Tied Down

Chapter 12

 Luke shut the door to his car, staring at the bags that he pilled up in the backseat. "Well, I think that's my last bag..." He trailed off, looking towards Jesse to see if his tone would change her mind about kicking him out.

She just crossed her arms over her chest, not a word escaping her lips.

"What are you going to tell Zoe?" He asked, not bothering to glance up from the sidewalk where his gaze had set.

A sigh. A sign of defeat. She rolled her eyes, but answered his question. "That you're going away with Uncle Michael for the weekend."

"But, I'm actually going to be with Ashton..."

"Then, I'll tell her that."

Clearly, she was annoyed with him and wanted him to leave. He said good-bye to her and she waved, but waited until he got in the driver's seat and pulled away before going back in the apartment.

Had she done the right thing? She thought. I mean, he didn't even think it was a big deal that our daughter cussed at me...

After the internal debate, she decided that it was ok. Zoe was used to Luke being gone for months at a time, so one weekend wouldn't be a big deal.

In his rearview mirror, Luke watched as the space between him and his wife get bigger. He sighed, knowing that he shouldn't have reacted the way he did. Zoe cussing was a big deal to Jesse. All he did was laugh and tell her that all kids copy what their parents say. Jesse, on the other hand, didn't think that was appropriate at all, then proceeded to kick him out.

Personally, he thought that it was a little drastic, but she said that she wanted some space, even though he always leaves for world tours. But, if she wanted to think about his reaction, then it was fine. He had called Ashton, asking if he could bunk there for a bit. Ash, of course, said that it was fine because he had the extra space since Madi moved out.

Luke pulled up to Ashton's house and sighed at the sight of the once happy house. He didn't want to be here. He wanted to be at home with his family.

Ashton was standing outside, waving at his bandmate. "Hey, Luke! This weekend is going to be great. Just like old times."

Not being able to help himself, Luke chuckled at Ashton, who ran down to help him get his stuff. "You make us sound old by saying that, Ash."

"Shit, I do, don't I?" He laughed as Luke handed him some bags. "Shit. You moving in, mate? That's a lot of bags."

"Jesse, uh, packed for me..."

Silence hung between them for an uncomfortable length of time. Neither knowing what to say after that, so they just walked up to the house without a word escaping their lips. Then, Ashton led Luke into the condo and into the spare bedroom. "How's this?"

"Perfect. Thank you so much for letting me stay with you, Ash." Luke put the suitcase and guitar on the nicely made bed. He was surprised how neat the room was, but smiled. Ash must keep it nice in case Madi came back.

"No problem. You'd help me out if I needed it. I'm just returning the favour." Ashton awkwardly looked around the room, then said, "I'm going to order some Thai food. You want something?"
 "Yeah, that'd be great."

"The usual?"

"Yep. Thanks." Luke smiled, then watched as Ashton walked out of the room. This was going to be a long weekend...

Izzy rolled her eyes. Calum was being extremely difficult. She had just gotten off the phone with Ruby, who told her that Michael finally proposed. Personally, she thought that it was unfair. Even though Ruby and Michael have already started a family together, Izzy still thought that she'd be engaged to Calum by the time that happened. She tried not to think about it as she sat on the couch next to her boyfriend.

He glanced over at her, seeing a pout plastered on her face. "What's wrong?"

"Huh? Oh, nothing." She just said, telling Cal that she didn't want to talk about it.

His eyebrows rose, then he went back to scrolling on Twitter, retweeting some things fans sent him. "Well, something is wrong."

She sighed, then sat back up. "Doesn't it bother you that all the other guys have either gotten married or started families and you haven't?"

"So, that's what's been bothering you for the last few weeks." He nodded, still scrolling.

Irritated, Izzy snatched the phone from Calum's hand, placed it on the coffee table in front of them and then spoke loudly. "Yes. That does bother me. The fact that you haven't asked me to be with you for the rest of your life tells me that you don't see our relationship lasting that long. Which means that at some point, you're going to break up with me." She paused, trying to detect what his reaction would be. When she didn't get one, her rant continued from her lips. "So, if you are going to break up with me, you might as well do it right now. I'll pack up my stuff tomorrow morning and be out of your life by tomorrow evening."

Cal didn't say anything. He just sat there, in complete disbelief that she just said those words to him. The engagement ring in his pocket felt like it weighed eighty pounds. He didn't have the heart to pop the question right then and there. It wouldn't do any good; probably just make her even more pissed off. She stood up, tugged on her shirt, then went into their master bathroom. A few minutes later, he heard the shower through the walls. He texted Michael, saying that things were not going very well with the proposal plan.