"I think I'm in love." Ashton moaned, closing his eyes.

"Seriously?" I laughed, leaning back in my chair. I had finished my food a few minutes ago, but Ashton was too busy talking my ear off to get started on his until just a few minutes ago.

"This is amazing." He said, his mouth full.

"It's a burrito." I sighed, handing Ashton a napkin for the sauce dripping down his chin.

"It's amazing!" Ashton snapped, finishing off the last of his burrito and wiping off his face.

"So you're in love with a burrito." I said blankly, staring straight ahead at Ashton. He looked up at me and rolled his eyes, as if me thinking that it was strange that he was in love with a burrito was what was wrong with this whole situation.

"Yes." Ashton nodded. "Don't judge me, Murphy."

"I'm not judging." I held my hands up in surrender, making Ashton laugh.

"You better not." Ashton said, leaning back in his chair as well. His feet played with mine while we sat there staring at each other, a small smile upon his own face.

"I have a question." I said suddenly, which caused Ashton to stop moving his feet.

"Is it hypothetical?" Ashton smirked.

"You really need to stop with that." I groaned, this time it was me who rolled my eyes. Ashton chuckled and ran his fingers through his hair, messing it up even more than it was before.

"What's your question, Murphy?" Ashton questioned, sitting up straighter in his chair and removing his feet from mine.

"Why were you so scared to call last time a date?" I asked quietly. I had been wondering what suddenly made Ashton change his mind this whole time, since he had been so stubborn about it not being a real date before.

"I was scared." He shrugged, leaving it at that.

"Yss, i know. But of what?"

"I didn't think you liked me back." Ashton bit his lip, staring down at the table.

"Really? I thought I was making it pretty obvious." I said, holding back a laugh.

"I couldn't tell if you liked me or if you were just naturally annoying." Ashton's looked up, his lips curling up at the sides into a big smile.

"I'm not annoying!" I whined.

"Of course you aren't." Ashton shook his head, his eyes growing wide.

"How did you figure out that I liked you?" I asked, hoping that Ashton's answer wouldn't be that he found out through Calum. I was seriously going to murder that boy if he opened his mouth one more time.

"Oh my gosh, Murphy." Ashton laughed loudly.

"What? What was it?" I slammed my hands down on the table, now growing impatient.

"The look on your face after I kissed you the first time, it said it all." He smiled and I immediately felt embarrased, of course I had to pull a dumb face the second after Ashton kissed me, I couldn't just smile and laugh about it like a normal girl would.

"How did I look?" I asked, and Ashton tried to imitate my face. It looked like a mixture of horror and confusion, which I guess explained my feelings at the time pretty well.

"You better not look that pained the next time I kiss you." Ashton chuckled.

"So there's going to be a next time?" I laughed, biting down softly on my lip.

"Hypothetically." He shrugged.

"I'm never kissing you again." I joked.

"Aw, come on! I was kidding!" Ashton whined. He slid out of his side of the booth and hopped in next to me, wrapping an arm around me from behind. "That wasn't all I was scared of, though."

"What else?" I asked, hoping to move on from the subject we were at now.

"Well, obviously I've just kind of, um, gotten out of a relationship," Ashton coughed, "and I just wasn't sure how this was going to play out. I'm kinda into you, Murphy, really, but I still love Kenzie a lot. I just - I just dont want to rush things, I guess. God, I sound like such an asshole." He turned away from me, taking his arm off of my shoulders and sitting up straight.

"You don't sound like an asshole, I get it." I said, reaching out to grab Ashton's hand.

"Do you?" Ashton asked, and I nodded.

I wasn't even surprised that Ashton was acting like this, it was completely normal for him to not want to rush into things after his girlfriend of three years died. He had a lot of things to worry about, and me bugging him about us becoming a "thing" was the last thing he needed. I totally understood where Ashton was coming from, and I only wanted him to be happy. If he never wanted to be my boyfriend I would probably be completely fine, as long as he was my friend.

"I know that you still love Kenzie, and I understand. It's normal for you to still have feelings for her after what happened. I like you, Irwin, but I'm not going to push you to do anything you don't want." I said, as Ashton finally relaxed and sat back in the seat.

"Thanks, really. I promise I'll ease up eventually, okay? I just need time, I need to fix myself." Ashton said quietly.

"It's fine," I said, "take all the time you need."

"Why do you do this?" Ashton asked.

"Do what?" I questioned in return, not understanding this time.

"At school you let people see you as this dumb, popular, rich girl that gets everything she wants. But then you get with me and you're so different. You become yourself, Murphy, and I like that. But why aren't you like this all the time?" He explained.

"People don't really give me a chance." I shrugged. Things had always been like this, I had successful parents and that's how people knew me. Not many people actually tried to know the real me "Except you." I added quietly.

