The Girl Next Door
Conflicted
There's a logical explanation for that.... I'm sure there is.
I wake up by the sound of someone knocking on my door. I turn away from the door, hoping that the sound will stop. When I hear it again I groan quietly in frustration before turning around again, facing the door.
"What?" I groan, thinking it's Michael.
"Can I come in?" I hear Ashton's soft voice.
"Sure."
Right after I said that the door opens, revealing a tired Ashton. His hair is a mess and his shirt is ruffled. He smiles apologetically before running his hand through his hair and letting out a heavy sigh.
He walks in, closing the door behind him, and sits on my bed. He takes my hand in his and plays with my fingers for a while. I let him.
All the anger that I felt a few hours ago melted away like snow for the sun. It irritates me that he has this kind of effect on me. It makes me want to push him away and pull him closer at the same time.
"I'm sorry it took so long." He mumbles.
"Long? What time is it?" I ask as I lifted my head from my pillow to look at my clock.
"It's almost midnight." He answers softly, probably so he doesn’t wake my parents.
"Then who let you in?" I lay my head back down and close my eyes.
"Mike."
I nod my head in understanding.
"So... What are you doing here?" I ask.
"I came to apologize for not coming back immediately. Vanessa was on her period so I had to drive to the mall first. But once she got what she needed she and Lauren were suddenly feeling much better. I sat there waiting for two hours before I left without them."
I smile at the thought of him leaving them there. I feel him push me slightly and scolding me for smiling as they were actually really pissed at him.
"And now?" I ask, completely ignoring what he said and still smiling.
"When they came back they were pissed. Very pissed. Like I told you. But I told them off, saying that I'm not their personal taxi and a number of other stuff." He finishes and shrugs.
I nod my head.
"I cooked dinner for them and then let them be. But every time I wanted to leave to you they were asking these annoying questions so I waited until they were asleep." He adds.
I nod my head again and giggle.
“You sound like you were pissed off at them because they made you wait, but you still made them dinner..?” I giggle and open my eyes to find his staring straight at me.
“I was pissed but I’m no monster.” He sticks his tongue out while grinning a little, finding it kinda ironic as well.
"Nikki said that she saw you and Vanessa holding hands." I mumble.
"Vanessa was afraid that she would faint so I had to hold her hand to reassure that I would catch her if she did."
Well... that seem like a lame excuse...
"Okay." I just say.
"I'm sorry." He mumbles.
"No.. it's okay.. It doesn't matter." I shake my head.
"But it does matter. I shouldn't have let you wait for so long. I'm so so sorry. I really am." He looks down.
"It's okay Ashton." I smile and take his free hand into my other hand.
"Can I stay?" He asks.
I nod my head and his lips form into a smile.
He pecks my lips quickly and cuddles up next to me.
"Goodnight Cutie." He mumbles.
"Goodnight Ash." I kiss him on top of his head and close my eyes.
^^^
The next morning when my alarm goes off at 6:30 I hear Ashton groan and he pushes the snooze button.
I smirk as I get up and dress myself.
After a few minutes the alarm goes again.
Ashton groans louder this time and pushes the snooze button again.
"Don't you dare to throw that one. It's new." I warn him as I walk into my bathroom.
I shower and do all the stuff you would normally do.
When I get back into my room Ashton's still laying on the bed.
"Ash, get up. You're gonna be late for school." I hit his leg.
"But Cutie.." he whines.
"No. Get up. Now." I point my finger at him and walk downstairs.
I make breakfast for me and Ashton and wait for him to come down.
When he finally comes down it's 7:45.
"Ashton. C'mon we're gonna be late." I roll my eyes.
"But can't we-"
"No. We're going, period."
He lets out a heavy sigh.
"C'mon. You can eat that on the way." I hand him a sandwich and take his free hand, leading him with me to his car.
^^^
The ride to school is quiet and I breathe a sigh of relief when we get there.
“I’m gonna find Nikki, I’ll see you in break.” I kiss his cheek quickly before walking away, leaving the curly haired boy a little bit more than just confused.
