Dirty Little Secret [5SOS]

3: Trouble

Payson’s PoV:

The next morning, Violet and I were the first ones up even though it was one in the afternoon. We both are sitting at the table with a cuppa. I can feel the dark circles under my eyes and notice that Violet has a smile spread across her face, staring at Harry who is asleep on the floor still.
"You really like him, huh," I ask Violet.
"Nah. But he's fun."
"How long are you staying," I inquire.
"A week. If they don't mind," she says finally turning to face me.
"I don't think--"
"Payson! Are you getting enough sleep? There are like these black circles under your eyes!"
"Well, it's hard to sleep on the floor."
"Why didn't you just go up to bed?"
"I was tra-- Hi, Luke!" Luke walks downstairs, stepping over Michael who is sprawled across the bottom step. He looks like he is carrying a boulder in each hand and a raccoon was sleeping in his hair.
"Hey, guys," he mumbles, going for the fridge. "Are there any bananas?"
"Yeah, right next to you on the counter. Don't get any in your hair," I joke as Luke grabs one and slumps at the table with us. He sticks his tongue out at me and peels open the banana.
"You don't look to good, Payson. You alright," Luke asks, taking a bite of the banana.
"Speak for yourself, zombie," I counter.
"They all still asleep?"
"No, I killed them all."
"Really? Even Ashton?"
"What," I blush. What was he suggesting?
"Oh! Luke! You'll never guess what Harry and I found yesterday," Violet laughs.
"Oh yeah? What's that?"
"Payson and Ashton were like about to have a make out session in the pantry the other day!"
"Really," Luke asks, his mood immediately brightening.
"Yep," Violet laughs.
"No we were not! The food fell over and--"
"Sure," Violet trails off and I catch sight of Michael getting up off the floor.
"Just- Just, shut up," I mutter one last time before Michael joins us.
"What are you guys talking about," Michael asks, groggily.
"How P--"
"No," I cut off Violet.
"What were you talking about," Michael insists.
"Nothing. Just about how fun the party was last night," Luke replies without hesitation. Michael shrugs it off and him and Luke continue the conversation about last night's party as more boys start to wake up. One by one, each of the boys wake up and join us around the table. Once everyone is up, we say good bye to the One D boys; Violet giving Harry a longer good bye than anyone else. They leave and the rest of us are left on the couch.
"So what have you guys been doing here," Violet speaks up.
"Nothing much. I usually just play video games and read while they are at the studio," I explain.
"Then, we just get into as much trouble as possible after we come home," Calum finishes.
"Sounds like fun," she tells Calum.
"Speaking of, if we don't leave now, we'll be late for the studio," Luke says, looking at the time on his phone.
Michael mumbles something and they all rush up to their rooms to change, leaving Violet and I on the couch.
"Then, what are we going to do today," Violet asks. "And I don't want to play video games."
"Well that kills my whole schedule," I pout and then laugh. "Why don't I take you to downtown LA."
"Sounds like a plan to me!" Violet rushes off into my room to change. Downstairs grows quiet with just the hum of a shower. I lay my head back and close my eyes. I hear a tapping and a quiet hum so I follow the noise upstairs. It is coming from Ashton's room, so I press my ear against the door. I hear Ash singing their cover of 'Year 3000' while tapping out the beat on something. He is a really good singer; why doesn't he sing more? I listen to the sound of his voice singing:

He told me he built a time machine
Like the one in a film I've seen
He said, 'I've been to the year 3000
Not much has changed,
But they lived underwater
And your great, great, great granddaughter
Is pretty fine... pretty fine...'

