Anon: “Blind Ash AU where he shows y/n the beauty of the world that she wouldn’t normally see if she wasn’t in his shoes”
Sorry about the confusion! I had to delete the old one since it didn’t post correctly, and I hope that this is what you asked for. Anyway hope you enjoy this. @hemmomfg
You woke up to your boyfriend Ashton kissing your face excitedly. It was an average Monday morning, and you didn’t feel like having a fun time right now. To get him to stop you turned over onto your stomach and brought the blankets over your whole body. The only problem is that Ashton isn’t the kind of guy to stop till he gets what he wants. He pulls the blankets up and starts attacking your sides. At first it took him a while to find your tickle spot because he can’t see. Ashton is blind. He was born blind, and he never liked talking about how it all happened, and you never pushed him to tell you how it happened. When you finally decided that you were ready to get up, Ashton stopped you and handed you a blindfold. You let out a confused “huh” and then Ashton started to explain. “Okay babe. I have a challenge that I want you to do. I want you to wear this blindfold for the whole entire day. You won’t be able to take it off at all. I want you to embrace the world that I live in all the time.” You take the blindfold willingly and put it on.
Touch. “Okay y/n, I want you to feel everything that you possibly can over the course of the day. You will be able to feel all of the little things that you can’t feel normally. It’s really a beautiful thing.” Something that everyone took advantage of all the time because they can see everything. You had to touch around just to find the railings, and to find Ashton at the bottom of the stairs so you wouldn’t fall and break something. The feeling of Ashton’s soft hands holding yours while he was guiding you into the kitchen was great. Now Ashton already knew his way around the house and he knew where everything was. For him, it was actually really easy to guide you around. Your sense of touch was heightened. You were able to sense that something was by you. You were able to feel Ashton’s hand more closely. His hands were actually really big. They barely fit your hand, and you noticed how he rubs your thumb with his finger.
Making breakfast with two blind people was really difficult. Ashton spilt the milk about 5 times, and you couldn’t get the cereal into the bowl if your life depended on it. About 20 minutes later, you both were sitting at the breakfast bar with a bowl of cereal. At least you were able to get the cereal in your mouth without making too big of a mess.
Getting dressed was a different challenge. You had absolutely no clue what you were putting on. Ashton’s clothes were already picked, since you picked them the night before so he didn’t have to worry about it. You on the other hand, had no clue if you were even matching. Picking a random shirt and a random pair of jeans was the only option that you had at this point. You throw whatever you picked up on, and Ashton and yourself headed outside to meet Calum for your day out. Calum went with you just because neither of you could see anything. He was your tour guide for the day.
Sound. “Every sound you hear I want you to try and listen really closely towards it. You might be able to hear even more tones to the sound if you really listen. It’s something that you have to work at.” Noises are heightened also. When you both walked outside, you could hear every single noise around you. You could hear the steps of you, Ashton, and Calum walking down the sidewalk. You could hear the birds, the wind rustling the leaves, and the sound of cars. They were actually louder than usual. If you didn’t know where you were, you would think that the cars were right in front of you. Ashton broke you out of your imagination when he said, “Listen. You can hear a lot more things than before can’t you? Do you hear the pages turning in a book? Do you hear kids running around on mulch on the playground? Can you hear the sound of a dog’s collar in the distance?” You nod to everything and just stop and listen. You feel around for Ashton’s hand, and you continue walking in the park.
Smell. “Smell is a wonderful thing y/n. You will be able to smell the worst and the best things more closely now. Also, every smell is heightened so you’ll be able to smell more things than usual.” Calum ended up taking the both of you into this spices shop. You have been in here a couple times since Ashton enjoys smelling everything and guessing what it is. He always seemed to beat you since he is so used to smelling things like that. When Calum brought you inside, you knew exactly where you were. Ashton whispered in your ear, “Smell everything. Try and figure out what you are smelling, without using your vision as a guide, since the world is a more beautiful place without your vision.” You nodded while you listened to Ashton and Calum slowly walk away. The smell of all the spices was very strong, and it was really difficult to try and pin point a smell. You probably stood there for about ten minutes trying to figure out the main smell as you heard Ashton and Calum somewhere in the store talking about some of the weird spices they were smelling.
Getting back to Ashton from where you were was probably the hardest thing for you. When you were done smelling, you called out to Ashton for him to come get you. When you didn’t hear steps you started to panic. How were you going to find Ashton if you didn’t know where he was? “Babe you have to come and find me! Use your senses. Use touch and sound. You’ll find me eventually.” You heard him shout from across the store. You sighed and started to walk around trying to find him. You were feeling around everywhere so you wouldn’t knock anything over, and you were following the sound of Ashton and Calum talking about some weird sports team. When you finally found him, you were so relieved. Being stranded by yourself in a store is so frightening, you thought you would never find him. You engulf him in this huge hug, and he hugs you back. You never seemed to notice how he really hugged until now. His hands were gripping your hips and he was pulling you closer. That was something that you never seemed to notice before.
When you finally got back home Ashton told you that you could take the blindfold off, and you confidently told him no. You had no clue, but you guessed that he was really surprised since he thought that you would want to take the thing off. You told him, “I want to feel what it’s like when we are touching without looking. I want it to feel special, instead of just looking at you and being distracted.” He laughed and grabbed your hand and brought you upstairs. You laid yourself on the bed, and Ashton crawled next to you. He started to rub circles on your hip, and it actually felt super good. It felt more electric than it ever has before. Everything felt totally better than before.
That moment between you two started to get really heated really fast. Ashton ended up on top of you, making large bruises on your neck, and you were starting to get restless. You didn’t want to do this right now, so you stopped him. “Babe I’m so happy that you agreed to do this because you would have never known the beauty of my world.” After he was done you started to speak. “Ash, thanks for doing what you did with me today. It was a big wake-up call to actually live in the world that you do. It’s not every day that some normal person like me feels like what it is like to be blind. I’ve learned that my other senses are actually really important in living a normal life. I’ve learned the things that I’ve taken advantage of in normal life. You live in a beautiful world, even if you think everything would be better with vision. I love you Ash.” While you were talking you took your blindfold off, and you saw the huge smile on his face. He grabbed your face and brought you into this passionate kiss. When he decided he was done, he pulled back the slightest amount. “I love you too.” is what his lips said against yours.
requested: nope
rating: fluff bro
+ your boyfriend ashton is blind and you blame yourself aw
masterlist
talk to me/request
It’s been three years since Ashton’s car accident, and you couldn’t help but still feel sad and pity towards him. He blames himself for it, but it wasn’t his fault. It wasn’t his fault you were passed out in some friend’s party. It wasn’t his fault he had to drive all the way there just to pick you up. It wasn’t his fault that he didn’t see his car got hit by another vehicle because he was scolding you. It wasn’t his fault the pieces of glass hit both of his eyes. It wasn’t his fault he’s blind.
“This is my fault.” You said to yourself as you hear Ashton again, crying himself to sleep with dangerous and toxic thoughts in his head. You sat up and leaned to see his face, with the help of the moonlight, glistening with tears. You bit your lip trying your hardest not to sob for you were a bit loud when you cry. There were million thoughts of him hurting himself, physically and mentally, in your mind. You can’t bare the fact that maybe he does want to die.
“Y/n,” You hear him say as you felt him move closer to you. He moves his hand to your shoulder slightly rubbing it, and further moved his hand to your cheek. “Oh God, baby, don’t cry. Why are you crying?” He asks as soon as he felt your warm tears, his eyes staring ahead of you. “Nothing,” You said sniffing. He moves his hand to your waist up to your back, pulling you closer to him.
His heartbeat, your heartbeat, and his warm embrace made you stop crying despite of your awful thoughts, you were calmer tonight. You remember that moment in the hospital where Ashton was screaming incoherent words and crying hysterically and you couldn’t do anything about it. You remember running out of his room and out the halls so you could just scream your lungs out. “This is your fucking fault, Y/n!” You screamed. “This is all my fault! Goddamn it!” You repeat. And ever since that day, all you felt was hatred towards yourself to the point where you’ve hurt yourself.
“I’m sorry, Ash.” You suddenly said. “What? Sorry? This isn’t your fault, Y/n.” He said as his hug became tighter. You hear him sigh and shift a bit in his position, “Don’t blame yourself. It’s not you, baby. It’s actually my fault-“
“No, it’s not Ashton!” You pushed yourself out of his grasp getting out of the bed and standing up. “It’s my fault! If I weren’t such a party freak, nothing would have happened to you! Do you not understand that?!” You were breathing heavily as you watch him turn his head from left to right trying to look for you.
“Y/n, please, don’t ever blame yourself for my stupidity. I was the one who’s at fault here, okay? If we hadn’t had that stupid fight… I did this to myself.” He said. “No,” You shook your head. “You were right, Ashton. I go out with friends too much when I should’ve been with you.” Once you sat back down, he felt the mattress and moved towards you. His hands were looking for your skin and so you took them in yours and place them both on your cheeks. “I’m sorry.” He wiped the tears that have escaped your eyes and kissed you gently.
“It’s okay, baby.” He said kissing you again. Once you pulled away you chuckled lightly and gulped the sob trying to come out of your mouth. “You can’t even see me anymore.”
“I don’t care, Y/n. I don’t care about that. I’ve seen your face before and I swear it is the most beautiful thing I have ever seen in my entire life. I don’t care if I can’t see you again, because I know that you’re lovely, you’re beautiful, you are gorgeous inside and out. Baby, beauty can’t be seen by the naked eye –It’s because it’s inside your heart.”