"I'm glad, then. I'm glad I gave you a chance."

-

Ashton walked me back home after we were finished eating, his hand holding loosely onto mine. This time we weren't talking about our favorite songs and bands, but rather walking in silence. It was as though there were no words needed this time, everything that needed to be had already been said. I kicked at the ground with my feet as we walked while Ashton finished off a cigarette and dropped it behind him before we finally stopped in front of my house.

"Are you still protesting?" Ashton asked, dropping my hand.

"Protesting what?"

"Kissing me. I'm sorry for laughing at you, Murphy, and I know I made fun of you before but can I please get a kiss before I go?" Ashton leaned in closer me, giving me a wide smile.

"You're ridiculous, you know that?" I chuckled, my hands traveling up Ashton's chest until they reached the back of his neck. I twisted my fingers in his hair, watching as his smile grew even bigger.

"So, I'll take that as a yes?" Ashton laughed, finally leaning in and kissing me shortly before pulling away.

"You don't have to do it so quickly, you can stay there for a while. I won't scream and run away." I rolled my eyes.

"I'm just teasing you a little." Ashton shrugged before leaning in again and pressing his lips to mine.

We stayed that way for a long while, actually. I stood on my tip toes to pull Ashton closer to me, enjoying the feeling of him smiling against my lips. His hands trailed down my back to the hem of my shirt, where he shyly lifted it up just a little and let his hands rest on my hips. His lips were firm, but at the same time soft, and I could tell that Ashton knew exactly what he was doing. He was experienced and I really wasn't, it was a perfect match.

Ashton pulled away again after a few minutes, earning a small laugh from me as I noticed how swollen his lips looked.

"How was that?" He asked, biting down on his bottom lip.

"Needs improvement." I said blankly, staring up at Ashton with a straight face. I could tell he knew I was kidding by the small smile creeping on to his lips, but he went along with it anyway.

"Fine, and to think I was going to ask you out again." Ashton huffed, turning away from me.

"No, come back." I whined playfully. I grabbed his hand and tugged him back towards me, which he easily agreed to. He put his hands on my hips again, pulling me closer.

"I mean, if I need improvement then we might as well practice..." Ashton smirked, leaning in and kissing me once more. Things were a lot more relaxed this time. The two of us had obviously gotten a lot more used to each other, more comfortable.

This time it was me who pulled away. I whispered, "I should really get inside."

"Right, it's getting late, your parents are going to start wondering where you've run off to." Ashton whispered back, his forehead pressed against mine.

"Goodnight, Irwin." I called as I stepped away from me, walking over my lawn to the front door.

"Later, Murphy." Ashton gave me a small wave, his smile too big for me not to notice.

I entered my house through the front door, assuming that both of my parents would be out at dinner with some of their friends like they normally were on a Friday night. I soon realized that I was wrong, though, when I ran straight into my mother as I was walking into the kitchen.

"Well Danielle, where have you been all night?" She asked, putting her hands on my shoulders to steady me again.

"I was out." I answered simply, fearing that I was going to be in trouble.

"With who, Brooke?" My mom questioned. I knew I couldn't lie, because I also knew that the only reason why my mom asked about Brooke was because she probably called the house while I was out.

"No." I said.

"Then who?" She insisted.

"A friend." I smiled, my cheeks getting hotter with every word I spoke. "His name is Ashton. Ashton Irwin."

"Irwin.. Don't they live down the street from us?"

"Apparently." I nodded, finding it strange that I hadn't even known about Ashton living here until about a couple months ago.

"He was that boy that got in the car accident last summer. He killed that girl, didn't he?" She asked, to which I groaned loudly in response. I knew that if I hung around for much longer my mom was just going to tell me how dangerous he must be, how I should stay away from him. I didn't want to hear it.

"He is, yes. But I like him, a lot actually. So goodnight." I turned around and stomped up the stairs, again wanting nothing to do with my mother.

I walked into my room and slammed the door behind me, making sure than my mom knew that I wasn't going to be coming out for the rest of the night. I threw myself down on my bed, my head swimming with a mixture of feelings. It went from giddy to angry to smiling to frustrated, all in the matter of a few minutes. I was stirred out of my thoughts, though, when I noticed a tapping sound coming from the window on the far wall of my bedroom.

I walked over to it, my stomach already swarming with butterflies. If my assumptions were correct, I had a good reason to be feeling that way. I threw open the window and stuck my head out, looking down at the ground. There was Ashton Irwin, throwing rocks at my window.

"Hey, Murphy." Ashton whisper-shouted. "Can I come up?"

-

MURWIN GAME STRONG OMG I SHIP THEM SO HARD YOU HAVE NoOoOoOoOo IDEA