Imagines and One-Shots (Book Three)

Shot of Truth (Ashton Irwin)

happy annual birthday imagine!!!!!! i will accept gifts in the form of liking/commenting and sharing it with ur ashton stan friends!!!!!!!

u cant tell but im posting this at 7:12 bc thats the time i was born and im extra as hell lmao 

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"Hey, uh... Y/N...?" 

The voice behind you made you freeze, and you really didn't want to turn around – you knew who that voice belonged to. You slowly finished pushing the book in your hand onto the shelf, giving yourself a mental pep talk while doing so. You then took a subtle, deep breath and turned to face the man wanting your attention.

"Hi, Ashton," you managed to get out without tripping over your words – something you were grateful for considering this was your ex-boyfriend.

"I noticed you work here now... Been meaning to stop in..." he said, "Wanted to...talk..."

"Oh..." you trailed off, "About what...?"

"Well..." he cleared his throat, "I know you remember my...reputation...around town..."

"Hard to forget a rep like yours, Ashton," you reminded him as you went back to re-shelving books, making him let out a breathy chuckle.

"Yeah... Well, I've been thinking for a while... And I've only had the time to come in and ask about it now, but... You know you've got two years worth of dirt on me..."

"Okay..." you furrowed your eyebrows, "What do you mean?"

"Well, I would have thought you'd parade around town, telling everyone all the embarrassing stuff about me, I guess," Ashton mentioned.

"Why would I do that?" you returned, glancing up at him briefly.

"To ruin my reputation?" he said with a questioning tone as if you should already know.

"What do I gain from that?" you wondered.

"Knowing no one would ever take me seriously again?"

"Doesn't sound like much of a gain to me," you shrugged. Ashton simply stared at you in awe.

You had all this information on him – all these secrets that could be used to absolutely ruin him and cause him to be the laughing stock of the whole city – but you weren't using it against him; You weren't telling everyone he liked watching Spongebob while eating cereal in the mornings or that he enjoyed playing Pokemon while lying in bed or that he whined to go out for ice cream after he'd just been to the doctor or that he blushed whenever you complimented him in some way...

No, you weren't doing any of that... You were just living your life the way you had been before he came into it, going through each day with the same amount of reckless optimism you always had.

And he didn't understand it at all.

He didn't understand how you could be so positive in life. He didn't understand how you were always smiling and laughing and in such a good mood whenever he passed the store. And he certainly didn't understand how you could be so content without him when all he did was think about you.

"Well, I... Uh..." Ashton cleared his throat lightly, "Thanks for...you know...not doing that to me or whatever..."

You nodded in response, moving on to the next stack of books that needed to be put in their spots. He looked at you for a moment before sighing and walking back out of the store.