Paint You Wings // Ashton Irwin [au]

Twenty-five

Song of the chapter: If You Don't Know - 5 Seconds of Summer

Ashton's POV

I expected to wake up on the cold linoleum tiles in the bathroom, but instead, I find myself lying in my warm bed. Someone flicks the light switch on and I squeeze my eyes shut more than they already are to shield myself from the obnoxiously bright light.

"Get up," Calum says a bit louder than necessary, probably aware that I am currently experiencing a major hangover and is purposely being douche and trying to make it worse than it already is. "You have class in an hour and a half." Calum waits a moment and then leaves the room once he realizes that I am in fact awake and not just pretending to get up just to plop back onto the bed like I had initially planned to.

I don't care about class right now. The only thing-person on my mind is Emilia. I can't remember what I said to her last night, but I do remember what I did. And I still don't regret it. I have never had the urge to kiss her before last night and when I did, everything that happened before that-everything with Natalie was completely erased from my mind and replaced with Emmie. She's all that matters now.

My feet touch the carpeted floors as I stand to my feet and I automatically feel like I am in Dante's fourth Circle of Hell. My head has a second heartbeat, the scent of the remnants from all the alcohol I had is making me dizzy, and I feel like I'm choking on my own tongue because of how dry it is. I take quick shower and try to erase any trace of beer that lingers in my mouth before heading downstairs into the kitchen where I run into Michael sitting at the breakfast bar.

"Did you have enough to drink last night?" Michael says. "By the way your head was in the toilet, I assume that you finally hit your limit."

I don't even have the energy or motivation to argue and tell him to shut up because I know that behind his words is a plea for me to stop drinking and quite frankly, I want to.

"I'm done," I say, and he raises an eyebrow. "With drinking; I'm done. I did something last night that helped me realize that I need to stop. I hurt everyone around me because of my selfish obsession with Nat. Like Luke said, Emilia should be my priority, and I'm not going to let my past interfere any longer."

Michael's face relaxes and the apples of his cheeks rise slightly in delight. "That's what I like to hear." He walks over and pulls me into a short embrace, his hand patting my back lightly before pulling away. "What exactly did you do anyway? One second Emmie is running out of the house like she has seen Cthulhu, and the next, I find you praying to the porcelain God. You even made me send a text to Emmie before I put you to bed."

I don't remember any of that. Well, I remember Emmie running away and me running to the bathroom, but everything before and after that is wiped clean from my memory. What did I make Michael text her? God, I hope it's not something embarrassing.

I run upstairs and to my bedroom in search of my phone. Luckily, I don't have to search far because it is sitting on my nightstand, plugged into the charger. I unhook the plug and tap on the message sent to Emmie.

"I meant every word I said."

What? What did I say?

I pinch the bridge of my nose as I try to remember what the hell I said last night, but I have no luck. I run back downstairs and Calum has joined Michael at the breakfast bar with a bowl of cereal in front of him.

"Where is she?" I ask, not really caring that I accidentally yelled. Their faces contour into confusion. How can they not know who I'm talking about? "Emmie," I say. "Where is Emmie?"