Celebrity Heartbreak Girls || 5 Seconds of Summer

Close As Strangers

"Wake up Laur." Luke sang as he jumped on the bed.

"Where's Mikey?" She groaned as she turned to face him.

"He's working on some music with Ash and Shay. He asked me to come keep you company. Cal should be here soon too."

"So I'm stuck with dumb and dumber all day? That's just great. I'm sick of hanging out with you two losers." Laur said sarcastically.

"You love us." Luke said, rolling his eyes.

"That's debatable." She replied sitting up.

"What do you want to do today?" Luke questioned.

"Can we hang out by the pool today? I need sun and to get out of bed." Laur asked.

"That sounds fun, let me just text Cal and let him know." He replied, pulling his phone out of his pocket.

"Okay now get out so I can change." She replied, pushing him off the bed.

"Ash, you still haven't talked to her?" Shay questioned.

"No, I don't know what to say." He replied. She looked at him with a raised brow.

"Spit it out." He grumbled.

"Well how about you say sorry, dumbass." She threw herself onto the couch grabbing one of the pillows and putting it beneath her head. Ashtons expression darkened, he leaned forward and pulled the pillow from underneath her.

"How about you mind your own business, dumbass." He shoots back. Shay sits up again, not being comfortable without the pillow.

"How about you stop being a dick towards me when you really should be mad at yourself." Ashtons expression shifts to a guilty look, averting his eyes he says, "I just don't know how I'm going to explain to her why I haven't called the past days." He mumbled. Shay rolled her eyes. "You tell her the truth, babe."

"Did you just call me babe?" He asked, his face twisted up in disgust.

"Sure did, sweetheart. Now stop wallowing and call your fucking girlfriend." She said whilst getting up from the couch and walking out of the living room. Ashton let out a deep sigh and grabbed his phone from the table. He stares at the contact for a while, his finger hovering over the call button. Before he has the chance to press it, however, she's already calling him. He immediately picks up. The line stays silent for a moment.

"You answered." Nia whispered, the confusion seeping into her voice. Ashton thinks he can detect some sadness there too, maybe even a little resentment.

"I did." He replies after a beat. An awkward silence falls, neither are entirely certain of how to approach this conversation.

"You have nothing else to say?" Nia grumbled. Ash winces, not that she can see it. He was aware that he deserved her coldness, but it still stung.

"I'm sorry." He sighed, running a hand over his face.

"You wanna add some explanation to that apology?" Nia replied, some of the bite leaving her voice. "I need you to tell me what happened, Ash. I can't read your mind."

Ashton nodded, before realizing that she wouldn't be able to see that.

"Yeah, I know." He whispered. "I was honestly just scared."

"Scared of what?" She scoffed. "Of Milan? Of spending time with me? Or no, scared of even talking with me?"

"I was scared of losing you. I am scared of losing you." He blurted. Nia fell silent on the other end of the line.

"Why in the hell would you be scared of that?" She said.

"It's just that we just got back on our feet and I didn't want anything to jeopardize us again." He replied, frowning. He knew that what he was saying didn't make much sense, but he couldn't help his feelings.

"You ignoring me for days is jeopardizing us, Ash. Not us going to Milan together or me going alone." She hissed.

"I know I'm not making much sense, but I just didn't know what to say to you. Or how to say it." The desperation seeped into his voice.

"You should've just talked to me. Instead of acting like everything was perfectly fine before I left and then ghosting me for days." She replied. The line stayed quiet for a moment before she continued.

"I need a partner I can count on, Ash. I need to know that you'll communicate with me and I need to be able to trust that you will. But right now, I can't trust you. Not with this." Her voice trailed off at the end.

"Please, don't do this." Ashton whispered, his voice breaking at the end of the sentence.

"Listen, I'll finish my work here in Milan in the next few days. Maybe... maybe it's better if you don't call." She said, softly. "We can talk about this when I'm back."

"I don't want to fight with you." He said, squeezing his eyes shut.

"I don't want to fight with you, either. But right now, I also don't really want to talk to you, right now." She replied. "Give me some time, Ash. That's the least you could do."

"Yeah, I will. Sorry." He replied, "I love you."

"I'll talk to you later, Ash." She sighed, before ending the call. Ashton stared at a spot on the wall, tears welling up in his eyes. He had screwed up even worse than he could have imagined. But he would do anything to fix his mistakes and get his girl back.