Silence » a.i

3.7

When Ashton kissed me, it was soft and tentative, but passionate. When I kissed Luke, it was just a peck on the mouth. Kissing Michael, though, was something completely different. He held me as if I was going to break.

Although it was only for about five seconds, it still made my heartbeat pickup. It was...different. But I didn't intend to kiss Michael. I knew I still loved Ashton.

I heard a pair of feet stomp down the hallway. Both Michael and I looked up just to catch the back of Ashton disappear to the living room. I sighed, letting my head fall forward against Mikey's shoulder.

"Sorry." Michael said, hugging me to him.

"Don't be," I told him, sitting up and looking into his green eyes. "It's been a weird night."

Then another set of footsteps made their way down the hall. We turned and saw Luke looking around the room in confusion.

"I'm sorry, but what has Ashton so pissed off right now?" he questioned.

Michael and I slowly raised our hands.

"Guilty." I let out an embarrassed laugh.

Luke's eyes widened before he narrowed them at us, "I should've expected that. Michael's never been close to many girls except Annie."

"Shut up, Luke." Michael groaned as I giggled at him. Michael had never gotten embarrassed before -- that I could remember.

"So where'd Ashton go?" I wondered, hoping he wasn't going to freak out some more.

Just as I asked, my phone began to go off. I took it out and saw it was Jeremy calling, "Hello?"

"Ashton looks like he's going to murder someone," he stated. "What the hell did you guys do to him?"

"Why is he at Calum's?" I asked.

"Something about taking a gift?" he explained, but it sounded like he was asking me.

"No!" I yelled, not meaning to. I took a deep breath. "Just put Calum on the phone."

"What?" Luke wondered, rushing over.

"Shh." I said, putting my hand on his mouth.

He made some muffled talking noises that I ignored while Calum got on the phone, "He's pissed."

"I know," I huffed. "Just don't give or take anything from him, okay?"

"Cooper, the gifts are random; you won't know what you're getting or giving until it's done," he stressed. "I don't want you to-"

"I understand you're trying to look out for me, Cal, but he's not getting it." I stated.

He sighed, "Alright. I'll be over later. In the mean time, I'll try to distract him while you get some sleep."

I grumbled an agreement before settling my phone down on the counter. As I slid down, Michael stepped back, letting me walk around the counter to exit the kitchen. I turned when I noticed no one was following me, "Isn't anyone coming?"

"Where?" Michael quizzed.

"To bed, dumbass."

He raised his eyebrows in amusement as Luke just stared at me, "Death has made you sassy."

I flipped Luke off before looking at between them, "So who's bunking with me tonight?"

Despite what just happened, Michael walked forward.

Luke looked between us, "It's weird seeing Michael be like this with a girl."

"Like what?" I questioned.

"He's actually listening to you." he breathed in amazement as Michael made his way over to me.

"Fuck off, Hemmings." Michael said as we went down the hall.

"There's our Michael!" Luke laughed.

-

I woke up to a lot of whispering. My eyes fluttered open to see Mikey, Luke, Calum, Ashton, and Jeremy talking above me, not even noticing the fact I had woken up.

"I told you not to." Calum was groaning.

"I wish I cared." Luke shrugged.

"She said not to let Ashton have it." Jeremy shrugged.

"Since when did you two grow a pair?" Michael snorted.

"Shut up, she's awake." Ashton pointed out, locking eyes with me.

Everyone looked down and I studied all of their faces. They seemed to be kind of scared. Everyone except for Luke, who looked unusually smug about something. 

"What?" I wondered.

Michael looked away, biting his lip nervously. He looked back down at me, "We might've found a loophole."

I sat up on my arms, "For what?"

"The gift..." Calum replied.

I groaned, throwing my head back onto my pillows, "What did you do?"

"Don't be angry, Cooper!" Luke smiled, poking me in the sides.

"How could I not be angry?" I yelled. "Do you know how terrible the gift could be?"

"But it's not," Calum said quickly. "Well, it wasn't. I kind of gave it away already."

"To who?"

Luke tossed an arm around me, "Bridgette, babe, I'm free."