Teach me a melody (a.i)
Pairing: Teacher! Ashton Irwin x teacher!fem! reader
Summary: Valentine's Day at school and someone has a surprise for you
Warnings: none
Word Count: 1.8
Author's note: self indulgent cause I'm a teacher that loves VDAY. might become a blurb series? REMEMBER THAT REBLOGS ARE IMPORTANT AND APPRECIATED as well as COMMENTS, LIKES AND INTERACTIONS. Please, SUPPORT YOUR WRITERS. Hope you like it and happy reading
My masterlist // taglist in comments.
*
Valentine’s Day, a full 24 hours where people get into a frenzy of either showing how in love they were, complaining about the capitalist propaganda, or wallowing in their own woe of not having found anyone to spend the day with. And, of course, all three scenarios prove to be true in the craziest, hormone-filled place of all: Highschool.
“I swear if Jamie got me one of those chocolate bars from the candy machine again…” You heard one sophomore complain to their friend as they passed you by in the hallway. A small smile crept on your face when you remembered Jamie carrying a toddler-size teddy bear out of their car earlier this morning.
Out of the corner of your eye you watched as the theater kids began with their annual project of singing telegrams to raise some money for their spring musical. You wondered how many renditions of Bruno Mars’s “Just the way you are” you’ll hear this year interrupting your classroom.
Contrary to popular belief, you loved it.
Ever since you were a child you loved Valentine’s Day. You enjoy watching people express their love in so many, creative ways. You like every picture, watch every video and swoon a little with the classical proposal you see at least once every February 14th. And yes, you firmly believed that love should be expressed every day and not just once a year, but there was just something so magical about this day where everyone celebrated love and the energies were filled with hopes and dreams.
You walked through the halls with ease and with a silly love song playing in your brain. You smiled at the students that were already waiting at the door of your classroom and wished them a good morning as you unlocked the door for them. There were still a few minutes before the bell rang, so there wouldn’t have been any problems for them to just take their seats a bit earlier.
“Oh my god! Who got you those flowers?” You asked one of your students as they came in carrying a whole bouquet.
“Me!” They laughed “I love me the most and I can buy my own flowers whenever I want to”
You laughed along with them “I can’t argue with that amazing logic. Happy Valentine’s Day, sweetheart”
“Happy Valentine’s Miss L/N!” Your student said and went in and took their seat.
In the meantime, your eyes couldn’t help but wander to the classroom in front of yours. Feeling your heart beat a little bit faster when you noticed the lovely curly-haired man that sat at the desk.
You looked at the time and bit your lip slightly. Yes, you had enough time.
“Good morning, Mr. Irwin!” You called, knocking on his open door.
The man turned at the sound of his name, a wide smile forming on his face the moment he saw you leaning against the doorframe.
Ashton Irwin, the music teacher. One of the youngest, most handsome, and most beloved teachers in the whole school. He was one of the many additions to the staff alongside yourself and a few others last year after many of the senior teachers finally retired. It would’ve been a lie to say that you didn’t fancy him from the first moment you saw him. His hazel eyes and easy smile; the way he laughed and how easy it was for him to make friends with everyone, even yourself; how all of his students love him, even the troublemakers. He was just so effortlessly cool, it would be impossible to deny your little crush on him.
“Y/N!” He said, never have been one for formalities “Good morning! I thought you were one of my students, I was about to tell you to nod off somewhere else because my first class is in the third period”
“And you need the peace and quiet to last a bit more? Ah, so easy the life of an artist. Never having to read essays about how William Shakespeare would’ve “ate” in booktok” He chuckled, you blushed “I’ll leave you to enjoy your free time”
“I never said you should leave,” He pouted “I do enjoy the company of adults in my free time” His eyes lingered on you for a bit “You look rather festive”
You looked down at your pink shirt; red, pink, and white nails with hearts drawn on them; and unconsciously touched your heart-shaped earrings as you blushed.
“Would you believe me if I say that the shirt was white until a stranger put their red socks on the washing machine?”
Ashton let out a loud laugh “I would believe anything you say, Y/N. Though I didn’t take you for someone that loved V-Day”
“I’ve always loved it,” You confessed with a shrug “It was my parent’s favorite holiday, always making a big show out of it and including me and my siblings with a big lunch before they went out on a date of their own. I loved their love and I guess that made me love love in general”
You raised your eyes and found him sitting back on his chair, eyes focused on you as a soft smile adorned his face.
