Imagines and One-Shots (Book Three)

Who Do You Love? (Ashton Irwin)

i decided to finish this to post today since it's my best friend's birthday and if she doesn't like it i'm gonna be :))))) pissed!!!!!!!!

~

It was a typical Saturday night – you had a few of your close friends over for a small get-together, though you were sure the only thing that convinced them to come over was the promise that you'd provide the alcohol for them. Either way, they all came over and you had an eventful night of drinking and dancing in your living room, and it was honestly the most fun you'd had in a while.

At around midnight, you had to help Sierra and Crystal drag their boyfriends out to their Ubers, hugging them both and wishing them luck in dealing with the hangovers the boys were sure to have brought upon themselves. You went back into your apartment, grabbed a bottle of water from your fridge so your own hangover wasn't so bad, and sat yourself back down on the couch to relax.

You thought Calum and Ashton had passed out in your bedroom and the guest room, but apparently not. You were surprised when Calum came stumbling into the room, barely able to walk on his own as he was grabbing anything he could find for support on his way to you. 

"Calum!" you groaned as soon as the six-foot-tall man decided it would be a good idea to plop down and sprawl out across your lap.

"Hi, Y/N," he slurred from all the drinking he'd been doing the past couple hours. You let out a soft grunt as he settled himself on top of you, finally smiling when he grabbed your hand and moved it to his head so you'd start playing with his hair.

"Hi, Cal," you rolled your eyes fondly, taking a sip of water, "What're you doing? Thought you were asleep."

"Wanted to cuddle," he pouted, earning himself a small snort.

"Yeah?" you teased, "Was Ash not available?"

"Wanted to cuddle with you!" he whined.

"Okay, Cal," you patted his head with the hand in his hair, "I'm honored you chose me instead of him."

"You wanna know who I love?" Calum asked you. 

"Let's see..." you replied, "Your parents? Your sister? Your bandmates? Duke? Your-"

"They're so good to me, Y/N!" he sniffled, "I don't deserve them!"

"Of course you do, Cal," you assured him, "They're lucky to have you." Calum then gasped so suddenly, it startled you.

"You know who I love!" he slurred again, "That's not fair! Now you have to tell me! Who do you love?" He giggled at his unintentional song reference, making you smile again softly.

And since he was drunk, you answered honestly.

"Ashton," you replied right away. Calum gasped and hiccuped at the same time, making you chuckle as you continued. "You know the way he carries himself has always impressed me. He's so thoughtful in your interviews and really particular about the things he says. He's such a sweet and caring person and I don't know what I did to be lucky enough to have him in my life, but I'm glad I did it. And he's so talented as well, isn't he? Been trying to get him to teach me how to play something, but he's always so busy," you sighed to yourself, "But I'd never want him to take himself away from his work just for me. Just wish he'd pretend I'm still important, I guess..."

"You are important!" he drunkenly insisted, "You let me eat all your food and you take care of Duke when I'm away!" You breathed out in amusement before the small smile on your face faded.

"I wanna feel important to him, Cal," you sighed, "I want him to make time for me without me having to ask... I wanna know that he hasn't forgotten about me yet..."

"Y-Yet?" he hiccuped again.

"He will eventually..." you whispered, more to yourself than to Calum, "They all do..." He looked up at you, but you didn't return the gesture – you were too busy staring at the hair your fingers were playing with to even notice his eyes were on you now.

"I'll- I'll pay attention to you!" Calum announced, "I'll pay so much- so much attention that you-you'll wish you ne-ever said that!" You finally cracked a grin, making him scrunch his face up happily.

"Don't think I won't hold you up to that, Cal," you told him.

~

One week later

Ever since the night you told Calum that Ashton hadn't been paying attention to you, it seemed like the drummer became ten times more needy and was always attached to your hip. You had no idea what was going on – you knew Calum was way too drunk to even remember half of what you'd told him, so he obviously hadn't told on you – so you really couldn't figure out why Ashton was acting the way he was. And although you definitely weren't complaining, you were a little curious as to what was going on with him.

"Hey, Ash..." you trailed off, making him look up from the guitar he was tuning in preparation to teach you to play.

"Yeah?" he replied.

"Not that I don't appreciate it or anything, but... What's with all the affection lately?" you wondered, "Is everything okay?" He stared blankly at you for a moment, and it was like you could see the wheels in his head turning.

"I... I heard what you said to Calum the other night..." he admitted, making your eyes widen slightly – you didn't realize he'd been around or even awake at the time. Ashton swallowed thickly as if he was holding back tears. "I've never wanted you to feel like you're not important to me," he shook his head, "You're one of the most important people in my life; I care about you too much to lose you..." You didn't know if he was done with his speech, but you acted anyway.

You hurried over to him, wrapping your arms around his neck. You felt him let out a breath, leaning the guitar on the wall beside him and letting his own arms wind tightly around your waist. He pulled you onto his lap and kissed the side of your head a few times before resting his cheek on it, his thumb rubbing your skin through the hoodie you'd stolen from him.

"You should have told me you were feeling like that," he murmured, squeezing you gently.

"Didn't want you to hate me for being clingy," you whispered, your voice coming out a bit muffled due to your face being pressed to his chest.

"Could never hate you, princess – you know that," he kissed your head again, "And you know I don't mind your clingy moods either. If we're being honest here, I love it when you don't wanna leave me."

"You do?" you asked, tilting your head slightly to look at him.

"I think I've come to appreciate it more when you join us on tour or you get to come to a show and just be backstage with us," he said, "You just... You feel like home... You are my home..." You could feel yourself getting choked up, but decided to speak anyway.

"You're my home too, Ashton."

~

haha sike the only thing catelyn's not gonna like after making it this far is me beech!!!!!!!!