Heartbreak Girl

Part 7

It was three weeks later that Ashton followed his bandmates into the bar in town, where Luke had arranged for them to play a few songs. He watched as Michael led Bethany to a table whilst he and Calum carried their instruments, Luke talking to the manager.

Once they had set up and the evening's customers had starting arriving, Ashton dropped into the seat beside the only woman in their group.

"Nervous?" she asked, fiddling with her phone to give her hands something to do.

"A little," he confessed, watching the others at the bar as they gave them some privacy. "There are more people than I expected."

"You'll be fine, Ash," she told him, taking his hand the same way he had done numerous times the past five weeks. "I don't think I know anyone as confident as the four of you."

"Confidence can only get you so far, love," he reminded the older woman. "We're playing our own stuff to an audience that isn't you. That's big for us."

"Yes, it is," she agreed. "But they'd be idiots not to like you. You're going to be great."

"What is it?" questioned Ashton when her smile suddenly vanished and she ducked her head down. "Bethany?"

"Greg just walked in with his friends and new girlfriend," she murmured, subconsciously tightening her grip on his hand.

"Hey, look at me," he said softly, tilting her head up when she didn't comply. "Forget about him. You're here to see your best friends play their music at their first gig. You're here to have a good time and he's not going to ruin that, ok?" She nodded slowly, unsure. "Good. We'll be right here if you need us."

"They're calling you over," she told him a minute later, noticing the other boys gesturing to him. Seeing him visibly tense with nerves, she impulsively leant over and kissed his cheek. "For luck," she whispered, not meeting his eyes.

Smiling to himself, he pressed a kiss to the back of her hand and headed over to the rest of his band.

"Not a word," he hissed at their knowing smirks as they got in position.

"Hi, everyone," Luke spoke into the microphone once they had been given the go ahead by one of the workers. "We're Five Seconds of Summer and we're going to play a few songs for you tonight. All of our songs are written by us, so please go easy on us; this is our first time playing to an audience." The four musicians relaxed slightly when their audience chuckled. "This is Voodoo Doll."

As they made their way through their first song, Ashton kept glancing over at Bethany, wanting to make sure she was ok. It was only after they had performed Good Girls and Long Way Home that he looked away, not knowing how she would react to their next song.

"You've got a boyfriend,

And he's a total loser," Luke started the song the drummer had written about their friend.

"Got a big house,

He says he lives alone,

But when I drove by,

I could see his mum was home,

I've got my own place,

Just saying,

He says he loves you,

But it's all a lie,

He's seeing someone else,

Right behind you back,

You know I'd never do that,

Just saying," sang Ashton, who had been forced into singing the verse so he didn't have to sing the other song he had written.