#i still have leftover tickets from when i was a fetus

[disturbing-thoughts]

Can someone PLEASE explain to me why I CANT turn an abandoned Chuck E. Cheese into a five nights at freddy’s attraction?¿?¿?

[calpalirwin]

Insecurities

Summary: You were just a girl in a bar when Ashton Irwin literally bumped into you. His interest in you, although charming, also made you question if he was serious. After all, in what world did a man like that pursue a woman like you?

And away, and away we go!

Part 3

“Love?” Ashton’s voice called through your apartment as he shut the door behind him.

“In here,” you called out from your bedroom.

He found you sitting at your desk, music playing from your phone, you laptop open in front of you, and a small pile of books stacked carefully. “How was your first day of classes?” he asked, sinking to his knees so he could wrap his arms around your shoulders. A soft, yet scratchy kiss found its way to your cheek.

“You need to shave,” you answered as you glanced back from your computer screen to your stack of books, before dragging your mouse to click on more book titles.

He lifted up on of his hands to rub at his chin. Hmm, yeah, he guessed he could use a shave. “Ashton,” you mumbled, ducking under his arm that was now blocking your view of the laptop.

“Sorry, love,” he said, getting up to move to sit on your bed.

“There’s food, if you’re hungry,” you told him. “Leftover pizza, snacks,” you waved your hand in the general direction of your kitchen. “You know where things are at.”

“What I want is right here, though,” Ashton hinted suggestively. When it got no response from you though, not even a flush of your cheeks, he held back a sigh. “Hey,” he said, reaching over to poke your shoulder. “When do I get to see my girlfriend, love?”

Your head snapped in his direction at his touch. You gave a small shake of your head to clear your thoughts and offered a small apologetic smile at your boyfriend. You rolled over in your chair and grabbed his hands. “Give me… 5 minutes okay?”

“Love…” was the protest. He had been at rehearsals all day and then had battled the traffic it took to get from the city to your apartment so he could see you on your 1 month anniversary. All he really wanted to do was to curl up in bed with you and go to sleep.

“Ash,” you said gently. “5 minutes, and then I’m all yours. I promise.”

He sighed. Then smiled. “5 minutes,” he agreed. “But then,” his voice got dangerously low. “You. Are. Mine.”

You held back a shudder as his lips grazed your neck, a promise of what was to come. “Yes, sir,” you gulped out. 

His eyes went wide at the “sir,” rolling off your lips as you rolled back to your desk. “Fuck, babygirl, you can’t just say that, and then expect me to wait 5 minutes.”

“Babygirl?” you asked, raising an eyebrow. 

“Too far?” he asked, snapping out of his sex-crazed state. 

You nodded. “Stick to ‘Love,’ yeah?”

“Deal. But, please tell me this counts as part of the 5 minutes? I’m dying over here,” he said, gesturing at the tightness of his pants courtesy of your “Sir”.

You looked at him and licked your lips. “I guess all this can wait,” you decided, closing your laptop. “Alright, I’m all yours,” you told him once you were straddled over his legs. 

