Hey There, Delilah - A 5 Seconds of Summer story

Chapter 5

Dedicated to baileyrubens because she was my first comment :) Thank you; that made my day!

The voice was like a punch in the gut. I whirled around, and there she was.

Alison Sloan stood in the doorway with her blonde hair impeccably curled, her oh-so-innocent blue eyes glinting maliciously and her signature smirk on her bubblegum pink lips.

“Alison.” Luke’s voice was high with surprise.

Alison smiled at him prettily, but kept her cold blue gaze on me.

Every nerve in my body was screaming for me to run, but Jules’ tight grip on my arm kept me focused. I couldn’t run now. I couldn’t run out on my dreams and my future.

Alison may have made me lose the best friend I’d ever had, but I would not let my dreams go because of her.

Instead, I forced a tight smile onto my face and shook off Jules’s hand, stepping forward to Alison.

“Hi, Alison. How are you? What a surprise seeing you here!” My words were full of false enthusiasm and I could see Luke’s face tighten with anxiousness.

Alison accepted my handshake in an overly tight one of her own, her smirk widening. “I know. What a surprise.”

She released my hand, but her eyes had me trapped. Then she turned to Luke.

“Luke!” She cooed. “How wonderful to see you! It’s been so long.”

“Yeah.” Luke muttered, uncomfortably.

Jo was watching the proceedings like a hawk. “Thanks, Alison. If you wouldn’t mind, I have some things I’d like to discuss with the band.”

“Then shouldn’t Jules and Delilah eave as well?” Alison asked, her eyes wide. I ground my teeth together. So here was the Alison we all knew and loved.

“Jules is my personal assistant.” I said, primly. “And your charges don’t seem to be here. Sorry about that.”

Alison’s eyes narrowed. “That’s perfectly fine. I’ll see you all on tour!”

She waltzed out, leaving a chill in the room behind her.

Jo’s eyes were narrow. “Anyone care to tell me what that was?”

We all remained uncomfortably silent. My stomach was churning, bringing back the memories of my childhood.

“Just breathe.” Jules hissed in my ear, sliding an arm around my shoulders.

I glanced around the room. Luke seemed to be in a state of shock with his head in his hands. Calum had one hand resting on Luke’s shoulder and was whispering something softly to him. Michael looked stunned and Ashton was clenching and unclenching his fists.

“Anyone?” Jo snapped. “What is going on?”

Jules looked at Jo, her eyes glittering. “Alison Sloan is a bitch.”

“Jules!” I hissed. “Shut up. I can handle this.”

“You can’t handle it.” Jules said. She was livid. “Miss Smith, please don’t let Alison on this tour. It’s the worst possible idea for the band and Delilah.”

“I wish I could now, seeing your reaction.” Jo said, folding her arms across her chest. “But I didn’t book her. Coco Stewart did. I don’t have any say in her decisions about assistants.”

Luke lifted his head and looked at me. “Delilah…”

“Don’t, Luke. Just don’t.” I said, in a monotone.

“Well, it looks like you all need a moment.” Jo said, after a few beats of silence. “I’m going to get a coffee and you all get this cleared up before I get back. Got it?”

There were mumbles of agreement and then the door slammed behind her. The silence she left behind was heavy with unasked questions.

My heart was shattering all over again.

“When did you break up with Alison, Luke?” Jules asked, frostily.

“About a year after…” He swallowed. “After Delilah left. She was cheating on me, wanting only the big time. She came back to me, crying for one more chance, claiming that she had been lonely while I was off playing music.”

“He felt bad, so he forgave her.” Calum added. “Took her back.”

“I never liked her.” Michael interjected. “At all.”

“Then she did it again.” Ashton said, with a hint of anger. “Luke heard rumours she was cheating again. He confronted her for a confession.”

“She humiliated me.” Luke muttered. “She screamed about lack of trust and respect. Then she dumped me.”

“She’s been trying to win him back ever since.” Calum admitted.

“She basically did everything to me that you did to her.” Luke put his head in his hands again.

And that was the final straw. I felt Jules tense beside me, holding me down, wondering if I was going to cry or scream or lose it. Wondering if I was still as unstable as I had been a few years back after my mum’s death.

“What I did to her?” I spat.

Luke leaned his head back to look at me. “Del, I didn’t mean…”

“You mean the way I slapped her? Abused her? Called her names? Told her she wasn’t good enough?” My voice went up an octave.

“Del…”

“You mean what she did to me?”

There was an abrupt silence.

“She what?” Jules spat.

“Tell me I didn’t hear you right.” Calum growled.

“Luke, you seriously believed Alison over Delilah?” Michael asked, looking upset.

Ashton clenched his fists tightly.

Luke’s eyes were still trained on me; pleading, worried.

“Screw this.” I laughed, in half-hysteria. “Screw it all. The only reason I’m not ditching this tour right now is because it’s my dream. Yeah, Luke, the one I couldn’t chase when I was younger. But I can’t deal with this right now. I’ll see you in a month.”

I stormed out, Jules following me.

“You sure you can do this, Del?” Jules asked, grabbing my shoulders.

I laughed without humour. “Not at all. But I have to.”

Jules nodded and we walked out to the car. Thankfully, there was no Alison in sight.

“You know,” Jules, mused, buckling herself in. “This could be songwriting gold!”

Suddenly, we were both laughing hysterically, all thoughts of Alison and Luke forgotten.

I could forget about Alison.

I was chasing my dream.