The Dare Game

E&A POV.

I fell to the ground with a thud under the same slide I had, the day Ashton found me sitting in the rain.

'Band practice at Calum's if you didn't know.' I text Luke. I sighed and looked around the deserted park. It wasn't a very pretty sight. The swings were tangled and rusted. The slide itself was broken in parts, two long cracks ran down the middle. Even the grass was a nice brown colour. Well that and all the dirt.

I laughed at myself, thinking about the scenery instead of the things that were going on in my life. I had never been a really popular person, sure, I had friends, but only a small group of close ones. Mia and the band, which I met through Ashton. I wondered if Ashton didn't talk to me, who's side would they all take?

I was quite positive Mia would pick mine. But all the rest were leaning towards Ashton, even Luke. I mean come on, they were a band.

I picked myself off the ground, dusting the dirt off my shorts and headed off to Mia's house.

I got there just as she was leaving. "Oh hey." She said cheerily.

"Hey." I tried using the same tone as her, but failed miserably.

"Walk me to Josh's and tell me what's wrong." I laughed, half because she knew something was wrong and half because she ordered me to do something. Mia only did that when she was feeling confident.

We turned around and she shut the door behind her.

"Go ahead." She urged me on.

"Ashton, today, we were going to hang out and um he said something. He said he likes me." I stopped walking as Mia did.

"Please tell me your kidding."

"No! I know! I was shocked as w.." I started, but she got there first.

"Emily, listen to me. Like is and understatement of what Ashton feels for you. I LIKE ice cream. He doesn't like you. He feels.."

"He said he was in love with me." I blurted out. Mia started walking again with a smile on her face.

"That's better. Why so glum then?" Mia babbled on, me zoning out.

"Is it Luke? He'll understand. I heard he was the one who told Ashton he had to tell you." I heard that loud and clear.

"He what?" I asked in disbelief. Mia cringed.

"I guess I wasn't meant to tell you that." She laughed nervously, fiddling with the hair tie around her wrist.

"Probably not." I said slipping back into the daze. We neared Josh's house and Mia's smile grew back on her face.

"Well, text me later, tell what's going on k?" Mia gave me a quick hug and left me standing on the sidewalk.

'I want to talk to you.' I text Luke as I started walking home.

'Come to Calums, nearly done.' He text back after about 20 minutes as I had just walked in the door of my living room. I turned around and skipped out again.

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Ashton's POV

I heard Emily walk in as I walked into the bathroom. I sighed, did what I had to do and walked out.

"Hey." Emily faked a smile, but avoided my gaze. I walked into the kitchen to talk to Calum and Michael instead. Calum was sitting at the table, but I couldn't see Michael.

"Hey where's..?" I asked while opening the pantry.

"HERE." He yelled as he jumped out and knocked us both over. I laughed and pulled myself up, helping him after. Calum sat at the table giggling like a little girl.

"I knew." He said. "I knew he was there." I grinned at these guys. They knew I was in a terrible mood, but they could still make me laugh.

"You guys." I yelled, wrapping my arms around their heads and bringing them close to me. I ruffled their hair and they wrestled me to the ground. Calum sat on-top of me and Michael lay across my legs.

"Get off." I chuckled gruffly.

"Not a chance." Mikey said seriously, pretending to be stern. Luke walked into the kitchen, his eyes red. We all stopped and stood up.

"Man, what's up?" Calum was the first up, round by Luke's side.

"I'm fine. Are we done for today or..?" He sniffed and rubbed one eye.

"We have a couple more things to go over, but we can.." Michael said.

"Okay, let's do them now." He said standing quickly. Calum and Michael walked out of the room, pushing each other and joking around, but I hung back abit.

"You okay?" I asked Luke. "Truthfully?"

"I'll live." He gave me a small smile and muttered. "She's all yours."