“Oh, thank God,” he sighed in relief as he kissed you, softly at first, then with a growing sense of urgency. He needed you in a way he couldn’t describe and nothing was satisfying that need until he heard you spewing profanities and chanting his name. 

~~~

His arms were wrapped around you as you both laid on his couch, watching a movie with the other guys and their girls. Luke and you kept quoting Mean Girls, much to everyone’s annoyance, except Ashton who would let out a small giggle and give you a small squeeze every time your voice went too high in your excitement. “Four for you, Glen Coco. You go, Glen Coco,” Luke and you said when your phone started ringing. You checked it, seeing it was from your mom. “Shit,” you muttered, dashing off the couch and into the kitchen. “Hey, Mom,” you said, answering the phone.

“Why did I just see you on TV?”

“I’m on TV?”

“Yeah, TMZ’s doing a thing, right now. About your boyfriend. Is there something you’re not telling me?”

You pinched the bridge of your nose and peeked your head into the living room. “Ash,” you whispered.

“What, love?” he asked, looking over at you.

You motioned for him to come over to you as you kept talking to your mom. “Mom, I told you he was a drummer. What are they saying exactly?”

“It’s not bad, Y/N. It’s just a story. I was just surprised was all.”

“What’s wrong?” Ashton asked.

“Uh, huh, one second, Mom,” you told her, before turning to Ashton. “She’s watching TMZ. They did a story on us?”

“Oh, fuck…” he muttered before going back to the living room and switching the movie over to TMZ.

“Yo, dude, I was-” Luke protested.

“Shut up a minute,” Ashton growled as he stood in front of the TV. Sure enough, it was a picture of him and you, and then the story disappeared as the show switched to a commercial. “Fuck,” he said, pulling out his phone to look up the story, everyone else doing the same. “I swear if they…”

You could see his anger from where you were still in the kitchen talking with your mom. “You could’ve told me,” your mom was saying.

“Mom, it doesn’t matter to me, okay? He’s just Ash. Look, thanks for telling me. I gotta go.” You hung up and went over to where Ash was still standing, hazel eyes burning in anger as he read through the story on his phone.

“Mate, it’s not a bad story,” Calum said.

“Have you seen the comments?” Ashton snapped, still not looking up.

“Let me see,” you said, putting your hand on his arm.

“No!” everyone shouted.

You rolled your eyes and pulled up the story on your phone. “Honestly, if it’s out there, it’s out there. I’m gonna see it,” you said, your eyes scanning the headline: Ashton Irwin’s Getting Smart. What followed was a quick story of how Famous Ashton Irwin’s new girlfriend wasn’t somebody famous like him, but rather a college senior of modest means. 

“This isn’t bad,” you said, reaching the comments. Then, “Oh… oh… well, that’s just rude,” you muttered in disbelief as you read through comments like:

College senior? What’s she getting a degree in? Gold Digging?

She looks like a boy, tf?

Ew, Ash. Downgrade much?

You sat down and sighed. Ashton sat down next to you his anger melting away at the sight of you sitting dejectedly on his couch. “It’ll be alright, love,” he told you, draping his arm across your shoulders.

“What do we do?” you asked.

Ashton shrugged. “Not much to do. I can do what I can when we do our interviews out on tour. But, unfortunately, there’s always gonna be people like that.”

“Oh, look! Nice ones!” Crystal said, waving her phone.

The rest of you looked at your phones, hunting down the nice comments:

Guys! He’s dating a fan?! YASS! Is Calum next?!

Aw, she looks like Fetus Cal!

OMG! She does! #GalCal

We stan GalCal and Ash!

“GalCal?” you asked, raising an eyebrow.

“It’s clever,” Calum said.

“And like really accurate…” Michael said, pulling up a photo on his phone. “I mean…?” he showed you all an old picture of Calum that looked uncannily how you looked now.

Ashton giggled. “Oh, god damn it… Cashton fans are gonna eat that shit up.”

“I agree with that last comment,” Sierra said. “We stan GalCal and Ash.”

You cheeks flushed, “Thanks, guys.”

“We got your back, GalCal,” Calum grinned.

You leaned into Ashton, and smiled at the people around you. Things, you decided, could be much worse.

~~~

“Got enough books there?” Ashton asked, as he walked into a familiar sight: you hunched over your desk.

“Hmm?” you asked, taking out an earbud to hear him better. You frowned at your notebook, your pen tapping against the spirals.

He sat down on your bed and giggled. “C’mere,” he said.

You waved an ink-stained hand in his direction, “5 minutes.”

For the next 5 minutes he sat and watched as you scribbled down notes. He watched the way you lips moved as you sang along to whatever song you were listening to. He watched you with the same mesmerized look you had when you watched him at his rehearsals: total admiration.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” you asked, pushing your work aside.

“I can’t admire my smart girlfriend?”

You scoffed, “I’m hardly smart, Ash.”

“You’re smarter than me,” was the retort. “I barely made it out of high school. College wasn’t even on my radar.”

“You were busy becoming a rockstar, Ash.”

“So? Luke still did school.”

“He was finishing high school. Something you had already done.”

“Still…” was the defeated reply. It wasn’t something he admitted often, ever really, but with a college girlfriend, it was hard for him to not be ashamed he hadn’t give college a try of his own.

