Lonely;

3

December 10th, 2011.

Holden's outfit - http://www.clothia.com/look/243902/meeting-ashton-hp-l-ai

We were all at Michael's house.

The three boys were playing FIFA on the play station and there is a knock at the door. I stand up and step over the cords for the controllers. I walk to the door and open it. A boy in a coldplay shirt and weird shorts is standing there.

"Yeah?" I say and pull a piece of chewing gum out of my pocket.

"Uh, is this Michael's house?" The stranger says. I nod and look back to them.

"Whats your name?" I say.

"Ashton." He grins. I nod and turn away.

"Do you know Ashton?" I call out to him. Michael's head turns to me and peaks around me to see him. He nods and I step back to let him in.

"They are playing FIFA." I say and close the door behind him. He nods slowly and then walks into the lounge room. He stands awkwardly next to the couch and I resume my seat inbetween Calum and Luke.

"Wanna play?" Michael says.

"Nah, I don't really like FIFA." he says. We all freeze and turn to him.

"What?" I say for everybody. "Everyone likes FIFa. Well every boy." I say and he shrugs. I furrow my brows and stand up.

"I'll sit with you in the kitchen." I say and walk into the kitchen. He follows me and I go to the cupboard.

"Want some food?" I say and pull out Coco Pops. He nods and I grab him a bowl.

"May I ask your name?" He says as I hand him the bowl.

"Holden." I smile and jump up on the counter.

"Nice name." he grins. I furrow my brows, trying to work out whether it was a insult or compliement.

"That was a good thing." I realises. I giggle and he pushes his fringe out of his eyes.

"I like your coldplay shirt." I smile. He looks down and grins. "Thanks."

"Why don't we do an icebreaker game. Even though the ice is probably already broken, but anyways." he rambles.

"Sure, siblings?" I say before I can even comprehend.

"Two, Lauren and Harry. Both younger." he grins. "You?"

"Uh, I don't know if you want to know my siblings." I say adn try to drag the topic away.

"Come on! I told you mine." He chuckles.

"Okay, I have Harrison, Aaron, Jackson and Samuel who are older. Then Jamison, Kai, Braiden and Noah." I say. His eyes widen.

"You have EIGHT siblings?" He says. "Yeah, all boys." I say and his eyes widen even further. I giggle at his reaction and he chuckles.

"Okay, wow." he says. The information probably hasn't sunk in yet. I pick out the dry coco pops and wait till he talks.

"Wanna go back in there?" He says and I nod. I leave my plate on the counter and walk into the lounge room. I return to my seat and Ashton sits on the couch next to the TV.

"Are we gonna film now?" He says and they nod. Luke gets up and grabs the small camera, setting it up. Calum and Michael go and get their guitars and Ashton sets his meinl cajon up.

I place the camera on the small tripod and help Luke start it filming.

"Thats dick." Ashton says as we hit record. They all start laughing and I sit on the couch behind the camera.

"Where have you been?" Harrison interrogates me as I walk in the door at 8:30pm.

"At Michael's." I roll my eyes and put my bag on the ground.

"You left at ten, why are you back so late?" He growls. "Um, because I was." I furrow my brows. I walk off into the kitchen, where Samuel and Jamison were talking.

"Don't walk away from me!" he yells from the other room. I roll my eyes and open the fridge for a bottle of water.

"Did you guys put Noah to bed?" I say into the fridge. I don't get a response and my eyes widen. I turn around to see Jamison and Samuel looking at each other. I close the fridge and run up the stairs. I see Noah's door closed and a banging noise coming from inside. I notice the key hole turned on the side.

"You locked it!" I scream. I run to our dad's room and see the key. I grab it and run back to Noah's room, then unlock the door. Noah's screams roar through the door, into the open. He looks up and me and screams louder.

"Noah! Shhh bub." I coo and pick him up. He cuddles into me straight away and I place my hand on the back of his head. I walk down the stairs as he whimpers into my shoulder. I make my way into the kitchen, where Harrison, Aaron, Jackson, Samuel, Jamison and Kai are all standing. When I step into the open area they all freeze.

"You better all stay in here." I growl and turn back around. I eventually put Noah to sleep.

"Who the HELL had the smart idea to lock Noah into his room?" I explode as I enter the kitchen. They all look to Samuel and my eyes widen.

"He just wouldn't stop crying!" He defends.

"Well you could have put on some music, or maybe actually put him in his crib!" I yell back. He shrugs his shoulders and I throw my arms in the air. I storm out and then run up the stairs. I slam my door closed and collapse on the bed.

Not even 2 minutes later, there is a knock at the door. I roll my eyes and ignore it.

"Holden?" Braiden's voice travels through the solid wood door. I turn around and rush to open it. He is in his spiderman pyjamas with his green blanket in one hand. He rubs his eyes and then sniffles.

"What's wrong?" I say and pick him up, placing him on my hip. I walk back into the bedroom, then sit on the bed.

"I heard yelling." He whispers. I sigh and put him on the bed next to me.

"Don't worry about it." I sigh. His lip quivers and he nods, walking out. As he walks out, Jackson walks in.

"Can I not get some privacy?" I groan. He chuckles and sits next to me. His arm goes around my shoulders and I slump.

"Let me tell you a story." He leans in.

"There was this girl, her name was Ford." He pauses as I giggle. "She was an only child."

"Oh, I wish I was her." I roll my eyes.

"Do you really? Because she wished she had siblings." He says. I furrow my eyebrows and pick at my nails.

"She thought, if I had a brother, what would have been done differently?" I look at him confused.

"Let me use an example." He says and thinks for a second.

"If you didn't have Aaron as a brother, would you know how to drive a manual ute?" He says. I shake my head and look down.

"Or, if you didn't have Harrison as a sibling, would you have been able to go to America when you were thirteen?" I shake my head once again.

"Also, if you didn't have eight brothers, would you be able to say you have eight brothers?" He smiles. I bite my cheeks to stop myself from laughing. I shake my head and he smiles, then stands up.

"I think I have made my point." he bows and walks out. I roll my eyes and giggle. I pull the sheets back and slide in. The lamp was still on, so I flick the switch and darkness swallows the room.