He Doesn't Know; I Know

Part Eighteen: All or nothing

Ashton's P.O.V.

"Sad to hear about Calum," he said. I can hear the disappointment in his voice. "We were expecting all of you here."

"Yeah," I frowned, glancing over to Luke who was listening very closely to my conversation with Louis.

Louis called in to update us. They've already booked our flight to UK and we're set to leave on Thursday afternoon. Apparently, Calum left today for Brazil.

I wanna be mad at him. This was their dream in the first place; this has been our dream since we started playing together. I can still remember that one time he and Michael said on the video to make them famous. And now that we have our shot at it, he just left.

But, I just can't be mad at him. Football has been his everything for years. It has been his greatest dream, I know. And though a part of me is hurting, I'm just proud of where he is now.

"We haven't found a replacement for him though," I continued. "Still hoping he'd show up."

"No worries, mate," he replied. I can hear noises from the background. Looks like the other boys were with him. "Our guy can play bass for the meantime. So, we'll see you guys soon."

"Yes," I smiled. "Thank you again."

"No problem, mate," he said. "Bye."

"Bye," I finally said before the line went off. And, as if on cue, the door flew open as Michael entered. I raised my eyebrow. His hands were formed in as if he was holding a gun.

"Freeze!" He yelled. "Drop your weapon!"

"Dork," Michelle rolled her eyes, giggling. She came in next, closing the door behind.

"What took you so long?" Luke asked, as she slammed herself down the couch next to him.

"We had to drop my sister to my dad's," Michael shrugged, taking the spot next to her.

"Your sister?" Delilah asked, coming back from the kitchen with a tray of snacks. Harry, my brother, was following her behind. Its just cute, it looks like he fancies her.

"Stella?" I asked. He nodded without even looking at me. "Thought she's not coming until next week?"

"Well," he started. "She wanted to surprise us."

"Turned the other way around," Michelle chuckled. I eyed her, more in an interested matter. "Eleanor thought Stella was his girl or something. She started ranting and said she'll go for either of you instead."

"No way!" Luke blurted out. "I don't even like her. She's not my type."

"Pointed that out to her," she said. "Turns out she's all into Harry and was just going to use Michael."

"Me?" Harry asked, his head shots up at the call of his name.

We laughed.

"No," I cooed, smiling. He turned bright red. "Go to mum's and help her."

He ran to the backyard where mum was, waving to Delilah.

"Looks like Harry's having a crush," Michael teased, winking at her.

"Shut up," she hissed, frowning.

"Okay," I sighed. They all looked at me. "We need to set things now. Calum clearly just left for real and we haven't talk about it yet."

"Yeah," Luke nodded. "And Louis was on the phone awhile ago. We're leaving on Thursday. They'll be providing one of their guys to play bass for us."

"Great," Michelle said happily. "Calum can totally come back in after Brazil."

"That's the plan," I agreed. "So, its something new to us. The place is definitely foreign. We don't know anyone from there. But, the thing is, we got each other and this is it!"

"I'm feeling you," Michael grinned.

"Let's give all our best, I say," I said, smiling widely.

"But," Luke started, with a worry tone on his voice. "What about school? Our parents? I haven't said it to my mum. Have you guys?"

Michael shook his head.

"Easy," I smiled. I'm going to trust my instinct on this one.

They looked at me, confused.

"Mum!" I called. "I need you please!"

Within a minute, my mum came with a worried look. "What happened?"

"Nothing, really," I smiled, reassuring her. "I just wanted to know your opinion and if you'd be so kind to let me fly all the way to UK with these boys to play music."

"Oh," she said, taken aback. Then she smiled. "For your age, you've grown so much already. You've done enough for us, its time you do something you want. Just stick together and look after these boys."

"Really?" I asked, beaming.

She nodded, smiling.

I stood up and hugged her. "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! I'll make you proud!"

"Already am," she said, pulling away. "Now, don't ever call me again as if its an emergency. You'd give me a heart attack."

"I won't," I chuckle, as she turned on her heels and left. I looked back at them, smiling. "I'm good to go."

"Wish mine won't be like Calum's," Michael muttered. "I'll try and talk to mum tonight and check in with dad tomorrow."

"So," Delilah started. "This means you'll have to drop out of school?"

"And I'll be resigning from work," I shrugged. I work part time at KFC, did I mention that?!

"Yeah, I guess," Michael said.

"I want to finish school," Luke frowned.

"We have to make sacrifices," I said. "Its all or nothing."

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A/N: Now, who's mum is as cool as that?! Mine's somewhere in between.

I haven't updated, I know. Writer's block. But I'll try to do another chapter.