Imagines and One-Shots (Book Two)

New Year, Same Love (Ashton Irwin)

thought about saving this until the new year but time is an illusion anyway so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

also catelyn's birthday is today and i havent made her actual present yet bc im the worst lmao

~

Ever since the day you met Ashton's family, you had sort of taken the role of being Lauren and Harry's older sister. Anything they felt like they couldn't go to their mother or brother with, they would call you – and no matter what time it was, you would always answer.

When news of the breakup got around to them, they were understandably heartbroken. Lauren had called you the moment she found out, begging you to tell her it wasn't true. You couldn't, of course, but you promised her that nothing would change about spending time with her and Harry – and she knew that when you promised her something, you were going to see it through no matter what.

And that was probably what landed you in this mess in the first place.

It was a normal New Year's Eve. You found yourself unable to stress that fact enough: it was normal.

Anne had insisted that you come over for the party – you'd done so since you and Ashton met nearly four years ago, and you didn't want to – as she put it – ruin the tradition. She didn't tell either Lauren or Harry that you were coming – she wanted them to be surprised – and you couldn't help but laugh as the two tackled you the moment you walked in the door. Anne told you when she invited you that Ashton wouldn't be there – he wanted to stay in LA and party with their friends – and that was one of the main reasons you agreed.

So why was it, half an hour before midnight, the boys decided to show up?

You had been in the bathroom at the time they arrived, but it wasn't hard to piece together what was happening when you heard people shouting about how they 'could have sworn your mum told us you weren't coming!'. Your heart started pounding and you felt like you couldn't breathe when you realized that Ashton was there and he would see you were still spending time with his family after he ended things and you didn't know what he was going to say – if he said anything at all. You knew you had every right to continue seeing them – he couldn't force you not to – but the thought of him being upset made you feel all clammy because you hated when you made Ashton upset.

After coming out of the bathroom, you quickly retreated to the guest bedroom, not wanting to face Ashton just yet. You had no idea if he knew you were there – all you knew was that you had no idea how to avoid him anymore.

"You can do this," you whispered to yourself as you paced the room, taking deep breaths, "You can do this... Just go down there and...and..." You sighed, putting your face in your hands. "What are you gonna do, Y/N?"

"Yeah, what are you gonna do?" the voice behind you made you jump. You spun around, finding Luke standing in the doorway, leaning against the frame.

You and Luke had been closest in the group that was made up of you and the band – not as close as you and Ashton, obviously, but he was practically like a brother to you. When Ashton was unavailable for whatever reason, you would go to Luke for comfort when you were upset or sad or whatever. There was no doubt that you missed him – as well as Michael and Calum – but after the breakup, you just avoided every one of the boys.

"Heard you were here," Luke told you, smiling softly at you. You didn't say anything, prompting him to go on. "Also heard you're only here because you were told Ash wouldn't be," he said.

"Anne told me he wouldn't," you whispered.

"She didn't know," he assured you, knowing you thought you were tricked into coming, "We didn't even plan on it either; We just decided last minute that we'd rather be home with our families. Plus, we didn't want to miss out on all the food Anne makes for these things." You couldn't help but giggle under your breath, making him smile again. "I was gonna come by your place tomorrow," he said, "I didn't think you'd be here and I wanted to see you... So... Think I could get a hug now?"