Unpredictable (A Lashton Fanfic)

Chapter Eighteen - Paradise?

When I woke up five hours later and glanced out the window, all I could see were palm trees, sand, and crystal clear water. I excitedly stood up and stepped off the plane, where I was surprised to find Ashton standing on the other side of the runway next to a small boat dock. “Goodmorning sunshine,” he said as I walked over to him. “It’s a beautiful day, isn’t it?”

            I nodded and motioned towards the yacht he was standing next to. “Someone’s got a nice boat. Whose is it, do you know?”

            Ashton smiled slyly. “It’s ours, at least for the week we’re going to be staying here. I called a yacht rental company while you were asleep last night and had it all arranged.” When he noticed my shocked expression he made his way over to me and put his arms around my waist. “See? I told you this trip was going to be amazing.”

            “Didn’t this cost a fortune?” I asked, staring in disbelief at the boat behind us. He just shrugged and smiled up at me. “Yeah, but it doesn’t matter. Now come on, we leave in a few minutes.”

            I followed him onto the boat and into the main cabin area, where I was surprised to find a young, tall guy with brown hair and blue-green eyes that matched the water below us perfectly. “Who’s this?” I whispered to Ashton.

            The guy must have heard me, because he turned around and gave us a welcoming smile. “My name’s Nash Grier, and I’m the captain of this ship.” As I shook his hand, I couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong. I couldn’t put my finger on it, but something was definitely off about this Nash guy. It might’ve been my oversensitive vampire senses; I didn’t know for sure. All I did know was that I was going to interact with him as little as possible.

            A voice broke through my thoughts, and I realized he must’ve asked me a question. “Sorry,” I mumbled. “What’d you ask?”

            “Aren’t you going to introduce yourselves?” Nash repeated, motioning towards Ash and I.

            “Yeah, my bad. I’m Luke Hemmings, and this is my boyfriend Ashton Irwin.” When I said that, he narrowed his eyes and gave us a strange look. “Aren’t ya’ll in that band 5 Seconds of Summer?”

            I nodded. “Yes, is there a problem?”

            Nash shook his head. “No, I just didn’t know you two were…never mind.” He quickly turned around again, and I took the opportunity to grab Ashton’s hand and lead him back towards the outside of the yacht. “What’s wrong, Lukey?”

            “I just don’t like that guy,” I said once I made sure he hadn’t followed behind us. “I don’t know what it is about him, I just don’t trust him and I’m not sure if I feel safe going out into the middle of the ocean with him.”

            Ashton sat down and motioned for me to do the same. “He seemed fine to me. Anyway, have you forgotten that we’re vampires? If he tries to hurt one of us we can just throw him out to the sharks.”

            I laughed and put my arm around him as we left the dock. Ashton could always manage to cheer me up no matter what the situation, and that was once again one of the things I loved most about him. We sat like that for what seemed like hours, just enjoying each other’s company, until I noticed a few dolphins jumping near the front of the boat. I grabbed my camera and leaned over the side trying to get a better look, smiling as the spray from the waves hit my face. “This is so beautiful,” I whispered, more to myself than anyone else. My smile widened when Ashton came up behind me and rested his head on my shoulder. “Yeah, it is, but nothing’s as beautiful as you.”

            I was about to say something, but all of a sudden I noticed movement out of the corner of my eye. Before I knew what was happening four boats had pulled up beside us, and guys with cameras were taking our pictures. “Luke! What’s going on here?” one of the guys yelled, while another one screamed, “Are you and Ashton a couple?”

            Thankfully, before Ash and I could say anything, a news helicopter started circling overhead, drowning out the reporters that were still yelling questions at us. I quickly grabbed Ashton’s hand once more and led him into the cabin of the yacht, away from the paparazzi. “What in the heck was that?” Nash, who was standing next to a large GPS system, asked us once we had walked in and closed the door behind us. “How did they find us?”

            “I don’t know,” I replied after a few moments. “I just don’t know.” I quickly looked over at Ashton, who had slumped down against the wall with his head in his hands. “Are you okay, Ash?”

            “They’re going to find out about us,” Ashton said, his voice barely a whisper. I leaned down so that I could hear him better and tried to get him to look up at me, but he wouldn’t. “It’s going to be all over the news. Pictures, videos…I can see it all now.”

            I sighed, anger flooding through me. I wanted to go out there and kill all of those no-good jerks and delete all of the pictures they had taken, but then I realized it wouldn’t do any good. That would just make things worse. Instead I wrapped both my arms around Ashton and tried my best to think of something reassuring to say. “You know what, Ash? Who cares if they find out about us. Our relationship’s nothing to be ashamed of, right?”

            “Of course not,” Ashton said quickly, his voice shaking. “but this could end our careers, Lukey.” He looked up at me, a scared and fearful expression on his face. “And what if the fans don’t approve?”

            I lifted my thumb to wipe away the tears that had started to fall from his eyes. “It’s going to be okay, Ash. We’re going to get through this.” I couldn’t think of anything else to say, so I just held him closer to me and tried not to think too hard about the consequences that could come from the world finding out about us being a couple. I kept waiting for my phone to ring, for management to call and yell at us for being so careless.

            “I just don’t understand how those guys found us,” Nash commented, once again breaking through my thoughts. “We’re out here in the middle of the ocean. There’s not supposed to be anyone else out here this far from shore, much less paparazzi.” He shrugged and walked over to the window. “Well, they’re all gone now. Do you want to go back outside?” I shook my head and closed my eyes, suddenly exhausted.

            I must’ve drifted off because when I reopened my eyes, sunlight was no longer filtering in through the windows. The sky had become dark and gray, full of ominous clouds, and there was the sort of electricity in the air that you felt right before a storm was about to hit. “Is it supposed to rain today?” I asked as I looked around with half-closed eyes.

            “No,” Nash replied, but there was something in his voice that told me he was lying. Why would he lie about the weather? I carefully stood up—along with Ashton—and pushed past Nash, trying to get a better look at the radar system. When I saw something flash across the screen that said ‘hurricane warning’, I couldn’t believe my eyes. “Are you aware of the fact that we’re heading straight towards a category three hurricane?” I exclaimed, trying to stay calm.

            Nash’s eyes widened. “What are you talking about? There’s no hurricane!” He was about to say something else, but all of a sudden thunder crashed overhead and lightning lit up the dark skies. Rain started pouring down in sheets, and the previously calm waters began raging around us, rocking our boat back and forth.

             I grabbed Ashton and pulled him close, holding him tighter than I’ve held anyone in my entire life. I could see Nash out of the corner of my eye frantically trying to turn the wheel of the ship, but for some reason it wouldn’t move. Before I knew what was happening we were crashing onto what I’m guessing was rocks, because something incredibly rough and hard hit me and everything went black.