"Ashton, would you maybe want to come to my volunteer club meeting today?"

Ashton sighed and wrinkled his nose.

"Volunteer club? I'd much rather stay here today, it's not the best weather out right now," he said, glancing out the window behind the couch. It was a bit windy and drizzling.

"Oh, all right." I sat down next to him and tried not to look disappointed. I really wanted him to go, but if he didn't feel like it, then I don't want to bother him and force him to do something he doesn't want to do. I focus my eyes in front of me and try not to seem upset.

Ashton doesn't say anything but presses play on the remote to start the show we'd been watching. When it's almost time for me to leave, I get off the couch, trying to maintain normal eye contact.

"I have to go get ready, I'll see you later maybe--"

"If you really want me to, I'll go with you, Vi."

"Oh, no it's all right. I can go by myself, we've been hanging out a lot recently, I don't want to be--"

"No, I want to go," he insists. "I love spending time with you, it's no problem at all. And the weather is supposed to clear up, anyway."

"Okay, awesome." I tell him, smiling at him. He really wants to spend time with me?

He stood and leaned over to kiss my cheek. I blushed and my whole face felt like it was on fire. He always had that effect on me.

We've been dating for a few weeks now, and we've been inseparable. We're one of the "cute couples" (my roommates words, not mine) that spends all their time with each other, but we've made sure to make time for our friends. Ashton said his best friend from 10th grade got a girlfriend and he barely talked to him until they broke up. Ashton said that he refuses to be one of those people who drops their friends for a relationship and I admire that. Of course our friends tease us, but they're happy we still spend time with them, even if we usually do it together.

I'm excited that Ashton and I are going to my club meeting. I'm the vice president of the Volunteer Club at school-even though I'm only a freshman. The old VP dropped out in the first four weeks of school and I was the only member who had attended every meeting before that, so they offered me the position.

            Ashton and I have decided to try out a few of each other's activities and find common interests. I thought it was a good way to spend time with him while strengthening our relationship.

"But I want you to come to my swing dance club meeting tonight." I made a face. I've never been any good at dancing. I have two left feet. Back at home when my friends and I would attend a wedding or a party, they'd make me sit down when the dancing started. That's how bad I was.

But if it's what he wanted, I'd do it. I'd do anything for him, and I wouldn't want to make him mad.

"Anything for you, Ashy." I tease, batting my eyelashes. He makes a grab for me, but I run away, picking up my wallet from the dining room table before ducking out of his apartment.

He hates that nickname. I love it, so he bears it for my sake. He's tried to come up with some nicknames for me, but 'Vi' is already a nickname and I don't really like my full name.

He comes out, locking the door behind him. None of his roommates are home—Awsten is out of the hospital now, but he's staying at home with his parents for a while. He's not coming back this year. Matty and Steve are probably in class or just out. I don't see them much.

Ashton held out his arm for me and I grabbed it as we made our way down two flights of stairs and into the parking lot. Ashton and I both have cars (except his is "not a car, Vi. It's a truck." Apparently there's a huge difference...and he reminds me every time.) Even though the school has a free bus system for college students, sometimes it's easier just to drive than to have to wait for the bus, and usually it's so crowded and you can't always get a seat. The apartment is about a 15 minute walk from the central area of campus, but when it's cold like it is now, we drive. In the spring we'll probably walk more or ride bikes.

We took my car and I parked in the parking lot nearest the McCreery Meeting Hall and walked inside. We're a few minutes early, but the club president, Chelsea is already there. There are no chairs set up like there usually are, and I remember today isn't a normal meeting day, it's our monthly collection day.

"Vi, hi! So glad you could make it." Chelsea says, like I've not been coming the last few weeks, when in reality I haven't missed a single meeting. Sometimes I feel like she doesn't like me, which Ashton says is crazy, because you'd have to be an idiot not to like me. Again, his words, not mine.

"Hi Chelsea." I say. "This is my boyfriend, Ashton. Ashton, this is Chelsea, the club president."

"Nice to meet you." She says, and some more people come in so she goes over to greet them. But I don't miss her eyes give an oblivious Ashton a once-over. I grip his arm tighter and we start talking in a corner until Chelsea calls the meeting to order.

"All right, everyone. Listen up!" Everyone joins together in a big circle around her. "I see we have a few new faces today," She says, glancing specifically at Ashton and smiling, even though there's at least two other new people. I grit my teeth, trying not to let her bother me. "So we're going to go around and introduce the e-board, which if you don't know, that's the people of this club who hold positions in office. I'll go first. I'm Chelsea, the president."

"Vi," I say, giving a little wave with the hand Ashton isn't holding when she motions to me. "Vice President."

"Aaron, secretary." A boy with glasses and a tablet tucked under his arms says. Aaron looks like a total nerd, and acts like it sometimes, but he's funny if you can break his shell. He gets really nervous when things get tense during e-board meetings.

"Maria, treasurer." A tall skinny brunette standing next to Aaron says. Maria looks down. She hates public speaking.

