untitled

Adrenaline

Ashton

I did not like that I kissed Sheldon's head and told her I loved her. In the moment it felt right, and boarderline normal. Maybe I did consider this a date, even if just deep down. My biggest fear was that she thought I meant that in a brotherly way.

The rest of the walk was quiet and neither of us touched at all. Usually one of us would have an arm around the other or something like that. But not this time. Way to go, Ashton.

When we got back to the hotel she went straight to her room and shut the door. From my room I could hear her on the phone with her boyfriend, William. Well, I could hear that she was talking, but I couldn't tell what she was saying.

William wasn't a bad guy in so many words. The thing I didn't like about him, admittedly, was that he wasn't me. He had what I wanted and I didn't like it. The worst part was that he didn't know what he had.

When I would meet him or be with them together it was hard to not be mad at him. He didn't treat her badly but neither of them really were particularly kind to the other. There was always something one of them was upset about with the other.

I heard her say something in a let down tone. Then nothing else. My guess was that he told her that he had to go. It wasn't even that inconvenient of a time in LA.

I could smell cigarette smoke. I thought she had quit that bad habit but I guess she's relapsed again. In a few months she'll try again to quit and we'll all know she won't succeed.

Before Sheldon was hired we had gone on a date and it had gone well. Really well. So well we had the next one lined up already. (Laser Tag) But the guys and myself stupidly asked her to be our official stylist. She said yes because it was a great opportunity to be the head stylist and not an assistant anymore. Subsequently she told me that we couldn't date anymore because of the boss/employee status.

It's a fair enough reason but it kills me every day. She is always so happy and such a big personality in a room. But whenever William is there his ego overshadows her.

I fell back on my bed and sighed. In that moment I wondered if there really was or wasn't a future for me and Shel. Ever since we met her in London it felt like it was meant to be and that it was gonna be a fun chase from both of us.

Maybe she didn't know how to tell me that it wasn't fun anymore.

I decided to sleep.

The next day was 100% back to business. I was woken up by some random guy and told to get ready to go to the venue.

"Mr. Ashton, sir?" He asked, "It's time to get up. They're expecting you at the venue soon."

"Who are you?" I asked as I got up. No point in fighting it, work to be done. As much as I wanted to keep sleeping and never get up I knew it was unreasonable.

"Oh, I'm Miss Daisy's assistant but lately Miss Hellen has been asking Miss Daisy to help handle you guys. So I guess I'm your assistant?" He rambled. I stumbled into the bathroom.

"I was looking more for a name?" I stuck my toothbrush in my mouth and watched him stutter and blush.

"Sorry. I'm Daniel." He has a soft British accent when he spoke. With a quick "Call me if you need me!" He scrambled out of my room.

The next time I saw him was getting out of a car with about 9 coffees in his hand at the venue.

"Once we get settled inside I'll deal these out." He said quietly to himself. Cal got out of the car behind me and Daniel's demeanor had done a full 180.

"Oh! Hi Mr. Calum." He waved and basically threw the coffee on Cal. By the time we were in the green room Calum had run out of napkins and I had run out of patience for Daniel's incessant apologizing.

"Really. It's okay." Cal said. He took off his shirt to change into his stage shirt. Even though we weren't going on for some time I knew that the smell of coffee was gonna get old fast.

I glanced over at Sheldon. She was rearranging her glitters and colorful eyeshadows mindlessly. I thought about going to talk to her but Daisy came in and called for Shel and Daniel.

Instead I went back to whatever I was doing before, which happened to be pretending to read a book while listening to the conversation between my band mates.

After a while of just dicking around we were on stage for sound check and Shel was pulling us one by one to get glammed up. By the time it was my turn we were basically ready to roll with the show. The doors were open and crowds were filing into the small-ish venue.

This show wasn't sold out but it was pretty close to full.

I plopped down in Sheldon's chair and watched her grab a comb.

"I ordered more gel for you. It should be here by the last show." She said absentmindedly.

"Funny thing, I didn't believe you would remember to put the order in so I also ordered some." I chucked. Shel looked offended.

"Just because I prefer your hair in all it's curly glory doesn't mean I'm not gonna help you achieve this mob-boss-vibe you're going for." She sprayed my hair with some array of clear liquids as she talked.

The tension had crept back in as fast as it had left. By the time she finished we were both not even looking at one another.

"Hey, I know I crossed a line yesterday." I said after probably too long. She frowned.

"What?" She asked. I was confused now.

"The tension? It's because I told you I loved you and kissed your head, right?" I asked her turning around in her chair. She furrowed her brow.

"No! I thought you were mad because I made you eat a 13 pound burger." She said waving her arms wildly, "That's why I ordered your gel! I assumed I had to do something nice for you to make you not mad anymore." I laughed at her. We were a mess.

Before I could respond Luke came around the corner.

"Lennon is about to go on, then we're up." He said. I immediately heard the opening riff of her top single.

Daniel rounded the corder with a clip board and an ear piece. He reached over me and handed Sheldon a generic hot beverage cup.

"Thanks lovely." She said before turning back to me.

"Go get ready to burst onto the scene. I'm gonna enjoy my peppermint tea. I'll see you later." She smacked my shoulder before kissing my head. "And I love you too."

Honestly girl of my dreams.