And with that, he pulled you in for yet another passionate kiss. You felt him smile making you smile as the tears, of not sadness but happiness, escaped your eyes. You remember after screaming at the top of your lungs, Ashton’s mother walked up to you calming you down saying that Ashton wanted to talk to you. Walking in his hospital room, the first words he’s said was “I love you, Y/n, no matter what.”
“(Y/N)!” Ashton called out and flailed his arms, desperately wanting to find you, since you were his seeing eyes. Ashton bumped into a sharp edge, and screamed out in pain. “(Y/N)! Where are you!?” he reached his hands out and heard footsteps in the distance. Suddenly, his back was pressed against a warm soft chest, and immediately began to calm down a bit, knowing that you didn’t leave him. He felt small hands snake underneath his muscular arms. Your small warm hand grabbed his left hand and gently wrote on his palm with your finger.
‘I - a-m - r-i-g-h-t - h-e-r-e.’
He let out a sigh and collapsed in your arms, and turned around and held you in a warm embrace, his head searching for neck to bury himself in, wanting to calm himself down, since his mind made him think that you had left him. Ashton always gets panic attacks when you aren’t holding his hand, or having some sort of contact with you. Why would you be around a boy who can’t even see? Why would he need you out of all people? Ashton and you aren’t all different. You both have a fault, something that society labels as handicapped, you being mute and him being blind. Both labelled as different, making you both understand each other on so many levels. You know that you have to look after Ashton. But you love him and despite everything. Ashton knows you love him. And Ashton loves you very much too.
Even if Ashton can’t see, he knows it’s a beautiful world outside this town, and knows for a fact that people are beautiful too, both inside and out, you being the main example of what true beauty is. You would spend hours all night telling him about how the world looks like, through touch communication, writing down letters on his skin, spelling out words so he could understand. You would lay back on Ashton’s chest and as Ashton would hold you close, his head resting on top of yours placing soft gentle kisses wherever he could. You would blush at how soft and tender his kisses felt on your skin, his lips sometimes landing near your ear, other times on the back of your neck, and other sensitive areas on your skin. It sometimes made you doubt that he was blind, because he would know exactly where to kiss you and would smirk every time your breath hitched, and even more when you two would share intimate times, always knowing where and how to touch you to make you writher underneath him.
But what he enjoyed the most was how you would hold his hand and began to white sweet nothings onto his hand and skin. Writing the phrase ‘I love you’ countless of times on his palm and would begin writing it all over his body, especially on the area right over his heart, making him blush and heart race at you gentle touch. He would whisper his love back to you.
Sometimes you would give earphones to Ashton and you both would listen to music that speaks your feelings to each other. Ashton would show you songs about trashy love affairs and you would laugh about it, or you would show Ashton songs about soft and soothing love story songs. Music was your mutual way of communication since they would word feelings that you couldn’t say, or explain thing that he couldn’t see. To Ashton these moments are priceless treasures that he would treasure forever.
Every so often, you would take Ashton to the beach, since he loved it there, and you would try describing the color of the waves hitting the brown rocks or how the sun looks extremely beautiful when it’s setting. You would tell him that the sand was yellow and white, by saying that yellow was warm and happy, like the sun. The water was blue like the sky, by saying that it was calm and serene, just washing away both your worries. The sunset was filled with hues of orange and red, by saying those colors were passionate and strong. And he would say that if your relationship was a color it would be a mix of red and yellow colors.
When you both out in public, it’s a more dangerous environment because Ashton cannot let go of your hand, he needed you so much because he was afraid that if he even let go for a second he could harm himself. He would hear cars or feel the breeze of a fast car and his hand would tighten in yours as well as his walking stick. He was afraid, but by you just being there it would ease the panic he went through. If an action required both of your hands, you would tell Ashton to hug you and to never let go unless you take his hand again.
People would say that you are a protective girlfriend. But really, you just really love and care for him, and he felt the same for you. He means the world to you, and you mean the same to him. He knew that if he lost you, all hell would break loose and he’d fall apart the moment you were no longer with him. He would be completely lost without you; you brightened up his days by just spending time with him. He knew that it was a great sacrifice for anyone to have a relationship with someone like him. He was blind; he would always need assistance in just about everything and throughout his whole life, and he would never be able to show you how thankful he is for you and your heart of gold. But he would show you how much he loves and appreciates you his whole life if you gave him the chance, and he hope that you would.
He loves the way at nights were spent just memorizing each other’s body. His hands acting as his eyes telling you how beautiful were, calling what you would call imperfections, perfect imperfections. He would tell you that he wanted to remember your whole body, faults and everything. And in turn you would write how beautiful his eyes were and when he took off his glasses that his grey like irises just made him look beautiful. He loves it when you compliment him, because some would find his eyes creepy to look at, and you would tell him how they sparkle under the moonlight.
‘Y-o-u-r - e-y-e-s - l-o-o-k - b-e-a-u-t-i-f-u-l.’ you would write on his hand. And then you would begin to write down how handsome he was, making Ashton blush.
You remembered how difficult it was to even communicate with Ashton. You both met when were at work being a part-time nurse assistant for the hospital that Ashton and his family visited. He would come in all the time, especially when his mum got sick. You immediately spotted him, mainly hear his laugh at the end of the hall as he visited his mother. He had one of the most contagious laughs, that as you heard his laugh it made you smile at how nice it was. You immediately noticed how handsome he was. But you soon found out that he was blind, and there was no possible way you could have any relationship with him, for you were mute.
Ashton’s mother noticed that you smitten with his son, and actually liked you for his son. He knew that with you he would be in good hands. She introduced you to Ashton, and just like you smitten with Ashton, he was taken with you too. At first he couldn’t really communicate with you, unless you used text to speech apps. But soon he took the decision to try to learn another way to communicate, which would be through to touch. You knew sign language, but it would be useless since Ashton couldn’t learn, given that had spent his whole entire life being blind.
Ashton soon began to learn, what you two would call touch communication with the help of you and your own family and his mother. You would help him understand letter, numbers, and words, by tracing them onto his skin that always made his body shiver by your gentle touch. At times you needed spell things out twice since he was so distracted by you running your fingers along his skin, which even to this day made him shiver.
Today was your lazy day; you had nothing to do but to hang out with Ashton. Ashton searched for your hand, and when he found your hand, he began to draw tiny circles on your palm, tickling you nerves, and smile a bit. Your hands were small and delicate, for which Ashton needs to grasp them gently and treat them like the finest glass, which he gladly did. He leads your hands to his chest, moving your left hand behind his neck and your right hand on his heart, wanting you to feel how you made his heart race, you and only you. You rests your head right under his collar bone and breathes in softly. You relax as you inhale his natural scent and he did the same to you, feeling his hand trace across your skin.
He exhales quietly. “It’s been twenty-three months,”
‘A-l-m-o-s-t - t-w-o - y-e-a-r-s,’
“-Since we’ve been together.” Ashton finishes the sentence.
That same night, you took Ashton to the beach again. The sun had already set and most of the people are gone off the beach. It was just you two. You took Ashton’s hand told him that it was dark outside and everyone is gone.
‘I - a-l-w-a-y-s - l-o-v-e-d - b-e-a-c-h-e-s.’
Even throughout everything you’ve done for each other, all the complications and faults in your relationship, at the end, you two are the ones who keep it strong and alive, because you both didn’t care what others thought, because if they knew what your relationship was like, they would wish they had a relationship like yours.
‘A-s-h-t-o-n – I – f-e-e-l – s-a-f-e – i-n- y-o-u-r – a-r-m-s’ you wrote onto his forearm, pressing your face against his chest.
He embraces you closer into a hug and began to touch his face. Your hands began to trace his face your fingertips tracing up his cheeks until you find his left ear. “I love you.” he whispers. He wraps his arms around you and you grab his left hand write the following:
Ok so I got like a good number of doing either blind Ashton and one person to do a deaf Michael, which I may actually do since I have a certain scenario in mind. So yea tell me what you think of this one, hopefully it wasn’t too bad. So should I do a deaf Michael, the request said she would prefer Michael but any of the boys would do, so should I do deaf Michael, or with one of the other boys. LET ME KNOW :)
FEEL FREE TO LEAVE REQUESTS OR PREFERENCE IDEAS IN MY INBOX OR LOOK HERE FOR FUTURE WORKS I AM GOING TO POST AND MESSAGE ME WHICH ONES YOU WOULD LIKE TO SEE AND I MIGHT START WORKING ON THEM SOONER
Pairings: Luke Hemmings/Ashton Irwin
Characters: Luke Hemmings, Ashton Irwin
Tags: blind!ashton, alternate uiverse - not famous, fluff
Summary: Ashton wants to see the world and Luke wants to show him.
I took Ashton to the park for our ninth date. It was a picnic, and we ate sandwiches and drank from juice boxes. We lay down on the blanket afterwards and I looked at him, just wondering how he felt. What exactly was he thinking?
“Can you describe the night sky to me, Luke?” he asked. I thought for a while, wanting to give him a perfect answer that he could definitely feel.
“It sounds beautiful.” You’re beautiful.
God, let me just get off track here; he was a whole other level of beautiful. He was his own. I wish, I wish, with all of my heart that I could somehow grace him with the gift of sight, but I can’t. I can’t, and that physically pains me. Life fucked him over the second he was born. The shooting star above us, moving ever so slowly, does not work in my favor. I can’t even begin to explain how amazing and extraordinary he is, and he can’t see it, literally.
“I hate how you can’t see,” I said, which was probably one of the stupidest things I've ever done.
“It’s okay, I’m used to it.” That was when my heart broke.
There was a pause in between before he spoke again.
“What do you look like?” He asked so innocently.
I didn't expect it, but I took a deep breath and began to explain, but it was just nervous ramblings.
