Ain't It Fun

Coffee didn't seem to be helping her the morning the five friends left for the boys' hometown. They had decided (Devin not included) to just skip their classes for the day and just head home early. Devin hadn't ever missed any of her classes so it wasn't a big deal to miss one day; the other boys didn't care how many times they skipped.

Devin sipped her coffee as she watched Michael, Calum, and Luke try to stuff five bags into the boot of Ashton's small silver car. She leaned against the passenger door and pushed the sunglasses that were perched on the end of her nose farther up. Ashton was sat in the driver's seat, fiddling with the dials on the radio. For some reason he had made a mix tape for the drive even though they would only be in the car for an hour or two.

"Why does Devin get the front seat?" Calum whined as they all piled into the car. "Why do three six foot boys have to squish into a tiny backseat? She's the smallest! She should have to!"

"Because I'm driving and I get to choose," Ashton retorted, starting the car.

"Of course, he chose her," Devin heard Calum mumble, bitterly. She turned her head to shoot him a glare, though she wasn't sure he saw it due to her sunglasses. If she could hit him without drawing attention from Ashton, she definitely would.

----

It didn't take long for the boys to start complaining about how cramped they were and that they were hungry. They had barely gotten out of the parking lot when Luke piped up that he needed a taco. Michael and Calum were bickering about there legs kept touching. It was like being with a bunch of five year olds.

Devin glanced at Ashton, who chuckled in response. And that's what they did the whole trip. They had a mutual agreement about their friends' childishness. Devin would roll her eyes and sigh, and Ashton would laugh and nod along with her. That went on for about two hours.

When they finally got about ten minutes away from their homes, the boys had settled down. They were excited about being home for the first time in months. Devin had been dozing off and on for about thirty minutes; their calm behavior had finally given her the chance to fall asleep completely.

Ashton dropped each of the boys at their respective homes, hushing them each time they made too much noise. When he got to his own home, he gave her arm a gentle shake to wake her.

"Are we here?" she asked, groggily, rubbing her eyes in the process.

"Yea, we're at my house," Ashton replied. "My mum made up a place for you to stay."

"I hope it wasn't too much trouble," Devin mumbled, gathering up her things.

"Hey," Ashton stated, firmly, causing her to look up at him. "It's no trouble at all. I invited you, remember? Besides, my mum is super excited to meet you."

Blushing profusely, Devin nodded down at her lap. They both then exited the car and retrieved their bags. Ashton led Devin inside, where he was greeted by two children.

Ashton had told her all about his family. He had a younger sister and brother, Lauren and Harry, respectively. He also told her his mum's name was Anne Marie. Devin could tell just by the way he always smiled when he spoke of his family how much he loved them. She could tell that he always put them first in his life.

When the kids (who she assumed were Lauren and Harry) pulled away from Ashton, they turned their attention to Devin. She smiled at them politely, feeling a little uncomfortable.

"Guys, this is Devin Martin. She's the friend from uni I told you about," Ashton introduced. The kids smiled brightly back at her. It was easy to see that the three were definitely related. "Dev, this is my brother, Harry and my sister, Lauren."

Devin waved while the other two said their "nice to meet you's." A blonde woman bustled in a minute later, immediately wrapping Ashton in a hug. She pulled away for a second, just enough to kiss the tall boy's cheek.

"Mum," Ashton all but whined as he stepped away from her. Devin knew he wasn't really that embarrassed because she knew how much he loved his family.

"Oh, you must be Devin," his mother greeted her with a smile like her son's. "Ashton's told me so much about you. Literally, so much."

"Mum!" Ashton cried, again, this time looking mortified.

Devin felt the heat rise to her cheeks but decided to ignore what the woman had said. "Yea, I'm Devin. It's so great to meet you, Mrs. Irwin."

"Please, call me Anne Marie," the woman replied, smiling, sweetly.

Returning the grin effortlessly, Devin couldn't help but hope that she had made a good first impression.

----

After Anne Marie had showed Devin the guest room where she would be staying, the five of them sat down for a late lunch/ early dinner. Anne Marie had made spaghetti (Ashton's favorite and also admittedly Devin's), which Devin couldn't help but get seconds; it was delicious. Ashton had been gushing about it for months and Devin could understand why he had. She would probably never be able to eat anyone's spaghetti again without comparing it to Anne Marie's.

They sat around the family room later that night, chatting about nothing in particular. It was almost midnight when Anne Marie forced Lauren and Harry to go to bed. They had wanted to spend as much time with their brother as possible. It wasn't long after that, though, that the other three decided they would head to bed, too.

Devin slept well on the pull-out couch in the living room. She did wake up with a slight kink in her neck but she chose to ignore it seeing that she awoke to Ashton's smiling face.

"Good morning," he said, sitting on the edge of the bed. Devin only smiled in reply, stretching her arms out in front of her to wake herself up a bit. "Want breakfast? We can start painting right after."

"Okay," she replied, weakly. Her voice was thick from sleep so she kept her sentences short most of the morning. She didn't want Ashton to think she sounded like a man.

Breakfast was short, both of them opting for a bowl of Cheerios even though Anne Marie tried to make them a huge meal. They both declined, stating they were still full from the night before. Once they had finished their cereal and Anne Marie had insisted she wash the dishes, they went to change in proper painting attire.

