Luke took my hand and sat me on the couch, on the other corner of the room. He looked at me a bit concerned.
- Have you noticed? He said, his eyes open wide.
- Uh, no? Wait Michael and Mary?
- No, Ashton leaving! He looked pissed, really pissed. He said looking at the ground.
- Oh really? What’s wrong? I said, getting preoccupied too.
- I don’t know… I should go look for him. You coming? He said, a small smile on his lips.
- Uh, yeah! Yeah I’ll just tell Mary. I said, heading to the group in the middle of the room.
Luke was waiting for me on the other side of the door. He was wearing his skinny jeans and a white singlet with the nirvana logo on it. We started walking toward the stage when we heard drums. We both looked at each other before heading to the entrance of the stage. Just before we made our way on it, Luke took my hand and turned me around so I was facing him.
- Your friend, Maryssa, how is she? I mean, with boys… he said awkwardly, looking concerned but remaining his eyes on the ground.
- I don’t know, this is vague, isn’t it? I said in a joking tone. Why this question?
- Never mind, he said while making his way on the stage.
I grabbed his hand and pulled him back to me. No one ever does that to me.
- No way, you can’t just drop the bomb and let it go. I said, staring straight into his deep blue eyes.
- Arg, fine! He said, throwing his hands in the air in hopelessness. I’m not quite sure, but I think Michael is into your friend. The way he looked at her earlier, I’ve rarely seen that in six years.
- Wow, really? Well, to answer your question, I think she’s great with boys and she’s not really the kind of girl to play with others feelings, if that’s what you wanted to hear.
The drumming stopped and that brought us back to the reason of our trip to the stage: Ashton. Luke stepped on the stage followed by me. Ashton was sitting on the edge of the stage, his head buried in his hands. Luke sat down slowly beside him and so did I. Ashton snapped his head up. His eyes were red but not puffy, so I wasn’t quite sure if he had cried or just rubbed his eyes. He leaned forward to see who was sitting next to Luke. When he saw me, he buried his head again in his hands. Luke put his arm around his shoulders to comfort him.
- Aye mate! What’s up…? Said Luke, who kept his eyes on his friend.
Ashton raised his head again and leaned forward to look at me.
- Can I trust you, Call? Ashton said. His voice was shaking. Now I was 100% sure, he had cried.
- Of course, Ash! You can trust me! I said, a subtle smile on my face, while putting my hand on his shoulder.
- Thanks, he said. His eyes lit up and he smiled for the first time since we got here. Okay… So the thing is, I hate to see Maryssa with Michael. I mean, I don’t like her but she seems nice and sweet, she could be an awesome friend and I wouldn’t want her to be hurt, you know? He said, looking at the ground. His raised his head and looked at me. I’ve known Michael for 3 years now, Call, and I’ve seen him with a lot of girls and he always manages to break their heart. He doesn’t want a relationship. He wants to play. His voice faded on the last word.
- Don’t worry about that, Ash! She has me, and she now has you. She surely won’t fall for this kind of guy, I know her. Is that why you’ve been crying? I said.
I jumped off the stage and stood in front of him. He was now a couple of feet taller than me.
- Sort of… he managed to say.
Ashton looked at Luke and Luke looked down at me.
- A year ago, started Luke, Ashton met a girl at one of our shows. He fell hard for her but she preferred Michael since he was a bad boy and all this stuff. She ended up broken hearted. This story happens all the time. I guess that’s why he was pissed, isn’t it? He said, looking at Ashton.
- Yeah, that’s it. I just don’t want another girl to end up broken hearted like Ellyssa was.
I looked at Ashton with a really concerned look on my face. I opened my arms wide. He jumped off stage and hugged me thigh. I looked at Luke, who was still sitting on the stage and pouted my bottom lip. He laughed a bit, jumped off the stage and joined the hug.
I traced my thumbs under his eyes to sweep away the tears.
- Don’t worry about that, okay? We’re a team now, I said, looking into his eyes.
I smiled to comfort him and I pulled him into a hug again. After a couple of seconds, I released the hug and got both guys to follow me back to the room where the others were hanging out.
