Pieces of Time

13

5 months later ...

Michael's POV

We've been on tour for 5 months now and Nicole has not said a word. None of us have had the time to talk to Winter because we are all preoccupied with keeping Nicole's mouth shut.

Being on a tour bus has made it easier to make sure Nicole and Ashton aren't alone, yet more difficult to talk to Winter. Luckily, tomorrow morning we are going to a hotel.

Ashton's POV

Sitting in yet another airport early in the morning, reminds me of the first day of tour.

Winter and I have gotten extremely close and we are all having a blast on this tour.

Next we have North America, and Winter is especially excited about it.

"I cant wait for you to meet my friends." She smiled excited.

"What's their names again?" Calum asked drinking coffee.

"Emma and Patricia." She smiled. "They were supposed to come and visit me back home but I told them I would come to them. It's been so long."

"Are they cute?" Michael asked. "I don't know how to answer that, but they're off limits!" She warned.

"Alright, let's get on the plane!" John shouted.

Nicole was acting strange. She constantly came up to me or looked at me like she wanted to speak to me. At one point, I thought she was forming a friendship with Michael. But then I spotted them arguing one night and that ship sailed.

---

We got to the hotel and were greeted by a crowd of fans. At times it was overwhelming but I knew I would never take for granted the love they have for us.

"I'm bunking with Winter this time." Michael shouted.

"Nope. Calum asked first." I shouted.

"How did you know?" Winter laughed. "Because your bunk on the bus was above mine. I heard every conversation." I smirked.

"I only agreed to let you guys share rooms if you behaved. I'm sure Winter would love a room to herself!" John shouted.

"I would." Winter smiled.

We all piled into the elevator until arriving at our floor of the hotel. John handed out the keys and then Winter disappeared as we all settled in the rooms.

"Where is Winter?" Michael asked as he unpacked. "I'm not sure. Maybe she is with John." I shrugged.

"She's my roommate this time around." Calum smiled.

"We all know mate." I laughed.

---

John's POV

"John," Winter knocked on my open hotel door. "Come in dear." I gestured for her to take a seat.

"Can we talk?" She shyly said.

"What about?" I asked.

"Well, when I talked to you about coming on this tour. One of your conditions was for me to tell you everything. My friendship with Ashton, my family situation, and I did it so I could help Ashton." She started.

"I know and I believe you will help him." I smiled for reassurance.

"I have struggled to tell Michael, Calum and Luke about my own life because they wont tell me what happened to Ashton's family. I wanted to know if you could tell me." She asked.

"Well Winter, I could tell you but that doesn't avoid the fact that you have to tell them about yourself."

"I will tell them, I just want to understand everything before I tell them and before we tell Ashton he lost his memory."

"Okay deal. Ashton doesn't have a family. The boys frantically called me when Ashton was in the hospital. By the time I got there, the doctor had already seen Ashton and everything was calm. Then Luke came up to me and said that the nurses werent giving them any information on Ashton's family. You see Winter, when the accident happened, Ashton's mom was driving and his siblings were in the back." I started.

"Were they going anywhere in particular or how did the boys find out about the crash?" She asked.

"Calum had a football game that night and that's where they were headed. When they didn't show up and Ashton wasn't answering, the boys found out. Anyway, I asked the nurses about his family and they gave me the news that they had already been transferred to another hospital. His mum and siblings must have been there for 8 hours and then they left. I was in shock, how could a mother leave her child? So I asked the nurse if his mum asked about him and she said no."

I looked at Winter and her eyes went wide. She looked furious.

"I had known Ashton for 2 years prior, but even if I had just met him that morning, I would not have abandoned him in that hospital the way those people did. They way his family did. At first, we were all furious but I was hopefully someone would call and ask about him. The entire time he was in the hospital, no one called to check on him. Michael, Calum and Luke's mums constantly came to help take care of Ashton and then when he was released he moved into a house with Michael. As you can assume, the boys never wanted to know about those people again and neither do I. But if his mum came asking about him, I would tell her that she lost her son when she abandoned him." I ended my story and sighed.

Winter wiped away a stray tear and then hugged me. "Thank you for telling me. I really needed to know. I'm going to get the boys and tell them my story now." She smiled.