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

Chapter 17 | Theories

Ashton POV

I was pretty much standing there all alone. Each guy had a girl to talk to, except for me.

Just as I was about to conclude my internal battle and go apologize, Ashley turned around from her conversation with Luke and asked me for a pen.

I paused, "...Why?"

"Because I would like to write a phone number on a piece of paper for Luke," she replied curtly.

I was shocked. Of all people, I didn't think she would like Luke. I assumed she liked Calum. I bet she was a player. I wasn't letting a player mess with my friends, no matter how badly I acted to them. "No."

She rolled her eyes and scoffed as she walked past me, muttering, "Jerk." She then asked Michael for a pen, which he gladly gave to her, and she found a piece of paper. As she was writing the number down, I quickly turned to Luke. "Luke, I think she's a player. Don't let her fool you."

He laughed. "Her? She's sweet! Just because you're a jerk..." he trailed off.

I narrowed my eyes. "Fine," I spat. "Just watch what happens when she breaks your heart. Don't come crying to me."

I then left him standing there, rolling his eyes at my behavior. Ashley walked up to him with a grin that could stretch a mile. That same grin was also planted on his face once she gave him the piece of paper.

"Call anytime," Ashley added.

Luke winked as he said, "I will."

As Ashley giggled, I grunted, extremely sour about the entire ordeal.

She turned to me, apparently hearing me grunt. "What crawled up your pants?"

I paused. "Nothing," I said.

I turned around and started talking to our van driver, who had just entered the room, feeling extremely frustrated for reasons unknown. I heard Ashley sigh then start to talk to Calum. Al was now saying goodbye to Michael, and that other girl - I think her name was Jodie - was talking to Luke, who still had a smile on his face from getting Ashley's number.

I was going to watch him be heartbroken, I just knew it. I knew I would have to apologize to Ashley eventually, but Luke had her number now, so that could wait.

********

It was about twenty minutes since we had gotten into the van and started on our way to the next arena. I must have seemed sad to leave to the other boys because they kept asking me what was wrong. I lied easily, making excuses like, "I'm just going to miss LA." I was sure they had bought it because Calum kept trying to reassure me. "We're still on tour, mate. Don't forget that."

I was looking out the window at the scenery passing us by. To be honest, it wasn't much - mostly concrete and asphalt. I don't know what else I could have expected from the big city of Los Angeles, but it was somewhat a disappointment. I decided it was for the best and simply tried to take a nap because I knew I would need my rest for the upcoming show.

********

Al POV

I sighed as we arrived at our apartment. It had been a wonderful day, the highlight probably being the fact that Ashley had slapped Ashton, and also that we had met Jodie and seen Kate again.

I bade Ashley goodnight and sleepily walked to my room.

I had fallen asleep when I had a dream. All I saw was Calum's face; it was just a picture of his face, sort of drifting on top of murky waters. It was enough to wake me up and I remembered something that I had forgotten to tell Ashley. I jumped out of my bed at once and dashed to Ashley's bedroom. She was asleep, as I had guessed, but not for long.