“It’s silly, I know-”
“Not at all,” Ashton said, ever so calmly “I love that story, thank you for sharing it”
“What about you?” You asked, looking around the decoration-free classroom “Not in the mood for love?”
“Ehh, I didn’t put that much thought into it. I never really do unless I have someone to share it with”
“Well, I’m in the same boat as you. But I still love to celebrate it” You shrugged, ignoring the way both your eyes gleamed with something more than recognition when you both admitted to being single “Anyway, I should go to class. The bell’s about to ring”
“Y-yeah! Of course” He blushed “Have a nice day, Y/N”
“You too, Ash” You smile as you walked back to your class and ignored the “ooohs” of your students when you entered, looking back at the neighboring class to see Ashton smiling at that.
*
It was almost the end of the school day when someone knocked at your classroom door.
“Excuse me, Miss L/N?” One of the theater kids popped their head in “We have a very important sing-a-gram to send”
“Oh?” You asked in a teasing tone, making your students giggle “Of course, dear. And who would that be for?”
A group of teenagers came in, all wearing knowing smiles as one of them said: “It’s actually for you, miss. From a secret admirer”
The class absolutely went mad at that, cheering and hollering as the group started to sing a beautiful version of “All of Me” by John Legend. You sat there absolutely bewildered, smiling widely in awe at the gesture. You thanked them after they were done, congratulating them on their talent and wishing them a good day. And if you thought you'd seen a glimpse of a curly head watching over the door’s window, it was most likely your imagination.
*
As you were sorting out the last of your papers and got everything ready to go home, your ears picked up a familiar melody coming from the class across the hall. A small smile played on the corner of your lips as you ventured over there, knowing what you might find.
Ashton was sitting at the piano that stood in the middle of the room. His fingers gracefully pressed on the tiles as the melody soared. He was so concentrated that he didn’t even hear you come in.
“Cause all of me, loves all of you. Love your curves and all your edges, all your perfect imperfections” He sang.
You’ve heard him sing before, but that didn’t take away from the fact that it took your breath away each time he did. His voice was on a lower register, calm and soothing as the words dripped like honey out of him. It completely hypnotized you as you leaned against the door frame, watching over him with a new, indescribable feeling inside your heart.
“Cause I’ll give you all of me if you’d give me all of you. Cards on the table I’m showing all my hearts, risking it all for a chance…” The slight change of lyrics called your attention “Cause all of me loves all of you. You’ll be my end and my beginning if you’d have me mmm-hmm…”
He ended up humming the rest of the song, closing his eyes as he let the music move him. That is something you always admired about him; his passion for what he does. It didn’t matter if it was teaching, playing, or even talking to you about the last book he read and he thinks you might like it. Ashton’s heart always had space for more, and if he were to share it completely, you knew you’d want to be a part of it.
When he was done, his hands kept still, ghosting over the tiles. He sighed and grabbed a pen and a notebook and he started scribbling on it.
“That was gorgeous, Ash”
The sound of your voice startled him. He turned to you so quickly that you were sure it gave him whiplash. He was a blushing mess as he opened his mouth to say something, but no words came out.
“Sorry,” You said, “I didn’t mean to-”
“No!” He shouted, cringing at his own tone of voice “No, I’m sorry- I’m used to being the only one here. And-” He sighed, not knowing what else to say “Did you listen to all of it?”
“Yeah, I really liked it” You smiled softly at him, walking forwards “Must be a really special person for you to rewrite a whole song for them”
“It’s, uhm… It’s something I’ve been working on with my students” Ashton admitted “Trying to adapt songs to their own situations and feelings… It might help them connect with lyricism better”
“And your feelings are…?”
“Unrequited, I'm afraid” He smiled sadly at you as you came to stand in front of him “I don’t know how to make her notice me as something more”
“Maybe she already knows,” You said, looking at the tiles and letting your fingers grace over a few of them “You know I got that song in a sing-a-gram today, the OG version”
Ashton smiled, trying to mask his tone as he asked “Really?”
“Mmhmm, someone might’ve been listening to me talk about how that’s one of my favorite songs. The kids didn’t tell me who it was, though”
“Do you want to know who it was?”
“When they are ready to share it, yes,” You said, looking back at him and finding his eyes already on you. Gaze flickering between your eyes and your lips. You smiled “Would you teach it to me?”
Ashton smiled as he scooted over on the bench, patting the space next to him for you to sit. His hands covered yours and guided you through a dance across the piano, letting the melody say the rest.
*
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