“I don’t know what to say without sounding too cocky. I have blonde hair that’s quiffed, blue eyes. Some people say it looks so blue they can swim in it, but I don’t think they're that great.” He laughed, I smiled.
Continuing on, I said, “I’m tall, maybe like 4 inches taller than you. I get told that I look like a giant when I stand next to shorter people.” I chuckled a bit. I paused and thought some more, but I couldn't think of anything else to explain. “That’s pretty much the big picture.”
“That’s it?” He said in a surprised tone.
Then one tiny detail hit me in the face.
“Oh, and I have a lip ring on the right side. My mom got really pissed at me, saying I didn't get permission, but I think it looks good.” I can’t believe I forgot I had a metal ring hooked in my lip.
Then again, it's probably because my distraction was Ashton.
“Do you have any scars, or maybe birthmarks?”
You know I can watch him talk forever. It’s so mesmerizing.
“I have a lot of scars on my legs since I used to trip and fall down a lot. It’s actually really ugly though, it’s just splotches of dark marks all over.” He laughed again. I must’ve looked like an idiot, just smiling so weirdly about it. “I have a birthmark on my left arm, just like an irregular circle that’s purple and blue. People mistake it for a bruise.”
I sighed and waited for his response. It was a long wait, and it made me kind of nervous. What was he doing? Was he imagining what I looked like? I turned to him and saw him slightly frowning, which made me confused and quite upset. I don’t want him to be sad.
“Forget the stars, I hate that I can’t see you.” A sigh of relief escaped from my lips, and then a smile broke out.
I grabbed his hand and interlocked with it. A huge grin displayed across his face. I quickly sat up placed a chaste kiss on his lips. I returned to my original place, and we both stayed in the comfortable silence.
I think that's when I started to fall in love with him.
last chapter! I'll put up the epilogue on Wednesday, but other than that, no more c: I hope you all enjoyed it, blind!ashton is a lot of fun to write tbh
feedback makes me happy /cough
Ashton was, to put it bluntly, miserable.
He spent most of his time in his room, blaring his music loud enough to drown out all of his thoughts. It wasn't really enough- he could practically feel himself getting angrier and angrier the more he just sat there. His room felt entirely wrong without his normal attitude, and without Daisy. With her, as cheesy as it sounded, he felt like he was seeing everything in a brand new light, in a brand new way. It wasn't fair that she was out wandering, okay and working, when he was broken up inside.
Luke had come in and tried to talk some sense into him, but he was hard to deal with, to say the least. He didn't want to listen to anyone's reasoning. He wanted her back, and that was that, really.
She didn't want him, though.
'She's probably with Calum.' Ashton couldn't stop himself from thinking bitterly. Threy were probably happy and fucking and letting Michael and Quinn watch, because God knows they won't tell him.
In theory, he thought, he could probably get up and go out, pull the blind card and get an easy hook up; he was an attractive guy, blind or not. He knew his dimples and curly hair attracted quite a bit of female attention, and while the old Ashton was appreciative of it, the new Ashton was just far too tired to even care.
He didn't really want a new hook up, or a fling, or even another relationship. He missed Daisy's laugh and her dumb jokes and the way she was mean in teasing him. He missed the way she couldn't block him out even when she tried, hell, even missed the way she snored.
A sudden knock came at the door, and Ashton tensed in his spot on his bed. "Fuck off." He snapped, turning his stereo music up a little with the remote.
"It's Quinn," came her melodious voice from the other side of the door. Ashton could picture her so well, or what he imagined she looked like as of recent days.
He couldn't stay mad at Quinn- not the way he could stay angry at Michael and Calum alike. "Don't come in," he sighed out, inching up on the bed, propping himself up on the headboard.
He heard the door open, and then the soft footsteps of Quinn, and then the closing of the door. He let a small sigh escape his lips, his head turning towards the closed blinds of the window. “You can open those if you want,” he said. He knew she didn’t care for the dark and dreary; she much preferred bright and warm. “I don’t mind.” He minded, though. he didn't want her to see the trashed room, or the hole in the wall from his fist. He put his hands on his stomach under the covers, hiding the bruised and scraped knuckles from the hole, among various other broken things.
“Nah.” came Quinn’s reply. She’d moved closer, but it was only when Ashton felt the bed dip that he realized how close she was. He sat up a little straighter, lips pressing together in a firm line.
“Don’t look like that,” Quinn chastised softly, nudging his knee with her hand. “Don’t look so pissed." She didn't mention his red-rimmed eyes- it was hard enough to talk without her pointing out she could tell he'd been crying.
“I’m not pissed,” he insisted, frowning. “I’m wondering why you’re here.”
Ashton heard her sigh, and felt the bed shift. She must’ve been sitting down in a different way, or adjusting herself, he couldn’t really tell. She smelled familiar, like the perfume that Michael always bought for her along with the faint scent of cigarettes from being around Michael.
“I know you’re angry,” she started, and made a small ‘ah’ noise when Ashton opened his mouth to say something. “I’m talking, shh. I know you’re angry, at me and Michael, and at Calum, and at Daisy, but you can’t keep doing this.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he insisted, crossing his arms tightly across his chest. “At all.”
“I think you and I both know what I’m talking about,” she said, putting a hand on his shin. “You can’t stay locked up in your room, miserable. It’s not healthy, Ashton. You need to talk to Daisy.”
“Then I’ll bring Daisy to you. She’s awful to be around like this, and so are you.” Quinn’s voice was firm, threatening, and almost commanding, but it was filled with the best of intentions.
The thought of Daisy being near him again made his stomach clench and his heart ache. It was a big mix of emotions for him; he loved her an insane, ungodly amount, but he’d heard her reaction. The thought of rejection, again, made his stomach churn. The heartache, though, was the jealousy he felt when he thought about how Calum had made her feel incredible before he had.
“Don’t,” he breathed out, shaking his head. He cleared his throat, voice a little more firm, matching Quinn’s. “You don’t understand it, Quinn. She’s something else. Its- Its like she’s in technicolor, and I’m in black and white. Maybe this happened for a reason. Maybe she deserves better.”
“Are you that much of an idiot?” Quinn groaned, which surprised Ashton. He’d been expecting a sweet speech, not that. She didn’t sound rude or condescending, though. She had a way of almost insulting you in the sweetest, kindest way possible. It never failed to baffle him. “All she does is lay in Tatum’s bed and mumble about how she loves you. She won’t even go home, Ashton. She wants to be near you, even after that scene.”
It was a pretty awful scene. It’d replayed in his mind over and over- he’d analyzed every single second of it. It was frustrating, mostly because he couldn’t see her body language, and imagining it was harder than he thought.
“I don’t know what to tell you, Quinn.” he said sheepishly, laying his head back against the headboard.
Quinn, however, did know what to say. “Say you’ll go meet her. She’s working tomorrow morning- I’ll arrange for someone to drive you up and everything,” At Ashton’s uneasy look, she continued. “Please, Ash.”
Ashton sighed out yet again, head lolling off of the headboard and on to his shoulder. “Alright, fine. As long as you stay, just in case.”
“I’ll be a few tables back,” Quinn said solemnly. “I promise.”
-
There were a few levels of drunk that Daisy had been in her lifetime.
There was tipsy, where she got incredibly giggly and wanted to cuddle with everyone. After tipsy came plain drunk, where she blurted dumb things and laughed too loudly and started telling embarrassing stories about her life (and others). After drunk, though, came totally shitfaced, where she totally lost the ability to give a damn about anything, and just was a bright ball of dumb, cuddly sunshine. She'd only been shitfaced twice in her life; once, after her ex boyfriend posted on Facebook that he was engaged to her then "best friend", and the other time more recent. Recent being now.
Tatum had been sick of her, and for good reason. Nothing was fun with a moping Daisy- she was simply miserable. There wasn't really anything else Tatum could think to do besides see how the other girl felt totally drunk.
It had been a good idea until it came time for Tatum's appointment- the tattoo appointment.
"Let me come, please please please," Daisy pleaded, steadying her swaying body on the arm of the couch, watching as Tatum grabbed her keys. She was alert (for now) and annoying as ever- she tended to get loud when she was first drunk, and then as time progressed, she usually forgot most of what was going on. "I wanna get my family on my wrist!"
"As long as you don't get Ashton's name on your hand, we'll be fine," Tatum replied coolly. it wasn't like she could leave the blonde alone anyway; Quinn was with Michael and Luke was at work.
Daisy remembered every detail of the car ride to the parlor. How the trees were blurry, going by so fast, and the way the lights all blurred together when they changed (too quickly, she thought). On occasion, she'd loudly point out a dog or a stray cat wandering, annoying Tatum further.
The redhead couldn't deny that it was nice seeing Daisy excited and happy. It'd been
a long time since she'd seen the large, bright smile plastered on her face.
She more or less remembered sitting and waiting impatiently for Tatum's shoulder tattoo to be done (her brain was more fuzzy than not). It was even harder to remember when she shoved her way into the tattoo artist's chair and refused to move until she got her tattoo.
"I want five tallies," Daisy commanded, jabbering on. "One for my mom, one for my dad, one for Tayla, one for Josh, and one for Chris. They're my little siblings. I love them a lot."
"You got it, kid." was the only thing the tattoo guy told her.
"Once, I threw an alarm clock off my bed and hit Josh in the head with it." Daisy told the man. "His head cracked open. It bled a lot. He's okay, though."
"That's nice." was what the tattoo guy said.
-
The rest of the night was a huge blur to Daisy- she was a blank page from halfway through her tattoo (with the unamused artist) to the time she woke up in the morning.
Blinking her eyes open, she realized she wasn't in her own home. The ceilings were too low to be Tatum's apartment ones, and they were too dark a color to be Ashton's. They weren't dirty enough to be hers, either.