In the guest room, there were several cans of paint, paint brushes and rollers all lying on the plastic-covered floor. The two set to work right away, pouring paint into paint trays and dipping their paint rollers in.

The next few hours seemed to fly by and when lunch time rolled around they had almost half of the room painted. The other three boys decided to show up, too, after being bribed with leftover spaghetti. They refused to help, saying they wanted to spend their weekend way from school not doing anything, but instead decided they would keep the other two company.

Their company didn't last long, though. Michael stated after ten minutes that he was bored of "literally watching paint dry" and went in to the living room to watch a movie. Calum and Luke left shortly after, agreeing that sitting on the floor while Ashton and Devin coated paint on the walls was too uneventful.

"We don't need you anyway!" Ashton called after them, giggling afterwards. His giggles always made Devin laugh and this time was no different. "What are you laughing at?"

"Nothing," she replied through her chuckles. His mock-serious face made her bite her lip to contain her amusement.

"Liar! You're making fun of my laugh!"

"No, I'm not!" When he gave her a pointed look, she gave in. "You giggle like a school girl!" She couldn't control herself after her own comment; she burst into hysterics again.

"Stop it! I do not!"

She didn't stop, though; she was nearly doubled from laughing so hard. Ashton then decided to pull her into a fake headlock, which only caused her even more hilarity.

"Let me go, Ash," Devin shrieked, grabbing onto his waist, attempting to pull away.

"Are you finished laughing at me?" Ashton questioned, pulling his arms a little tighter.

"Yes, I promise," she replied, quieting her giggles. She was still grinning like a Cheshire cat.

He loosened his grip to let her stand upright but didn't let her go; he kept his hands on her shoulders. Their gazes met and Ashton was suddenly serious as if he was thinking hard about something.

"You okay?" Devin asked.

He blinked a few times like he was coming out of a haze. "Yea, yea, I just…" But he never finished his sentence and suddenly Devin's heart was beating fast.

"Ash," she managed to stutter out, his face inching closer to hers. Before either of them could change their minds, his lips were pressed firmly against hers.

Devin didn't really have any idea what she was doing but she knew she couldn't stop. The paint roller fell from her hands as brought them up to tangle into Ashton's hair. His were on her back, pulling her closer to him.

Having only kissed two boys in her life, Devin was a little inexperienced. Her first kiss had been when she was seven, so that didn't really count. The other times were in high school with her first boyfriend, who liked to kiss her in dark rooms and clumsily grope her boobs. She never really enjoyed it as much as the boy did. Kissing Ashton felt different. Maybe it was because he actually knew what he was doing. She didn't really care in that moment, though. It felt great and she never wanted it to end.

Ashton didn't seem to either, pulling her closer than she ever thought was humanly possible, his lips still moving against her own, slowly but surely. All her dreams were coming true, as she ran her hands through his golden curls. When his tongue suddenly swiped her bottom lip, she nearly had a heart attack at the foreign contact. They were crossing over into territory she had never reached before. With his tongue now exploring her mouth, she froze up. She had no idea what was happening. What she did know was that his tongue touching her own felt like something that shouldn't have been happening in their 'heat-of-the-moment' kiss.

Pulling away reluctantly, Devin took a moment to catch her breath. It was all happening way too fast and she needed to collect her thoughts. Ashton seemed to understand; he moved his hands away, as if he had been burned and backed away from her.

"Ash-" Devin began to say but Ashton shook his head to cut her off.

"I'm so sorry," he mumbled, running his hands through his now disheveled hair. "I shouldn't have- I didn't mean- It was-" But he couldn't seem to finish his thoughts.

He didn't need to, though. Devin knew exactly what he was trying to say. I shouldn't have kissed you. I didn't mean it. It was a mistake.

Nodding her head, she held back the tears that threatened to slip over. She couldn't even look at him in that moment; it hurt too much.

"You know what? I can just finish this myself. You can take a break or something," Ashton stated, trying to get her to look at him but to no avail.

Without a word, Devin exited the room, making a beeline for the bathroom. She got halfway down the hall when she remembered she would have to pass the living room where the other three boys were most likely still watching movies. She hoped that if she kept her head down and she moved quickly and quietly, they wouldn't notice her. She did just that, picking up her pace when she got closer to the boys. She faintly heard Calum calling her name as she shut and locked the bathroom door behind her.

Grabbing onto the basin of the sink, Devin leaned forward and closed her eyes. Tears poured from her eyes even though she tried her hardest to fight them. She hated crying and she especially hated crying in front of people.

There was shuffling from the other side of the door and she realized the boys had followed her. Soft rapping against the door, confirmed this to her.

"Dev, you alright in there?" Michael's voice filled her ears, sounding muffled through the wood. "Are you crying?"

"N-no," she sniffled out in reply.

"I'm coming in. Just me I promise. Will you unlock the door?" Michael asked, jiggling the door handle.

Devin sighed but did as he asked. She wiped furiously under her eyes to dry the tears still streaking down her cheeks before he pushed the door open and walked in. He shut the door quickly behind him and stood in front of her. Michael surveyed the look on her face and pulled her into a nearly bone-crushing hug. She sobbed into his shirt as he rubbed small circles on her back to comfort her.

"Hey, whatever it is, it's gonna be okay. I promise."

In that moment, though, Devin wasn't so sure he was right.