Human Canvas :: a.i [slow updates]

Chapter 14

I simply can't let go of Ashton's hand.

I try to mask my discomfort as we step inside the old building surrounded by trees and bushes and bathed by only the moonlight.

I have never been to a place like this and although my stomach is bubbling with excitement, it is also about to explode with fear.

"Hold on tight to your purse." Ashton whispers in my ear through the noise in the room, most of it which seems to be coming from upstairs.

His hand leaves mine and I gasp in protest. Ashton grins and moves his arm to my shoulders, wrapping it tightly around them and pressing my side into him.

I smile softly and get a better hold of my small purse, holding it in my waist with my hand as the strap falls loosely over my shoulder.

The air is thick, and there's a faded cloud of smoke flying below the roof.

There's no music playing yet and the only sounds occupying the atmosphere of our surroundings is of people talking, laughing, and even chanting things I can't quite understand.

The lightning is basically nonexistent.

As Ashton and I make our way to what I assume is the other boys' presence, I almost stumble upon several things such as glass bottles of alcoholic beverages and even bodies lied on the floor.

The thick neon lights falling from the roof and illuminating only small parts of each of the dark rooms we cross are simply not enough to get a good look at what's going on inside the house.

"We can go whenever you want to," I hear Ashton's voice mixing with the ones of the people present in the room "this isn't the coziest place and the people here are mad! We got a room for us but we can still leave whenever you want to! I'm sorry Calum is such an asshole and chose this place!" He yells, looking around.

We reach a door, still on the bottom floor, next to a surprisingly almost vacant spacy hallway.

Ashton opens it and we are greeted with stares from the three boys we were with before, plus some other people, including pretty girls with nice clothes, hair, and smiles.

The room is tight and it seems as if it's going to run out of space if Ashton and I dare to enter it.

There's a cozy looking and long sofa where Calum and Luke are sat, beside the small crowd of people that I don't know.

Once again, the lights are dim and the air is so thick that only a small exhalation can make my lungs feel full and heavy.

"Where have you two been?" Calum asks after taking a sip of a bottle of absinthe.

"More like what have you been doing?" Michael erupts from the middle of a group of people and greets us with a devilish smirk.

I blush, not entirely sure why, and wrap my arm around Ashton's waist, as if asking him not to let go of me.

"We were talking, okay?" Ashton rolls his eyes with a smile and turns his head to me "I gotta greet some people, I'll be right back, okay? You can seat there." He says, pointing to the seat in the middle of Calum and Luke.

I nod nervously and he kisses my cheek before walking to the other side of the room to the small crowd of ten, maybe less, people.

"Hey." I smile, taking off Ashton's blazer and sitting on the vacant seat Ashton suggested.

Calum hands me the bottle of absinthe and a smile, but I politely decline, "I think I'm gonna wait a little bit more before I start drinking." I smile and he nods.