"Morning, sleeping beauty," came Quinn's soft voice from what seemed like a few meters away. She probably wouldn't have guessed that she was at Quinn's, had that voice not been a dead giveaway.
Daisy tried to sit up, but right away, a sharp throbbing ripped through her head, making her plop back down on the soft pillows beneath her head. She only groaned in return to Quinn.
She heard footsteps, light and quiet, make their way over to her. There was a soft squeak of weight on wood, and Daisy knew Quinn must have sat down on the coffee table next to the couch.
"You awake?" she murmured in Daisy's ear, or close to it.
Daisy groaned again, waving an arm. "Shh."
"Here," Quinn said, softer this time. "Homemade hangover remedy. Tastiest like shit, but it clears it up pretty fast."
"Thanks." Daisy mumbled, holding out her hand. Quinn placed the tall glass in her hand, and after slowly sitting up, Daisy took a sip. She then very nearly gagged- it was disgusting. She thought it tasted like wet dog and tomato juice.
"I know it tastes shitty," Quinn sighed, taking it back, sitting it next to her on the coffee table. "But it helps."
"Right." Daisy winced, rubbing her eyes with the heel of her hand so hard she saw red splotches.
"Do you remember last night at all?" Quinn murmured to her slowly, looking at her.
"Not really.. just the tattoo," she mumbled, peeking up at Quinn. When she saw the other girl open her mouth, she interrupted. "Can we talk about it later?"
Quinn's face contorted into something hesitant, looking like she was having she was having some sort of inner conflict within herself. Finally, she nodded a little, and stood up, brushing herself off. "I need you to shower and get around. There's clean towels and a spare toothbrush in the bathroom for you."
"Can't I just nurse my hangover in peace?" Daisy looked up at her.
"Nope," Quinn picked up the glass full of the wet-dog tomato mixture and thrust it into Daisy's hand. "You're talking to Ashton today after work."
Daisy nearly dropped the glass. Quinn probably shouldn't have handed it to her before she dropped the bomb, but that wasn't exactly something she'd thought of when she'd done it.
"What?" Daisy sat up, wincing at the sharp pain in her head. It dulled after a few seconds, but left the aftershocks of it throbbing. "Why didn't you tell me earlier?!"
"I set it up yesterday morning," Quinn said simply. "Now, go shower and get ready. I'll loan you some clothes so you're not wearing smelly clothes to work.”
"Thanks, what a kind gesture." Daisy said, a touch of bitterness in her voice. The thought of seeing Ashton made her heart ache.
"You'll thank me for real later," Quinn told her, nudging the blonde's shoulder. "Now, shower. You smell like beer and B.O."
-
“Thanks for setting this up, Quinn. You’re so sweet, Quinn.” Daisy mumbled, slamming the top of the coffee machine down probably a little harder than she should’ve. She wasn’t a little nervous about seeing him for the first time in what felt like forever- she was panicking. It felt like a lump in her throat blocking her airway just thinking about seeing him. Daisy wasn’t exactly sure how she wasn’t going to pass out or hyperventilate when he actually walked in, she was so nervous.
“Cool it, you’ll be fine,” Lacey said from down the counter. It was her day to work the machines, but Daisy had missed a lot of work and had felt guilty, so she had given up her days at the register in exchange for the grunt work of making the product for impatient customers. It had been a slow day, so Quinn had parked herself over by the side of the counter and took it upon herself to tell Lacey about Daisy’s awful hangover and the Ashton meeting, which Lacey seemed thrilled about. “Don’t stress over it, it won’t do you any good.”
“I feel like I’m gonna throw up.” Daisy mumbled in reply, rubbing at her eyes for what felt like the hundredth time that day.
“Shut up, you won’t puke.” Lacey told her, humming. Daisy glanced over at Quinn, who was tapping her long, pale pink painted nails on the counter.
"It’s true,” she said when she noticed her unamused look. “You won’t throw up. You’ll be fine if you try not to think about it too much.”
“I can't help it!” Daisy groaned, turning away from both girls to put her head in her hands. Her long, unbrushed waves fell over in her face, tickling the soft skin on the backs of her hands. “He ha-”
“He doesn’t hate you, for god’s sake, Daisy,” Lacey huffed out. “Stop being mopey and insecure about this. You know him, okay? He admitted he was in love with you literally seconds before you dropped that bomb.”
“You love him, right?” Quinn asked quietly, keeping the other girl’s hangover in mind. Watching Daisy’s head bob in her hands a little, she continued. “So, don’t be scared this time. Just tell him.”
“You really think it’ll be that simple?” she murmured, moving her long fingers out of the way to peek out at them.
“If it’s love, love is easy,” Quinn told her, resting her forearms on the counter. “It should be the easiest thing in the world, being around him. You’ll know if you feel it, Dais. Just relax, count to three and take deep breaths. Try not to let it take over your thoughts.”
Daisy sighed, peeling her hands away from her face, glancing around the near empty room. “I guess.” A shadow by the door and the sudden soft bell chiming signalling that someone was entering caught her attention.
His hair was uncharacteristically curly- it looked disheveled, not at all smooth and styled messily on purpose. He’d thrown on a shirt so wrinkled that Daisy just knew he’d snatched off of his floor, and his bruised and scabbed up knuckles were a dead giveaway that the past weeks had been rough on him too. His sunglasses covered his eyes, but had they not been glued to his face, the bags from lack of sleep would be prominent as well.
Daisy’s heart clenched at the sight of him- even at his worst, he was at his best in her mind. It was exactly then, in that moment, in the middle of the coffee shop on a Saturday mid-morning, that Daisy knew that even if they didn’t work everything out right then, it would get worked out. “This is love,” she thought to herself, watching as he slid into the very same back booth that they’d shared their first coffee in. “Love is easy.”
feedback and reblogs are my best friends tbfh The next few days were pure misery for everyone. Daisy didn't leave Tatum's bed expect to lay in the bathtub and pee, as dramatic as it was. Everyone knew when she was crying; even with the water running it was impossible to miss. It felt like her world had crumbled down around her - her mom had always told her that boys were boys, that they would come and go, but it was just so hard because it was Ashton. What they'd had was so good, and now it was gone. Tatum had nearly had enough, in the kindest way possible. It was hard to see anyone that upset, and it was even harder knowing they'd simply hated each other before. For the most part, Tatum kept her sarcasm at bay, but it was beginning to show that she was tired of Daisy's moping. "C'mon," she said, finally, sitting next to Daisy on her bed. She was curled up against the wall, forehead pressed against the cool paint. It was one of the only positions she had taken in the past few days. "You've got work, and sitting around isn't good for you," Tatum nudged her leg, then added, "Or me. You've completely taken over my bed." "Sorry," Daisy mumbled, but only rolled closer into the wall. She could hear the loud, angsty music that Ashton had been blaring all week, and she was emotionally draining herself, overanalyzing every angry All Time Low song that he played. "Tell Lacey I'm not coming in today." "I'm not telling Lacey shit," Tatum told her. "You're going to work. I don't care if you feel like going or not." "I don't want to," Daisy mumbled, curling into a human-sized ball as Ashton's song changed into a slow Bastille one. "I want to stay here and.." She trailed off, but it was obvious what she was thinking. She wanted to be close to Ashton, even though it hurt. "You can't stay here and cry all day," Tatum said softly, but firmly. "I'm gonna call Quinn, we're gonna have a girls day before you go to work." "I don't want to," Daisy said again. She stared at the wall, then clamped her eyes shut. "Besides, you have Luke. He's probably feeling neglected or something." "Luke is fine," Tatum insisted, probably too harshly. She had the best intentions, and was honestly trying to keep down the her temper while Daisy was hurting. She reminded Tatum of her sister, and that made it a lot easier for the fiery red head to be kind. "Go shower, we're shopping." - "Are you sure Michael doesn't mind us kidnapping you?" Daisy asked from the backseat of Quinn's car. She'd actually been the one kidnapping them, her being the only one with an actual vehicle to drive. "Of course not," Quinn waved a hand, breaking at a yellow light. She glanced back, flashing a smile at Daisy, and then to Tatum, who sat next to her. "He's on the job today anyway, so I don't think he minds." "When you say on the job, you mean he's dealing." Daisy leaned her head against Tatum's shoulder, ignoring the red strands trapped by her head. She'd had a hard time being as sensitive as she used to be. She just couldn't seem to make herself care about much at all. "More or less," Quinn shrugged, pulling through the intersection. Daisy's comment didn't seem to have effected her at all. "He's good at what he does, usually." "Danny's a real catch," Tatum commented, but it was hard for Daisy to tell whether or not she was being sarcastic without being able to see her face. As far as she knew, Tatum didn't have a problem with Michael, but you never really knew with her. "Six years," Quinn smiled, glancing back in the mirror before pulling into the parking lot of the mall. Daisy felt sick to her stomach. The last thing she wanted was to be out of the house. If fact, the only thing she wanted was Ashton, but that wasn't something she could have. "Too bad," was what Tatum said when she voiced it. "You're coming in." - "Anyone up for food?" Tatum took her card back from the cashier, sliding her plastic bag's handles into her hand before following the other girls out. They'd hit five or six different stores already, and Daisy was just exhausted. The girls had talked her into getting a few new dresses with the promise of a party or event to wear it at. However, the last party she'd attended was still painfully fresh in her mind. It was almost all too real, how she could feel his lips on her all over again. "What's got you drooling?" Quinn teased, grinning a little at her. It was meant to be playful, but it made Daisy flinch. "Nothing," Daisy muttered, shifting uncomfortably. "Can we get smoothies?" "Sounds good to me." Tatum nodded, leading them forward to the food court. "I'm gonna duck off to the bathroom," Quinn placed a hand on Tatum's shoulder, then mumbled something to her. Tatum looked confused, but nodded a little, mouthing a quick 'okay'. Quinn disappeared into the large sea of people, headed in the general bathroom direction while Tatum and Daisy inched up in line. Daisy was enjoying the lapse in conversation, but it didn't last long. "So," Tatum cleared her throat, mentally preparing herself for the storm to come. "Don't start," Daisy said, lamely. She already knew what this was about. "It's been a decent day, don't bring it up." "You have to talk about it sometime," Tatum said, looking at her. She wanted to comfort the girl that was fast becoming her friend, but she couldn't let Daisy sit and fester forever. "You have to face your problems and quit avoiding it." "I don't have to do anything," she snapped, unintentionally. She softened immediately. Tatum was only trying to help, in her own weird way. "I don't