ʟᴀᴄᴇᴅ ᴡɪᴛʜ ʜɪᴍ- ᴄ.ʜ

Vol 36: Alcoholic hot chocolates

"Do you know what's up Calum's ass?" Micheal scorned as he leaned on one of the stools near a bench against the pizza shop window waiting to collect their pizzas.

Now dark, the fluorescent down lights of the pizza shop shone brightly in Micheal and Ashton's eyes, their noses being infiltrated by the smell of semi burnt bread and cheese.

Ashton looked blankly back at Micheal as he shrugged, not able to provide a straight answer but also a little surprised as he wasn't the only one who noticed.

Ashton then peered behind him through the window to see Calum resting his back against the brick wall, attempting to light a cigarette between his fingers. Ashton could see the frustration within his eyes. "Says he can't stand Lucy." But Ashton knew Calum doesn't just let some girl ruin his mood like that so easily. Ashton knew she's been on her nerves for a while, usually Calum ignores things that bother him. So why he looked so worked up like something else was on his mind, he had no clue.

Micheal chuckled with a smirk, head shaking like what Ashton had just said was hard to believe. "Usually he doesn't give a shit." Micheal said as he readjusted his position leaning on the stool. "Why is he letting it bother him so much? The man has no feelings."

As the more fame the boys experienced, the more Calum hid his feelings and his emotions- so it was now uncommon to see him openly being frustrated or annoyed at anything.

"I know." Ashton looked back at Calum but he wasn't there.

As their order was called up, Micheal jogged his way to the counter while Ashton made his way back to the car and to find where Calum would of wondered about. Ashton fumbling around for his keys in the cool air, noticed a girl with short curly hair and a nose piercing that seemed all too familiar. It was Tara- Mia's older sister. Ashton recognised her from high school and they were still mutuals on twitter, so naturally, he wanted to see how she was doing.

Tara, her eye caught in Ashtons', widened her eyes and smiled as she made her way towards Ashton, grocery bags struggling in her hands.

"Oh my god! Hi Ashton! How've you've been? How's the band?" Her brown eyes sparkled in the night light.

"Hey!" He gave her a toothy smile. "You know- not bad, just home for a break!" He sighed as cold air exiled his mouth. And Tara grinned with a beam, rubbing her hands together.

Ashton looked at her groceries and then back at her. "Do you need a hand? Brining those to your car?" He questioned as he searched around for her car, trying to remember what it looked like.

"Oh- no, don't worry about it-" But before she tried to politely decline his help, one of the plastic bags gave way and cans of beans and vegetables toppled down on the gravel which caused Tara to grimace.

Before Tara could crouch down, Ashton bet her to it. "It's ok- I got it." Ashton said as he smiled back up at Tara who tilted her head with a grateful expression.

Ashton helped Tara pack her groceries into the boot of her car, making sure he didn't leave any can soup or broccoli behind on the pavement. "How was Europe by the way?"Ashton asked as he put the last of the bags in her car. Tara raised her eyebrows back at Ashton, as if confused about how he knew as she didn't post much on her social media. "Lacey told me- couldn't wait to have her other half back." This caused Tara to chuckle and roll her eyes, as if already sick of Mia and Lacey's shenanigans.

"Yeah- it was amazing! Still jet lagged though!" Tara groaned as she closed the boot of her car. "Only two days back and I'm sick of here already."

Ashton looked back up at Tara questionably. "Two days?" Ashton squinted his eyes like something didn't make sense.