Touring Days
Summary: Ashton goes on tour
A/N: Y’all ready for this?
Word Count: 1.9k
And away, and away we go!
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Four months. That’s how long Ashton was going to be away for tour. Four months that would be over before they could ever blink is what they told themselves. He’d be home before they knew it.
It was a reality Vanessa had been aware of when she started dating Ashton. Much like she came with the package deal that was her kids, his package deal had been his job. Yet, in their year long relationship, they had been lucky. If he had left at all, it had been for a week tops to do a few short gigs.
But the giant suitcase packed tightly on their bedroom floor didn’t sit right with them, no matter the reassurances they whispered against each other’s skin as they held each other tight in a sea of blankets.
Three weeks. Ashton had been gone three weeks. Three weeks of coffee dates through the phone, and daily messages sent back and forth. Tour was great, but he missed them. Everything was going okay back home, but they missed him too. More promises that he would be home soon. More assurances that everything was fine and not to worry about them. Excited talks about how they couldn’t wait to see each other at the LA show and unspoken words about how they wished it could be more.
~~~
Vanessa wandered aimlessly around the house. With Bailey now old enough to be with Finn, every other week just dragged on. Thankfully it was Saturday, so she’d have both her babies soon enough. But without the kids and without Ashton’s music, the quiet was suffocating. She felt a ping of empathy wondering if this was how Finn had always felt, drowning in silence.
“You okay?” Finn asked, pulling her out of her thoughts.
“Hmm? Oh, yeah.”
“Never knew silence could be so loud, huh?”
“It’s like I don’t know what to do with myself. Like my identity is tied to the kids, to him, to you. Like I don’t know who I am without you guys. And I hate how pathetic that is. I was a person before all of this. How did you find the person you used to be?”
Finn shrugged. “I didn’t. I didn’t want to be him. My kids are the best parts of who I am. There’s nothing wrong with being tied to people, Ness. But I started with doing things I remember I liked doing. Like remember how I used to surf?”
“Oh, you loved to surf,” she remembered fondly.
“Yeah. So I do that too. I make time for the old hobbies I let go by the wayside. When was the last time you painted?”
“Oh, god…” She paused as she thought about it. “Far too long.”
Finn chuckled. “Sounds like you should fix that.”
The next day, she did. With Bailey down for her morning nap, Vanessa broke out her box with all her painting supplies. “Momma?” Mason questioned as she set up in the backyard.
“We’re gonna paint, sweet boy,” she chirped happily at him. “You want to paint?” She dipped a paint brush in paint and swiped a small stroke across the canvas. “See? Like that.”
She handed the brush to Mason who copied her movements. “Momma!” he told her excitedly, pointing at his brushstroke.
“Good job, sweet boy! Keep going.”
They painted together for a good while until Mason set his paintbrush down with a sad, “Papa…”
“I know, sweet boy. I miss him too.”
He pointed at the ground with a longing sigh.
“Basement?” she guessed. “You wanna go play with your instruments?”
He nodded.
“Okay. Let’s clean up and we’ll go play.”
The moment they were down in the basement, Mason headed straight for the little drum set Ashton had put together for his birthday.
Mason flip flopped back and forth between his drum kit and the guitar he had also gotten for his birthday for the better part of a half hour, while Vanessa recorded every second, wishing desperately that Ashton was here to share the moment with her in real time.
When they made their way back upstairs to retrieve Bailey from her nap, she sent Ashton the video captioned “We miss Papa.”
She barely had time to pick up Bailey before her phone was ringing. “Hi, love,” she answered quickly, already feeling better as Ashton’s face appeared on her phone screen.
“Hey,” he sniffed.
“Everything okay?” she asked.
“Yeah. Everything’s fine. I just got your video so I figured I’d call.”
“Papa?” Mason asked, recognizing Ashton’s voice.
“Yes, sweet boy,” Vanessa told him, bringing down the phone so Ashton and Mason could see each other.
“Papa!” Mason cried in excitement, grabbing for the phone.
“Mase!” Ashton matched the enthusiasm.
Vanessa let them talk with each other which was really just Ashton asking Mason questions and getting varied versions of “Papa,” as a response, as she got Bailey changed. “Let me see, Momma, Mase,” Ashton directed once Vanessa was situated on the couch in the living room with both kids.
“Hi, love,” Vanessa said again when she took the phone from Mason.
“Hi, baby.”
“We miss you.”
“I miss you guys too. So fuckin’ much.” He wiped at his face and sniffed. “Fuck, it’s so stupid. I’ve gone on so many tours and said so many goodbyes, but this… I’ve never wanted to come home more in my life. Like this is fuckin’ killing me…”
“Ash…” she pouted. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have sent you the video.”
“No,” he rushed. “No, I’m glad you did. The guys are gonna love watching him play when I show them later. I just wish I could be there with you guys. Or have you here with us.”
“We’ll see you in LA, love,” she reminded both of them.
“Yeah, I know. Just wish it could be for longer than just the day.”
“Maybe it could be?” she suggested hopefully. “Maybe we could travel with you guys for a bit?”
“Would you?” Ashton asked, trying to keep his excitement at bay. “Like meet us in San Diego, and stay with us through San Francisco?”