want to think about it." "I think you should talk to him," Tatum said after a few seconds, inching up in line with her. The comment made Daisy flinch. It wasn't that simple- nothing like this ever was. The gravity of her mistake weighed on her. She understood the force of what she had done, but Tatum didn't seem to see it. "I can't," Her voice broke. Tears were inevitable, but Daisy had grown good at holding them back the last few days. "You didn't see his face. He's never going to forgive me." Tatum sighed, ordering their drinks without asking Daisy what she wanted. Quinn had thought she could knock some sense in her, but Daisy wasn't having it, and Tatum understood why. "Then I'll talk to him for you." "That'll make things worse." Daisy's voice didn't break this time; she'd composed herself, though Tatum saw her fists clenching the fabric of her shirt. "Just let me do this, okay? It won't hurt to try." Tatum paid the cashier, standing off to the side with Daisy. She let her voice grow firm again, but didn't hide the plea- she wanted to help her. "Whatever you want," Daisy said finally, arms crossing tightly against her chest. "But please, don't make it worse." “You’re making it out to be worse than it will be,” Tatum sighed, grabbing the smoothies as they came out on the cheap granite counter. “You can’t possibly make this worse. You’ve already hit rock bottom.” She handed Daisy her smoothie, and she reluctantly took it. “That’s great, thanks,” Daisy sniffed, taking a little sip of her smoothie before making a face and swapping it with Tatum’s. “But isn’t it nice to know that you’ve already seen the worst? It can only get better from here.” Tatum insisted, shaking her head at the blonde. “Think positive.” “Easy for you to say. Daisy mumbled, quiet. - "Daisy, nice of you to show up." Were the first words Lacey said. The next were "Why haven't you called", and the next was "You're closing tonight". Daisy wasn't feeling much of anything that night, really, so she just took it with a grain of salt. She walked into the back room, getting her ugly green apron on, putting her phone in the cubby. She heard footsteps padding back, getting louder as they got closer, until finally they stopped right about behind her. "What's going on?" Lacey's voice demanded from behind Daisy. She didn't need to turn around to see the hands-on-the-hips stance that she'd taken. It was all too familiar- it came out when she was dealing with naughty children or rude customers. "You don't show up for a week, and then you act like this?" "Ashton and I broke up." The words sounded harsher coming from her mouth. She turned around, facing Lacey's shocked face; she hadn't meant for it to be venomous, but the past few days were simply exhausting. She was tired of crying and she was tired of being sad and she was just tired. Lacey blinked a few times, rapidly, clearing her throat. "Oh," she said lamely, her hands slipping off her hips. Her attitude had totally changed. "I'm sorry." "Don't worry about it," Daisy mumbled. "Let's just work." Hoping that if she invested herself in work she would forget Ashton was a futile thing. Everything reminded him of her, but she struggled on through the hours, pushing the annoying nagging in the back of her mind saying 'just talk to him!'. "No," Daisy finally mumbled to herself, refilling the machine with the frappuccino mix. "He made it incredibly clear on how he feels." "Talking to yourself isn't a good sign," a nervous voice said from in front of the counter. Daisy paused, the plastic bag filled with mix frozen over the machine. Maybe, she thought, if she pretended that she hadn't heard him, he would just go away. "Dais?" A knock sounded on the front of the machine. Daisy peeked one eye open, and saw dark, fluffy hair and brown eyes peeking around the corner. "You can't just ignore me." Something sparked inside of Daisy, and she felt able again. Dumping the rest of the mix in, she closed the top of the machine, hitting the mix button. "Watch me." she quipped, turning and busying herself with throwing the plastic away and wiping down the mix-covered counters with the wet rag from the wash bucket. "Daisy, please," Calum pleaded, following her as best he could from the other side of the counter. "Ashton won't even sit in the same room as me-" "Maybe we deserve this," Daisy snapped, fists clenching at her sides. She could hear the water ringing from the rag scrunched in her small hand, falling onto the floor in a gray puddle. "Maybe we deserve him hating us." "You weren't even dating him when we slept together!" His voice raised. Several customers glanced at them, but none made any move to say anything. "Lower your voice or I'll kick you out," Daisy grit her teeth. "I get off in half an hour. Sit down and wait until then." Calum frowned, but nodded, sighing. "Give me a coffee, then," he mumbled, fishing his wallet out of his pocket. "I'm gonna need it." - "Nice place," Calum said, glancing around the back room of the coffee shop. He was obviously lying; it smelled of dirt and mildew, and was dimly lit, reminding Daisy of a dungeon. "Yeah," she said instead, grabbing her bag from the hook, replacing it with her apron. She stopped, sighing, and shifted a little to turn to him. "Look, Calum-" "Can we just go somewhere?" His jaw was hard set, his lips pressed together. Daisy's mind flashed back to the couch, his warm lips hovering over hers. "I don't want to go anywhere with you," Daisy said, shoving the thoughts back into the dark place in her mind- a place that she didn't want to ever visit. "I feel so guilty, I can't hardly stand it." "You think I don't?" Calum's voice sounded exasperated. He put his hand on the cubby next to hers, leaning into it. "It's one thing to have a thing for your best mate's girl, but sleeping with her? Acting on it? That's wrong." "You make it sound like I'm the one who seduced you." This time, Daisy meant every bit of venom that seeped into her tone. "It's not like I'm some- some temptress who's trying to steer you off the path of all that's good and holy!" "You could have said no!" He roared. Daisy flinched back, fingers clutching around her bag straps immediately. "It's both of our faults," she finally said, lips turning down. She refused to let herself tear up. Not in front of him. "And now he hates us both." "He still loves you," Calum said quietly, bringing his hand down off of the cubby, shifting uncomfortably on his feet. "I check on him sometimes when he's sleeping. He mumbles about it." Daisy couldn't place his tone- whether it was bitterness or resentment, god only knows. "I've got a hard time believing that." Calum rubbed his face, looking exasperated. It reminded Daisy of the first few times they'd met; he always looked annoyed, like the whole world was doing everything in its power to piss him of all people off. "You aren't around him," he tried to keep his voice calm, under control. "You don't know how miserable he is to be around. He won't hardly talk to Michael, and he won't talk to me at all." "And that's my fault," Daisy took in a deep breath, frowning. "I fucked it up for you." "We both did," he mumbled, his dark eyes finding the faded tile floors. "I wouldn't take it back, though." Daisy's eyes snapped up to his face, eyebrows immediately knitting together. "What?" She said, voice short. She felt the knot in her stomach, and she couldn't tell if it was from anger or nerves. A mix of both is what she decided. "How can you say that? Ashton isn't talking to either of us." "It isn't like I stopped having a thing for you the minute you started dating him," Calum grumbled. "I'm sorry it's not that fucking easy. I really, really like you, Dais. I can’t just ignore that." "You're the biggest asshole I've ever met, Calum," Daisy's throat felt tight, and she could feel herself starting to tremble in the slightest. "You're a fucking dick to me, then sleep with me, and now you pull this shit? You ignored me after we did it." "I shouldn't have been an asshole, okay? It just didn’t seem like you wanted to talk or anything when we had the chance. You avoided me or were with Ashton all the time," He said gruffly, running his hands through his hair, tugging a little. "I'm sorry, Daisy. Can we please just-?" "No," Daisy shook her head, frowning deeply. "We can't 'just' do anything, Calum. I’m sorry, but-" "Daisy, just hear me out! Please!" Calum raised his voice a little. "I’m so incredibly into you that it hurts, and I just-" "What's all the shouting?" Lacey's soft voice called out from the doorway. Both Daisy and Calum turned, watching as the leggy girl walked in the room. Behind her, a petite brunette that Daisy hadn't ever seen before. "Everything okay?" "Fine," Calum muttered, ducking his head. He avoided eye contact with both girls, trying to make light of the scene that they’d walked in on. "Didn't mean to disturb you." "Shop’s closed up anyways," Lacey waved a hand, positioning herself right in between Calum and Daisy, which somehow only making the awkward worse. "Liv and I are gonna go see a movie. You up for it, Dais?" "Sure," Daisy said, clearing her throat. She unclenched her fingers from the bag for a second, then slid it over her shoulder. "Sounds good to me." "She'll be out in a few minutes," Calum started, eyes now focused in on her face, like he was trying to get her attention. "Daisy, we're talking." "I think you're done talking." Lacey said calmly, though Daisy could tell by her tensed up shoulders and strong stance that she was anything but calm. When Calum made no attempt to move, Lacey smiled. "Liv, why don't you go start the car?" She fished in her purse for the keys, and when the small brunette came to grab them, gave her a small peck on the cheek. "Thanks, babe." All three stood in tensed silence until the back room door had closed. It was tense; almost unbearable. "I think you should go now," Lacey told Calum in a low voice. "You don't understand," Calum glanced at Lacey, but shifted his eyes back to Daisy. "We made a mistake, yeah, but for good reason." "There was no good reason, Calum," Daisy grit her teeth. "It was a mindless fuck and didn't mean anything, to you or to me. I don't like you." Calum went quiet at that. His jaw clenched, yet again. Yet again, they stood in tense (and now awkward) silence. "Right." he cleared his throat. He shook his head, taking a few steps back from the two girls, pressing his lips together. “Calum, I’m..” Daisy lowered her voice, suddenly wishing that Lacey wasn’t in the room. She felt a pang of guilt in her gut. She’d been too harsh with him- they were friends, if nothing else. It wasn’t fair that Calum lost his best friend and a girl he liked all at once, however fucked up the situation had been to begin with. “Cal, I’m sorry.” "Right," he repeated, not breaking his stride in walking to the door. Her apology was lost, and it was too late- he was hurt. It was all too obvious by the way he wouldn’t look at either of the girls. His hand reached out for the cool metal handle, and stopped, resting on it. He didn't turn to look back, but Daisy could hear the discomfort he was in, trying to not get gruff or emotional. "I'm here if you need a good fuck, or whatever, you know." Without another word, he was out the door, his footsteps fading with each step out of the coffee shop, leaving Daisy and Lacey in a terrible silence. -
reblog/sending feedback is a good encouragement for me!! cough hint pls
The rest of that week, along with the following, was pretty uneventful, at least for Daisy and Ashton. They laid on top of the crinkled covers of Ashton’s full sized bed, just talking about a lot of things and a lot of the world’s problems and issues and things that Daisy couldn’t imagine talking about with Lacey or any of her study friends.