I laugh and knock lightly on the door. It swings open and there stands Ashton.
"H-Hi," he stutters, rubbing the back of his neck.
"You're really good," I smile.
"Oh. That, yeah," he trails off, shyly. "So, what are you doing today?" He seems nervous and embarrassed. I kind of like the way that feeling looks on him.
I laugh for a second and then reply back more nervous-sounding than expected, "We're just going to see LA. We didn't have any s-specific plans."
"I could skip the studio today. I-I mean if you want me to tag along."
I can tell he notices my nervousness too and it's kind of cute.
"No, don't skip it. We're probably just going to end up at a nail salon or something. Nothing you need to skip the studio for," I smile, looking up into Ashton's beautiful eyes.
Ashton places his free hand on her cheek and looks at her intently before saying, "Whatever you want." I smile even more nervous, but I don't look away. Michael's door swings open and Ashton jumps back from me, shutting the door slow.
"Hey, Payson. What were you doing there with Ashton," he asks, suspiciously.
"Oh, I heard him singing and just had to laugh at him. You know, since he is alone and-- um-- never mind. It was nothing," I lie, shying away into my room.
"Hey," Violet scares me. "There is someone in this room trying to change."
"Oh, sorry. I'm just going to take a shower." I rush into the bathroom and turn on the hot water. I jump into the shower, the hot water engulfing all my thoughts. I try to focus on nothing, but my mind keeps going to thoughts of Ashton's smile or his amazing laugh or how good he looked the first day I met him or the insightful and funny conversations we've had over the past week. I finish my shower and get out before I get too engulfed in my thoughts. I blow dry my hair and look at myself in the mirror. There are dark circles under my eyes and my eyes looks completely drained.
"I really need to get some real sleep," I whisper to myself. I apply foundation to cover up the darkness and the more I apply the more normal I look. I change into black leggings, a loose, grey wool jumper, think cream wool socks, and some lace-up boots. I throw on my brown eye glasses to cover up under my eyes even more. I find Violet downstairs in a pair of black jeans, dark blue Dr. Martens, an oversized grandpa jumper, and a blue bandana tied around her head.
"Ready to go," I ask, grabbing my bag from the table by the door and the set of keys that Michael gave me. Violet follows me out the door and we take the walk to downtown LA. We first stop at a Starbucks to get lunch. Violet gets a Hot Caffè Mocha and I order a Hot Tazo Awake Brewed Tea. We sit at a table together, sharing a Zucchini Walnut Muffin, and discuss what we should do. We bring up shopping and Violet of course brings up a pedicure, but I tell her that I'm not in the mood for that. In reality, I am just afraid I might fall asleep while getting my legs massaged.
"Let's just walk around and see what we find. I mean, we don't have to decide right now," I finish the conversation and we leave with our half-drunken drinks. We walk around town, popping into shops and other places that the boys had pointed out to me earlier this week. We walked Violet into a library because I needed some books for the weeks to come.
"'Advanced Video Editing 101' and 'CG Tips and Tricks'! Seriously! Can't you just get cool books and not these boring ones," Violet practically shouts, the librarian shushing her.
"I told you I needed these. Now would you just wait a second? I need to find one... more... Ah! Here it is," Payson smiles, picking out another textbook. They begin to walk up to the front counter to check them out.
"Ooh! What's up there?!" Violet gets distracted and looks up the dusty staircase that has a sign reading, "Do Not Enter".
"That was probably some units a long time ago. Just leave it."
"Ugh! You're no fun."
"Let me go check these out and maybe I'll get you a lolly at the supermarket. We need to pick up more bread anyway," I trail off, walking up to the front counter and leaving Violet to stare at the stairs. I check out the books and then go get Violet. I notice that she is gone and the layer of dust that covered the sign was dusted off sloppily.
"Violet! Vi," I whisper-yell up the stairs and when I get no reply, I climb over the chain and up the stairs. It grows darker, so I pull out my phone for a torch. I notice a small light a little farther away and I follow it whispering, "Vi?" The light faces me now and we both come into each other's light.
"So, you decided to follow me," Violet asks, cockily.
"Of course. I didn't think you could handle an adventure on your own," I reply back, sassily. Violet laughs and we continue our search for the light switch. We search around for awhile, not finding anything, and when we were about to give up Violet laughs.
"What," I question, a bit nervous of her answer.
"I found--"
"Ahh!!!" I scream.
"What is-- Payson," Violet yells, flipping on the dim light and I am curled up on the floor. "Oh my, god! Are you alright?"
I scream again in pain and say, "No! Call someone!" Violet freaks out and runs down the stairs yelling for someone to call the ambulance. Some medics come and take me to an ambulance on a gurney. We head to the hospital in a rush, Violet right by my side.