The Truth

Chapter 10

    I woke up to Luke shaking me awake. That was a quick flight.

"How long was I asleep?" I asked.

"All 11 hours of the flight." Ashton laughed from the front of the plane.

"That was a long flight." I sighed. I needed sleep but I didn't mean to sleep that long.

"You were tired. Being that angry can be exhausting." Michael teased.

"Watch it Clifford. I can get pretty nasty when I'm angry." I teased back,

"You've got that right." Ashton and Kelsey both said at the same time.

"Hey. Watch it." I giggled as Luke pulled my bag from the overhead compartment.

"So. We're back in America." Kelsey said.

"Feels like we just left, doesn't it. In reality it's been quite awhile." I said. I really didn't know how I felt about being back in the states so soon. I was happy to get out of here and be back home with my family, and Ashton. But I didn't really want to come back here so soon.

"Ashton.. Why didn't you let Bryana come talk to me?" I asked him as he and I walked behind the group.

"Because.. I didn't want her to. I didn't want you back in my life at the time. I felt like you had betrayed me. Even though that really wasn't the case. I felt like you did. But as time went on, I wished so badly that I had let her. Maybe things wouldn't have gotten so bad. You could have been touring with us from the beginning."

"It wouldn't have mattered, as much as I wanted you back in my life, I probably wouldn't have come with you had you asked me then. I was still mad at you." I told him truthfully. As much as I wanted him back, I was so angry with him for picking Bryana over me, that it would have blinded my ability to make a coherent choice.

    As I opened my mouth to add on to my previous statement, I was deafened by a roar of fans screaming as we rounded the corner causing me to jump and grab on to Ashton's arm.

"Ashton can't we take a back way? We can't keep going through them. You're the one who said you don't want Kelsey and I outed to the media just yet. The more we go through them, the easier it is for them to get our photos and find out who we are." I told him, and he nodded. Putting a firm grip on my waist, he whispered something in Dave's ear, who then led us to a corridor on the right, that led us directly around the fans.

"I'm sorry to make you chose us over your fans." I said once we got out of the airport and into the suv.

"Don't be sorry Ryleigh, you were right. We can't keep parading you around in front of them. It's dangerous for you, and us." Michael said, smiling. I had a feeling none of them were in the mood to be signing things and taking pictures with fans.

"You know eventually we're going to have to tell everyone who you are and why you're with us, right?" Ashton said.

"I'm well aware of that Ashton. I just don't want to right now. When the time is right." I told them. I was scared for the world to find out who I was. I was even more scared Tristan would find out and come after me. I've only seen him once since the time he beat me up and left me in the alley. I didn't plan on ever seeing him again.

    We drove to the hotel in silence. The jet lag was awful. I just wanted to crawl into my bed and fall asleep. But of course, with Ashton and the lads, that wasn't going to happen.

"Ryleigh, will you play guitar for us?" Luke asked, noticing me eyeballing his guitar case.

"Do I have to?" I asked.