They didn’t talk about Calum, though they did talk about Michael, along with Quinn. A few times, Luke and Tatum came up, but Ashton got defensive over Luke quickly, and Daisy knew there was no point in upsetting him or trying to get him to talk about things that he simply didn’t want to discuss.
Michael and Quinn, as Daisy learned, had been together for ages. “When I met Michael,” Ashton said, drawing small circles in the pale flesh of her side where her tank top had ridden up, “he was just starting to date Quinn.”
“How long ago was that?” Daisy asked, shifting her head up on his shoulder.
He sighed, making a face that she knew was his thinking face. His lips moved silently, no sound moving past, before he finally decided on the date. “It had to have been 5 or 6 years ago,” he explained. “I was 17 when we met.”
“You’re old,” she teased lightly, then giggled when his fingers wiggled against her skin.
“Shut up, you’re just a baby,” he grinned, resting his chin on the top of her head. “Six years, though.”
“That’s a long time to be dating,” Daisy pointed out. She had known people that got married after having been dating less time than that. Granted, they hadn’t lasted long, but it was still a big thing.
“Have they ever broken up?” At this, Ashton snorted.
“All the time, when they first started dating,” he laid his hand flat on her side, slipping his fingers up past the hem of her shirt. “Michael’s not exactly in the best crowd, if you haven’t noticed.”
“He had a split lip when we first met,” she recalled thoughtfully, trying to ignore the warmth of his large hands on her skin. “But Quinn is so.. soft, and nice.”
“And she makes mean pancakes,” Ashton sighed out. “Michael met her when he had fringe the size of my hand and she had the biggest, dorkiest glasses in existence.”
Daisy giggled a little, shaking her head. “I can’t imagine Michael with fringe that long,” she paused, then added. “I bet Quinn was still pretty.”
“Gorgeous,” Ashton confirmed, and then shifted again, so he was facing Daisy. She reluctantly moved her head to the pillow, but liked that she could face him. “She was the prettiest girl that the four of us had ever seen, at that age.”
“She’s still probably the prettiest girl you’ve ever seen,” Daisy said easily, watching his expression change into something dorkier than she’d ever seen. He suddenly dissolved into very unmanly giggles, and she had to bite her tongue to keep from full out laughing. “What?!”
“I was gonna make a joke,” he wheezed, running his fingers through his overly curly hair before covering his face, giggling more. “About me not having seen you, so it’s probably still true.”
“That’s the cheesiest thing you have ever said to me,” Daisy said through a chest full of laughter, actually burying her face into the pillow to keep from being loud and obnoxious and waking Calum or Michael, if he was even at the house.
“You love it,” he insisted in a loud voice that was laced with laughter. His hand snaked out to find her neck, then slipped up, cupping her cheek. His voice lowered to a little above a mumble. “C’mere..”
Daisy didn’t need to be told twice. Picking up her head from the pillow, she inched closer to him, and the way they gravitated into each other was almost magnetic; thigh to thigh, chest to chest, and - Daisy’s favorite - lips to lips.
Kissing Ashton had recently become her favorite thing to do. His lips were always warm and soft, and it was always easy to tell his emotions through them; whether he was biting them nervously (something he’d seemingly picked up from her, though she’d had no clue how) or grinning when he was amused.
“So, Michael wants to have a party here,” he mumbled between kisses, rubbing the pad of his thumb along her jaw, nipping softly at her lower lip. “Do you want to come?”
“When do I ever turn down a party?” Daisy murmured, kissing the corner of his lips again.
Ashton grinned, letting out a short laugh into her mouth, and ended up resting his forehead against her. “How did I get so fucking lucky?”
“I think my clumsiness,” she giggled a little, pressing a chaste kiss to his lips once more. He broke into an even bigger grin; his dimples looked like deep pits, his unseeing eyes lighter, almost. She broke into a big grin herself- she just couldn’t help it. He was the best friend she’d had in a long time, and he was the hands down the best boyfriend that she’d ever had, despite having only two or three in the past. She’d had guys ask her out before, sure, but she wasn’t a knockout in K-12, and honestly, she was too focused on schoolwork to even notice any romantic interests they might have had. Now, though, in college, she could take things seriously or just let loose and have fun. With Ashton, she had both.
“Thank god for you being clumsy,” he said firmly before wrapping an arm around her.
-
Daisy wasn’t sure what she was expecting when Ashton said “party”. However, she didn’t think it would be like this- not that she was complaining.
The party was pretty much the epitome of a frat party, only in a slightly smaller apartment. Michael had supplied a giant stereo with multiple speakers that were strategically placed at various spots across the apartment, blasting a mix of classic and new; everything from old school Nirvana to Chris Brown to David Guetta to Blink-182. The smell of weed - among other drugs - hung thick in the air, and Daisy assumed that it was Michael who had supplied. He was slinking around without Quinn, who sat with a light haired girl smoking something on one of the couches pushed against the walls to make room.
The red solo cups littered the room, making it nearly impossible to move without accidentally knocking into one, and it was so packed in the smallish apartment that you couldn’t move without touching someone.
“You want a drink?” Ashton shouted to be heard over the loud, thumping Fall Out Boy song blaring. His hands were firmly planted on Daisy’s waist, moving with her hips as she swayed to the music.
“No, but I’ll go with if you want one,” she leaned her head back against his chest, moving so her back was firmly pressed against his chest.
They’d been dancing and drinking and making out and drinking just a little bit more all night, and Daisy was 100% sure that she was far giddier than she should’e been. Maybe it was the alcohol, maybe it was the volume of the music, but she felt simply on fire. She thought that maybe Ashton could feel it too, because every time she went higher and higher, further into herself, he kissed her neck or shoulder, gently bringing her back down, just enough so she knew to not float away.
“I’ve had more than enough,” he lowered his voice, tightening his grip on her hips a little as a group of people smoking a few joints bumped past them. “Do you think that I look like a douche with my sunglasses on inside?” He had leaned down, talking at normal volume into her studded ear.
Daisy glanced up at him, giggle slipping past her lips. “You always look like a douche in those sunglasses,” she stated, grinning. When he stuck out his lower lip into a pout, she smirked and added. “A really attractive, adorable douche, though. Not the bad kind of douche.”
He slipped his arms around her waist, resting his scruffy chin on her shoulder. He was slightly haunched over so he could be about the right height. “You think I’m attractive.” He said, singsong like in her ear.
Before she could reply, he had moved and was taking her hand. An overwhelming smell of weed and alcohol suddenly consumed the area, overtaking any other smells (of sweaty bodies and of Ashton). Michael paused in front of them, and Daisy nearly gagged as the smell got stronger. He had obviously had a bit to drink, with one of his ties tied around his head in a makeshift headband that Daisy would’ve thought cute, had he not smelled utterly awful. He grinned suddenly, flinging an arm around her.
“Ayy, Dais!” he laughed loudly, pulling her closer by tightening his arms around her shoulders. Ashton moved Michael’s arm off of her, his jaw set. “You wanna buy some stuff off of me? S’good, I promise.” He was slurring his words- he was definitely drunk.
“No, I’m good,” Daisy told him, nudging him a little. “You might want to brush your teeth or something, though.”
“Quinn’s.. She’s taking me home soon,” he explained slowly. “You know, she’s a perfect gal. Perfect girly, Quinn is.”
“He’s so wasted,” Ashton noted in Daisy’s ear before sighing. “C’mon, big guy, lets get you to your room.”
“Perfect, perfect,” Michael jabbered in response.
Daisy sighed, watching as Ashton snuck his other hand into Michael’s, and then squeezed her hand with his other. She knew exactly where to go, exactly what Ashton was thinking. So, she weaseled and wormed her way through the rowdy crowd, making sure both boys behind her, got up the small steps and past the stoned and/or drunken people carefully. She glanced around briefly before entering the room, and thought she saw a flash of bright red hair, but when she looked again, it was gone.
“The blind and the drunk,” Ashton mumbled as they got Michael into his room. “You’ve got your hands full.”
“Don’t say that,” Daisy groaned, peeling Michael’s particularly greedy-grabby hands off of her dress, placing them on his stomach. He just pouted, rolling over on to his side. “You’re not a burden, you douche.”
