towards him with my head held high and my best smile and sat down next to him.
“Is the drink offer still available?” I asked him with the flirtiest voice I could use as my heart shattered inside of my chest. I felt his warm hand take mine and guided me towards the bar.
Drink after drink I gulped into my sister until my body felt numb as I grinded against Aiden in the middle of the dance floor. I could feel his hands squeezing at my hips bringing me closer, his lips tracing the moist skin of my neck.
I had lost track of how many songs we had danced to together because they all melded together into one giant never ending song. I didn’t even know if Heather and the gang were still in the club or if they were still looking for me. I didn’t care, all I cared about was forgetting all about Ashton and our time in LA. I wanted to forget everything that had happened today and every day I spent in this stupid road trip. Why had I wanted to go on a road trip anyways?
My body stopped moving when I suddenly felt Aiden’s hand beginning to skim underneath my dress, his teeth gently nipping at my skin to leave love bites in their wake.
“Wh-What are you doing?” I stumbled on my words as I pushed his hand away and stumbled a few steps away from him so I could see his face. He looked confused at my sudden action and took a step towards me, arms around my body and hands holding my bum firmly.
“Come on babe, we’re simply having fun.” He said as he began to grind his body against my unmoving one. I placed my hands firmly against his chest and pushed him away as hard as I could before I began to walk away.
It was easy to get lost in the crowd but I knew my safest bet was to leave the club all together and walk back to the hotel. I could text Heather and tell her where I was if they weren’t there already.
The night air was chilly and the streets were mostly empty but I focused on moving my feet as fast as I could without falling flat on my face. Every sound I heard made me feel jumpy and I almost wish that I would have looked for the rest of the gang and we could have all walked back together.
I was happy to see the hotel at the distance, a few security guards outside as they tried to control a small crowd of about 30 girls. I didn’t want to think of the reason why they were all waiting outside because the thought of him could actually make me sick tonight.
“Sorry miss, you can’t pass.” The security guard said, stopping me in my steps. I felt my heart race at the thought that I could actually get in trouble for under aged drinking.
“I’m staying here…” I murmured, avoiding his eyes as I dug in my purse for my room key so I could show it to him. He took the small plastic card from my hands and studied it for a minute or two before he gave it back and signaled that it was okay to pass.
My feet were unsteady as I walked into the hotel lobby, trying to act as normal as I could to not catch anybody’s eye as I walked towards the elevator. I was glad it opened quickly and it was empty as I stepped in. I leaned back against the cool walls, trying to calm my throbbing head as the doors closed but before they could they had opened again.
And there he was, wild curls held back by the black bandana on his head, brown cut off tank top and black skinny jeans. He hesitated a moment when he realized I was inside but then to my surprise came inside anyway and pressed out floor.
I hated the way my heart raced at our closeness, the way my eyes didn’t stay away from his strong jaw and uncovered muscular arms.
“Hey…” he murmured softly, turning to look at me; his eyes gently studying my face before they went to scan the rest of my body. I didn’t answer him, simply took a wobbly step forward to furiously press at the floor button as if it would make us get there faster.
“Careful there… Did you get my text?” He asked quietly, not moving from where he stood but also not removing his eyes from my face.
“Doesn’t matter if you did… A text doesn’t mean anything.” I told him angrily, my words slurring as I attempted to keep my thoughts straight.
“Are you drunk, Mia?” He asked, his hand reaching for my arm to steady me as I stumbled again while I tried to get farther away from him. Would this stupid elevator hurry up?
“Why do you care?” I murmured to him, my arms crossing over my chest as I rested my head against the cool elevator wall. Was the room spinning or was it just me?
“I do care about you, Mia… I’m your-” He began to say, his eyes lowering to the ground for a moment before he looked back up. His eyes looking more brown than green today as the sadness came through, making my heart beat faster as I looked away from him. I had to keep myself together. “Friends care about each other.”
Friends? He thought we were friends? After everything he had done to me and making a fool out of me he actually thought we could be friends? I almost laughed.
“So now you care? Now that we are about to go our separate ways you decide to talk to me? That’s really funny, Ashton. Really cute from your part, you know?” I fumed at him, his eyes growing wide as he stared at me in disbelief.
“Mia, come on… Just hear me out.” He said as the elevator doors opened, his feet taking a small step closer to me. “Just let me explain…”
“Just fuck you, Ashton!” I yelled at him. Just seeing him standing there made me angrier at how stupid I had been. How I had let this boy get under my skin and steal every bit of me day by day. He knew more about me than anyone else did. He had made me fall in love with every little thing he did; every bit that made him himself.
Like the way he would say something and wait for me to reply, his face breaking into a smile or into a laugh so loud that would warm me up from the inside out. Or he’d make me laugh so hard that my sides hurt and tears fell from my eyes.
With the way he would hug me from behind and kiss my shoulders and neck until I would blush just so he could tease me about it.
He could brighten up anyone’s day and make you feel special. He didn’t even have to have to say a word either to do it; all he needed to do was smile that dimpled smile of his that reached his hazel eyes.
I loved the way he would rather walk for hours and talk about music, than play video games with his pals.
He wasn’t afraid to be himself, to play the air drums in public or to start singing the lyrics of a song playing on the radio if he liked it enough.
He made me crave his confidence, his passion, his companionship, his warmth, his smile…
As I stepped out of the elevator, walking away from him and from everything that had happen these past few weeks I realized that that was the Ashton Irwin I missed.
And that was the Ashton Irwin I wish would have stayed…even when I was the one walking away this time.
(Author’s Note: Hello guys! I’m really excited about this update, I’ve been sat all day finishing this chapter up and I really like the way it has turned out. I know many of you were probably expecting an Ashton chapter but I couldn’t leave you guys hanging for too long about Mia’s reaction to Ashton’s text message. So what do you guys think about her reaction? Think she was right to tell Ashton off? Did you expect for them to see each other again? D: So many questions!!! lol
Also, just a few more hours until Ash’s 20th birthday in my side of the world!! :D So excited for him to not be a teenager anymore so I don’t feel as guilty about liking him! LOL
Anyways, remember to comment and vote! I love how the views have continued to grow with each upload! I really hope you guys like it. x)