Easier [Ashton Irwin]

5

Yeah, do we really gotta do this now?
Right here with all your friends around

~~~

    The ride to the Los Angeles studio was awkward, to say the very least. The conversation between the two was fresh in their minds, and although the two had said that it was no big deal, worry nibbled at the edge of their minds.

    Sydney had turned her music up, Greenday on the radio as the two sat in silence. They both mouthed the words along to the songs, but neither one sang along. Sydney felt uncomfortable and guilty, and she would be lying if she said that she hadn't let out a sigh of relief once they both stepped out of the car.

"Hey, Luke!" Sydney shouted, running towards the man and throwing herself on top of him. She gave him a quick hug before she moved on to Calum and Michael, repeating her actions with them. "What have y'all been doing?"

"Since when did you say 'y'all'?" Luke asked, a baffled expression shaping his flawless features. "You're from Australia, not Texas."

Sydney shrugged. "I dunno. I'm just tryna stay cool so that the kids will love me." She grinned over at Ashton. "Harry taught me loads of new slang last time I saw him. Now, give me the tea, sis - what have y'all been doing."

Fighting against the urge to wince at how Sydney had chosen to expand her vocabulary, Luke chose to respond to her instead as Calum and Michael laughed and cheered there girl on. "We've been working on this new song; we think it's gonna be called *Insert New Song Here*, but there are a few lines that we're unsure of."

Sydney practically threw herself in to the spinning desk chair beside the round table, her eyes bright with excitement. "Tell me more!" She spoke feverishly, as Ashton slowly lowered himself into his own chair, his actions sluggish and carefully calculated.

As Luke read the lines out to Sydney, humming the tune to her as he did so, with little input from Calum and Michael, Sydney listened in awe. She loved their lyrics; it blew her mind every time they showed her something new, and she found it impossible to believe that, once again, they had bettered themselves. Yet, she always found a way to make her own input valid by making slight suggestions and small changes. Every time the men would praise her or thank her, she would shrug them off, refusing to believe that her little amount of work had made such an impact on the song.

Sydney hummed the melody to herself as she thought, the words swirling through her mind on repeat. A crease formed between her brows as she frowned in concentration, and her nose scrunched up. She nibbled at her bottom lip, the fragile skin tearing and puncturing as she bit down, so lost in concentration that she was almost unaware of what she was doing. Her fingers tapped out a beat on the table, her eyes gliding over each one of the band members as she imagined each of their voices bringing the words to life and adding a new dimension of emotion.

Meanwhile, Ashton's eyes hadn't left the girl. He felt drawn in by her, and he leant forward ever so slightly to listen and watch her.

    Sydney began to talk feverishly, her speech so quick that one would completely misunderstand it if they weren't listening closely. Luke was nodding along as he listened to her, scribbling notes and suggestions down onto the piece of paper filled with lyrics.

Ashton smiled at the pair, his gaze drifting to Sydney more often than it did to Luke. Calum nudged the man, biting back a laugh as he watched his friend. Ashton glared at him, wincing at the pain Calum had caused by unknowingly hitting a fresh bruise.