"My name is Samuel Hughes. I'm the PR executive." Samuel, or Sam-well as he pronounced it with his 'sophisticated' English accent, has sandy brown hair that turns blonde in the sun and the clearest blue eyes in the world (that had nothing on Ashton's green/hazel ones, just saying). All the girls swoon over him, even I did at first, but then I listened to what that glorious voice was saying and sobered up. Seriously. Nice eyes though, but they were probably the only nice things about him. He was always the reason things got tense during meetings.

"What's a PR executive?" Ashton whispers in my ear. He'd moved behind me and wrapped his arms around my waist, resting his chin in my shoulder. His breath tickles my neck and I shiver involuntarily. Sometimes I wonder if he notices the effect he has on me. Sometimes he's oblivious, other times not so much. This time was one of those times, because I felt him smirk into the crook of my neck.

"Public relations." I whisper back. My voice hitches a little when he started kissing the back of my neck. "He handles all the parties and monthly-Ash would you stop it?" I pretend to scold him. "Ashtooon."

He looks at me, still smirking.

"You're pretty cute when you're jealous, too." I glare up at him. Ashton's pretty tall, about 5' 10", and I'm a short 5' 5", but we fit perfectly together.

Chelsea coughs and I feel about 20 pairs of eyes on me. Ashton notices too and lets go of me, moving off to the side.

"Vi, would you like to explain what we're doing today?"

"Oh, yeah. Sure." My face was hot and probably tomato red. I glance at Ashton who's grinning. He was grinning at my embarrassment. What an ass!

"Today, we're going on a scavenger hunt."

There were murmurs of excitement as everyone started talking to their friends.

"Thankfully the weather has cleared up, so we'll be outside today. We have grocery bags by the door for everybody so you can collect things. At the bottom of each bag is a list of things you have to look for. All the stuff is going to Lighthouse Mission. Meet back here in an hour. Divide up into teams of 2 or 3. One hour!" I call as people disperse, already getting ready to collect their things.

I turn on Ashton, trying to be cross at him.

"You are such a—"

"Hey, Vi?"

I whirl around, ready to snap at the person who interrupted my rant, but soften my glare when I see Aaron standing in front of me.

"Oh, hey, Aaron, what's up?"

"I was uhm, just wondering if you had a partner for the hunt?" He asks not looking at me.

"Well,"

"Yeah, I'm her partner." Ashton says, coming next to me and grabbing my hand.

"Aaron, this is my boyfriend, Ashton. We had planned on being partners."

"Oh, that's fine." He pushes his glasses up his nose and looks at the floor.

"But you can come with us if you'd like. Teams of 3, right?"

Aaron brightens and Ashton scowls.

Is he jealous? Of Aaron?

Fine, whatever. He can consider this payback for what he did to me during the meeting.

"Let's go, guys." I say to Ashton and Aaron who were having a staring contest (Ashton was winning, because Aaron was getting scared.) "This stuff won't collect itself." I grab Ashton's arm and pull him forward, effectively breaking their stare down.

"So why are we doing this?" Ashton asks.

"We're going around to collect things to donate to the poor. Lighthouse Mission is a food distributor, mainly but they also give out clothes and things. On our list we have..." I grab a bag from the table by the door and reach into the bottom for the list. "...blankets, canned goods, and if anyone has any kitchen utensils to spare."

"And where are we doing this?" Ashton questions as he held open the door for me. He walks through it before Aaron and I roll my eyes.

"The dorms." Aaron answers, grabbing the door before it slams closed on him.

"I was thinking we go off campus. Most of the on-campus students have meal plans, so they won't have like half the things we need."

Aaron nods.

"Good idea, babe." Ashton smiles brightly.

I look at him curiously, but grin. He's never called me that before. But I like it.

"Thanks."

We take the bus over to the off-campus housing. I thought my school was probably the best in the entire world, for a few reasons. The bus system was great. They ran the most-used busses every five to ten minutes (in theory), and there were connecting busses that went to a lot of places, like the mall, grocery store, and to some neighboring towns. The campus was beautiful. There was an arboretum to walk around in with trees and flowers. The buildings were designed to look old, so it added a rustic look to everything. The school offered a wide range of classes, the food was fantastic, two of the the dining halls were open everyday from 7am until 12am, and there was a 24-hour convenience store where you could buy chips, soda, and ice cream. The school has 2 campuses too, and one of the bus routes connected them.

We hop off the bus at the first building we came to.

"So we're just going to walk up to someone's doorstep and beg them for food?"

Aaron gives him a look.

"Stop being such a bad sport. We're not begging, we're asking and telling them about the club and seeing if they've got anything to spare." I explain.

"Fine. Maybe I'll just watch the first few times."

"Good. Who knows what you'd say, anyway." I say throwing him a smile and running up the steps. I ring the doorbell and turn around, hands on my hips, grinning down at the boys.

"Watch and learn, fools. I mean, gentlemen."

***

So i started this book as just a random book, and then I got re-obsessed with 5sos and decided to make it 5sos fan fiction. So half the characters are like 5sos and half of them are made up by me. Sorry if there's any inconsistencies (like I don't think Ashton is really obsessed with trucks like he's going to be in this book, but let's just rolls with it, shall we?) I hope you enjoy this 😊