Hey We're Taking on the World

Chapter Eight

When Ashton’s alarm went off on his phone the next morning, I reached over to his nightstand and shut it off. “Good morning, beautiful,” he said in a raspy voice and kissed me. “Good morning, sexy,” I said and kissed him back. “You wanna do something fun?” he asked. “Sure, what?” I asked. “Wake everyone up,” he said and I sat up. “Let’s do it, I just have to pee first,” I said and ran to the bathroom. When I was done I walked back into Ashton’s room and jumped on top of him. “Ready babe?” I asked. “Let’s go,” he said we both walked out of his room. “I’ll get Mike, you get Cal, and we’ll all get Luke and Maci,” I said. “Let’s do this,” he said and we positioned ourselves in front of Michael and Calum’s rooms. “One, two, three!” I said, ran into Michael’s room, and started jumping on his bed. “Mikey wake up! You have rehearsal today!” I said and fell on top of him. “Go away, Jase. Let me sleep for five more minutes,” he said and rolled over onto his stomach. “No, wake up now. Ash is waking up Cal right now and then we’re all gonna wake up Luke and Maci. Now let’s go!” I said and pulled his comforter off of him. “Ok, ok, I’m up. Let’s go. I’m warning you now, you better watch it at rehearsal today,” he said. “You won’t do shit and you know it,” I said and started walking towards Luke’s room. “Yeah you’re right. But I will do this,” he said and threw me over his shoulder. “Mike put me down!” I yelled and started hitting him. “No way, Jase. This is what you get for waking me up,” he said and we met up with Ash and Cal in front of Luke’s room. “Mike, what the hell are you doing, mate?” Ash asked and laughed. “She woke me up so she’s being punished,” Mike said. “Babe, do something!” I yelled. “Sorry love, can’t help you,” Ashton said, opened Luke’s room, and we all ran inside. Calum and Ashton jumped on the bed, Mike threw me on the bed, and finally, Mike jumped on the bed. “Wake up!” we all yelled in unison. I crawled on top of Maci and started touching her face. “Wake up Mace, we have a busy day ahead of us,” I said. “Jase get off me,” she said. “No, wake up or I’m gonna lick your face,” I said and she immediately sat up. “Ok I’m awake,” she said. “Good, now make sure he gets up. We’re going downstairs and I’m making breakfast,” I said and pulled all the boys off the bed. “Ok we’ll be down in a few minutes,” Luke said and Calum, Michael, Ashton, and I walked downstairs. I walked into the kitchen and started making breakfast. A few minutes later, Luke and Maci walked downstairs and Luke started fixing himself a cup of coffee. “Ok, whose idea was it to wake us up?” he asked. “It was those two,” Mike said and pointed at me and Ashton. “Ashton thought it would be funny and I agreed,” I said and continued to make breakfast. “I told you all that wakeup call was at 9:30. We can’t be late today; it’s the first day of rehearsals. We can be late tomorrow,” Ash said. “Breakfast is ready,” I said and made everyone a plate. We sat and ate for a half hour and then we all ran upstairs to get ready for the day. “Babe, can I wear one of your thousand flannels?” I asked. “Yeah, sure babe. What color?” Ash asked while going through his closet. “Red,” I said and he threw me his red flannel. I tied it around my waist, sat on the floor in front of the mirror I set up in his room, and started doing my makeup. I plugged my flat iron in next to the mirror and started doing my hair. “Babe, why are you getting all dressed up? We’re just going to rehearsal,” he said. “If I do this now I don’t have to do it later when I’m getting ready to meet your mom, Lauren, and Harry. This way after rehearsal we just have to stop by my place so I could change my clothes and pack an overnight bag,” I said and finished flat ironing my hair. “Jasey Rae, you don’t have to get all dressed up fancy for my mum. She’s not into all that stuff,” he said and kissed the top of my head. “I still need to look presentable. I don’t want her thinking I don’t know how to take care of myself,” I said. “Don’t worry about it. You’re perfect to me and that’s all that matters. I love you,” he said and leaned down to kiss me. “I love you too. If you’re done getting ready, go make sure the rest of them are. We need to leave soon,” I said and did the final touches on my makeup. “Alright, I’ll be right back. You look beautiful,” he said, kissed my forehead, and walked out of his room. When he came back he sat down behind me, pulled me in between his legs, and wrapped his arms around my waist. “We’re all ready to go,” he said and kissed the side of my face. “Perfect. I’ll be ready in like a minute,” I said, finished putting on my red lipstick, and crouched in front of the mirror. I took out my phone and started messing around with my hair. “Um, babe, what are you doing?” he asked and laughed. “I look great and I need to take a picture,” I said and started positioning myself in different angles. “Do girls really do this?” Ashton asked. “Yes we do. Now let me take pictures,” I said and took a few photos on my phone. Before I knew it, Ashton walked over to me, sat behind me, and pulled me into his lap. “Our turn,” he said and kissed me. “Ok fine. Try