Chapter 6

Inside, Ashton introduced me to his family. He had two sisters, Addilyn and Sophie, and a brother, Axel. His mom was really sweet and kept asking if I needed anything.

"We haven't got much, I need to go shopping, but you can help yourself to whatever," She said kindly.

"Thank you," I said before me and Ashton went up to his room. It was a little bit smaller than mine but had a small bathroom connected.

"Sorry, I've been meaning to clean it," He said, stuffing a bunch of things in his closet.

The room wasn't that messy, there were just some clothes on the floor and his bed wasn't made.

"It's fine, I don't mind," I said, "It's a lot cleaner than mine and I've only lived there for a few weeks.

"How come you moved?"

"My dad had to travel really far for work every day so we thought it'd be easier just to move."

Ashton went and sat on his bed after quickly making it and I sat on the chair at his desk.

"Are they LED lights?" I asked, noticing them stuck around the walls.

"Yeah, I got them a while ago," He said, grabbing the remote from a drawer beside his bed, "What color should I set them to?"

"Hm, purple?" He pressed a button and the room glowed purple. "I've been meaning to get some actually, they look so cool."

"Sorry, I don't usually have friends round, what do you wanna do?" He looked kind of nervous.

"We could watch something?" I suggested.

We managed to find a film on Netflix that looked good and lay on his bed watching it. We were barely five minutes in when my phone started ringing. It was my dad.

"Sorry," I said to Ashton, who paused the film.

Figuring he would just keep bothering me if I didn't, I answered the call.

"What do you want?"

"Hayden, I managed to find an apartment and I'm moving in next week."

"Good for you," I was trying my hardest not to be too rude, he was still my dad at the end of the day.

"Do you wanna come round to see it one day next week?"

"Can Austin come too?"

"Definitely not."

"Then no." If Austin couldn't go, then neither could I. I hung up on him and put my phone on silent so he couldn't bother me anymore.

"Are you okay?" Ashton asked.

"Yeah," I sighed.

"Sure?" He looked at me as if he didn't believe me. I didn't blame him, I wouldn't believe me either.

"No, not really." I sat up. "My dad left and he wants me to visit him in his new apartment but he won't let Austin come because he's bi so I said I wouldn't go unless he can come too but I do kinda wanna see him but I also don't because he's so homophobic but he's also my dad y'know?" I kind of just blurted everything out.

"Woah, um..." Ashton sat up too, now, "I don't really know, but have you tried talking to Austin? See what he thinks about it."

"Yeah, that's probably a good idea-"

"Boys!" Thomas' mom called from downstairs. We got up and went downstairs to see what she needed.

"I'm making dinner, Hayden. Did you want to stay and have some?"

"Yes please, only if it's okay with everyone though."

Ashton nodded and his mom smiled. "Of course!" She said.

Me and Ashton went back upstairs and put the film back on. Because the main light was turned off and it was just the LED lights on, it was kind of dark and it was making me tired. I decided to close my eyes for a second.

I must have fallen asleep because I woke up a while later to find Ashton's arm around me.

"Oh, sorry," He said, realising I was awake. He quickly pulled his arm away and I felt slightly colder. "You kept nearly rolling off the bed so I thought I'd hold onto you so you didn't hurt yourself."

"Thanks," I said.

"I was about to wake you up, actually, mom said dinner would be ready in a few minutes."

I quickly used the bathroom and fixed my hair, and then we went downstairs. I offered to help lay the table but Ashton's mom said she was fine doing it so I kind of stood there awkwardly until we all sat down. There was a wonderful smell coming from the kitchen and it was making me so hungry.

After dinner, me and Ashton went back upstairs but we didn't finish the last part of the film because I'd been asleep for half of it. There was only about forty minutes left but Ashton said he could finish it another time. We just talked for a bit and I started to see a different side to him. He seemed a lot more open and happier. Whenever he smiled, his eyes glowed and he looked genuinely happy. He was also a lot funnier than when we were at school.

A couple of hours later, I finally went home. I got back and realised Austin was still out so I texted him to when he'd be back then I went to see how mom was.