Burning Dandelions (5SOS/Ashton Irwin)

14

Danielle's POV

"Thanks for coming out tonight! We really appreciate it. Have a good night!" Calum yelled into his mic. Everyone in the crowd cheered as they left the stage.

"Excuse me," Ashton said as he placed one of his hands on my stomach gently to push me back some, so he could slide by easier. I stood there in confusion as I watched Ashton walk off until he was out of sight. I decided to walk behind the stage where I was reunited with Luke.

"Did you like the show?" he asked, still hyped up from the crowd. "You looked like you were having fun. --- Where's Ashton?"

I shrugged. "I don't know. He left after you guys walked off stage."

Luke curled his nose and pursed his lips. "That's weird. ---He's gotta come back at some point, right? We were all going to eat. Want to join?" He motioned to the restaurant right near the stage. I agreed to go, so I walked by Luke to meet everyone.

"Where's Ashton?" Michael asked, looking at me. I shrugged again.

"He walked off," Luke explained. "He'll call one of us or something. I'm starving. Let's go eat." We entered the restaurant and got seated fairly quickly. I wasn't really as hungry as Luke claimed to be, so I just ordered some fries, which are my first love. "Did you guys notice one of the girls in the crowd who had her hair up, and she was dancing around?"

"I did," Ellington responded. "Did you like her?"

"Nah, but she had some really weird dance moves," Luke continued.

"She was drunk, Luke. She had a beer can in her hand," Michael explained. Michael took a sip of his drink that was brought to him not too long ago. Calum sat quietly just shaking his head and keeping a laugh in.

"Here's your food," the waiter said as he started passing the plates of food to the person who ordered them. "Can I get you anything; ketchup, mustard, anything?"

Ellington looked at everyone on the table, and we were all shaking our heads. He turned back to the waiter to talk. "We're good. Thank you."

"Enjoy," the waiter told us as he jogged back to the kitchen.

"Strange dude," Michael spoke before diving into his plate of food.

"Like you can talk, Clifford," Calum commented. "You're very strange." Calum started to eat his burger. I ate some of my fries, not many because the animal crackers held me over. I sat back as everyone ate and made small talk. I glanced out the window and saw many people still hanging around after the show. I noticed a familiar figure sitting on a bench: Ashton. I grabbed my phone out of my pocket.

"I have to make a quick phone call; I'll be right back," I told the boys as an excuse to leave. Good thing we weren't at a booth, so I pushed my chair back stood up.

"Are you going to call Ashton?" Luke turned around to ask me.

I shook my head. "I have to call my mom. She texted me." I lied. I began to walk off when Michael stopped me.

"Danielle, are you going to finish your fries?" he asked.

I scrunched my face. "No, you can have them."

He shrugged. "Eh, I don't want them."

"Then, why did you ask?" I emphasized. He shrugged again, so I went ahead and walked outside. I put my phone up, and I walked over to where I saw Ashton sitting alone with another cigarette in his hand. "Uh, what's up?" I asked him as I joined him on the bench.

"Why are you here?" Ashton groaned. He inhaled the cigarette and exhaled shortly after.

"What's wrong?" I asked him. "I thought you were having fun. Then, you just walked away."