Secrets // a.i.

Five

"Michael!" I shouted as I threw my arms around Michael, burying my face in his shoulder. Soft whimpers escaped my mouth as I cried again.

"Ri, what the hell happened?" He asked, pushing me back to see my face. Concern was clear on his features, his eyes searching mine.

"Some girl threw herself at me and I got lost in the crowd" I said softly. 

"Are you even serious?" He scoffed, pulling me back into a hug. "I'm so sorry Ri, I should have kept a better grip on you. I was so worried this was going to happen."

"It's okay, thankfully Ashton was behind me and saw it and came after me. But not before I could shoved into a post" I suddenly remembered as I felt my back throbbing.

"Let me see it" He asked, turning me around.

"No! Not right here, I'm sure it's fine" I turned back around, wincing as I rubbed my hand across my lower back. "If anything it'll just bruise" I shrugged.

"When we get back to the bus, you're having Liz look at it" he demanded, I rolled my eyes in response.

"We better go before they find us again" Ashton said from behind me, putting his arm on my back as he guided me to the car. I couldn't ignore the feeling that I got when Ashton put his hand on my back, but what was I to do with it? He was in Michael's band, one of his other best friends. I would be nearly dead if anything were to happen between us, hell he'd kill Ashton before he even got to explain.

I found Ashton intriguing, cute, and highly attractive. You have to be insane to not find him the bit attractive, unless you're gay. No, no I'm sure even gay men thought so too. He was just so warm and inviting, he made you want to like him. He was so humble, and remained true to his roots. And over the last week, I saw just how caring and sweet he was, especially today.

"Ri, are you getting in or what?" Michael asked pulling me from my thoughts.

"What? Yeah, sorry" I mumbled, climbing into the car.

Within twenty minutes we were back at the tour bus, the boys running off to do an interview before soundcheck. I ran on the bus and grabbed my bag as well as an ice pack from the freezer before heading into the venue with Liz. She showed me where the dressing room was and I thanked her before lying down on the couch, putting the ice pack under me. At first it was cold, but it began to fell good on my back, slowly easing the pain. Within minutes I fell asleep, exhaustion suddenly taking over me.

-

Loud shouts could be heard down the hall, alerting me that the boys were back. I'm not sure how long I had been asleep, but I didn't move from my spot. 

"Riley you have to-" Luke began to shout, but he was quickly cut off.

"Shhh, you guys she's sleeping" Ashton whispered.

"She had a rough day" Calum added. These boys were far too cute.

"Lets go to the other room, I don't wanna wake her" Michael said, but it was too late. 

"You guys go, I'm gonna grab my iPod" Ashton said, and I heard the rest of the boys run back down the hall, their loud voices echoing down the hall. 

I peeked with one eye as I saw Ashton on the far side of the room, pulling things from his bag. Not that I was trying to be a creep but I watched him for a moment as he scrolled through his phone, completely stopping what he was doing. He looked over at me, and I tried to close my eyes pretending I was still asleep in hopes I wouldn't be caught. I was too late.

"Hey" he spoke softly, walking to the side of the couch.

"Hi" I whispered, rubbing my eyes.

"How are you feeling?" He asked, gesturing to the ice back under my back.

"Better" I pulled the ice pack from under me, noticing it was already warm. How long had I been asleep? "What time is it?" He glanced down at his phone before looking back at me.

"Four thirty. You slept for three hours" he giggled, making me smile. "I'm glad you're okay though" he added.

"Thanks again for earlier by the way.." I mumbled. 

"Don't mention it. Any of the boys would of done that for you" he shrugged. 

Oh.

"Yeah I know" I smiled, turning over to face the back of the couch. I curled my legs into my chest, resting my hands under my head. I'm not sure why but it bugged me when he said that. 'Any of the boys would of done that for you' I knew this was true, but there was something about Ashton. I'm not quiet sure the reason I wanted him to save me, but I knew I was being dumb about this whole thing. There was no way he liked me, there was no way I could like HIM. And there was definetly no way anything was every going to be able to happen. But yet I still have a small silver of hope, which is useless.

"You okay?" He asked after a few moments of silence.

"Yeah, still tired" I lied. I wasn't even tired, I had slept long enough to make up for last night. But I couldn't face Ashton right now, simply because I was being dumb.

"I'll leave you alone then" he mumbled, and I felt him get up from the couch. I turned over slightly and watched as he walked slowly out the door, but not before turning back to take another glance at me and disappearing into the hall. 

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this is boring i'm way sorry! but i have to get through this to get to the fun stuff x