groupie; afi

twenty

     "What do you mean you told Calum?" I can feel my face getting hotter while my voice raises at Luke.

     "Look, he was being an ass and so I accidentally mentioned it. It was an accident," Luke defends himself.

     "What if he tries something Luke? He clearly doesn't want Ashton and I together," I say, crashing down on my bed.

     I should've known from how Luke's expression was when he came in my room that he had bad news. It was written all over him that he was guilty of something.

     "I'm sorry. I wish I could take it back," Luke sits down beside me.

     I bury my face into the palm of my hands. I feel Luke's hand rub my back in an attempt to make me feel better.

     "It's okay, it was an accident," I look up at him, "I just don't get why he doesn't want me to be happy."

     "I don't think it's that," Luke mumbles.

     "Well, what is it then? Because that's what it looks like Luke," the words fly out of my mouth.

     Luke bites his lip and looks towards the door. I'm assuming that he wanted to check that it's shut. He turns his attention back on me and sighs.

     "There was this one girl who was one of our groupies for a past tour. Aaliyah is her name. Calum and her were just like you and Ashton. You couldn't blame him either. Aaliyah was this beautiful girl, inside and out. He always obsessed over the way her curly hair framed her face so effortlessly and her personality was bubbly," Luke starts explaining. It feels like I'm being told a fairytale.

     I nod my head to let him know that I'm still listening in.

     "Anyways, Calum and Aaliyah started to date. They were inseparable. But, one day she just blew up at him. She got mad over something small and it just triggered this big fight. And she actually ended up cheating on Calum. She, uh, took photos of it and sent it to him. Calum was broken for so long. He had management send her home somehow so he wouldn't have to see her ever again. He hated her guts, still does, but he would cry every single night because of her. I don't think he's even fully over it yet. So, I don't think that it's because he doesn't want you to be happy. I think it's more that he doesn't want Ashton to be where he is," Luke closes out the explanation.

I just sit there in silence. What do you even say back to that? I don't want to feel bad for Calum but I do. I wouldn't wish that on anybody.

"I guess you're right. But I don't see what I could've done to give him the idea that I would do that," I say.

"No offense, but you did make out with me for revenge. So, I can see why but I wouldn't take it that extreme," Luke answers me. I didn't even realize that he knew that was the reason.

"Only because he started it. I would've have ever done anything if he hadn't started rumors or causing drama," I get slightly offended. Luke's probably right though.

     "I know. I'm just saying that Calum doesn't see you how we do," Luke says, "But I don't think he can do anything to you guys. Unless he went to management."

     "Management?" My confusion shows through my tone.

     What the hell could management do?

     "After the Aaliyah thing, Calum was messed up and we couldn't really get anything done with our music. So, when you came along, we were told to keep a strict "no dating" rule," Luke explains.

     "Whats gonna happen if he tells?" I ask. I can feel a nervous pit in my stomach. I really don't want the bosses to interfere with us.

     "I think the worst that could happen is that they send you home but you could still be with Ashton. But, I dunno. I've never been through it," Luke says, he has an apologetic look on his face.

The uncertainty of the situation is killing me. It doesn't help that I tend to overthink things and that I usually assume the worse when it comes to things that effect me. I can't help feeling anxious, I have no idea what'll happen. Calum could use this as leverage and do nothing or he could ruin it. I hate this.

Ashton comes in the room and gives Luke and I a weird look.

"What's up?" Ashton says, walking over to me. He sits on the arm of the couch next to me.

"I told Natalie that-" Luke begins but I cut him off.

"We were just sorting some stuff out. No biggie," I put on a smile.

I decided it would be better to keep Calum's knowledge a secret from Ashton. I wouldn't want to worry him nor would I want a big fight.

"Oh? Alright then should we all do something? I'm bored," Ashton smiles back at me.

I look away from Ashton and towards Luke. He looks very confused by my actions. I mouth a "don't tell Ashton about Calum" to him and he nods. Hopefully, he's better at keeping this secret.

"Maybe some video games?" I suggest.

"Bet. I'll bring the stuff in," Luke jumps up from his seat.

When Luke leaves the room, Ashton looks me straight in the eyes. I feel quite intimidated from his expression.

"So, you wanna tell me what you and Luke talked about or are we gonna keep secrets?" Ashton asks with a stern tone.

God, I wish I was a better liar.

     "What do you mean? Luke and I were just talking?" I swallow a lump in my throat.

     "It's written all over your face that it was something important. And it's clearly worrying you. I wanna be here for you but I can't do that if you don't tell me," Ashton says. He's calmed down his sternness.

     I bite my lip and stare up at him. I really don't want to tell him but now it feels like I have to. If I keep making something else up he'd probably think I was the one doing something wrong.

     "Luke told Calum about us," I say quietly.

     I watch Ashton's face go from stone-cold to soft in an instant. He doesn't look worried, he looks downhearted. He sighs and takes my hands. He kisses the tops of them and smiles.

     "No matter what, we're sticking together. I don't care what happens. It'll be me and you versus the world. Got it?" Ashton reassures me.

     "Got it," I smile back. Although, I'm still very worried about the situation, I'm glad to know Ashton has my back.

     Luke comes in with the console and Michael follows in with him. They hook it up to the tv and pass out the controllers to everyone.

     Luke did his usual cheating tactics, the ones that never work but he does anyway. He play a few rounds together and everything feels fine. I forget about what was making me upset for a short while. I'm genuinely so thankful for these guys.

     I hear my phone ringing from the other side of the room. I spirt up to get it and answer the call.

     "Hello?" I answer. The caller ID gave me a feeling that something bad was about to happen.

     "Natalie, we need to talk," Mr. Campbell, our manager, says.

_______
authors note

i wonder what the manager wants hehe

i got an idea for what i wanna do after this story. hint: it's a luke book. excited for that one BUT this one isn't ending soon!

ily guys. thank u for reading! it means a lot to me. stay hydrated:)