My Best Friend?

Chapter 17

Emma's POV

My smile widened as I looked out over the crowd. Never would I have dreamed that this would actually happen. Here I was, standing on a stage with thousands of people here to see us and the boys. I glanced over at Sammy, who was completely decked out in black and white and looked fantastic, and she smiled at me, a smile that said exactly what I was thinking: this is a dream come true.

"We want to send out a massive thank you to all of you guys for four major things,"Jen started, her Australian accent thick and her outfit proving once again that she was the punk one of the group. "One, for buying our album."

"Two," Rebecca took over, her bright red hair looking even more red against the green of her shirt. "For coming out to the show to see us and our boys."

"Three," I said, holding up three fingers and feeling my kimono gently brushing against my thigh. "For being patient with us whenever we happen to mess up.. Which is a lot."

"And four," Sam said. "For giving us more love than we could ever deserve. We just want to let you know that we return all your love, with even more. We really appreciate everything you guys have done for us."

Everyone cheered and we all looked at each other, smiling widely and just enjoying this time together. We had just started touring with our album debut only a few months earlier, and yet somehow, everyone already knows all of the lyrics. The four of us have never been happier.

"Sadly, we are down to our last song, but that also means our boys are coming on soon!" Rebecca said, refraining from jumping and screaming into the mic like she desperately wanted to. "So let's here it for all the Michael girls!"

The girls screamed, and I laughed. So yes, Michael and Sam had broken up that day and now he's dating Rebecca. Honestly, they seemed a lot more perfect for each other than Sam and Michael, because Michael seemed like he needed a girly girl like Rebecca and not a mix between grunge and girl like Sam is. And Sam... She's beyond happy with Luke. I'll admit it was a little weird at first because it was hard to wrap my head around my best friend and my brother, but they really are adorable. Jen and Calum are still going strong, and me and Ash? We haven't said "I love you" to each other yet, but at the same time, we both know we do.

"Let's hear it for the Calum girls!" More screams.

"And I know there's gotta be a few Luke girls out there," Sammy laughed. More screams.

"Where's my fellow Ashton girls?" I laughed as the screams came again. I was 100% sure that the girls were screaming every time, because how can you not love all of them?

"Okay," Sam sighed. "We need to get off this stage so 5SOS can get on it. Let's get this going."

We all nodded in agreement and the band started playing. As the song came to an end, we took a bow and then exited off the stage. Starting with Jen, I watched as they all walked into the arms of their boyfriend, Sam being a little more than enthusiastic as she practically tackled Luke to the ground in a hug, and then I saw my ruggedly handsome boyfriend. He really was so much taller than me, and even a lot more tan than I am, and it was the things like his smile or the way his eyes lit up when he saw me that still made my heart beat a mile a minute.

I walked straight into his open, awaiting arms and buried my head in his chest.

"You looked even more amazing out there than last time," he murmured.

"You always say that."

"Because it's always true."

I blushed and pressed my head further into him so he wouldn't notice. When I figured it was safe, I pulled away from him so I could look at him. His smile was wide and he had a strong hold on me, like he was afraid I was going to run... Again. I liked to play this game called, let's see how far I can get before Ashton catches up, but considering I was wearing some outrageously high heels, there was no way I was going to be able to run now.

"You ready boys?" one of the security guards asked them.

They nodded and Ashton leaned down to kiss me. My heart started beating faster, and I ignored everything else that was going on around me. When we had to pull away from each other, it was obvious that we couldn't wait until we could be together again. The security guard nudged them toward the stage and they all blew a kiss or winked back at us.

"How's everyone doing tonight?" Ashton said into the mic as he sat down behind his drums. "I hope you all enjoyed '93 because I certainly did. Plus, it kind of helps when the girl you love is in it."

I gasped, and Ashton's eyes met mine before sending me a wink.

"What do you say we all bring our girls out here so we can tell them exactly how we feel?" Luke offered. The crowed screamed in response and they all ran over to us and pulled us on stage.

I'm sure the other boys were all telling their girls that they loved them, but I could only focus on Ashton, and the way he was looking at me right now.

"I do love you, always have, and always will. Nothing and nobody is going to change that. I'm just sorry that it's taken me this long to say it."

"I'm not. I don't think there could have been any other time as perfect as this one. I love you, too." I rushed it all out, just so I could kiss him. The crowd was probably screaming as loud as they possibly could, but I couldn't hear any of it. I was off in my own world with the only person that would ever mean more to me than I could imagine.

I love Ashton.

I love my best friend.