Ashton's POV
The London chills nip at the sides of my neck, making me wrap my scarf a little tighter as our group heads back to the apartment. We had spent the morning taking the girls sight seeing to places like Buckingham Palace and the London Eye, all that fun stuff. The three of them were chatting happily in front of us, making us turn down little side streets to look at boutiques and English shops. Calum slugged at my side, half asleep as his feet carry him forward. Luke and Michael were walking right in front of us, out of earshot from the girls, but talking loud enough where I could hear them.
"She is still mad at me," Luke mutters to Michael, clearly annoyed. "She hasn't talked to me since we got home yesterday. I don't get the big deal I thought she would support me."
"Luke, you were a total dick!" Michael rolls his eyes, as if this was an obvious fact. Which it was, at least to me.
"I was?" Luke's face of anger twists into worry.
"Uh yeah, that was sort of an asshole move," Michael stuff his hands in his pockets. I just smirk silently to myself, Calum shooting me a questioning look.
"Shit," Luke runs a hand through his hair, glancing up at the girls walking a few feet in front of us.
"She is right, the girl is always right. You're an idiot, how do you not know that by now?" Michael rolls his eyes. Luke mumbles under his breath, fiddling with the strings of his beanie, glancing from Michael to Maddie as if he was unsure of what to do. Michael stares at him, waiting. "Are you going to talk to her?"
"Oh, shit, yeah," Luke mumbles as if his brain was scattered and unable to focus on a single voice inside of his head. "I just- I just need everything to be okay, you know? There is just so much-"
"Just go talk to her," Michael shuts him up, pushing him forward. Michael glances back at me, shrugging.
Calum leans over, whispering in my ear, "here we go again."
"Maddie!" Luke calls, walking faster to separate the distance. Maddie was laughing with Grace and Charlie as they entered a little park across from town.
"Not now Luke," she avoids eye contact with him. The other two girls cross their arms, holding their ground next to Maddie as the three of them turn around to face Luke.
"Please?" Luke holds out his hand, but Maddie just stares. "I'm sorry okay? I'm sorry," he mutters pleadingly.
"It's okay," Maddie shrugs, looking everywhere but him.
"No it's not. You say it's okay, but you are still mad, aren't you?"
Maddie stays silent, and I can see Luke's face fall with every passing millisecond of cold silence. Her eyes scan the tree line before settling on mine. I can't help the feeling settling in my stomach, the feeling that I know I could be so much better for her. Luke stares at her, waiting, but her eyes are on me, soft and vulnerable. I can see her struggling to stay strong. Luke catches on, his hands falling limp to his sides, I can see the struggle in his eyes but I choose to ignore it. He isn't the one who deserves my sympathy.
"I'm sorry," Luke nearly whispers, taking a step closer to Maddie. He reaches out to touch her cheek, but she turns her head away, taking a step back. Luke stands in shock, in hurt, in helplessness.
Then he breaks down.
"I'm sorry okay? I'm fucking sorry!" His voice is raised now, making even Charlie's eyes open in shock. "I know that was an asshole move of me, and I'm sorry!" His fingers curl into fists at his sides.
"Luke, stop," Maddie takes a step back, looking at the ground.
Luke throws his head back in frustration, in defeat, walking over to the chain fence we had just entered through to get to the park. He starts punching it, grabbing ahold of the wire and kicking the bottom of the fence. His grip on the wire was so tight that his knuckles start to turn white. He rests his head against the fence, angered breaths make his shoulders rise and fall. "I can't do anything right. I'm sorry," he whispers more to himself than to us. Michael and Calum shoot me a fearful glance, Grace and Charlie walk over to us hurriedly.
"Luke, please stop it, not here," Maddie watches his angered actions in fear and embarrassment.
I don't know what made him break. Maybe it is the way he is trying to do everything right at once, or the way nothing seems to be going to plan, whatever that plan may be. It could be how everyone has been watching him so closely lately and judging his every move. Maybe it is all of the pressure, from us, from management, from the fans. Enough pressure can make even the strongest stone crack. You can't please everyone, especially if you can't even please yourself.
"Please," he mutters against the fence, "just talk to me." He kicks the fence one more time, his jaw clenched, and eyes glossy. He walks back over to the sidewalk where Maddie stood. The rest of us couldn't help but stare, to see what could possibly go wrong next.
"Luke, I don't want to, please stop-"
"Dude, that's enough she said stop," I walk between Luke and Maddie, grabbing Luke's shoulders and leading him over to Calum and Michael who start mumbling things to him, grabbing his arms. Luke locks me in a hard stare and I can feel the ice burn down his throat.
"Come here Madds," I hold out my hand for her to take as the boys take Luke back towards the apartment, Grace and Charlie trailing nervously behind. Maddie watches them walk away, her eyes glistening over as they turn the corner out of sight. Her eyes settle on my hand, a single tear falling down her cheek before she lurches into my arms, wrapping her arms around me and curling into my chest. "It's okay," I rub her back, holding her close as she shivers slightly.
After a few minutes of finding sanctuary in my hold, Maddie lifts her head, wiping her eyes and sniffling. "I'm sorry-"
"Hey don't apologize missy," I cup the sides of her face, "You didn't do anything, okay?" She nods, bowing her head. "Why don't we go on a little adventure and just get your mind off of things, okay?"
Maddie nods, "where?" she says softly.
"I have some places in mind," I smirk, slinging my arm over her shoulder and leading her out of the park.
