Wasted Time

Chapter 15

Ashton's POV

"Where's Maddy?" I asked, frowning as I looked around the living room, where most people were sitting watching TV or on their phones. Nobody responded.

"Hello? Anyone alive?"

"I told her you guys were going out, and she said she'd make her own way back," said Emily in a monotone voice, without looking away from the screen. "I think she was going out with a friend or something."

"Are you nearly ready, Luke?" I asked, looking over at him. He was sitting on the end of the other sofa, gazing at Emily slightly longingly. Ever since I had spoken to him about spending less time with Emily, he had been avoiding her, but she was so busy with university that she had barely noticed.

"Yeah," he said, shaking his head as if to clear it of his thoughts, and standing up to join me. "Where's Calum?"

"In his room, I think," I shrugged. "CAL?"

"Oh, are you guys going out now?" Michael asked, emerging from our room.

"I hope so," I sighed, checking the time on my phone. "We were supposed to leave an hour ago."

"Well I literally just got an email with the finished version of all those songs we recorded the other day... you want to stay and listen to them?" I hummed indecisively.

"I really want to hear them... I guess we don't have to go out, it's not that important... I'll ask the others." Luke and Calum agreed that they would rather listen to the results of the recording session, so we called off the outing, and we all gathered on the sofa, with Emily listening in.

"I'm so excited about this," she squealed, jumping up and down on the sofa. "I literally have not heard anything so far..."

We listened to a couple of the finished songs, and everyone was thrilled with how they had turned out. Emily showered us with praise about everything; the lyrics, the melodies, our voices, the guitar solos... she was a very positive person to share our music with.

"One more..." said Michael, clicking the file on his laptop and waiting for it to load. "This one's called The Only Reason..."

"Wait a second, was that a knock at the door?" I asked, glancing over at it.

"I didn't hear anything," Calum shrugged.

"I'll just check," I sighed, getting up reluctantly. I pulled the door inwards towards me, but immediately wished I hadn't. Maddy and Chris fell into the room, their hands all over each other and their mouths locked in a passionate kiss. I stood there awkwardly for a moment, expecting them to break apart, but they didn't. I cleared my throat loudly.

"A-Ashton?" Maddy stuttered, immediately looking guilty when she saw me. "I thought you were going out..."

"Changed my mind." I slammed the door closed behind them.

"Ash..."

"Maddy, I don't want to hear it. We've argued enough."

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean for you to see that..."

"So you were just going to do it behind my back?" I felt anger rise up, boiling furiously inside me. "Look, I know we aren't exactly together at the moment, but I didn't think you would find someone else so quickly, and try to hide it from me!"

"I wasn't hiding it from you," she said quietly. "We were just trying things out, I didn't want to get you worked up over nothing..."

"Nothing? Is that what this is?"

"What's going on?" asked Calum, coming out from the living room. His eyes scanned over my defensive pose and Maddy and Chris's guilty faces and swollen lips, and he worked it out soon enough. "Oh..."

"I thought you guys were all going out," Maddy frowned.

"We were, but then Michael got an email with all the songs we recorded the other day, we were all listening to them... why don't you guys come and hear them?" Calum suggested. Maddy and I glared at each other, but made our way back into the living room, Chris following awkwardly behind us as if not quite sure that he was invited. Calum hung back to talk to him, presumably apologising for our behaviour. I was so sick of people doing that. I slumped down on the sofa next to Luke, annoyed but still curious to hear the finished version of the song. Michael pressed play, and the music began to play softly through the silent living room, and everyone listened intently. Michael's voice began to gently sing the emotional lyrics, and I smiled as I saw how well the recording had turned out. I grew happier and happier as the song went on – everything about it sounded as I would have wanted. I glanced over at Maddy to see her reaction. Her eyes were sparkling, and the corners of her mouth were turned up slightly into a smile. Her gaze flicked over to me, and I found myself automatically smiling too, an instinct left over from when we were together. For a second, it felt just like old times, when we used to smile easily at just being with each other, because that was enough to make us happy. Then Maddy turned to smile up at Chris, and the moment was broken. I stared down at my knees, frustrated, until the song ended.

"That sounded awesome," I said, unable to stop myself from being delighted with the finished version despite how angry and upset I still was.

"Oh my gosh... who wrote that?" Emily asked. Her mouth had dropped open and her eyes were wide in the dim light.

"I did," said Michael shyly. He stared at the laptop screen, pretending it was no big deal, but I knew that he was really self-conscious about his music and really wanted everyone to like it.

"It was amazing!" she said enthusiastically. "I loved it so much! I'm not even just saying that, it was honestly so emotional, and perfect, and... wow. The fans are going to love it so much?"

"You really think so?" he asked, his eyes full of hope as he looked at her. "That means a lot, thanks." His smile grew into a wide grin.

"Yeah, I absolutely loved that," said Maddy.

"I haven't heard much of your other music, but I really enjoyed that," said Chris. "I should listen to some more of your stuff."

"Yeah, that would be nice," I said, faking politeness. "We could all meet up and discuss it over coffee. What fun!"

"Is that really necessary?" Maddy asked.

"Is it really necessary for you to bring him back here and snog him in front of me?"

"Look, I don't want to be a part of this argument, but I really don't see any reason why Maddy can't kiss me if she wants to," Chris said boldly, surprising all of us.

"Shut up, you've only known her a few months!" I yelled, losing my temper.

"Ashton, when will you get the message? It's over between us, and you cannot control what I do with my life. If I want to kiss Chris, I can, and I will." She turned dramatically to Chris and began to make out with him again, her hands roaming all over his body. I clenched my jaw and stormed straight to my bedroom, not waiting to see anybody else's reaction. I let my head drop into my hands, and for the first time since this argument began, I allowed the sobs to take control of my body, causing it to shake as the tears dripped through my fingers.