45" ▪︎ a.i.

28"

Ashton's P.O.V.

I kneaded my fingers through my hair, trying to untangle the ends while doing so, and looked at the boys worriedly. They had gone back to playing FIFA instead of watching a movie and were quick to reassure me that Hazel was fine and just needed some fresh air, after she had stormed out of the bus. But she hadn't replied to my text, and if she only walked out for fresh air, she would've responded by now. It's been ten minutes, and no one needed to get fresh air for that long without responding to the short text. I just knew something was wrong. I picked up my phone for the thousandth time in the last minute and went on Twitter, seeing it exploding with notifications like usual. Normally I wouldn't bother to scroll through but there were way too many that tagged both of us. I had expected this after the announcement of our relationship had spread, but those weren't tweets about us in particular, more so about her. Most had pictures and videos attached of the little scene after the concert, when she walked over to us and told us that they wanted us backstage. But it wasn't the tweets that were problematic, it was the replies. While I scrolled through them, anger building inside of me, I knew why she had left. I grabbed the remote and pressed pause, earning angry shouts from the three boys sitting on the couch. I silently showed Luke the replies, and his expression changed from confusion to anger as he handed the phone to Michael and Calum, who read silently.

"This is sick.", Michael breathed out, and I nodded, not being able to say anything.

"I'm gonna go look for her.", I said, not waiting for a response. I closed the door behind me and looked through the dark, trying to think of a place where she would've gone. I was pretty sure she wouldn't go too far away. I walked a few feet away from the bus, turning around and scanning the area, when I saw a black figure at the side of the bus. I walked over quickly and saw the light from her phone illuminating her face.

"Haze?", I called out quietly, and she looked up at me. Due to the light, I could see a few dried tear stains on her face, and it broke my heart, knowing I was the reason she had to go through this. I took the phone out of her hands, turning the screen off and placing it in my pocket, before I wrapped my arms around her, mumbling soothing words as I felt her shaking in my arms.

"You've got to try and ignore it. They're wrong and anyone who believes that you could ever be against us meeting fans is crazy. Half of the times we met them the last days was because of you. That little extra concert? None of us would have thought of doing it, that was your idea. They just want to start drama over anything, especially after we announced our relationship as well. They're just trying to pick a fight over everything.", I rambled on quietly, trying to reassure her how much we appreciated her being with us. When her shaking stopped, I thought I had succeeded, and pulled away slightly, but the small smile I had on my lips in hopes she would return it, soon turned into a frown when I saw the almost angry look in her eyes.

"You don't get it, do you?", she mumbled, shaking her head, pulling out of my embrace.

"It's your fault. Your lifestyle, your career, it's your fanbase. If you would have just tweeted something afterwards, explaining the situation maybe it wouldn't have turned that bad. Maybe they wouldn't have called me egoistic and worse. You should know them by now. Hell, I even know them, and I've only been a small part of it for a few years. You can't just bring people into your life and expect them to cope with this silently." Her voice was getting louder and stronger with every word, and even though it hurt to hear her say these things, I knew that she was right, and I expected an outburst like this long ago. She kept screaming, blaming it all on me, and I let her. I knew it wouldn't last too long. She was exhausted, like all of us, and this situation right now was draining the last bits of her energy. I was proven right when she cried out and collapsed into my arms, mumbling, asking the gods why I had to make her fall for me. I wrapped my arms around her, holding her close, and let her cry until she was too exhausted.

"You're freezing, we've got to get inside.", I whispered, and she nodded. I pulled my hoodie over my head, leaving me in a shirt, goosebumps starting to form on my skin immediately, and handed it to her. We walked over to the bus, and she looked at me worriedly.

"They'll leave us alone, don't worry, and they understand.", I reassured her quietly, and she nodded before pressing the door handle down, entering the bus.