Unpredictable (A Lashton Fanfic)

Chapter Twenty One - Something's not right...

*Ashton’s POV*

The next morning was rough for both me and Luke, simply because we hadn’t gotten any sleep the night before. Luke had tossed and turned beside me all night, and when he’s restless, so am I. That’s one of the few downsides to us being so close—when one’s worried or has something on his mind, so does the other. With eyes half closed we changed into our normal outfits of ripped skinny jeans and tank tops, barely even bothering to do anything with our hair. Instead I slipped on my black fedora that I used for days like this, and Luke grabbed his red snapback from the bedside table. We had a few interviews to do today before our concert later tonight, but first we were set to meet with the others downstairs for breakfast. Thankfully there were no screaming fans awaiting us as we made our way down the stairs, and I immediately regretted feeling that way. I loved our fans. We wouldn’t be in the position we were today if it wasn’t for them, and they were basically our second family. I was just always cranky when I didn’t sleep well, and I didn’t want to risk being rude to any girl who wanted my autograph or wanted to take a picture.

            When Luke and I walked into the small restaurant area, we were waved over to a large table by the window where Michael and Calum were seated, along with Austin and Cody. “Goodmorning, sunshines,” Austin said cheerfully, and I was glad to see that the color had returned to his face and the large gash across his forehead was gone. “How’d you sleep?”

            Luke answered for the both of us. “Terrible, all because of me.”

            “It wasn’t all because of you,” I lied. “It was both of us. We had a lot on our minds.”

            Luke half-smiled. “I appreciate you trying to be nice, but I can tell you’re lying. I kept you up all night and I’m sorry.”

            I started to put my arm around him, but then I remember what management had told us before the awards. No public displays of affection, no matter what. I was still waiting for them to yell at us for that incident on the boat yesterday, but thankfully they hadn’t.

            “What’s on our agenda for today?” Cody asked, taking a sip of his water. Michael pulled out a piece of paper from a black folder and set it down on the table in front of him. “Well,” he said, leaning forwards so he could read the bold-faced print. “According to this, we have an interview with E! News in an hour, then two more interviews, and then soundcheck. After that, I guess it’ll be time for the concert.”

            “What time do we go onstage?” Calum asked between bites of the sausage biscuit he was eating.

            Michael flipped the page before putting the paper back into the folder. “We go on at seven, and One Direction comes on at nine. We get to perform thirty minutes longer than we did on the Take Me Home tour, simply because we have more songs to perform.”

            I didn’t say much the rest of the time we were at breakfast, partially because I was listening to what the others were talking about and partially because I just didn’t have anything to say. Michael stood up and pushed his chair under after a few more minutes, indicating for us to do the same. “What are you and Austin doing today?” I asked Cody as we walked out into the parking lot. “I’m going surfing,” Cody replied matter-of-factly, and before I could ask where in the world he could go surfing in Ireland he answered my question by saying, “Anywhere that has a beach has waves I can surf. As for Austin, I think he has a free concert to do downtown or something.”

            “What about you?” I turned to Colin, who was typing furiously on the keypad of his phone. “Well, apparently Danielle’s here in Ireland for some unknown reason, and she wants me to meet up with her at a park or something. I have nothing better to do, so I guess I’ll go. I’ll be back in time for your concert tonight, though.” I nodded, waved once, and climbed into a black van behind Luke, Michael, and Calum.