“Yeah!” she agreed. “Like that. That would be fun.”
By the time they ended the call so he could go do sound check, both of them were buzzing with excitement at the prospect of getting to spend longer than a short afternoon with each other.
~~~
Are you sure you’re fine with this?” Vanessa asked for what felt like the millionth time. She was packing up the rented minivan to drive down to San Diego with Y/N and Lily to meet up the guys on tour. While Finn had more than happily agreed that Vanessa should take both kids to see Ashton on tour, she still felt bad that the week she would be gone was cutting into what would have been Finn’s week.
“Ness, for the millionth time, it’s fine,” Finn told her as he helped buckle Mason into his seat. “I’ll see you guys in two days for the LA show. Now, drive safe, text me when you get there, and tell the guys I said hi.”
“If you change your mind…”
“Ness, I swear to God if you don’t get in that car and drive, I’m driving you myself. Y/N, a little help, here?”
The other woman held up her hands defensively. “She’s a mom, Finn. We’re wired to worry.”
“Yeah, about the kids, not the exes. I’m a grown ass man who’s been living on his own for over a year. I’ll be fine, Ness.”
“Finn?”
“Oh my God, woman… what?”
“Go on a date when I’m gone, yeah?”
Finn playfully shook Vanessa’s head in his hands. “Go!”
“Alright, alright…” she huffed.
A drive that should have taken two hours at most, took closer to five between the toddlers whining that they had to go to the bathroom and Bailey fussing every fifty or so miles.
“Papa!” Mason called out, immediately thrashing in his seat while Lily cried out for Luke in a similar fashion when they finally pulled up to where the guys were staying, and found Ashton and Luke waiting for them with Calum and Michael. “Momma!” Mason yelled in frustration.
“Patience, sweet boy,” Vanessa told him as she got out of the van and opened the back door to help him down. She was just as excited to see Ashton as Mason was. And the sooner Mason stopped squirming so she could get him out…
“Papa!” Mason called again as his feet hit pavement, running full speed at Ashton.
“Mase!” Ashton crouched down, a huge grin on his face as he swooped the boy into his arms. He jogged over to Vanessa who put Bailey on her hip. “There’s my girls!” Ashton greeted, wrapping Vanessa and Bailey into him with Mason. “Fuck, I’ve missed you guys.”
“We’ve missed you too,” she croaked back, a little surprised at the crack in her voice and the tear rolling down her cheek.
“I’ll be home the week after you guys leave,” Ashton reassured, his voice low in her ear as he pressed a kiss to the side of her head.
“No, I know,” Vanessa sniffed. “It’s just…”
“Harder than you thought? Yeah, I know. C’mon, let’s get you guys inside.”
“Yes! And Mason can show you guys his new trick. Luke’s gonna love it.”
“New trick?”
“We’ve been working on names. He can say everybody’s now. Although I’m not sure if he’s saying ‘Luke’ or ‘Duke’ but still. It’s really cool.”
Ashton smiled at the boy in his arms. “You can say everyone’s names? Good job, bud! Who’s that?” he asked, started out simple by pointing at Michael.
“Ikey!”
“And who’s that?” He pointed at Calum.
“Cal!”
“That’s right!” Calum praised, ruffling the boy’s hair.
“Who am I, Mase?” Luke asked.
“Uke!” Mason told him while Lily answered, “Dada.”
“That’s my boy,” Ashton beamed with pride.
“Papa,” Mason said, nuzzling his face into Ashton’s chest.
“I missed and love you too, Mase.”
~~~
The fans were pressed frantically against the barriers, excitement lacing every movement. Vanessa tightened her grip on Mason’s hand, but he angrily let go, pushing his small body in front of her, a scowl on his face. “Baie,” he whispered, putting as much menace into the name as he could muster.
Ashton laughed and picked up the boy, while Vanessa told him, “It’s okay, sweet boy. These are Papa’s friends. Do you want to say hi?”
He shook his head, reaching out to grab Bailey’s hand. “Baie.”
“Bailey’s fine, bud,” Ashton said.
Still, the scowl remained on Mason’s face while the fans cooed over how cute Ashton and Luke’s family were. The scowl didn’t come off his face until sound check was over and they were all safely backstage. “See?” Vanessa said, gesturing about the room. “No people. Just us.”
“Baie,” he responded, making grabby hands for his sister.
“Yes, you can hold her.”
“Me too?” Lily asked softly with big soft eyes.
Vanessa laughed. “Yes, you can hold her too, sweet girl. Here, watch how Mase holds her, and then you can have a turn.”
Lily watched intently while Mason held his sister. “Baie, Baie, Baie,” the both sang softly to the baby, Mason shifting closer to Lily so both of them could hold Bailey together.
“She’ll make one hell of a big sister some day,” Vanessa commented to Y/N as all the adults watched the three small children with soft smiles.
“Who better to learn from than the world’s best big brother?”
~~~
“I’m really glad you guys are here,” Ashton murmured as they got settled in for the night after the show. The kids had been out for close to an hour, and the adults were slowly making their own way to turning in for the night.
“I’m really glad we’re here too.”
“I love you, baby.”
“I love you, too.”
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