-
Maddie's POV
"Where to next?" I say excitedly, grabbing Ashton's arm and jumping up and down.
"I'm saving the best for last," He giggles, glancing quickly at my hand on his arm.
"This is probably the best tour I've ever been on," I smile, taking a final look at the cute second hand shops, and tiny bookstores that line the street Ashton had taken me too. "What even made you think of this?"
"Well," Ashton gives the bus driver money and leads me to an empty seat by the window. "Remember when we were in middle school and you were completely obsessed with Harry Potter?"
"Yeah, you used to make fun of me so much!" I push his shoulder teasingly.
"I know, but you loved it. You told me once that it was your dream to visit the places where it was filmed because you, and I'll quote, 'wanted to feel the magic'" Ashton giggles.
"It has felt really magical, I must say," I rest my head back against the seat. "Especially the building that they used for Gringotts!" I start blabbing about mindless details from my obsessive fandom days, amusing Ashton. My phone rings a few times, but I silence it, stuffing it into my pocket.
"How did you even find all of these places, its not like you ever read the books," I question him.
"Simple, I just googled places for nerds in London," Ashton shrugs before bursting into laughter. "I'm dead serious though."
"You're an idiot," I laugh along with him, the warmth behind his smile bringing me happiness.
"Last stop," Ashton pats my knee as the bus comes to a halt, leading me off the bus. An excited gasp immediately leaves my mouth, making Ashton grin at me.
"Kings Cross Station!" I jump, pulling him quickly towards the entrance. "You really did your research."
"You used to go on about coming here one day and seeing if you could make it through the barrier." Ashton shrugs. "To test if you were actually magical."
"How do you remember all of that?"
"I don't know, I guess I just paid a lot of attention," Ashton shrugs. We look around the enormous train station, our eyes scanning the high ceiling. I pull Ashton down between platforms nine and ten, finding the sign for tourists that read 'platform 9 3/4'.
"It's actually here!" I cheer, making Ashton take a bunch of pictures of me pretending to run through the wall.
"Ashton Irwin?" A girl walks up to us with her two friends, both of whom were blushing and giggling. "Oh my god, hi!"
"Hiya guys," Ashton waves them to come closer. A few more girls gathered around him, all of them giggling and crowding around him. They all get hugs and pictures, whispering excitedly to each other as Ashton chats with them. I stand a little off in the distance, my stomach sinking in fear of Luke's actions being repeated.
Ashton glances back at me, his smile fading when he sees how lonely I look. "I have someone you girls have to meet," he giggles, grabbing my hand and pulling me into the middle of the circle with him. Ashton slings his arm around my shoulder. "This is my best friend Madds, or I mean Maddie, and she is probably just about the best girl you will ever meet," he grins over at me.
"Hi," I wave shyly, not used to attention. All of the girls let out 'awes' and smile at me, giving me compliments.
"Awh you girls are making her blush," Ashton giggles, poking my cheek.
"You guys are so cute," the girl closest to Ashton takes a picture of us with her phone. Her friends quickly agree.
"How long have you known each other?" Another girl asks.
Ashton answers before I can, "About 5 years and 3 months."
They all "awed" again. I began talking to one girl about Harry Potter, the two of us going into an in depth nerdy discussion. I felt my phone buzzing again in my pocket, but I ignore it.
"I ship it so hard," one girl whispers to her friend. Ashton whispers something in her ear that makes her giggle and blush, whispering it to the other girls around her.
"It was great meeting you guys, but we have to head home now," Ashton wraps his arm around my shoulder once more. "Thanks girls! I hope to see some of you at our shows next week!" They all shouted goodbyes, some even waving goodbye to me. Ashton leads me out of the station.
"Thank you Ash," I whisper, giving his arm a squeeze.
"They really liked you," Ashton grins. "There is no need to hide someone as lovable as you."
"Oh shut up," I give him a little push. "Can we get lunch, I'm starving."
"Sure there is a Nando's around the corner I think," Ashton claps excitedly.
My phone starts ringing again. I ignore it, but then it starts again. Ashton glances over at me.
"I should answer it," I sigh, searching for the buzzing phone in my pocket.
"Madds-"
Before Ashton could finish, I had already picked up the phone. "Hello?"
"Maddie, can we talk? For real?" Luke's voice was soft, apologetic, and broken.
I bite my cheek, contemplating for a minute. "Yeah, I'll be home in like 15 minutes." I sigh, hanging up.
Ashton walks silently beside me, his eyes hardened and on the ground.
"What is it Ash?" I ask nervously.
He lifts his head to look ahead of us, I could see him debating within himself.
"How many times are you going to forgive him?" Ashton finally mumbles.
"He didn't even do anything that bad-"
"He never does, does he?" Ashton shakes his head.
"Ash please just stay out of it." I touch his arm softly.
"This is the last time," he seethes.
"What do you mean?" I frown at him.
"If he does one more thing to you Madds, that is it, I won't stay out of it anymore. Okay?" Ashton looks over at me, his face set in all seriousness.
I pause, tempted to fight him, but I know he means well. "Okay fine," I shrug, but me and Luke would be fine, we always end up okay in the end, right?
But maybe I deserve more than just okay.
70 votes until the next chapter!
-Maddie
P.S. I don't know if you guys saw my post thing, but I need you all to know that I am always always always here for you okay? No matter what you are going through just know there are people who you can talk to, people who have been through it. Don't end your life over temporary problems, there is an unknown future ahead of you filled with endless possibilities because life goes on, life changes, life gets better if you give it the chance. I love you all. okay.