Cut To Pieces [Complete]

End

I was woken by a tapping on my shoulder and someone hurriedly calling Michaels name. I groaned and rolled off Michael and onto the floor, much to the delight of whoever was watching us. Harry, I concluded from the laugh.

"You two are in so much trouble." I opened my eyes to scowl at Harry and Louis who were looking rather proud of themselves while rubbing the spot where my head had made contact with the floor. "Michael, you have sound check in five minutes and Allie, Ashton is so pissed." I rolled my eyes and clambered to my feet with Louis' help, desperately trying to figure out how long Michael and I had been asleep on the dressing room couch for. I didn't even remember at what point we fell asleep last night. A hefty make out session had turned into me lying on Michaels chest and tracing light patterns across his skin with my fingertips. I pulled away from Louis and wrapped myself back into Michaels arms. It was normal for the boys to see us so cuddly so I didn't think twice about grabbing the opportunity to cuddle with the one person I loved most in this world.

"What time is it?" Michael whispered into my hair and I glanced up at Harry for an answer.

"Your soundcheck is in three minutes." Louis stated bluntly and Michaels whole body went rigid before he dropped me and scrambled for his jacket.

"Shit!" He huffed, rushing to pull on his shoes. "We've been asleep for five hours." Michael pulled me in for a hug, giving me a soft, quick kiss without thinking before rushing out of the room, calling behind him that he loved me and leaving me with Harry and Louis gaping at the space Michael had just disappeared through. I opened my mouth to say something to the two boys whose expressions were an embarrassing mixture of shock, amusement and disappointment.

"So are we going to pretend we didn't see that or does that explain why Ashton's so angry?" Louis raised an eyebrow at me, his voice cold, and I felt the tears well up again. This was it. My whole world was about to come crumbling down around me and I couldn't stop it. We had really blown it this time. Michael had damn right announced it to Louis and Harry that we were... Well... Whatever we were. Harry closed the door behind us and followed Louis to the couch where they both slid down the cushions, Harry's legs kicked over Louis' knees. 

"I think you just need to sit down and talk." Louis smiled, his hands drumming gently on Harry's knees. I slid down next to Louis who pulled me into his chest and wrapped on of his arms around me, keeping the other on Harry's knee. I spiled everything to the two boys and throughout the whole story I couldn't help but notice how many times I had told this tale to people over the last couple of days. But of everyone I had talked to, I had a feeling that this conversation would be the one that was actually helpful. 

"You need to decide, Allie." Harry sighed, my eyes were fixed on the small patterns his fingers were tracing in Louis arm and all I could think about was how it felt when Michael did the same thing to me. "You can't drag Ashton along, he's a good guy, and you can't make Michael help a girl cheat on his best friend."

"I'm not making anyone do anything!" I countered. It wasn't intentional. Kissing Michael wasn't prethought. We had agreed that we would do nothing until I had sorted out this mess with Ashton. If antything, the talk with Michael earlier had made clear that I didn't love Ashton. To be honest, I didn't expect to this early in the relationship, but I did love Michael, and that couldn't be ignored for much longer. "Michael and I have stayed away from each other up to today, so don't tell me I'm leading anyone on. I tried my hardest with Ashton, I really did, and I love the boy, just not like that." 

"Then leave." Louis shrugged, playing with Harry's fingers. "Honestly, it'll be best for both of you and then you can move on to Michael. We all know that's who you really want to be with."

"But not straight away!" Harry cut in, lacing his fingers through Louis to keep Louis still. "Cause that'll just cause drama. We don't break up with someone and then straight away jump on some else do we, Louis?" Harry laughed, playfully hitting Louis' shoulder. I coughed slightly at the reference to Louis and Eleanor and then smiled down at the two boys hands. "Do we?" Harry reiterated and Louis cracked a smile. 

"No! We don't." I couldn't help but laugh at the pairs playfighting and pulled my knees up to my chin, resting my head on them. "But you didn't say no, so I don't see how it was a problem in this situation."

"I'll do it tonight." I sighed, content that it would be best to end this now, sooner than later. "I'll tell him after the show. I don't know what to say." 

"Just tell him you don't think you feel the same way he does and that hes much more invested in this relationship than you are." Louis suggested, patting my hair. "It'll all be okay, you don't need to tell him about Michael, he can come to his own conclusions, but you do need to give him some answers."

"I know." I breathed, falling sideways so I was leaning against Louis but my body was still curled in a ball. 

I had honestly tried to pay attention to the boys set but all that was runningg through my mind was how I was going to do this. Louis was right, I needed to give him answers, but the answers I had weren't exactly the best. 'Hello, Ashton, I'm here to break up with you because I don't love you like that I love your best friend instead and I cheated on you with him last night.' Somehow, I didn't think that would go down to well. As the last song drew to an end my pacing slowed and I bounced nervously on the balls of my feet as I waited for the boys to come off stage. Michael, Calum and Luke all gave me reassuring smiles as the ran past, all knowing what was about to go down. I cracked my knuckles as Ashton skidded to a halt in front of me, a sadness evident in his eyes, something you never saw after he got offstage. 

"We're talking, aren't we?" Ash huffed, running a hand through his sweaty hair and I nodded slowly. "Yeah, that's what I thought." The pain in his voice was killing me. There was no denying that Ashton knew what was about to happen, but the harsh realtiy was that we were going to break up. We needed to break up.