Silver Bells (5 Seconds of Summer)

Chapter 2

"How long has he been out?" 

"A few hours, actually." 

"Did he seriously faint?" 

"The evidence is right there." 

Ashton groaned as he came to. His vision was blurred for a few seconds, but then it cleared. He saw five people standing above him, five people that he immediately recognized. 

"Yay! You're back with the living!" Louis cheered when he saw that Ashton was awake. "Good to have you back, buddy! Hazzah was worried!" 

"I was not," Harry retorted, helping Ashton sit up. Liam passed Ashton a plastic cup of water, and Ashton quickly took a drink. "How are you feeling?" 

"Fine," Ashton assured him. "Thanks for rescuing me out there." 

"No problem. I know how it is," Harry said. "I didn't know you guys were in New York, so I was pretty surprised to see you there. But I know how to identify a guy in a crisis, and I wasn't about to up and leave you there." 

"Thanks," Ashton repeated. "Do you mind giving me a ride back to my hotel? I'm not sure it's safe to go out there with those girls." 

"I've seen them off, but I'll go with you," Harry told him. "We don't have a car, so we'll get a cab." He grinned. "It'll be nice to see the guys again." It had been a few months since the Up All Night Tour had ended, and Ashton and his friends hadn't seen the One Direction guys since. 

Ashton stood up and put his coat and Vans on. Harry, Louis, Liam, Zayn, and Niall got their stuff on as well, and Ashton didn't even question it. The six of them headed down to the lobby, and Ashton waited inside with the others while Harry hailed a cab. As soon as it pulled up, the remaining five trudged out into the cold streets of New York City. They all slipped into the cab and told the taxi driver to take them to Ashton's hotel. 

The cab driver thanked them as they got out, and they thanked the driver. In a single file line, Ashton, Harry, Louis, Liam, Niall, and Zayn headed up to Ashton's room. Ashton inserted the key into the slot, and was greeted immediately by a loud shout of, "ASHTON!" from an overexcited Luke. He raced to the door and gave Ashton a giant hug. "We were worried about you!" 

"Good to have you back, Ash," Calum told him calmly. Michael had frozen near the doors to the deck, a sugar cookie halfway to his mouth. 

"Guys... what's happened in here?" Ashton asked slowly. 

The room had been totally revamped. In the bedroom, the covers had been switched out for red and green ones, and Christmas lights were hung on the headboards. In the bathroom, new Christmas pictures had been hung. And it was in the living room where Ashton saw the most ridiculous decoration of the ridiculous decorations: a giant Christmas tree, full to the teeth with lights and ornaments. It was a sight to see. 

"Ashton..." Michael said. Even though he found it safe to take a bite of the sugar cookie he held, he still looked like a deer caught in the headlights. "Are you okay?" 

"Yeah," Ashton sighed, taking the Christmas festivities all in. "Didn't you see who I brought?" Everyone's eyes turned to the One Direction guys, who were standing in the doorway looking awkward. 

"Harreh!" Luke exclaimed, and gave the lead singer of the band a huge hug. Even though Harry knew that Luke was a bit overexcited, he gave Luke an enthusiastic hug back. He wasn't even fazed by the fact that Luke said his name in a really stupid way. 

"Good to see you, guys!" Liam told them. "We had no idea you were in New York." 

"We are! We're spending the holidays here!" Luke cried. "Michael! Give me a sugar cookie!" Michael immediately passed a cookie to Luke, but Ashton snatched it out of his hands. Luke looked like a child whose toy had just been taken away. 

"You've had too much sugar," Ashton declared, and popped the cookie into his own mouth. Luke made a face at him. 

"Let's watch a movie," Harry suggested. "Anything good on?" The One Direction guys trudged into the living room, and the nine of them had to contort a bit to fit on the various couches and chairs. Ashton ended up sitting in between Harry and Calum. 

"Ooh! Home Alone!" Luke exclaimed. He rubbed his hands together excitedly, and Harry clicked the channel that was playing the movie. It was the second Home Alone movie, and it was incredibly ironic because they were in New York. They all yelled as they recognized certain sights in the movie. 

Halfway through the movie, Ashton and Harry ordered pizza. They got their Domino's pizza and ate it while watching the movie. Since they enjoyed the second movie so much, when it was over Harry got the DVD for the first movie, and that's what they started watching at about seven o'clock. The movie went on well into the night, and that's how the boys ended up falling asleep, sitting on the couch watching the first Home Alone. 

A/N: I'm on a roll. Has anyone noticed?