Violence (Sequel to Have Faith In Me)

17: Groupies

When I awakened, I was in the same position as I was when I slipped into unconsciousness. I looked over at Ashton, and he has disappeared. Figures.

I didn't expect him to sleep there, kneeling on the floor next to my bed couldn't have been comfy. I looked at the clock, and saw that it was 2pm. My eyes bulged and I fell out of bed with a thump.

"Fuck." I muttered, rubbing my lower back.

"You alright there?" Ashton asked, appearing at my doorway, laughing down at me. He walked over and kept snickering as he held his hands out and hauled me up.

"Hey, what happened to your hands?" He asked, frowning at my knuckles which were swollen. His tone of voice switched from joking to quiet and inquisitive.

I swallowed the lump in my throat. I couldn't find my voice. My mouth opened and closed like a goldfish, no words being produced.

"D-did you do this?" He asked, his voice cracking at the end.

I looked to my feet and bit my lip, pulling my hands away.

"H-how?" It sounded like he was scared to know the answer.

I walked out of my room, knowing he was hot on my heels. I went down the stairs and then down the next set of stairs to the basement.

He didn't say a word as I brought him to the wall.

There was two extremely large dents in the wall. Some of the board had broken through to the cement. On the floor, there was debris everywhere, white specs incorporated into the rubble from the paint. Of course there was dried blood on the wall, repeated fist marks. There was droplets of dried blood on the floor too.

I stayed put just staring at the wall for a good 5 minutes with Ashton stood a bit behind me, next to me.

I slowly turned around, still looking at the floor in shame. He didn't say anything at first.

He held my shoulder and pulled my chin up with his finger. He made eye contact with me and I saw the pain in his eyes, I saw the tears. But I stayed there, expressionless. It happened. Why is he sad about it now?

"When was this?"

I told him about when I tried to call Calum, and the indirect tweet. I told him about how I felt and what happened. And how he shouldn't worry, because the dog stopped me eventually.

He used the hand that was resting on my shoulder to pull me into a hug. I stood there lifeless, my hands drooped at my sides, and I just let him hug me. It was as if I was in a bubble across the room. I couldn't feel it. I felt so far away from him when in reality, he was right here hugging the life out of me.

Would he still let me stay home alone, knowing that I just beat a wall to a pulp? Uh-oh.

It didn't look like he was going to break the silence, so I did.

"The house ain't so immaculate now, is it?" I gave an uneasy laugh.

He just pulled away and gave me a harsh look. "Kayla, this isn't funny."

"As far as I'm concerned, the way Luke and Calum has been treating me isn't funny either." I shot back.

"Okay, Luke stepped out of line once. You can't hold that against him forever, you should know that everyone makes a verbal mistake sometimes."

"But he was just saying what he thou-"

"As much as you hate to hear this, but he was right in the fact that he's got a lot on his place at the moment."

He paused, waiting me to butt in and express my opinion. When I didn't say anything, he continued.

He lead me to the sofa and knelt in front of me, about to explain. I held my finger up and stopped him.

"You're treating me like a child, kneeling down like that. I'm sixteen, Ash." I reminded him.

He sighed, and then nodded, looking away from me.

He walked upstairs and into the kitchen, I followed him. He made us both a cup of tea and we sat at the island in the middle of the kitchen, directly opposite each other.

"So, what's on his 'plate'?" I enquired.

He nodded, knowing that he had to get to the point.

"Okay, well you know he's got a girlfriend, he's told you that."

I rolled my eyes, if this is about her causing a problem I swear to God I'm going to slau-.

"Well, before you draw conclusions and start blaming her, none of that is her fault. It's everything that comes with a girlfriend. You see, she's actually a really lovely person, and Luke can't wait for you to meet her. It's just that they've been spotted in public multiple times and nothing's been confirmed. Fans are hating on her, calling her a 'slag' and a 'slut' and you know, all the other things that a beautiful woman should not be called."

I slouched a little in my seat. I knew what that felt like. But to be called it by complete strangers, who don't know you even the slightest? And if it's their fandom, they're sure to come in their thousands.

"That sucks." I was ready to say something else when he carried on.

"It isn't just the fam, it's the press too," he rubbed his temples with his thumb and forefinger, "they are assuming that she's a groupie. You know what that is don't you?"

I bit my lip and looked at the table, nodding. "She doesn't deserve that." I honestly felt so bad for this poor girl. All she's done is fall in love. And now she's been thrown into all of this, she's being targeted for no reason. She's getting unnecessary hate and she's been labelled as a whore. No one deserves that.

"Everyone's believing it, too. It's encouraging the fans' negative behaviour and its making not only Luke and Zoe look terrible in the public eye, but its showing the rest of the world that we have rude fans."

Typical Ashton, always thinking about the fans too.

"Why don't they just confirm it then?" I ask, it seemed like such a simple solution.

"Calum."