breathe// 5SOS

16

Ashton

I smiled to myself as the door to the flat opened, hearing Luke and Ava's laughs fill the apartment. Viola was at a driving lesson, so I had been home alone.

"I can't do that!" Ava giggled, climbing onto the sofa next to me, "he wants me dye his hair,"

"Temporarily, I'm thinking a light green,"

"That would look awful," I snorted, "what did you two get up to?"

"We talked for a bit, and then did some spinning. My legs are like jelly,"

"You're getting really good at keeping up though, I'm really impressed," Luke encouraged. She hugged Milo, placing a soft kiss on his head.

"So I see Lucy tomorrow?"

"That's right,"

"Good. Can Luke stay for tea?"

"If he can wait for Viola to come back. Can you shower?"

She nodded and got up, leaving Milo with me. Montana had plodded over to Luke, who stroked her head gently.

"She is doing so well," he said.

"She's not always confident,"

"It comes with time. This just popped into my head, but when are you coming over to see my family?"

"Second weekend of December. Michael's the first, Calum's just before Christmas,"

"Mum is really excited to cook, and see you,"

"I am excited to see you all, Ava might need a bit of encouraging,"

"I can sort that part out," he smiled, "she's really excited for this weekend,"

"I've not held a sleepover before, so I don't know what I need to get,"

"Get some snacks, drinks and stay out of their way,"

"Calum gave me some stuff like rainbow glitter and this face paint stick for them,"

"Send me photos,"

I nodded and laid on the sofa, Milo curling up next to me. Luke zoned out, Montana still in his lap, and Ava turned the shower off.

A couple of minutes later, she came back through, Luke jumping as she sat beside me. She started laughing, giving me a hug.

"Why are you laughing?" he pouted, "I was day dreaming,"

"Wait, what's that?"

"Like creating a story in your head,"

"Oh. I thought that was me being weird,"

"We all do it," I assured, "What are you doing with your hair?"

"Leaving it,"

"I don't really want you with wet hair, unless it's plaited,"

"But then it's all curly,"

"Then I'll dry it,"

"It's too hot,"

"You're really feeling the heat huh? This is the cooler side of summer,"

"Well usually I wasn't allowed out of the damp room, so I didn't feel heat,"

The way she said it like it was nothing physically hurt me.

"We will make sure to get a lot of ice in then, and a fan. Air con doesn't reach your little room,"  

She laid her head on my lap and took my hand, putting it on her stomach. Gently, I rubbed it, the front door clicking open.

Viola walked into the kitchen, placing a shopping bag down before sitting on the other sofa.

"You okay?"

"Yeah," she smiled, "Did you have a good day Ava?"

"It was okay,"

"You've tired her out," she said to Luke, "Can someone help me cook?"

"I will," I said, Luke taking my place.

"Is lasagne okay?"

"Of course," I smiled, "on Wednesday, are you coming to the meeting about Ava's classes?"

"If she wants me to,"

"I'm sure she wouldn't mind,"

We cooked together, cleaning up once it was in the oven. I could tell she was a bit flustered, so I put my hand on her waist, making her stop.

"Go and have a shower, get in some comfy clothes ay?"

She nodded and kissed me, resting on my chest.

"I have my test booked,"

"Well we made the final payments for ut, then we can think about a house,"

"Thankyou for doing this, you don't understand how much it helps. I can visit my dad around my own schedule, I don't need your early mornings, and I can go to town without the bus if you're busy,"

I chuckled, kissing her head. She was smaller than me, but not by too much. Although she was tired, her eyes still shone, and her movements were never angry.

She went to have a shower and I sat down next to Luke, scratching Ava's head.

"Dad, what meeting is there?"

"On Wednesday, grandma will take you home and I will pick you up again to have a meeting about next year,"

"Oh, okay. On Thursday, please can I relax?"

"Yeah, I'll try not to wake you up in the morning but you are going to Grandma's,"

"I'm tired,"

"Tea is almost done. Do you have any work to do?"

"No, but I want to practice my handwriting,"

"Go on, show Luke how good you're getting,"

"Yeah, I haven't seen in a while," he said, going along with it.

She sat up and grabbed her book where I'd written tons of sentences to copy. Her handwriting was pretty similar to mine because of this, but it had its own little flare.

"I still have to try really hard,"

"That doesn't matter, it'll be easy one day,"  

Luke watched as she wrote, carefully calculating each letter. It was all going well until she messed up a little, one of the letters going wobbly.

I thought she'd just carry on, but she slammed the pen down.

"It's okay," I soothed, "we all do that,"

"I wanted to show Luke though," she cried, "I wanted to impress him,"

"I am impressed sweetheart," he smiled, "it's okay. We all make mistakes,"

"It's ruined,"

She curled into his arms, a sympathetic look on his face.

"I am really impressed bub, I do it all the time,"

"Really?"

"At least once a day,"

She sniffed and hugged him, wiping her eyes.

"You don't have to be perfect, no one is perfect. Your mistakes are what make life so beautiful,"

"But dad is so amazing, and thoughtful, and smart, and so is his whole family other than me,"

"He's had a lot more time to learn these things though, and work on his mind. Your intelligence doesn't make you more or less of a family member, even though you are really smart anyway,"

"I just wanted to make you proud,"

"This does make me proud," I said, "but this doesn't define how much I admire your determination, because I know how much you do, and I'm prouder than you'll ever know,"