December 2, 2011

Age 15

I was at the mall with my friend, Katie, during the summer. As we walked out of one of our favorite stores, Victoria's Secret, I bumped into a guy that I knew from school.

His name was Ashton Irwin.

"Ashton, right?" I asked, pretty sure that was him.

"Yeah, it is! You're Maddison, right?" He wondered.

"Yep," I replied.

"How would you like to come over to my house this evening?" He asked, randomly.

"I-I'd love to, but why?" Did I seriously just ask why Ashton Irwin wanted me to come to his house?

"I think you're really cool."

"Really?" I said whilst giggling. He was so cute.

"Yeah, you want to go to my house now?"

"Um, Katie, can I?"

"Maddie, he is 2 years older than us, he thinks you're 'cool', and he's asking you to his house! Of course!" She whispered in my ear.

"Well, I guess we'll be going then!" He said; he must've heard Katie!

When we got to Ashton's house, I met his mom, brother, and sister, but I didn't meet his dad.

"Ashton, where's your dad?" I asked while in his living room.

"It's a long story," he said, playing with his thumbs.

"Oh, I'm sorry I brought that up"

"It's okay," he shrugged, creating an awkward silence before continuing, "Do you want to go into the basement?"

"Sure," I nodded, not sure of what to say. When we got to the basement, I saw a drum set.

"You play drums?" I asked, surprised.

"Yeah. Ever since I was 8. That's when I got this drum set," he smiled, looking between me and the drum set.

"Cool!" I immediately thought about 5 Seconds of Summer, Luke's band. They'd been looking for a drummer. I decided to ask him about it, "would you want to be in a band with Luke Hemmings, Michael Clifford, and Calum Hood in 10th grade called 5 Seconds Of Summer? They're looking for a drummer."

"I'll have to talk to them about that" he smiled and seemed interested.

*Ashton's POV*

A little while later, Maddison left, and I stayed in the basement just thinking. My mum yelled down to me, "Ash! Dinners ready!"

"I'll be up in a minute, mum!" I yelled back.

I ran up the stairs and sat down at the table where Lauren, Harry, and mum were already sitting.

"How was your date?" Lauren raised her eyebrows.

"Lauren, it wasn't a date" I defended.

"Okay.." Lauren said, and mum smiled.

"What mum?" I asked

"Oh nothing," she shrugged it off, still smiling.

"Is it about Maddison?" I wondered.

"Maybe," she started and raised her eyebrows, "you two would make a cute couple."

"Okay, mum," I rolled my eyes, wondering why she was thinking about us being a great couple. We're only friends.

Once I finished my dinner, I walked into the kitchen where my mum was washing dishes.

"I wasn't kidding about you two being a cute couple," she informed me.

"Mum, I think I like her," I admitted.

*Maddison's POV*

The next day, I was in Luke's garage with Luke, Michael, and Calum. I saw a push bike come into the driveway, and realized that it was Ashton.

"Maddie, this is Ashton, our new drummer. Ashton, this is-" Luke started to introduce us, but Ashton cut him off.

"Luke, I know her. She's the one who told me about he band," Ashton explained, chuckling a little.

"Oh! Well, thanks Maddie," Luke looked at me and winked at me. What was that? Does Luke like me?

"You're welcome," I replied simply.

Michael walked over to Ashton and asked, "mate, what the fuck are you wearing?"

"It's just a purple shirt, Mikey!" Ashton defended.

"Well it's ugly as fuck," Michael fired back.

"It is pretty ugly..." Calum agreed.

"Okay! I'm sorry!" Ashton raised his hands in surrender.

"Ash, wanna play FIFA?" Luke asked from across the room.

"I don't play FIFA," Ashton replied quietly.

Luke's and Michael's mouths flew open, and Calum spit out the drink he was drinking to say, "what is wrong with you? You don't play FIFA?"

"Sorry, I just don't like it that much," Ashton looked at me and bulged his eyes as if to say, "what's wrong with not liking FIFA?"

After making fun of Ashton's purple shirt and teasing him about not liking FIFA, they started with band practice, and it sounded great with the drums. Ashton was really talented. After they finished, I went to leave, but Luke stopped me.

"Hey, um, could I talk to you in private, please?" Luke said as he grabbed my arm, stopping me from leaving.

"Okay," I nodded, unsure of what he wanted.

He led me up to his room, and it was actually pretty clean, for a teenage boy.

"Maddison, I have known you for abut 3 1/2 years now, and am so glad you came into my maths class that day. I don't know how to say it, but I love you. I hope you feel the same," he looked straight into my eyes while saying it, and grabbed onto my hands. I smiled at him, but I didn't say anything.

He leaned in to kiss me, and I turned away. I made him kiss my cheek by turning away.

"What was that for? I thought you felt the same way..." He backed away from me slowly.

"I'm sorry, Luke, I just don't think I do," I bit my lip, scared of what his reaction would be.

"That's okay, Maddie. Now you know how I feel," he paused, then shook his head, "never mind, we can just be friends."

"I'd like that," I politely smiled. As I said that, he started to frown. I just got up and left, leaving Luke in his room.

