ashton's body visibly tenses when the three of us enter. it's not as crowded as i expected. it's smaller than the other clubs i've visited with niall. majority of everyone is dancing to the music while others stand around conversing.
my eyes scan through all the dancing bodies before i spot calum in a group with his friends, talking. four people, my ass. most of the faces i recognize from uni. i motion michael and ashton over to calum's group of friends. the closer i walk, the more scared i feel. what if their friends don't like me?
"hey!" calum loudly greets when we reach his group. he pulls me into a hug before turning to ashton and michael to greet them.
"here," i say, handing calum my wrapped gift.
"thanks," he smiles before turning to his other friends, "everyone this is elle, her boyfriend, and her boyfriend's friend."
"he's not my boyfriend," i quickly establish as they laugh. ashton looks as if he's close to puking, "this is ashton and michael."
"this is luke," calum points to a blond with a cool lip ring. he waves before calum continues, "harry," harry smiles before downing his drink. he has on a hat - almost identical to the one ashton decided to put on tonight - on top of brown curls, "zayn, bradley, leigh-anne, connor, louis, james, liam, demi, jesy, ella, tristan, selena, and ed. "
"hey!" michael easily says. he goes in, happily hugging everyone like he's known them for years. how is it so easy for him to warm up to people without making things awkward?
"i'm going to put this away," calum tells me, "want to come with me?"
"sure," i say. i turn to ashton, "are you okay with michael?"
"yeah," ashton says, glancing over to michael already holding a conversation with everyone.
"i'll be back soon," i tell him. ashton nods. i follow calum over to where he setup all his presents. he sets mine down beside the others and we both sit on the stools.
"i'm really happy that you came," calum tells me, "i was kind of scared you wouldn't,"
"why not?"
"i didn't think you liked me," the two of us laugh before falling into a silence, "do you want a drink?"
"um, yeah, sure," i tell him. we both get up and head to the bar.
