The Art of Reconstruction (Andley)

4: Manufactured Smiles Lead to Manufactured Misery

"It's too early," I complained, rubbing my eyes.

"Andy, it's nearly ten in the morning. It's not that early," Juliet sighed, obviously done with my shit.

"But I didn't sleep last night," I groaned, taking a massive gulp of my coffee. "Oh, coffee, sweet nectar of the gods, help me." Juliet rolled her eyes as I banged my head against the window of the cab lightly in an attempt to wake myself up. It was true that I hadn't slept the night before. I had been too busy overthinking everything in my life. One topic that had stayed at the forefront of my mind was what was the best way to murder Ashley's new fling. I was leaning toward ricin at that particular moment. Although, good old-fashioned butcher knives also seemed like a good option.

"Andy, why do you look so murderous?" Juliet said, nudging me. "More murderous than usual, I mean."

'Because I'm plotting my ex-boyfriend's new girlfriend's death' did not seem like a good answer, so I opted out on that one. "Because I'm tired and want to go back to bed," I grumbled, "not to mention the fact that I drank three cups of coffee and now really have to pee." Juliet laughed a little, shaking her head at me. "Well, that's your own fault, isn't it?" she said. I gave her a reproachful glare, but she just smiled innocently.   

The car pulled up to the parking lot where we were meeting the rest of the guys.  Juliet was going to ride with us thankfully.  I was going to need her around to complain to.  I paid the driver and stepped out, getting mine and Juliet's suitcases out of the back. Our crew took them from me and started loading then onto the bus. 

"Hey, Andy, feeling better?" Jake greeted me, clapping me on the shoulder.

"Yeah," I said, putting on a fake smile.  "I'm tired, but I feel a lot better otherwise."  Jake gave me a sympathetic smile. "Good," he said, "because you're kind of an ass when you're sick." 

"Oh, okay," I said, glaring playfully at him.  "Tell me how you feel why don't you."  Jake have me a light punch in the shoulder before leading me over to where the other guys were standing.  Ash looked slightly disheveled which was strange since he was always the most put together out of all of us.  His hair was slightly disheveled and his eyes had purplish dark circles underneath them.  A pang of worry hit me, but I pushed it out if my mind.  It wasn't my job to worry about him.  He was a grown man who could deal with his problems on his own. 

"You guys ready?" I asked as I approached, slapping on a smile. Ash looked at me, seemingly surprised by my change of attitude. My act was convincing and I knew that. I had practiced this smile in the mirror and it was the perfect mix of cocky, cheerful, and charming. It was guaranteed to fool everyone and anyone. 

"Hell yeah!" CC said, pumped as ever.  Jinxx just nodded and Ashley remained silent.  He raised an eyebrow at me inquisitively as if to ask if I was actually okay or just faking it.  I didn't acknowledge it.  "I'm gonna go get settled in," I said. 

"Yeah, me too," Ashley said.  My jaw tightened in annoyance, but I kept up my smile.  I knew what he was trying to do here and I wasn't pleased about it, but I'd promised Juliet that I would be civil, so that's exactly what I would be.  "'Kay," I said and got into the bus with Ash close behind. 

The bus was exactly like I remembered and I was glad to be on it.  It felt like home.  As much as I enjoyed the time off that I had I knew that this was where I belonged.  "I can tell that smile's fake," Ash said, cutting to the chase.  Well, that certainly ruined my mood. 

I turned around, my expression neutral.  "And how did you come to that conclusion?"  I asked, crossing my arms.  Ashley rolled his eyes. 

"As if it wasn't obvious," he said. "I can read you like an open book, Andy." That got on my nerves a little bit. Who was he to say that he knew everything about me? I was different from how I was when we were together and Ashley didn't know a thing about this new me. "Listen here. I know you think that I need your help or some shit, but I don't and I would really appreciate it if you would back the fuck off."

I turned to walk into the back room of the bus, but Ash said something that made me freeze. "So you're shunning me now too? Stop running from everyone." I looked back at him, narrowing my eyes.

"What the hell do you mean?" I asked.

"I mean, you do this every time something bad happens. We break up and you don't talk to me practically ever. Kellin dies and you stop talking to Vic even though you have plenty of chances nowadays. I bet you won't even say hello to him once on this tour," Ash said, effortlessly pushing all of my buttons. "You can't just avoid people who remind you of bad things." I crossed the space between us in two strides, leaving about a foot between us.

"Don't talk about this like you know how it feels," I growled. "You don't know what it's like to lose your best friend, so don't tell me how to handle it."

"Who says I don't know what it's like?" Ash retorted, his dark eyes sparking with anger. I gave him a look of annoyance and disbelief. "Okay, what best friend have you lost?" I asked, raising my eyebrows.

"You," Ashley stated simply. I blinked at him for a second, slightly taken off guard. Then, rage swelled up. He couldn't say that. He hadn't lost me. He'd thrown me away. "Yeah, and whose fault was that?" I finally replied. I glared at him for a second before pushing past him and walking out of the bus.
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Just letting you guys know that I won't have set update days because I hate forcing chapters even though I kind of did that with this one. Also, my schedule is impossibly busy as of the moment, so it'll be hard to find time to write, but I promise that as soon as my schedule clears up updates will become more frequent. Anyway, hope you enjoyed. Make sure to vote and comment and all that shit. Xoxo - Lily