The Jerks Next Door || Ashton Irwin [5 Seconds Of Summer]

Chapter 17 | Theories

Ashley POV

We were relieved enough when we found the boys, but our happiness couldn't really last. We had to remember that they were still musicians on tour. We practically sprinted back to the van and speeded back to the arena, not without getting lost a couple of times on the way (much to my disadvantage since I was the 'mapkeeper').

We luckily got back about three minutes before the tour bus was due to leave.

Everyone - excluding Ashton - said goodbye to Jake, since he had to go find his sister and leave.

As we said our goodbyes to the rest of the boys, I saw Al from the corner of my eye moping around. I looked at her confusedly, but she didn't catch my eye, so I pulled her aside for a moment and asked her what was wrong.

"We just met our idols, Ashley. It turns out one of them is a complete jerk, but we went on an adventure and I met the guy of my dreams and now they have to leave for tour and I might not even see him ever again."

I gave her a look of disbelief. "You're kidding! We just went on an 'adventure,' like you just said, and had a great time! You're telling me you don't even want to say goodbye? They're only superstars who can quite possibly become blow-up famous in a few months and leave us right now without any care in the world," I taunted her.

"Thanks for the support," she grumbled.

"Hey, that's what I'm here for," I said. Man, was she dramatic, I thought, rolling my eyes at her when she wasn't looking.

Al rolled her eyes and went back into the group to say goodbye to the boys. I saw Jodie smile and hug Michael, and my lips curled into a small smile. I then saw Al having a good laugh with Calum and I bit my lip to stop from smiling too broadly. Luke was standing a bit awkwardly there so I walked over to him, laughing. "You seem lonely," I teased.

He smiled at me awkwardly.

"I usually don't do this," I started, "but considering we just went on a huge rescue mission together, would you mind if I gave you my friend's number? She won't be creepy, I promise. Well, she might be creepy at first, but she really has a good heart and I can promise you that she won't give anyone your number. You can even call with a restricted number," I urged.

He looked a bit bemused, since I had brought it up out of nowhere, but agreed nonetheless. I didn't have a pen on me and neither did Luke when I asked him, so I turned to Ashton and asked him. Ashton narrowed his eyes at me and suspiciously asked, "...Why?"

I raised my eyebrow at him and said, "Because I would like to write a phone number on a piece of paper for Luke."

His eyes widened slightly. "No," he said defiantly.

I scoffed and walked past him. "Jerk." After I got a pen from Michael and found a piece of paper from a table nearby, I wrote Kate's number on it and gave it to Luke. He smiled broadly at the prospect of calling a girl, who could quite possibly, in his mind, be incredibly beautiful. "Call anytime," I added.

He winked at me. "I will."

I giggled, apparently much to Ashton's dismay.

"What crawled up your pants?" I asked him.

He paused, as if contemplating whether or not to tell me what was bothering him, but then decided against it and simply grumbled, "Nothing."

I sighed. I knew I shouldn't have expected him to open up at all, but deep down I was hoping he would have given in at least a little bit by now.

When this was all over and Al and I could finally go back to our apartment, I would take a nice, long shower then curl up with a good book.

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