“Hot douche,” Ashton corrected, tossing a blanket over Michael’s lanky body. Michael, in turn, groaned, and tried to roll over, only succeeding in tangling his long limbs into the blanket. Ashton moved his head up to about where Daisy was and said, “Get Quinn?”
“Get Quinn.” Daisy agreed.
They didn’t end up getting Quinn; she wandered in by herself, at a later time, to see Michael curled up, sleeping soundly with loud snores coming from the very back of his throat.
-
Daisy and Ashton, on the other hand, had gone somewhere quieter. The party scene was slowly dying down, even though there was still quite a few people shouting profanities and singing along loudly to the loud music. At least behind the closed oak door of Ashton’s bedroom door, the loud noises were slightly muffled. Neither of them would really notice if it hadn’t, though.
Ashton had Daisy nudged up against the headboard, her head back against the cool redwood. He was hovering over her on his knees, one hand placed on the top of the headboard, the other on her cheek, leading her lips up to his. Daisy thought that if they’d been in a playful mood, it would’ve been comical- Ashton’s hand leading her back to his lips, or his lips chasing hers whenever hers left his. This time was different, though. There was a more serious mood to it, and it was making Daisy incredibly nervous.
“Calm down,” Ashton mumbled against her lips, as if reading her mind. He shifted his band from her cheek to her neck, speaking again quietly. “We don’t have to do anything, you know..”
Daisy didn’t say anything for a while, just closed her eyes and let him kiss down her neck, nipping in the soft spots that made her heart race. “What if..” She started, voice cracking a little. She threaded her fingers through his soft gold curls, tugging him up a little before continuing. “What if I want to..?”
The air in the mood instantly changed. It had been serious before, but both were now waiting on the other with bated breath.
“Are you sure?” Ashton breathed out eventually, his grip on the headboard tightening. His knuckles were going white, he was gripping so hard.
Daisy nodded, and then dumbly realized he wouldn’t be able to see it. Her eyes squeezed shut once again, just briefly, before snapping open again, finding his. “I’m sure.”
Ashton let out a long breath, slowly. Conflict was written all over his face, but as soon as he got a soft kiss from Daisy, it was all over.
“Tell me to stop if you feel uncomfortable.” he said in a quiet voice, fingers trailing down her side. His long fingers fisted in the fabric of her shirt, carefully tugging it off of her.
They didn’t talk much as Ashton leaned down, leaving hot, open mouthed kisses her clavical and down to the swell of her breasts, pausing only as her hands swiftly pulled off his muscle tee.
“You’re beautiful,” he mumbled. He didn’t waste any time to care that he couldn’t see the blush spread across her freckley cheeks; instead, he rid her of her pants, her lacy panties off with them. Daisy reached behind herself and unclipped her bra, sliding it off on to the floor while Ashton worked furiously on his zipper, fumbling to shove the skin-tight jeans off.
Daisy almost giggled watching him struggle and nearly fall off the bed. “Let me help,” she sat up, and pressed soft kisses right below his naval, tugging the material off of his legs. Through his boxers she could see a huge bulge, precum already making a small stain. It was too hard to resist- she hooked her fingers into the elastic of his boxer shorts, mouthing over his already incredibly hard member. She didn’t have a doubt in her mind that her hot breath was driving him crazy; his hand sweeping down to brush her hair out of her face was evidence of that.
“Don’t tease,” he warned, pulling her hair back into a makeshift ponytail. Daisy just smirked and pulled his boxers off, watching as his dick sprung up.
“Of course not,” she told him, wrapping a hand around him. Her hand was absolutely tiny compared to him hard- her fingers, though short, barely wrapped around it. Giving him long, slow pumps, Daisy leaned down, kitten licking the head to rid him of the salty precum leaking. His hand moved to grip her hair a little bit tighter, but he made no move to force her down on him.
Finally, she licked fat striped on the underside, tracing the thick throbbing vein that wrapped around. She came back and slowly took him into her mouth, bobbing her head.
Ashton groaned softly, this time moving her head a little closer, letting her hand pump what she couldn’t fit in her mouth. She could tell he was getting close when he started twitching against her tongue, which was circling just underneath the head, along with the labored breathing and sinful groans he was letting out.
“Off, off,” he panted, using his hand to his advantage. Daisy sat back and admired her work; he was visably throbbing, the head an angry red, glistening with her saliva.
The next second, she was back pressed against the bed, Ashton’s toned body hovering above her. “Condom?” He leaned down, kissing his way around until he found her lips. It was hard for Daisy to even think when she could his body radiating warmth, his length very, very close to where she needed him most.
“I’m on the pill,” she mumbled against his lips, lifting her hips more than a little to grind against him.
He let out a low groan into her mouth, gyrating his hips back against her. “The best thing about this is you can scream my name,” he slid his hand down, finding her clit and tapping on it a few times, just to make her squirm. “And no one will notice.”
Daisy let out a pretty pathetic whimper, snaking her hands around Ashton’s body, raking her nails down his back, lifting her head to attach their lips together, where they pretty much stayed glued. Ashton gripped himself near the base, sliding himself up and down her entrance several times, but soon grew impatient.
He slowly pushed himself in, moving his lips away from hers briefly to make sure she wasn’t in any pain. The only noises she made were tiny, occasional moans, her face immediately finding his shoulder to mark up.
“Tell me whe-” Ashton started, voice a little strained, but Daisy interrupted before he had a chance to even finish.
“Now, move now.” She demanded against his skin. Her hands slid back up his back, palms laying flat. As soon as he started rocking into her, her legs came up, wrapping around his waist.
“Fuck,” he breathed out, thrusting at a steady pace now. Daisy’s face moved out of the crook of his neck and hands off of his back as his lips latched on to her sweet spot under her ear, making her cry out. Her fingers found his curls, giving them a gentle tug, and she practically felt the impish grin coming directly from pure pride. He bit down, the sharp pain dulling near immediately as his tongue soothed it. His hips jerked against hers suddenly, and Daisy let his name, along with some profanities, slip past her lips. Pelvis to pelvis, Ashton slid his hand to her breast, tweaking the sensitive nub, turning her into a hot mess underneath him.
“More?” He whispered in her ear. Daisy was choked up, her voice not coming out correctly. Ashton let out a breathy laugh, but attached his mouth to where his hand was on her breast, hand going down to where he was making short, quick thrusts into her, rubbing on her clit lazily.
“I’m gonna- don’t stop!” Daisy choked out, hands flying to his hair, yanking him back up, too far gone to really care about whether or not he was hurting him. He didn’t seem to mind; his thrusts got quicker and his hands fumbled, trying to find hers. When they did, he interlaced them, holding them above her head, and sank down, resting on his forearms, pressing into her.
“Come on, baby,” he panted, hips rocking and grinding at an alarming rate, bringing both of them to an incredible high- Daisy losing it first. Bright stars exploded behind her eyes, temporarily blinding her. She couldn’t think anything other than his name, which was pretty much the constant stream coming out in the form of whimpers past her lips while he whispered profanities in her ear while he came, finally.
The aftershocks hit both hard. Daisy could feel him twitching, his chest rising and falling quickly, on top of hers. She could feel small electric shocks shooting down her lower half, only tightening her around him more.
He pulled out after a few minutes, letting her hands slip out of his before laying on his side, pulling her flush against him.
“Why haven’t we done that before,” he whispered, burying his face in the back of her shoulder, hot breath warming her already on-fire skin.
“You’d have scratch scars on your back,” she closed her eyes tight, soaking up every light touch he was still giving.
There wasn’t any doubt in her mind, after that; she cared about him too much to let her and Calum’s mistake guilt her into anything. She had to tell him, and she had to tell him soon.
-
Dating was a new thing to Daisy, and she couldn't deny it was kind of weird.
Their relationship was pretty much like it was before they'd started dating - the date days, the playful flirting and teasing - with the added bonus of Ashton shyly snaking his arm around her waist or his hand into hers when he didn't need to.
It wasn't embarrassing for Daisy, not by a far cry, but the increasing physical affection in front of Calum was making her a little nervous.
They hadn't talked alone since that night, and she couldn't say that she was too upset about it.
It was one of those things that made her physically ill to think about; her stomach churned like she'd drank sour milk, and she could feel the heartburn-like acid creeping up in her esophagus. Even worse than that, though, was the feeling she got when she thought about Ashton finding out.
"You slept with Calum?!" Lacey hissed. For the third time, Daisy paused. They hadn't gotten off work but an hour, and Lacey had asked her to stay after to have kind of a girls night.
"Shut up," Daisy hissed back, cheeks flamed red. She ducked her head, embarrassed. "I'm not proud of it.."
"I thought that giant-ass hickey was from Ash," she lowered her voice, leaning forward so her tan forearms were pressed into the glass table. "Seriously, though? Calum?!"
"It wasn't planned!" Daisy raised her voice, causing a few people to glance over. She leaned forward, mirroring Lacey, her voice lowering as well. "It was a huge mistake, and it isn't going to happen again. Ever."
"I'd hope so," Lacey scoffed softly, frowning. "I haven't seen Ashton interested in a girl in fucking ages, you're not allowed to screw this up."
"Harsh," Daisy grumbled, running her finger along the outer ring of her coffee lid before sighting. "I really like him, Lace. We haven't even been dating for long, and I just.."
Lacey watched her shrug, and shook her head, shrugging herself. "Just take care of him. He deserves something good."
-
"Woooow, you're such a dick!" Ashton giggled, in turn making Daisy dissolve in a fit of giggles.
"I'm not sorry," she managed, grinning big at the spots of ice cream that had 'accidentally' flung from her red Dairy Queen spoon and on to his cheek. It was kind of funny, or so she thought.