When I rounded the corner to the main entrance of the school I quickly push pass the doors and into the hallways. I grab my phone and send Nikki a quick text.
Me: Where are you at?
It doesn’t take long before she replies telling me that she’s in the library. I let out a sigh as I reply and put my phone away before making my way to the library.
It’s not that I don’t believe Ashton. I just want to make sure that I’m not completely going insane. The thoughts of yesterday came back this morning and now I can’t stop thinking about them. They make me sad, angry, confused and conflicted and since I don’t wanna let Ashton know that I feel that way, Nikki is going to hear my complains. I just need the reassurance that Nikki can hopefully give me.
I walk into the library and my eyes immediately fall onto the brown haired girl sitting at table and seemingly studying.
I quickly walk over to her and take the seat in front of her. She looks up and takes the earphones out of her ear.
“I want you to tell me exactly what you saw.” I demand as I look straight into her eyes, searching for anything that might give me a little reassurance about this whole situation.
However what I find is the complete opposite. As soon as she figures out what I’m talking about her face falls and I loose all the hope that I had.
“Are you sure?” She asks softly as she looks down at her books. She closes them and I follow her every move, trying to find something that gives me back the hope I had when Ashton was with me last night.
“Nikki, Ashton told me some lame excuse yesterday about her being afraid that she was going to faint and I ain’t buying that crap. I’m damn sure.” I say and she looks up and me before heaving a sigh.
“Please.” I plead when she doesn’t answer me right away.
“Please Nikki. I- I need to know.” I take her hands and squeeze softly. She sighs again before squeezing back.
“Okay.” She looks into my eyes with a different emotion behind her eyes and while I cannot really place which emotion, I know that it's not something good.
I wake up by the sound of someone knocking on my door. I turn away from the door, hoping that the sound will stop. When I hear it again I groan quietly in frustration before turning around again, facing the door.
"What?" I groan, thinking it's Michael.
"Can I come in?" I hear Ashton's soft voice.
"Sure."
Right after I said that the door opens, revealing a tired Ashton. His hair is a mess and his shirt is ruffled. He smiles apologetically before running his hand through his hair and letting out a heavy sigh.
He walks in, closing the door behind him, and sits on my bed. He takes my hand in his and plays with my fingers for a while. I let him.
All the anger that I felt a few hours ago melted away like snow for the sun. It irritates me that he has this kind of effect on me. It makes me want to push him away and pull him closer at the same time.
"I'm sorry it took so long." He mumbles.
"Long? What time is it?" I ask as I lifted my head from my pillow to look at my clock.
"It's almost midnight." He answers softly, probably so he doesn’t wake my parents.
"Then who let you in?" I lay my head back down and close my eyes.
"Mike."
I nod my head in understanding.
"So... What are you doing here?" I ask.
"I came to apologize for not coming back immediately. Vanessa was on her period so I had to drive to the mall first. But once she got what she needed she and Lauren were suddenly feeling much better. I sat there waiting for two hours before I left without them."
I smile at the thought of him leaving them there. I feel him push me slightly and scolding me for smiling as they were actually really pissed at him.
"And now?" I ask, completely ignoring what he said and still smiling.
"When they came back they were pissed. Very pissed. Like I told you. But I told them off, saying that I'm not their personal taxi and a number of other stuff." He finishes and shrugs.
I nod my head.
"I cooked dinner for them and then let them be. But every time I wanted to leave to you they were asking these annoying questions so I waited until they were asleep." He adds.
I nod my head again and giggle.
“You sound like you were pissed off at them because they made you wait, but you still made them dinner..?” I giggle and open my eyes to find his staring straight at me.
“I was pissed but I’m no monster.” He sticks his tongue out while grinning a little, finding it kinda ironic as well.
"Nikki said that she saw you and Vanessa holding hands." I mumble.
"Vanessa was afraid that she would faint so I had to hold her hand to reassure that I would catch her if she did."
Well... that seem like a lame excuse...
"Okay." I just say.
"I'm sorry." He mumbles.
"No.. it's okay.. It doesn't matter." I shake my head.
"But it does matter. I shouldn't have let you wait for so long. I'm so so sorry. I really am." He looks down.
