The Bass Player » [cashton] √

0.4

[2nd of November - Birmingham]

"Rachael and I decided last night that we need to swap Tonight off the setlist for Dirty Boy, so you'll have some chill time, you might have to take a book on stage or something," Angel joked.

Calum rolled his eyes, "I'll take something on stage with an outrageous title, and then instead of singing back up I'll just do a live reading,"

"I feel like it'll add a much-needed seriousness to our group," she said nodding solemnly.

"Maybe we could have-" Calum went to make another obnoxious suggestion, but Luke interrupted him.

"Have either of you seen Angus?" he asked, his eyes searching the dressing room they'd hidden in as if he might be behind a potted plant or something else.

"Ah no sorry, if we do we'll tell him you're looking for him though," she told him, and then he had left, "All he ever does is run around after Angus, I swear."

"Do you think we should have told him we saw him leave with Nia?" Calum asked, looking guiltily over his shoulder at the open door.

"No. I think it's safest for the band if we plead ignorance on that one, they never said anything, but I think it's implied we weren't supposed to sleep with any of them," Angel reasoned.

Calum shrugged his shoulders slightly, "he just seems really nice, and always stressed I feel guilty,"

"Everyone's gotta do what's best for their own band Cal, and I can guarantee that if Nia becomes a problem, they'll do what's best for them and not for us,"

Calum hummed in agreement, but his mind was still elsewhere thinking Luke and Michael didn't seem the sort. When he came out of his thoughts she was talking about how quiet and aloof Ashton was, he wasn't sure what she'd said to get on this tangent, but Calum wanted to chuckle.

"He was talking to me a few days ago; he got pretty chatty,"

"Chatty chatty or flirty chatty?"

"It felt kind of flirty, to be honest, but I don't know, you know me I'm usually pretty dense about this stuff,"

"Well if you end up sleeping with him, I don't wanna know anything about it,"

Calum blanched, "I'm not gonna sleep with him, Jesus,"

"Hmm, we'll see it's been a while, you might not hold out as long as you think,"

"I'm not some gross straight guy, I think I can keep it in my pants if I want," Calum huffed crossing his arms.

Angel rolled her eyes, but Calum watched them snap back to something behind his shoulder and then she stood, "I gotta go tell the others about the setlist change,"

Calum turned to watch her leave and saw Ashton about fifteen feet away headed straight for the open door. He held back a large sigh; there's no way he was going to have a non-blush filled conversation with Ashton after what Angel had just said.

"Thought you might have been hiding somewhere again," Ashton declared, his eyes swept the room as he entered, but they centred in on Calum as he moved to join him on the floor. "You have a real thing about avoiding perfectly good chairs, don't you?"

"I was just talking to Angel about the setlist; I wasn't hiding! And it's comfy down here," Calum defended leaning back against the couch leg-rest to express his comfort. 

"So what's the big setlist decision then?"  Ashton asked, leaning back on his hands. 

"Oh, not really a decision, Angel just said she and Rachael wanted to swap out Tonight for Dirty Boy, that's all," Calum said with a shrug reaching for his can of Sunkist, his brain had recalled the rest of the earlier conversation. Hence, eye contact seemed almost entirely impossible at this point. 

Ashton sighed lightly, "not a lot of bass in that song if I remember correctly," 

"None, actually," Calum admitted his eyes finally having nowhere else to wander, landed on Ashton's, which were currently closed as he leant back looking almost ready to fall asleep. 

"There are only two or three songs on the setlist that are really any sort of challenge for a bass player if you don't mind me saying, quite a few good opportunities for drums though, suppose  that can tend to happen," Ashton was talking thoughtfully seemingly not ready for a response as he continued, "I mean you know when a band goes from having to get by with a keyboard/ bassist and then they get a bass player they don't know what to do with them,"  

Calum nodded but realised Ashton's eyes were still closed, "I don't mind, I just like getting to play honestly, it's gonna be great getting to see around Europe a bit as well," he admitted.

This was when Ashton decided to crack an eye open before, closing it again, leaving Calum confused as to the purpose, "Angus would never let that fly, you two a very different, obviously," 

"I'll take that as a compliment,"  

"As it was intended," then they were both quiet for a moment, the silence was almost awkward before Ashton spoke again, "you know I think you're a good bass player right?"

"Uh no, I didn't, but it's nice to hear," Calum tried to play coy, but a small smirk found it's way onto his face. He couldn't help it, Ashton had sucked him in. Calum was sure Ashton was playing the old 'If I'm not interested they'll want me more' play and it was working. The fact that he hadn't wanted anything to do with Calum at the start, and that he wasn't buddying up with the others had Calum wanting his approval that much more. Just because he knew this didn't mean he'd be able to make clear-headed decisions though. 

"Much as I love the drums, I have to admit people who play the guitar have better fingers," Ashton said, his face casual, but his tone and where he chose to place emphasis had Calum taking a much less platonic meaning from the words. 

"Well, that being said, when someone knows how to bang, they know how to bang. Which is just as important as good fingers, better even if they hit it just right," 

"'It' being?"

"The beat of course," 

Ashton smirked and went to quip back but was interrupted by Lesedi calling out to Calum, "Cal?  Calum!  We're sound checking in two minutes; you better appear in less than that," 

Instead of finishing his thought, Ashton just gave him a wink, and Calum got up and left feeling the other's eyes on his back, so he definitely hadn't imagined the flirting the other day? What he was going to do about it was another issue altogether and for another time.