"Third date and you're already abusive!" He teased, a little loudly. "What a great girlfriend you are!"
They had decided to go out for a drive just to get out, but once Daisy had driven past signs for a new ice cream place, neither could resist. It was almost a guilty pleasure by this point - they liked routine, they liked safe.
And god, was it safe. Sitting on the top part of a picnic table, poking fun at one another in the scorching sunlight was probably the safest fun that Daisy had ever had, and she was comfortable. It was easy to forget about everything else when Ashton kept bumping his knee into hers on accident, pulling the blind card every time.
"I am the best girlfriend," Daisy stated proudly, taking one of the napkins from the huge pile he'd snatched, pushing it on his cheek where the ice cream was slowly melting, so it stuck. He made an obnoxious, low groaning noise, which succeeded in making her laugh incredibly hard.
"Shhh," he whispered with mock concern, slipping his hand over to her knee. He gave it a little squeeze before continuing. "People are going to stare."
"Let them," she pulled the napkin from his cheek, planting a sweet kiss where it had been. Pulling away, she giggled again, sucking her lower lip into her mouth.
"What?" Ashton had a light laugh in his voice, his cheek flushing a tiny bit with pure happiness.
"There was still ice cream on your cheek," she leaned into his side a little. "Tasted sweet."
"I know what else would taste sweet," he smirked, all traces of embarrassment gone. The way he could turn from a ray of sunshine into a cheeky minx had Daisy in a big puddle of emotions, in purely the best way.
"Mhm, right," was how she decided to reply, playing it off. She ignored the knot in her stomach, yet again. This time, however, it wasn't the thought of Calum that put it there.
"You wanna ditch? Go back to the apartment?" Ashton turned his head towards her before turning up the palm of his hand on her knee. Daisy slid her band into his easily, slipping her fingers through his.
"Sure," she shrugged softly, even though she knew the gesture was pointless. She stood, tossing her near empty bowl in the trash before leading him back to the car, letting him get in on his own while she started up the small car.
They drove for about 15 minutes before Ashton was totally conked out against the window, his snores both loud and frequent. It was a little funny to her; he got sleepy so quickly and it was cute watching his eyes droop and his head slowly slipping down to the window as he nodded back up to sleep. The snores were a cute bonus, honestly.
"Come on, Ash," she whispered, nudging him. "Up to your room." They'd parked in front of his apartment, and it was now Daisy's mission to get the sleepy Ashton up to his room.
However, a sleepy Ashton was a grumpy Ashton.
He let out a low groan, his curly-haired head lolling to the other shoulder. He readjusted himself, curling into the soft gray fabric of the passengers seat. "No, I'm tired."
"Ashton, please?" She murmured, leaning over and unbuckling him. She felt like she was taking care of a four year old, in purely the best way. "You can sleep in your room."
"Will you sleep with me?" He mumbled with heavy-lidded eyes. He didn't really have reason to open them, but Daisy imagined that they felt like they had 8 tons of lead in the bottom.
"If you get out and walk up with me," she agreed. Sure enough, though reluctant, Ashton fumbled his way out of the car, hand searching for Daisy's. It seemed like he was almost blinder when he was tired- he wasn't paying attention to his surroundings or listening, really. It would've been easier if he was Hellen Keller, Daisy thought.
He trudged up the steps with her, and eventually Daisy just wrapped her arm around his waist so she could better help him up the steps. He complied, luckily, but groaned again.
"Is he drunk?" Michael asked from the couch when they finally made it into the apartment.
"Sleepy," Daisy grunted, taking on a good amount of his weight on her, leading him into the cool air of his bedroom.
"Good luck with that!" Michael's laugh rang clear from the living room. "I'm headed over to Quinn's, I'll be back later."
"Seriously?!" She groaned once again when Ashton's arms snaked around her, pulling her down to the bed. Immediately, he nuzzled his stubbly cheeks into her neck, letting out a long breath, warming her skin and the fabric of the pillow behind it.
"Watch out," Michael warned before she heard the door close. "He's cuddly when he's tired."
-
A few hours of napping later, Daisy was restless. She kept tossing and turning, something not settling right in her stomach- whether it was the ice cream or the thought that it felt similar to that awful night, she wasn't sure.
She'd tried incredibly hard to forget about it and just enjoy Ashton's warm arms around her, warming her cool skin to the touch, and cuddling under the warm blankets together, but her guilt was beyond unbearable. Whenever she finally felt like she'd gotten rid of it, the thought of her not protesting with Calum made itself known, and following were the nagging thoughts of 'how could you say yes to Ashton after that?'
She sighed, and once again wormed her way from Ashton's arms. It almost felt like she was repeating the motions of that night, but once that hit her, she paused. Daisy leaned over Ashton, and with little guilt, nudged him so he was conscious.
"Ash," she whispered softly, lips hovering above his ear. "Hey, I'm gonna go read, okay?"
"Hnn." Was Ashton's response. He waved a hand a little, then mumbled a brief 'yeah, okay' before rolling over, cuddling up with the pillow she'd have.
She grabbed her book from the corner table and plopped down on the side of the couch closest to the door. Curling up by the arm of the chair, she sighed, opening it and beginning to read.
Not but half an hour later, the door flung open and two giggling bodies stumbled into the room, clinging to one another.
Daisy's hand went slack and her jaw dropped as she realized who the two figures were- Luke and the redheaded girl that she'd helped him bake cookies for. They'd met briefly, but it wasn't really a good official meeting for either of them. It was even weirder, seeing her with a significant lack of pants, and Luke's giant hoodie handing off of her small frame.
Luke's eyes, seeing Daisy, widened. They shifted over to the redheaded girl, his face going pale. "I swear, Dais, I know it looks bad, but it's not what you think," he rushed out, looking back at Daisy.
The redheaded girl, however, cut him off quickly, a devilish grin playing at her lips. "Oh, it's exactly what it looks like." She made her way over to the couch and then hopped on, that smirk sticking around like a dog with a bone. "Hi, we've met before, but to do all the formal shit," she paused, making a face. "I'm Tatum, and I've just stolen Blondie's virginity."
Daisy's head jerked up in mild surprise. It wasn't like Luke, though she'd only known him a few weeks, to do something quite like this. His cheeks were flushed a deep red, and he looked slightly uncomfortable.
"I'm not a virgin, and we didn't have sex," he frowned, sounding like he had something to prove. Slowly, he made his way over to the empty space on the couch next to Tatum; Daisy inched over to make more room for them. Tatum, however, didn't seem to mind the closeness, and instead rolled herself into Luke's side, curling into him with her hand resting on him.
Daisy can hardly breathe as they watch her, expectantly. They're in the exact place that she and Calum had been just a few nights ago, and that was enough to make her queasy. Daisy wondered whether or not they noticed the bruise on her neck, and then shifted a little, anxiously. "I'm Daisy, and I'm curious as to why you're wearing Blondie's hoodie with no pants."
The redhead grinned, peeing up at Luke. "Do you want to explain it to her?"
Luke looked nervous. His fingers found the hem of his shirt before speaking, very quickly. "Long story short, we jumped off the pier downtown and Tatum didn't have clothes so she got a bikini and borrowed my jacket and-"
"You jumped off the pier?!" A half shriek ripped from Daisy's throat. She was angry and upset and scared for the both of them, all at once. That wasn't safe. It wasn't comfortable. She couldn't possibly contemplate why the two would want to do that, ever. The way Tatum only giggled, curling further into Luke's side, made Daisy even more angry.
"Daisy?" Came Ashton's slightly nervous voice from the bedroom. Yet again, Daisy felt herself go pale. Her stomach felt uneasy- at least she didn't have a fresh hickey on her neck this time.
"She's in the living room!" Though Daisy had opened her mouth, Tatum was the one to reply, making herself right at home.
Daisy grit her teeth and resisted the urge to snap in reply as she got up. Quickly, making her way to Ashton's room. He was sitting on the edge of the bed, his hands clasped tightly together.
"I'm here, I'm sorry," she rushed, taking his hand quickly. "Come out to the living room with me, okay?"
"Okay, sure." He mumbled, standing up. He wobbled a little, and yawned, but let Daisy lead him back to the living room.
"Ash," she said a little nervously, squeezing his hand. "Luke has a visitor."
"You're blind," Tatum blurts, eyes widened a little. Daisy and Luke both alike flinched, and Tatum missed Daisy's hand tightening on Ashton's hand.
"I am," he said, surprisingly unphased.
"Is your name Stevie?" Tatum shot back, curiously.
"No."
"I'm going to call you that anyways," she said quickly, right as Luke interrupted.
"Tatum, stop!" He snapped, looking irritated almost. "He isn't Michael, you can't just choose an offensive nickname and call him that."
"Why not?" She challenged, pushing off of him to stand. She nodded at Ashton, speaking again. "Because he's blind?" Daisy opened her mouth to speak yet again, but Tatum continued before she had the chance to say anything. "I'll call him Stevie and he can call me Twitch. Everybody wins."
Luke flinched as Ashton spoke. "Why would I call you Twitch?"
Daisy froze, Luke froze, Tatum froze. It was silent for a long while in the room; the tension could be cut with a knife. Luke kept glancing over at Tatum, and Daisy was too shocked at Tatum's causal bluntness to say much of anything.
Finally, Luke stood, mumbling something to Tatum, who slid into him. She shook her head before looking directly at Ashton. Daisy suddenly felt fiercely protective, but that melted away with a few words from Tatum.
"You're blind and I'm epileptic. Looks like our lives both suck."
Ashton was quiet for a minute, then with a sigh, he nudged Daisy. "I'm going back to bed," he turned, tugging Daisy with him in then. Then, he paused, back to the other two. "Nice meeting you, Twitch."