to look punk rock,” I said and laughed. “Jase, I’m in a punk rock band,” he laughed. “I know you are babe, I was kidding,” I said and kissed him. We posed and took pictures and I put one on Instagram: “jaseyrae: we’re more punk rock than you xx. @ashtonirwin.” Ashton and I got our things together and walked downstairs to meet everyone else. “Is everyone ready to go?” Michael asked. “Yeah, now let’s go play some tunes!” Calum said and we all cheered. We piled into the SUV and started for the tour rehearsal space. When we got to the rehearsal space the boys unloaded everything while Maci and I ran around the building. While the boys were setting up on stage I ran up and started saying things into the microphone. “Hey Jase, why don’t you sing something for us while we’re setting up,” Ash suggested. “What should I sing?” I asked. “Sing Amnesia, it’s always been one of my favorites,” Mike said. “It’s one of my favorites too. I’ll sing it. Mikey if you’re done setting up can you play for me?” I asked. “Sure, no problem,” he said and started tuning his acoustic guitar. “Ready Jase?” he asked. “Start playing Mike,” I said and I immediately heard the first notes of the song. I started singing and all I could think about was how amazing it felt to sing on stage again after what seemed like forever. Throughout the song, the boys added the harmonies and Ash came up behind me and wrapped his arms around me. When the song was over, I stood in Ashton’s arms in silence for a few moments. “Are you alright, Jase?” he whispered in my ear. I turned around and wrapped my arms around his neck. “I’m fine. It feels great to be singing on stage. The stage is my home; it’s where I belong. I also belong right here in your arms. There’s no place I’d rather be and I can’t believe how lucky I am,” I said and kissed him softly. “I love you,” he said and kissed me back. “I love you too,” I said and hugged him tightly. “Can you guys get a room? This is a gross display of affection,” Mike said and put his guitars in their stands. “We love you too, Mikey,” I said. I sat down on stage scrolling through my phone while the boys were finishing setting everything up. About a half hour after we got to the venue everything was set up and the six of us were sitting in a circle on stage. “Are you guys excited to go on tour?” I asked. “We’re super excited. We love going on tour. After we’ve had a lot of time off we can’t wait to go back on tour,” Calum said. “Don’t you guys like having days off?” Maci asked. “Yeah, of course. We love when we have a day off. It’s just that playing the music that you’ve worked so hard on to so many people is amazing and you can’t wait to do it again,” Luke said. “I’ve been a fan of you guys for years and after all the hard work I’ve seen you put into your music, you deserve all the days off you get and more. I’ve never seen a band as hard working as you guys,” I said. “Thanks babe that means a lot. I know I’ll be wishing for more days off so I can spend them with you,” Ashton said and kissed me. “I remember the night your first album came out. I was listening to the songs and all I could think about was how proud I was of you guys. It was a long wait but it was definitely worth it. The album was perfect,” I said. “You really mean that?” Michael asked. “Of course I do. Why would I lie about that? I waited two years for that album and finally getting to hear it was worth every single minute of waiting because I know you guys put everything you had into that album. I was so happy and proud and I still am,” I said and kissed Ashton. “You have no idea how much that means to us. We saw how everyone reacted to it on twitter but to actually hear it from someone who waited so long for it and to know that they thought it was great is such an amazing feeling,” Calum said. “You boys deserve the praise. Every single last bit of it,” I said. “I find it amazing that you’ve been a fan for so long and you fell in love with us so many years before I fell in love with you,” Ash said. “I do too, it’s weird. When you said you’d date a fan I didn’t think much about it because we lived in different countries and I wasn’t famous but this is a dream come true and I really do love you so much. I fell in love with the music first then I fell in love with your personalities. And now I’m in love with you,” I said and he kissed me. “You two are disgusting, knock it off,” Maci said and threw one of Luke’s guitar picks at us. “I’m sorry I love him too much!” I said and Ashton laughed. “We know you love him but for the sake of all that is good in the world just tone it down a little,” Calum said. “Ok we will, we’re sorry guys. We didn’t realize we were making you uncomfortable,” I said. “It’s ok Jase, but thank you for listening to us,” Mike said and hugged me. “Who’s ready to make this an amazing tour?” Luke asked. “I am!” we all said, the boys grabbed their instruments, Ash sat at his drum kit, and Maci and I sat front row in the audience. Rehearsal was a success; the boys sounded great, we ate lunch with the crew, and we talked about all the cities we would be going to for the next month. At around 7:30 the boys started packing up their equipment and