arachnophobia ➸ a.i.

❁ e i g h t e e n ❁

- Leah -

"Can I see you for a moment, Leah?" He smiled politely. My eyes widened as I stood up, following him to the crowded hallway. Ashton led me through the bright, practically empty venue, as we had early access to our seats. As we walked, I realized where he was taking me: the concession stand.

"What do you want?" Ashton looked at me.

"Ashton, they have like twenty dollar drinks here." I paused. "I can pay for it."

"No, I've got it. You helped us sneak in. Lord knows how much those tickets cost."

"We won them this morning."

He hesitated, thinking for a moment. "Well still. You got us in and we met our inspirations."

I smiled lightly. "I guess I'll just have a water."

"Gotcha." He turned and we waited in the short line. I shrugged, chuckling at his sudden sweet attitude. He bought our water bottles and brought me near a small stone wall, where we sat beneath the trees and plants.

"Thank you so much for letting us in. That was amazing."

"Of course." I smiled.

"No, like seriously. I wouldn't do that for anyone with fear of being kicked out. I was shocked you did that." He grinned adorably at me.

Stop Leah, he's not adorable, dammit.

"I..." A million thoughts raced through my head. Am I really that easy to use? Did I really just sneak a boy that I hate and his friends into a fucking meet and greet? Lord knows how much those tickets were, and I snuck him and three others in for free?

"Like honestly, nobody has ever done that for me or the guys. We thought for sure we were going to get arrested for sneaking in through an air vent, but apparently not. Thanks to you."

"I am not myself." I chuckled.

"Dammit, Leah." He giggled. "I love that song."

"Same." I smiled, sipping a bit of water from the bottle Ashton had bought me. We sat in a comfortable silence as people who did not have meet and greet or any other VIP passes began to swarm into the arena.

"I freaking love concerts." Ashton muttered after a while.

"So do I."

"They really are life changing. While you're at one, you meet people who love the same music you do. Amazing people who understand you and are great friends, and plus they usually live within an hour or so of the venue. The music is better than any other music because it's live. You feel the bass in your heart. Afterwards, most people feel depressed but I feel inspired. I want to be like them someday. I want to play for thousands of people and watch as they scream the lyrics the boys and I wrote together for hours. I want to create the bass people feel. I want people to feel inspired by me."

My smile grew the entire time he spoke. "Ashton, that's amazing. I'm sure you will be able to, someday. You guys are growing a lot."

"Not enough to have a gig yet." He shrugged. "Plus it wouldn't be nearly as big as this concert. We're just four failures from Australia, which is probably one of the least connected countries in the world. People won't travel for us, but we do have some fans here."

"You're growing a lot." I smiled. "Exponentially. That means someday, you guys may even be on the charts. Or winning an Oscar. You never know what will happen."

"Your hope is strong." He met my eyes. "Which is amazing, super admirable. But also remember to stay down to earth."

"People say that a lot." I chuckled.