Painful Love (MC fanfiction)

37 | Disposed Ring

ASHLEY'S POV

"So, how's the boyfriend?"

He seems to always be asking that.

"Why are you so interested in my boyfriend?" I laughed.

"Well, just wanna know if things are good or if I have to beat some bitch up." He stuffed his hands in his pocket.

"Nah, things are great." I lied. Biting the tip of my tongue, I resisted the urge to spill out the truth. It wasn't that I was ashamed of our status or anything, but it was just that I won't know what Sean would do. "No, you know what, things are terrible, actually."

His head turned abruptly to look at me. "Why? What happened?"

"Can we take a seat? I'd like to explain it over some coffee." He spotted a Starbucks across the road and we walked over to it. Sitting down outside, we each got our coffees and I decided to just tell him everything.

"If it's private or something, you don't have to tell me. I'm not forcing you." His sincerity filled his eyes as much as it laced in his tone. I shook my head, indicating I was going to tell him.

"It's just that... he's really... I don't know, isolated? Like, we barely get time to call and when we do we talk for mere minutes and he wouldn't story about his shows and the different places like before, it's just me talking now. We don't Skype or anything and we only text to know if he's free and I can call him. And he mumbles a lot, he doesn't talk aloud. I don't know what's going on. I wanna find the right time to ask him to tell me about it but we never have any time to talk. It just gets so frustrating after a while." I propped my chin up with the palm of my hand, one hand holding onto my coffee. Though it stung, it was good to feel something besides sadness and worry.

"Maybe you should just give him time to think. Pressuring him into phone calls makes him want to just forget about what ever's wrong. So just let him think for a few days, when he's finally comfortable enough to tell you what it is, then call or Skype or something. Just don't push him."
He adviced, a soft smile on his lips the whole way. Not like I was staring at them, though. But it made me feel less stressed and I felt as though I had everything under control. I was reassuring myself at this point.

I let out a breath I didn't even know I was holding. "Thanks so much, Sean. I really needed that." He reached across the table for my hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze.

"Any time." He smiled at me, eyes glistening under the sunlight. "Any time."

~~~~~~~~~

MICHAEL'S POV

"So, what now? What is the point of you telling us this?" A few people from the management crew asked me.

"I mean, this is a life-changing thing for me. I was hoping you'd at least give half a shit for me. All my medication, my treatment, I have to pay for it all. My money comes from the band, the band generates money through you. So what can you do for me?" I tried to stress on the fact that I wanted them to do what I wanted them to do for a change.

"Fine, we have it covered. We'll pay for it all, you don't have to worry about losing a cent." A guy crossed his arms, attempting to intimidate me. "What else do you want?"

"I know this is too much to ask for, but..." I contemplated the decision. Deciding, fuck it, just do it. "Could I go home for a while? I know that the band really wants this tour to go on, so One Direction can stay, because, it's their fucking tour. And I'm really sure you'd want us to continue because money is rolling in for you. But for us? I don't know about the other boys, but I'm pretty fucking homesick and I'm sick, so I'd really want to break the news to my family."