#ashtermelon

listen!! i know i dont think we’ve gone three (?) days in a row without rain

couldn’t listen all the way through | not my thing | it’s okay | kinda catchy | ok i really like this | downloading immediately | already in my library

couldn’t listen all the way through | not my thing | it’s okay | kinda catchy | ok i really like this | downloading immediately | already in my library

couldn’t listen all the way through | not my thing | it’s okay | kinda catchy | ok i really like this | downloading immediately | already in my library

it’s pouring, the rain lashing against the roof and windows of the car, lightning flashing every now and then and followed soon after by booming thunder. it’s black outside, too, thick clouds obscuring the usual blue sky and throwing the streets into a makeshift nighttime. ashton’s driving carefully, squinting through the windscreen like it’ll help him see any better and going around corners so slowly you’re pretty sure you could walk home faster. you’d settled back into your seat a while back, watching the weather worsen as you go, and it’s only because you’re staring out of the window getting more bored by the minute that you see it. you’re driving past the park, and the old style street lamps around the bandstand are on, casting an orange glow over the structure. it looks oddly beautiful.

“ash, ash, stop,” you say, grabbing his arm. he jumps and hits the breaks in a panic, the two of you lurching forwards when the car stops suddenly. he turns to you, ‘what the fuck’ expression in place, but it softens a little when he sees how excited you are.

“look,” you breathe, pressing your face to the window again. there’s something captivating about the whole thing, a glimmer in the middle of the storm, the puddles underneath the lamps turned to liquid gold in the light. “we should go out.”

“we’re in the middle of a thunderstorm and you wanna stop and feel the rain?” ashton laughs, disbelieving. you nod, though, already fumbling with your seatbelt and opening your door. he rolls his eyes and waits for you to leave, parking the car properly so you’re not blocking the road, and watches you run up to the bandstand.

you stop when you get there, arms open and eyes closed, face turned towards the sky. your clothes are already drenched, sticking to your skin, and cold is seeping into your bones, but you can hardly feel it. there’s just something about this spot, at this moment, that makes you feel good. you smile when you feel ashton’s arms around your waist, clinging to his shoulders as he lifts you up and starts to spin you both around. 

you weren’t really expecting him to follow you, to be honest, but the look in your eyes was too much for him to resist. it always is, really. he’d follow you to the ends of the earth if you were looking at him like that. 

it wasn’t like you hated him. it’s just, you came to the library because it was quiet and still and you could get your work done in peace. it wasn’t anything like your house, always someone making too much noise or bothering you for something. so you turned to the library on campus, and yet lately every time you show up with work to do ashton sits down opposite you and proceeds to talk at you until you give up and leave.

sometimes you’re really, really not in the mood for it, and he takes the hint occasionally, sits there quietly and smiles softly when you leave. today, though, you’re not feeling too bad. the weekend is almost here and for once you’ve finished most of your work. he’s there, of course, showing up not even twenty seconds later and clearing his throat. he’s got a book of jokes in his hand, and as soon as you glance at them he’s reading them out like it’s shakespeare, all dramatic hand gestures and strange voices.

it’s not even the jokes that get you; it’s ashton. his eyes are sparkling, crinkling at the corners when he lets out a giggle at himself, and you’re not sure how you never noticed quite how cute he is. he stops mid-sentence at the sound of your laugh, muffled behind your hand but there all the same. 

“have i entered an alternate universe or did you really just crack a smile for me?” he looks both confused and delighted, hazel eyes wide and a shocked smile making dimples dig into his cheeks. you shrug and shove your books back into your bag, standing up to leave and ruffling his hair.

“you’re not so bad, irwin.”

“wait, wait, go back a minute.”

michael just blinks, still smiling at you innocently. it’s 3am and you’d just woken up to him shaking you and babbling excitedly, throwing your jacket and shoes at you even though you were still rubbing at your eyes and blearily trying to make sense of what he was saying. eventually you’d had to yell his name and force him to sit down and explain properly, grinning all the while.

“you want me to go out, find a place still selling food, then climb some hill at three in the fucking morning?” you say slowly. he nods enthusiastically, grabbing at your hands to try and pull you out of bed. “this is without a doubt the stupidest plan you’ve ever had.”

his smile drops then, his entire demeanor falling as his shoulders slump. “oh,” he mutters, avoiding your eyes. “it’s just, there’s a meteor shower and i thought you might like-”

“i’m in.” the words have him lighting up, laughing a little and pulling you into a quick hug before he’s tugging you out from the warmth of the covers for real, bouncing on the balls of his feet as he waits for you to get dressed. it’s endearing how excited he gets over things like this, even more so when he wants you by his side for it, fingers laced as always. and you just can’t bring yourself to say no.