"It's okay Ashton." I smile and take his free hand into my other hand.
"Can I stay?" He asks.
I nod my head and his lips form into a smile.
He pecks my lips quickly and cuddles up next to me.
"Goodnight Cutie." He mumbles.
"Goodnight Ash." I kiss him on top of his head and close my eyes.
^^^
The next morning when my alarm goes off at 6:30 I hear Ashton groan and he pushes the snooze button.
I smirk as I get up and dress myself.
After a few minutes the alarm goes again.
Ashton groans louder this time and pushes the snooze button again.
"Don't you dare to throw that one. It's new." I warn him as I walk into my bathroom.
I shower and do all the stuff you would normally do.
When I get back into my room Ashton's still laying on the bed.
"Ash, get up. You're gonna be late for school." I hit his leg.
"But Cutie.." he whines.
"No. Get up. Now." I point my finger at him and walk downstairs.
I make breakfast for me and Ashton and wait for him to come down.
When he finally comes down it's 7:45.
"Ashton. C'mon we're gonna be late." I roll my eyes.
"But can't we-"
"No. We're going, period."
He lets out a heavy sigh.
"C'mon. You can eat that on the way." I hand him a sandwich and take his free hand, leading him with me to his car.
^^^
The ride to school is quiet and I breathe a sigh of relief when we get there.
“I’m gonna find Nikki, I’ll see you in break.” I kiss his cheek quickly before walking away, leaving the curly haired boy a little bit more than just confused.
When I rounded the corner to the main entrance of the school I quickly push pass the doors and into the hallways. I grab my phone and send Nikki a quick text.
Me: Where are you at?
It doesn’t take long before she replies telling me that she’s in the library. I let out a sigh as I reply and put my phone away before making my way to the library.
It’s not that I don’t believe Ashton. I just want to make sure that I’m not completely going insane. The thoughts of yesterday came back this morning and now I can’t stop thinking about them. They make me sad, angry, confused and conflicted and since I don’t wanna let Ashton know that I feel that way, Nikki is going to hear my complains. I just need the reassurance that Nikki can hopefully give me.
I walk into the library and my eyes immediately fall onto the brown haired girl sitting at table and seemingly studying.
I quickly walk over to her and take the seat in front of her. She looks up and takes the earphones out of her ear.
“I want you to tell me exactly what you saw.” I demand as I look straight into her eyes, searching for anything that might give me a little reassurance about this whole situation.
However what I find is the complete opposite. As soon as she figures out what I’m talking about her face falls and I loose all the hope that I had.
“Are you sure?” She asks softly as she looks down at her books. She closes them and I follow her every move, trying to find something that gives me back the hope I had when Ashton was with me last night.
“Nikki, Ashton told me some lame excuse yesterday about her being afraid that she was going to faint and I ain’t buying that crap. I’m damn sure.” I say and she looks up and me before heaving a sigh.
“Please.” I plead when she doesn’t answer me right away.
“Please Nikki. I- I need to know.” I take her hands and squeeze softly. She sighs again before squeezing back.
“Okay.” She looks into my eyes with a different emotion behind her eyes and while I cannot really place which emotion, I know that it's not something good.
Notes
okay so.
I'm back~~
*hides behind pillow fort*
I wanna express how sorry I am to you all for just leaving and not giving you any explanation. and frankly, I can't even give you one now. I don't know what happened. I just kinda lost my interest in 5sos I guess. I had no idea where this story was going and i just lost the fun in writing.
I also can't promise you that I'm fully back or that I'm going to finish this story. How much I wish that i could give you a reassurance that I am going to finish this, I just can't at the moment.
I just wanna thank the people who have continued to support this story without even knowing if I was going to upload. You're all absolutely wonderful and so nice while I don't even think I deserved that.
I'm gonna try and upload weekly but I can't promise anything.
Thank you for all the support ~ <3
XX
D <3
Also, a little secret, the D stands for Delila and not for Demi as many people keep thinking :)
It was just kind of a joke but I thought you should know now.
@FadingStars What's your Ao3 username?
7/9/18