Rescue

Chapter Nine: Astrid

I walked up to the venue and looked around for the boys.

"Astrid!"

I turned around and saw Calum running towards me.

"Hey!" I grinned.

He smiled and pulled me into a hug.

"How are you?"

"I'm great," Calum said. "How are you?"

"I'm good."

"Come on, I'll show you to the back."

Calum took my hand and we walked back to where the rest of the band was. Ashton jumped off the couch and grinned, but his smile quickly faded when he saw that I was alone.

"Where's Riley?" Ashton asked.

"Wow. Thanks for caring about me." I said.

"Sorry." Ashton frowned.

"She's at home," I told him. "She had some things to get off her mind."

"Wouldn't being at a concert help?" Michael asked.

I looked straight at Ashton.

"No, Michael, no it wouldn't."

"We're on in five, let's go." Luke said.

"You can hang out back here." Calum told me. "Abbie and Gianna should be here shortly."

I nodded and Calum left the room. Ashton stood up and looked at me.

"Did I do something wrong?" he asked.

"If you have to as then there's a good chance you did." I told him.

Ashton frowned.

"Can we talk about it?" he asked.

"Ash, let's go!" Michael yelled, poking his head into the room.

Ashton sighed and walked out of the room. Cheers erupted from the other side as they walked on stage.

"Hey!" Abbie cried.

She and Gianna were walking through the back door each holding a pizza box.

"Where's your sister?"

"At home because Ashton's an idiot."

"What'd he do?" Gianna asked.

"He kissed her."

"Aw!" Abbie cried. "He really likes her, you know."

"I don't care if he thinks he's in love with her, he shouldn't have done it." I said.

"Why?"

"It's a long story," I said. "I just told him he needed to be careful with her. I told him he couldn't fuck around with her feelings and he still did."

"How, exactly?" Abbie asked.

"They were friends and Riley thought that was good, she was content, then he went and pulled that stunt and now she thinks he was just using her."

"Why would... oh... OH!" Abbie cried. "Do I need to beat his ass for her?"

I shook my head.

"She's just going to stay away from him for now." I said.

I stopped talking and turned my attention to the guys.

"She's a good girl, a straight A student. She's really into all that self-improvement. I swear she lives in that library, but if you ask her she'll say, "That's where you'll find me!""

I smiled at the sound of Calum's voice. There's just something about it that I love. There's something about him, too, that I find interesting. Something that makes me want to get to know him more.

Once their set ended the guys walked back stage again.

"We have one more song," Luke said. "Let's make it a good one."

"I have an idea." Ashton said.

Everyone turned and looked at him.

"Well?" Michael asked.

"Just trust me." Ashton said.

Luke sighed.

"Whatever, we don't have time to argue."

They turned to walk back on stage and Ashton looked at me.

"Get Riley on the phone and have her listen." he told me.

"Ashton, I don't-"

"Please." he interrupted.

I sighed.

"Okay."

I pulled out my phone and dialed Riley's number.

"Everything okay?" Riley asked.

"I was told to get you on the phone and have you listen to this song." I said.

"Okay..."

I put my phone on speaker and leaned forward some so Riley could hear.

"This song is dedicated to a special girl," Ashton said. "I wish you were here with me, er, us!"

He started drumming and then Calum started singing.

"I love that accent you have when you say hello. You relocated from New York a month ago. That minivan you drive really gets me going and if it feels like it's right then it can't be wrong."

Where is this going?

"No one understand the chemistry we have and it came out of nowhere. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, It's not like we planned this, it's getting out of hand and now we're gonna go there. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah."

Like hell you will!

"Walk my way, Mrs. All American, say my name, no need to pretend. Don't be shy, Mrs. All American, I'll show you why, you're not gonna walk away. Yeah." they all sang.

Michael glanced back at Ashton and gave him a looked before Ashton picked up.

"Not just a neighbor, oh hey there I'll ring your bell. Open your door, pucker up and I'll kiss you well. My lips are sealed, there's nobody that I would tell. Your secret's mine, close your eyes and I'll make you melt."

"No one understand the chemistry we have and it came out of nowhere. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, It's not like we planned this, it's getting out of hand and now we're gonna go there. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah." Calum sang.

"Walk my way, Mrs. All American, say my name, no need to pretend. Don't be shy, Mrs. All American, I'll show you why, you're not gonna walk away. Yeah. Na na na na na na na na. You know what she like. Na na na na na na na na. You know what she like. Na na na na na na na na. Ah you know what she like. Na na na na na na na."

Once the song ended the guys came back into the room.

"What did she think?" Ashton asked.

I looked down and Riley's face had been replaced with my Harries twins wallpaper.

"She hung up, sorry Ashton." I said.

Ashton frowned.

"Oh..."

He hung his head.

"What's his problem?" Calum asked.

"You don't know?" I asked.

Calum shook his head.

"Ashton hasn't told us anything lately."

"So you don't know anything about him and Riley?" I asked.

"We know he likes her," Michael said. "But that's all."

I sighed. Maybe he was watching out for her after all.