better man 5 seconds of summer
"with your love, im a better man."
ashton slowed down his car as we reached what id assumed was his house.
i hadnt actually ever been here before, hed only ever picked me up from my house and dropped me back.
it looked exactly like what you picture any family home to be. two stories, blue siding, white shutters.
it was adorable, but i would have never drove by and thought it was ashtons.
he shut off the car and walked around to open my door.
"you excited?" he asked as he helped me down with his hand.
"yeah," i answered, taking a deep breath. "i just hope youre right in saying shell like me."
"shes gonna love you," he said, closing my door behind me.
we walked up the path to his front door hand-in-hand. when we reached the door, he let go of me, digging his keys out to unlock the door.
he twisted the key in the knob, pushing the door open, holding it for me to follow in.
i stepped inside, taking in all my surroundings. there wasnt a single part of this house that wasnt welcoming. the walls were happy colors. photos of ashton and his mom all through the house. i figured out why ash always smelled of apple and mint, his house did too.
"were here!" ashton called as he closed the door behind us.
"ashton!" i heard a woman call.
i saw her stand up from the couch and start to walk over to us. she didnt look too old, but that may have just been her bursting personality and welcoming aura that followed her. "clairo! oh my gosh, youre prettier than i could have ever imagined!"
i tried not to blush as we kicked off out shoes, ashtons mom making her way over to us.
once she reached us, she wrapped ashton into a big hug. "hi mum," he said wrapping his arms back around her. "i missed you."
"where were you last night?" she pulled back.
"with clairo," ashton motioned to me. "she really needed me."
"hes not lying to me, is he clairo?" she turned to me.
"no, maam, he is not. i really did need him last night and he was there every moment i did," i said to her.
"oh please, just call me anne," she said. "and im glad he was there for you. thats what i tried to teach him to do."
"you raised him well, anne," i told her.
"im glad he treats you right," anne said.
she held out her arms to pull me into a hug. i stepped towards her, wrapping my arms back around her.
as soon as i felt her hands on my back, i jumped a little. i watched ashton concern grow as he watched my movements.
as soon as i saw him, any memory that was trying to flood back disappeared. i nodded to him, ensuring him that i was okay.
he just didnt know that he was the only reason i was.
anne broke our embrace. "how long are you two staying?" she asked, looking between ashton and i.
"i was just popping in to say hi, and grab some clothes," ashton told her. "clairo told me she was hungry earlier so i was gonna take her to get food."
"okay, fine, then ill let you guys go then," anne said. "youll just have to bring her back around some other time."
"thank you mum. i should be home tonight, if not ill actually text you this time," ashton told her, coxing me to follow him up the stairs.
"i just want to know your safe, ash. you know that," she called as we climbed up the stairs.
"i know, mum. i just have to actually remember to tell you this time," ash called back.
i heard her laugh from down stairs as ashton led me into his room.
the first thing i noticed was the records all over the walls. then my eyes went to the drum set in the corner with a guitar leaning against the wall beside it.
the next thing i noticed was the smell of apple and fresh mint, even stronger in here than the rest of the house.
he closed the door behind me as my eyes wandered around his room.
"i just need to grab some clothes since ive been in these since yesterday and then we can go get breakfast," ashton pulled me from my trance.
"okay, thats fine," i said walking over towards his record player.
i knelled down, flipping through the records he had stacked under it. he had some that i knew, others that were too old for me to recognize.
the one that caught my eye though was parachutes by coldplay.
i picked it up, looking at it. the corners were worn, proving that it was played often.
"which one are you looking at?" ashton asked.
i turned around as he was pulling his shirt up over his head, throwing it behind him as he reached for his clean one.
"uh, parachutes," i said to him, turning back around.
"if you play it at the start of side b, it plays our song," he told me.
"it does?" i smiled, looking back to him.
"yeah, it plays yellow."
——
we ended up leaving his house not long after that. ashton just collected some clothes and changed.
we said bye to his mom on the way out and she told ashton to bring me back soon. i hoped that meant i left a good impression.
i adored his mom. she was like the one i always thought i had until i realized the bubble mine locked me into. his mom loved and cared about him so much but she didnt keep him from living. she simply trusted him.
something my mom simply couldnt.
ash took me to a small diner on the outskirts of town. he told me they had the best waffles hed ever had.
whenever we got inside, we sat in a back booth by a window.
"what are you gonna get, yellow?" he asked me.
i looked up from my menu over to him.
"uhh," i said looking back down to it. "i dont know. what are you getting?"
"im getting the chocolate chip waffles and bacon," he said setting down his menu.
"hmm," i said. "that sounds good."
"they have waffles with strawberries," he told me. "that sound good?"
"actually yeah," i replied, looking across the menu for it.
"its right there," ash pointed to it.
"thank you," i whispered to him.
"do you want coffee or anything?" he asked as i kept looking.
"eww," i said making a funny face. "no, coffees gross."
"you dont like coffee?" he asked leaning closer to me completely amazed.
"i could never get myself to drink it, no matter how hard i tried," i told him. "i even worked in a coffee shop and loved the smell of it but i could never get myself to like the taste."
"but coffee is such an american thing?" ashton said. "youre supposed to love it?"
"well im just full of surprises, arent i?" i joked to him.
"you at least have to like hot coco, right?" he asked.
"yes, i love hot coco," i told him.
"okay, there we go. then we know what were getting you," he said leaning back.
the waitress came and took our order not long after. we spent most of our time just talking about random things.
it was funny how easy conversation flowed between us. it didnt matter what we were talking about, we just kept eachother smiling.
when our food came, my eyes went wide because of how big the waffle was.
ashton laughed at my reaction until he finally said, "you dont have to finish it all, yellow."
"no way in hell i was gonna," i told him.
we ate with smiles on our face. not only because of the food but because of the presence of the other.
ashton managed to make me so happy any time i was around him.
he made me happy.
he made me feel alive.