Imagines and One-Shots (Book Three)

Proud (Ashton Irwin)

Samantha's POV; Friday evening

"Sammi," the brunette's best friend sang, waving her hand in front of her face, "Earth to Sammi." Samantha shook her head as if she were shaking herself out of her daydream, her eyes meeting the concerned ones of the girl sitting on the bed next to her. "You okay?" Janelle asked.

"Fine," she nodded, "Just... Thinking about school..."

"Samantha," Janelle rolled her eyes, "We've been friends since we were in our mum's wombs; You should know by now that you can't lie to me."

Samantha rolled her eyes playfully, "Sometimes I wish our dads weren't in that band together."

"Yeah, but that was a million years ago anyway," she shrugged, earning herself a laugh, "Seriously though – what's wrong?" Samantha sighed softly, remaining silent for a moment.

"Just the usual stuff, I guess," she murmured, "Dad was too busy with whatever to even say 'bye' before I came over today."

"Your dad's got a lot on his mind – especially since the band's trying to make a comeback," Janelle tried to be comforting, "He probably said 'bye', but you just didn't hear it."

"It's not just that... He's too busy with everything to pay attention to me... But with my siblings, it seems like nothing's changed... When Amaya graduated college in May, he was there," Samantha sighed, "When Connor had that 'bring your parent to school' day in September, he went with him. When I got my license last month, I got nothing – not a hug or a kiss or a 'congrats, kid, I'm proud of you'..."

"Come on, Sammi," Janelle said, "He was just busy with your mum's birthday. I'm sure he's still proud of you."

"It's not my fault my driver's test was the day of the party," she rolled her eyes, "And my dad knew I was taking that test when he started planning it anyway. And then he yelled at me for being late even though Amaya was late too because she had to take me to the DMV!"

"He was stressed – that's all," she shook her head.

"I got straight A's last semester at school. Did he care? No. I got a B- on our Chem test last week and you would have thought it was the end of the fucking world. I was grounded that weekend and couldn't even go to your birthday party! I don't get a hug when I get home from school like Connor does or when Amaya comes back from uni on the weekends, but I do get immediately handed a list of chores while Dad sits with them to watch TV and excitedly talk about everything going on in their lives."

"Your brother's a very tired and stressed out kid, you know," Janelle said, "Being a kindergartner is tough these days." Samantha breathed out in amusement while her best friend sighed. "I guess I get your point now," she nodded, "But don't you think you should talk to your dad about it instead of me?"

"He knows what he's doing," she replied softly, "And I know he doesn't love me anymore."

~

Your POV; Saturday afternoon

Samantha had been home for a couple hours by the time Ashton returned from taking care of an emergency at work. You'd been waiting for him to come home ever since Michael called you and informed you that his daughter told him about her and Samantha's talk at their sleepover the night before. And to say you were upset was an understatement.

You always knew Samantha had trouble connecting with her father – especially since the birth of her little brother. She often felt overlooked now being the middle child, and while you made sure she knew she was still just as loved and cared for, your husband had a little more of a problem with it.