Stay With Me || Lashton ||

25

"My mom got us a great deal on some electrics and a drum kit, all we have to do is go pick out what we want." Mikey added and I felt a lump of emotion grow in my throat. This was all happening. My dreams could be coming true.

"When is it?" I asked.

"December 3rd!" Calum said and wrapped me into a huge hug. We were all standing now and I glanced over to a happy Ashton.

"We don't even have a name but we have a gig!" Michael laughed.

"I have one but it's probably really stupid and I thought of it in the middle of math but-" I rambled.

"Luke!" Calum yelled to get me to get to the point.

"5 Seconds of Summer." I said and everyone's face turned to expressions of thought.

"5 Seconds of Summer." Michael repeated with a smile. Calum and Ashton joined in with smiles of their own and I knew it was a hit.

"Lads, we are officially a band." Ashton said and gathered us all into our first band group hug.

....

We've been watching movies since Ben and Calum wouldn't quit fighting about FIFA. Calum and Ben were just as close as we were but for some reason they always bickered even if it was playful. We've watched at least three hours of Transformers movies and I can feel myself drifting off. My body and Ashton's were tangled in each other on one couch while Calum and Michael were the same on the other and Ben was in the recliner.

When I glanced up to Ashton he was in full focus on the movie. His hazel eyes were wide with wonder and his eyebrows were pulled together in thought. I loved when Ashton was like this. His face tense in thought like he was really piecing together something. I could've stared at him for days but I really had to pee.

I untangled myself from Ashton and hurried upstairs so I could get back to him as soon as I could. When I came out of the bathroom my mom was coming in the front door. She had been gone the majority of the day which is odd and what's even worse, she came through the front door like she was on a mission. In her hand was a familiar folder that she's been working with for a couple of weeks. Every time I come in the room she shoves the stupid thing away and tries to play it off. I'm growing quite irritated with it.

"Oh Luke I'm glad you are awake, I have something to show you." She grabbed me by the arm and pulled me into the dining room. She sat her purse on the table and turned to me with a concerning look on her face. It was somewhere between fear and excitement and I wasn't sure I wanted to know which.

"Mom what's wrong?" I questioned and she reached for the folder, handing it to me.

"I think I'll let you read for yourself." Her hands gave me the folder and my shaking hands opened it.

Inside was a police report, with a mugshot of Ashton. He looked probably 15 and had a beaten up face. My blood was running as ice and all the air had left my lungs. Why didn't he tell me? My shaking fingers flipped through the various pages but I couldn't wrap my head around what I was seeing. Ashton, a criminal. Then, as if the folder was made of flame, I threw it on the table. It couldn't be real, it just couldn't.

"He's been arrested three times, spent a night in the juvenile detention center for domestic violence on a friend of his step dad's. This is why I didn't want him around you Luke, he's dangerous." My mother said and I sunk lower at every word. Tears were filling my eyes and so much emotion was filling my heart.

I was angry. I was angry at my mother, I was angry at Ashton and I was angry at myself. My mother had no right to dig into Ashton's past but he should've told me about all of this. And I was scared. Scared I had become close to the wrong person, a truly dangerous person. But that wasn't Ashton anymore. That angry teenager in the mugshot was not the Ashton I've grown to love.