loading it into the SUV. “Who wants to go out to celebrate an amazing first day of rehearsals?” Calum asked. “We’d love to mate but we can’t. I’m taking Jasey Rae to meet my family,” Ashton said. “Really? That’s fantastic!” Maci said to me. “Are you nervous, Jase?” Luke asked me. “A little bit. I’m hoping everything will turn out great,” I said. “It will, don’t worry. They’re all gonna love you,” Ash said and kissed me. “Ok. What time do we have to be at your mom’s?” I asked. “She told me no later than eight o’clock so that means we have to leave now to get my car at the band house so we can get to her house on time,” he said and we stepped into the SUV. “So I’m guessing I don’t have time to change?” I said. “No, sorry love. You look beautiful, you always do,” he said. “Thank you darling,” I said, kissed him, and we all drove off to the band house. Ten minutes later we arrived at the house and I ran upstairs to get my things. “Bye Jase, good luck with Ashton’s family,” Maci said and hugged me. “Thanks babe, I’ll let you know how it goes,” I said, got in Ashton’s car, and we headed to his mom’s house. When we got to her house it was exactly eight o’clock. We walked in the door and Ash was greeted with open arms from his mother. “My baby’s home!” she said and hugged him very tightly. “Hi mummy, I’ve missed you so much!” he said. “I’ve missed you too, honey. Lauren, Harry, Ash and his new girlfriend are here!” she yelled and they both came running from a different room into Ashton’s arms. “Everyone, this is the girl I’ve been telling you about. This is Jasey Rae. Darling, this is my little brother Harry, my beautiful sister Lauren, and my absolutely gorgeous mother Anne Marie,” he said. “It’s so nice to meet you all. Ash has told me so much about you guys,” I said and shook their hands. “It’s nice to meet you too sweetheart. He’s told us many things about you as well. Now, who’s hungry?” Mrs. Irwin said. Ashton and his siblings expressed their thoughts and we all sat down to eat. While we were eating Ash and his family were catching up and they were all asking me questions. “So Jasey Rae, are you excited to start teaching in the next couple months?” Mrs. Irwin asked me. “Yes I’m very excited. I love teaching so this is a dream come true,” I said. “She’s an amazing singer mum. I can’t even believe it sometimes,” Ashton said to her. “Thanks Ash,” I said and smiled. “What made you start singing, Jasey Rae?” she asked. “I don’t really remember. My parents have told me that I started singing before I could talk. I guess I was born with a passion for music. That’s why I went to school to become a music teacher,” I said. “That’s wonderful dear. I hope you have an amazing experience while you’re teaching,” she said to me. “Thank you, Mrs. Irwin. That means a lot,” I said. “Honey please, call me Anne Marie. You’re a part of this family now and we love having you,” she said and smiled at me. “Thank you so much. Thank you for welcoming me into your beautiful home and your wonderful family,” I said and Ashton kissed the top of my head. When we were finished with dinner we all cleaned up and moved into the living room to watch a movie together. When the movie was over, Ashton stretched his arms and stood up. “Mum, kids, it was so great to see you again but Jase and I have to go. We have an early morning tomorrow. Tour rehearsal starts at 10:30,” he said and started hugging his family. “It was so nice to see you darling. I hope we can see you soon. I love you,” his mom said and hugged him. “I promise I’ll come by soon don’t worry. I love you too,” he said and hugged Lauren and Harry. “Jase, it’s so wonderful to meet you. My boy here doesn’t ever stop talking about you,” Anne Marie said and hugged me. “I’m so happy I finally got to meet you and your children. They’re all wonderful and Ashton is a great man,” I said. “I always knew he would be. Watch out for him on tour for me?” she asked. “Of course I will,” I said. “You two better get going. The both of you better come back soon, ok?” she said. “We will mum don’t worry. I’ll call you tomorrow. I love you,” Ash said and hugged them all again. “I love you too dear,” she said, I hugged Lauren and Harry, said my final goodbye, and Ashton and I walked to his car. We drove back to the house and walked right up to his room to get ready for bed. “So? What did you think?” he asked and pulled me into his bed. “I love them. They’re so sweet. I’m so happy they like me,” I said and kissed him. “See? I told you that there was nothing to worry about. Mum loves you already and she’s only gonna grow to love you even more,” he said and kissed me. “Thank you for taking me to meet them. I love you,” I said. “You’re welcome, babe. Next step, your parents. Luke and I arranged everything and we’ve got our tickets and we leave two days after the tour. We’ll be staying for a week,” he said. “Thank you so much. You just keep finding ways to make me happy. I love you so much,” I said and kissed him. “I love you too. Now let’s go to sleep. I’m exhausted and we need to be up early. Goodnight beautiful,” he said and kissed me. “Goodnight babe,” I said and we slowly drifted off to sleep wrapped in each other's arms.