You moved from your chair to sit next to him on the bed. “Ash,” you said gently. “I don’t care that you didn’t go to college.”

“You don’t?”

“God, no! Could you imagine how I’d feel if you were college educated AND a rockstar? God, Ash… you not going to college makes you less THIS,” you said, gesturing at him, “and a lot more… Just Ash.”

A smile tugged at the corner of his lips. “Just Ash?”

“Just Ash.”

“I love being Just Ash,” he said right before he kissed you. He wouldn’t admit it yet, but he was falling in love with a girl who saw him as Ash, her boyfriend, not Ashton Irwin, the rockstar.

~~~

“You sure you’ll be okay?” Ashton asked for the millionth time, as he moved about his room, double checking he had everything he needed.

“I’ll be fine, Ash,” you told him.

“It’s not like you won’t be able to reach me. You can text me whenever. I’ll call when I can,” he said, running through the same speech he’d been giving you all week.

“Ash, stop,” you said sternly. When he looked at you, you motioned for him to sit next to you on the bed. “We’ve been over this,” you reminded him. “LA is in two months. I already have my ticket. I’ll see you then. 2 months.”

“I really wish you’d sell that ticket. It’s not like you’ll need it.”

“How else would I watch your show?” you asked innocently. Unbeknownst to him, you had already sold that ticket, knowing he wouldn’t let you be anywhere but backstage with him.

He sighed. He would never admit out loud that he loved the way you were insistent on paying for things yourself, but god, you were so stubborn about it it drove him crazy. Good crazy. “I know this isn’t ideal. We’ve been dating for almost two months, and now I’m leaving?”

“Ash, it’s fine. Honest.”

“Just know I’ll be thinking about you, okay? Cuz I will be.”

“I know. I’ll be thinking of you, too, Ash.”

~~~

“Hey, love! Happy Halloween!” Ashton’s voice sounded over the line.

“Happy Halloween, Ash.” You voice wobbled. While it had been easy to say that this wouldn’t be hard, the reality was much worse. The phone calls and texts just weren’t a good enough substitute for the way his scuff scratched at your cheek when he went too long without shaving. The nights were the worst, when you would roll over in your sleep and not find him there already pulling you closer. And after yet another sleepless night, and a long day at work and school, just hearing his voice was enough to break you wide open.

“Love, what’s wrong?” he asked, detecting the wobble in your voice. If you closed your eyes hard enough, you could see his eyebrows furrowing together in worry.

“Nothing, just tired,” you mumbled, rubbing your eyes even though he couldn’t see you.

“No, it’s more than that,” he said.

“I just miss you,” you finally admitted, sniffing as a tear rolled down your cheek.

“Aw, love. I miss you, too. LA’s only in a few weeks, okay? Just a little longer, love.”

You nodded.

“Love?” Ashton asked.

You gave a shake of your head, remembering that he couldn’t see you. “Sorry. I’m here. Yeah. LA. Can’t wait.”

On his end, his brows furrowed together as he thought about how to better your mood. “Don’t you have Thanksgiving week off?”

“Yeah. That’s why I’m able to go to your show.”

“And the week after? The week of your birthday?”

“Work and school.”

“But is it important? School specifically?”

“Not really, just studying for finals really.”

“Join me.”

“Join you? On tour? You’re not serious.”

“Dead serious. C’mon. Join me in San Diego and stay with me until Vancouver. Have you ever been to Vancouver?”

“No,” you admitted.

“It’s beautiful, you’ll love it.”

“Ash!”

“What?”

“I can’t just join you on tour.”

“Sure you can. You just said you have Thanksgiving week off and the next week you’re just studying for finals. You can do that here.”

“Ash, it’s expensive.”

“I’ll take care of it. C’mon, love. I miss you.”

“I miss you, too, but… no. I can’t let you pay for all that.”

“Consider it your birthday present.”

“Ashton,” you sighed, pinching the bridge of your nose.

“Love. Please?”

“I’ll take the train into San Diego. And I’ll pay your back for the flight out of Vancouver,” you relented.

“Deal!” he agreed, although you both knew he had no intention of letting you pay him back.