Rhythm || Ashton Irwin

Chapter Twenty-Eight

(Lauren’s POV)

           Pushing my way through the crowd of people, I easily found my way back to the bar. Sliding into a seat, I was sure to get the bartender’s attention, snapping my fingers until he made his way over.

           “What can I get for you?” the man shouted over the music and commotion going on behind me.

           “Listen, don’t care what you give me, but I want shots and lots of them. No questions asked.” With a nod, he turned around, grabbing a few shot glasses and placing them in front of me before grabbing a bottle of vodka, filling them to the brim. Taking the first one, I was quick to down the three of them in succession. Rolling my finger, letting him know I wanted more, my face was still scrunched from the burning in my throat.

           Before I could lift up the next shot, a hand fell on mine, stopping it from even touching the glass.

           “WHOA! Slow down killer!” Closing my eyes, I lowered my head, sighing in disappointment.

           “Calum, I need you and Cassie to believe me when I say, I NEED the countless amount of shots I’m about to take.” Turning to them, my eyes widened in both annoyance and hope that they would leave me alone without question. I knew what I wanted to do was dangerous, but, goddamn, I wanted to do it anyway.

           “Loz, c’mon, do you really think I’m going to stop you from doing shots?” A slight frown donned my face and I shrugged, looking Cassie in the eyes, a serious look on her face, “OF COURSE NOT! If YOU’RE doing shots, I’M doing shots! BARKEEP, HOOK A SISTA UP!” And just like that, more shots appeared before the three of us, and were gone within seconds.

           This continued, for what felt like hours, until Calum brought up the issue at hand.

           “Soooo… why were you taking all those shots by yourself?” he slurred, slowly turning towards me, eyes squinted in concentration.

           “Because, your friend decided it was a good idea to just call me his girlfriend in front of some guy and KISS ME! Like, what the fuck bro?!” Throwing my hands in the air lazily, I looked between Calum, who was now leaning his elbow against the counter top, and Cassie, who was laying on top of the counter, trying desperately not to fall asleep.

           “That’s great homie! But not great… you know what I mean?” Cassie mumbled into the crook of her elbow, nodding her head, “As good ol’ Abe Lincoln said, ‘No man is good enough to govern another man without the other's consent’, amiright?”

Calum and I stared blankly as we tried to comprehend what Cassie just said. I was quick to blurt out a confused, ‘what the fuck’ while Calum blurted out, with a look of pure want, ‘you’re so hot right now’, placing his hands on each side of her face, kissing just about every part of her face.

“Right, well… I’M gonna go give Ashton a piece of my mind. You two can stay here and… you’re not listening… Ok, bye.” Sliding off the bar stool, I tried my best to find my balance, waving to my friends, and beginning my search for Ashton.

Wandering around the dance floor, I had no luck in finding the curly haired jerk. Stopping in my tracks, I threw my head back, sighing in frustration at the situation. Then, looking up at the higher level of the club, at one of the many booths, I could see Ashton talking with Michael and Luke. Quickly thanking whatever force was looking out for me, I began to stumble through the crowd once more in pursuit of the stairs at the other end of the bar.

Alright, here we go, Lauren. We’re gonna show that jerk whose boss! That dumb, selfish, cute, funny, kinda nice, JERK won’t even see it coming! Faster than I had expected, I found myself at the table, all three boys staring at me, a multitude of expressions on their faces.