As Time Goes By - MHB Sequel - Ross Lynch/R5 Fanfic

Chapter 4 - Arguments and Not Talking

Chapter 4

Ashley-

“Bye Ross,” I say, and I couldn’t help but use a sad tone. I’m going to miss him. “Bye Ash. I’ll miss you.”

We hug just moments before Ross has to walk through the terminal to catch his plane. We pull away shortly, so he could say his ‘goodbyes’ to the kids.

“Bye C, bye Belle,” he hugs them, and says his ‘goodbyes’ to everyone else and makes his way back to me.

“I love you,” he whispers, his lips meeting mine. Just as he pulls away softly, I whisper, “Love you too.”

“Ross,” Mom says in a gentle tone. “Time to go now.” Ross nods, kissing me softly, but quickly, once more before he leaves for his plane.

“He’ll be back soon,” Ryland wraps an arm around my shoulder, pulling me into his side gently. “Time’ll fly by fast. I promise, Ash. And plus, there’s nothing to worry about; you have me!”

I look up at him. “Yeah, I do. The best older brother in the world.” He smiles, leaning down to kiss my cheek.

“Let’s start heading out everyone,” Riker announces, and we all follow him and Dad to the van, climbing in, driving back to the hotel.

Back at the hotel, we were just hanging around, sitting in Mom and Dad’s suite, watching TV, or the kids perform.

Carter-

Annabelle, Ryder, Cole, Ariel, Layla, and I all gathered in the guest room of Grandma and Grandpa’s suite, calling a ‘band meeting.’

“I have a band name,” I say excitedly. “It’s ‘Neon Grey.’ I think that sounds pretty cool… what do you guys think?”

“Sounds cool,” Ryder agrees. “Me three.” Cole chips in. “What about you, girls?”

“I like it,” Annabelle says, looking over at Ariel and Layla. “Yeah, sounds cool.”

I nod. “Okay, that’s our name then!” I smile, and we all cheer. We put our hands into the middle of our circle, and lift them up as we progress in volume each minute, cheering, “Ahhh!” then, we put them back down, bouncing them three times, matching up with our words, “READY SET ROCK!”

Ashley-

After about an hour of staying in Mom and Dad’s suite, Carter, Annabelle, and I head back to mine and Ross’.

“I’m bored,” Annabelle complains as we sit on the couch, and I close the magazine I was flipping through. “We only just got in here, hun.” I chuckle. “Play piano or something.” She shrugs, walking off to her room, and Carter takes her spot beside me.

“Y’know how we’re leaving tomorrow, Mom?” He asks, and I nod slowly, looking over at him. I wonder where he’s going with this. I’m sure it won’t turn out well. “Well… I was wondering if I could stay here with Aunt Delly and Uncle Ell and Ariel?”

I think about this for a minute. He is old enough, but Rydel and Ellington already have one teenager on their hands, and I don’t think they want another one.

“I don’t know, C. I don’t think so, I’m sorry. Have you talked to Aunt Delly and Uncle Ell?” I say.

“Yeah,” he answers. “They said it would be okay.” I sigh quietly, not knowing what to say. “C, I’m sorry. I don’t feel comfortable, even if they said it’d be okay.”

“You’re not being fair, Mom!” Carter exclaims rather loudly. “Think about how it feels when Dad is gone for a long time!”

“First, lower your voice,” I say firmly, trying to stay calm. “And second, that’s different.” Carter stands, an irritated expression playing on his face. I follow him as he says, “No, it isn’t! You know it! You just don’t want me to stay here with Ariel because you don’t accept ‘us!’”

“That’s not it at all, Carter!” I raise my voice slightly. “I do so, and you know it. I just don’t feel comfortable; that’s the end of it.”

“You’re so annoying sometimes, Mom!” Carter glares at me. “I hate you!” He runs to his room, slamming the door, and I sink down onto the couch again, tears stinging at my eyes.

Never, since birth, have the kids said that to me. I couldn’t help but let a few stray tears fall, but I whip my hand up, wiping them away quickly. I walk to the master bedroom, and the only thing I know would make me feel better was to scroll through my album of Ross’ selfies he took on my phone without me knowing. I smile at some, laugh at a few, and decided to text him after awhile.

‘Me: Hey babe :* u still on the plane?’

‘Ross: Hey baby :* no, just landed! What’s up? How’s everything?’

‘Me: Okay I guess…’

‘Did something happen? Talk to me’

‘Carter told me he… he hates me, Ross’

I don’t get a reply, just a FaceTime call. I answer, wiping my eyes so Ross doesn’t see I’ve been crying.

“Hey baby,” he smiles lazily into the camera. “Are you crying?”

“N-no,” I croak, still wiping my eyes, but more tears replace the wiped ones. “Babe, please don’t cry. Carter would never mean it. Why’d he say it?” I sniff. “He asked if he could stay here with Ariel, Dels, and Ell. I told him I wasn’t comfortable, even though Dels and Ell said it was okay. I just don’t feel comfortable with it. But what am I supposed to do, Ross! He hates me!” I start to cry again.

“Shh, don’t cry,” he coos. “And he could never hate you. Even if he said it. Go talk to him, and tell him that he can stay,” he pauses. “I know you said ‘no,’ but think about it. Don’t you want him to be happy?”

I wipe my eyes. “Yeah. Thank you, I love you.”

Ross smiles again. “Love you too, Ash. I’ll talk to you soon.” He kisses the camera, then ends FaceTime, and I walk to Carter’s room.

“C? Can I come in?” I knock on his door, and I get a muffled reply, and  I sigh, knocking again. I get another muffled reply, so I just walk to the master bedroom, laying down on the bed, closing my eyes, just when my phone rings. I reach over to my nightstand to grab it, answering.

“Hello?” I greet the person on the other end. “Babe? How’d it go with C?” I sigh quietly. “Not that great, he wouldn’t let me in his room to talk to him.”

“Would you try to give the phone to him?” Ross asks after a moment. “Alright.” I walk out of the room, to Carter’s, knocking again, then opening his door, simply handing the phone to him.

Carter-

“Hello?” I send Mom a questioning look as I say this into the phone.

“Hey C,” Dad says. “Mom and I talked. You can stay; but your behavior was unacceptable.” I sigh. “I realize. What’s the punishment?”

“You yelled at your mom, Carter,” Dad sighs. “I dunno yet. I’ll have to talk to your mom again. But behave from now on, okay?” I nod, but realize he can’t see me. “Okay, Dad. Love you.” I hand the phone back to Mom.

Ashley-

“Hey,” Ross says. “Maybe take his phone away for the time he’s with Dels and Ell?”

“I guess,” I sigh, walking out of Carter’s room, not closing the door fully, but sitting on the couch in the living room once I walk out. “I hate being upset with them, Ross.”

“I know,” he says. “But it’ll be okay. Okay? I have to go for a table reading, but I’ll talk to you soon. I love you.”

“I love you, too.” We hang up, and I sink back into the couch cushion, sighing slightly.

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A/N: Hey hey!

Halloween is tomorrow!! I’m pretty excited!

What do you think about the whole Carter situation? Do you think there’s going to be more drama in future chapters?

I’ll update soon! :D

Love you all,

~Ashley xx