aces baby - a.i

ch.12--fringe hair

ashtons pov

"No." Calum and Luke chorused not even a second after I gave them my thoughts.

"Look," I pull my lip to one side.

"Michael shows no sign of forgiving us, or doing it first for that matter," I sadly look toward the door in which he's sitting in.

"So, we should be the bigger men and just- just do it first." I finish.

"But, Ashton." Luke's low voice hums and I look down at him.

I search Calum's face for any understanding.

There is none.

"I'm going to do it, and I'm not waiting for you. Now, that doesn't mean I believe in what I'm doing because, well, I don't like her. But, my-our relationship with Michael is more important."

Calum silently nods.

I take a deep breath and step into the kitchen.

"Hey -" I start, but he holds up a finger. I nod and pull out a chair.

"Wha-?"

"Did I?"

"Well...No."

A silence follows his last statement. His bites his bottom lip and paces around some.

"Babe, I promise they're cool."

Oh.

"Babe?"

He pulls away from the phone and looks sadly down at it. He runs his hand through his hair and mutters a few silent words. He throws his phone into the wall, surely shattering the screen.

"Yeah?" he breathes.

"I mean, if now is a bad time I can-"

He waves his hand. "You're fine." His voice is firm.

"Um, I'd like to be direct here. I'm sorry."

He looks up and brings his hands to his hips.

"For Katherine. I shouldn't have judged her like that because I don't know her."

He opens his mouth to say something.

"Wait, just lemme get this out. Clearly you like her, and I- well, we should respect that. So, I hope you'll forgive me."

His eyes show he's happy, but his face shows something else.

"Does this go for the other boys too?" His voice is so strained I could barely hear it.

Lying would probably make this worse. I awkwardly scratch the back of my neck.

"Well, quite frankly I don't know. I think, um, I think-"

I look up at him.

"I think they're waiting for you to apologize first."

He nods briskly, pursing his lips.

"Well, thanks Ash, but you can tell them I'm not going to. I did nothing!" He exclaims, a dry surprise coating his words.

I think about this. Michael didn't really do anything.

"Actually, you kind of did." I say.

"No, I didn't, god dammit!" He mutters.

"Listen, Luke and Calum are taking this worse than I am, and I'm not really ok. You told them you wished the band had never formed. Maybe you didn't take that to heart, but they definitely did." I exhale in one breath, saying all on my mind.