------

The next morning, I woke up and felt terrible. I walked into my bathroom and took my temperature. 103, just great. I would be spending the day in my room, doing nothing except laying in my bed.

I got a light breakfast, then threw it up, and that was when I realized that I wouldn't be able to keep anything down.

My mom was at work, 18-year-old Logan was over at his friend's house like always, and 12-year-old Danielle was with friends at the mall, so I was home alone.

I checked my phone, and realized that I had received a text from Luke.

From Luke:

Hey, are you coming over this afternoon?

To Luke:

Sorry, luke. I'm kinda sick. Coughing, throwing up, and a fever of 103.

From Luke:

I'm sorry Maddie... maybe another day:)

To Luke:

Of course:)

We stopped texting, and I got on Twitter.

"@MaddiePaige: not feeling well... Now I can't go see 5sos's band practice today:( @5sos @luke5sos @michael5sos @calum5sos @ashton5sos"

I was watching TV while in my bed until I was interrupted by three knocks on my front door.

"Come in..." I said in a croaky voice.

The person walked in, and made their way to my room.

"Hey Maddie, how are ya feelin?" The person standing in my doorway and asking the question was Luke.

"Okay. Better now that you're here," I was still croaky.

"You're home alone? Why would your parents leave you alone? Are they both working?" He asked, making me cry.

"Maddie, what's wrong?" He sat down next to me on my bed.

"Haven't I told you? We've been friends for 3 years and I thought you knew," I said, thinking about my dad.

"What do you mean? Something about your parents?"

"Parent, actually. My dad," I stopped. I couldn't go on quite yet.

"Maddie, what happened?" Luke was concerned.

"My dad died in a horrible car crash when I was three..." I started crying even harder.

There were knocks on the front door again.

"It's Calum and Michael! Can we come in?" Calum yelled through the door.

"Not now, guys!" Luke yelled back, and I waited for the response.

"LUCAS ROBERT HEMMINGS, YOU ARE 15!!!!" Of course, it was Michael.

"Whatever, come on in guys," I yelled, still sniffling.

"Yeah, but she's 15 too, so..." I heard Michael whisper to Calum.

"Michael!We weren't doing anything!" I defended Luke and myself.

"Alright, whatever you say..." He raised his hands in surrender.

"MICHAEL GORDON CLIFFORD! Shut up!" Luke yelled.

"Were you crying?" Calum asked, looking at me with sad eyes.

"Yeah, I was," I replied, nodding.

"Why were you crying?" Michael wondered.

"Well, my dad died in a horrible car crash when I was three, and I just told Luke about it," I started to cry again. I just knew I'd told them before, but he might not have remembered. I don't know how someone forgets something like that, but they must've.

"Don't worry, Maddie. We're here for you," Calum sat down next to me and rubbed my back.

"Maddie, I'm so sorry," Michael added.

"Thanks guys. You made this a lot easier to tell you" I thanked them. They were such great friends.

------

Two days later, I was in my room and heard the doorbell ring.

I started to come out of my room, but my mom stopped me and told me, "I'll get it. I'm expecting someone."

I walked back into my room, and laid back on my bed with my phone while I heard my mom open the door.

I no sooner got onto Twitter when my mom yelled, "Maddie!!! Your friend is here!!!"

Michael? Calum? Luke? I wondered. I walked of my room, and I bumped into the one and only Ashton Irwin.

"Ashton what are you doing here? Don't you guys have practice today? It's a Saturday." I questioned. Did he leave band practice? And if he did, why did he come to my house?

"The boys were talking, and I heard something about you crying the other day. What was that about?" He asked. Damn, he was so cute.

"I was just remembering something from my past..." I started crying softly, so I turned away from him.

"Maddison, what is it?" He was prying it out of me, slowly.

"It's just that, um, my, um..." I stuttered, then finally said it, "my dad died in a car crash when I was 3" Ashton just looked at me, and didn't say anything for a few seconds. Our faces were inches apart, and I could feel his breath on my face, making chills run down my spine.

"I'm sorry, Maddie." He said softly, then he leaned in farther, starting to touch my lips. I didn't hesitate. I kissed back immediately. The kiss got more and more passionate as we went on. We were now standing up, and I put my arms around his neck, then he grabbed my waist and pulled me closer. A 15 and 17 year old making out like this? What would my mum say if she walked in on us making out? Ashton pulled away, and started rambling.

"Fuck, I'm sorry, Maddie. I don't know what I was thinking. I shouldn't have kissed you. I know you're 15 and Im 17, but" Ashton apologized it I cut him off.

"Ashton! I don't mind," I hesitated a little before getting the courage to actually tell Ashton, "I liked it."

"Really?"

"Yeah," I smiled, nodding.

"I did too, Maddie," his eyes were focused in the floor, but he looked up at me. We both smiled at each other for the shortest amount of time before h looked away. My eyes stayed focused on him until he looked back at me and smiled once again.

~

Hope you liked it! This was a little longer than the other chapters, but I'm gonna try and vary the lengths of the chapters. Some will be long, and some will be short. Love you guys:)

-Lizzie xx