(Author's Note: So I decided to do this at the beginning so I know most of you had no choice but to read it! I'm really happy about how this chapter turned out, it felt really good to finally write for ASM! I am really excited about what's to come! But also sad because ASM is coming to an end in a few chapters and it will be hard to say goodbye to writing with MASH! I really adore writing for them but I can't wait to share with you guys these other stories I have with the guys.
I hope all of you enjoy this chapter! It is pretty long compared to some of the last updates I have given all of you. We also get a glimpse at the future couples ;)!
Also, apologies that there won't be any playlist for this chapter! I didn't really listen to any music while I wrote. I was so inspired all of a sudden that all I did was grab my lappy top and sit down to write! Anyways, without further adeu! Here is the new update! Enjoy and remember to vote and comment and fangirl! :D Are you shipping Heather and Michael yet? OMG get excited for City Lights! I love you guys and thank you for your support even when I am terrible at updating on time! Or frequently! <3)
Ashton and Michael walked into the hotel room; out of the corner of his eye, Ash, saw how Luke jumped in the sofa. He straightened himself up and angled the laptop away from their eyes. That was probably the first face time chance he had had in weeks with Theresa and they had just interrupted it.
"Were we interrupting sexy time with your girlfriend?" Mike said with a smirk and a cheeky wink as he moved towards the fridge in the bedroom to get bottled water.
"No! Of course not!" Luke said but his cheeks were flustered as both Ashton and Michael began to laugh at him. As usual, Luke said nothing towards the constant teasing the rest of the guys did on him.
"Ignore Michael, you know he's messing with the two of you," Ashton said as he stood behind Luke and waved at the blonde girl in the screen. Her cheeks were also tainted a soft red, he noticed. "Hey, April. It's been a while."
"Hey Ash!" She said excitedly, waving back. She always tried to be as happy as she could whenever Luke was around. Always trying to show him none of this bothered her as much as everyone thought it did. She was a definite keeper, and he was happy his best friend had found her.
"Obviously it has been, you guys have been gone for months... I can't wait to see you all at the airport on Saturday." She added, pushing her lose curls over her ear.
"But me more than them, right?" Luke said with a playful grin as he tried to cover Ashton's face. "Cause if I remember correctly you like me and not my band mates, right?"
"Right babe." Her laughter echoed out of the speakers as Ashton walked away from the couple, giving them their needed privacy. He knew how hard it was not be able to be with whom you love. He had been through it with Mia for months, and maybe even had it worse because he wasn't talking to her in any sense of the word.
He could hear Michael's footsteps following behind him as they both made their way towards the room where Ash's suitcase laid. It was still completely untouched by the wall. Not that he had spent much time in this room to begin with...
The most he had spent there was when he brought Bee over, and that had not ended right for him. If anything it had created an uncomfortable air between him and Mia. He would work on trying to fix that first when they talked that day. He definitely did not want any misunderstandings between them.
"So what happened last night?" Michael asked, interrupting Ashton's thoughts as he lay down on the bed, balancing the bottled water in the palm of his hand.
"What do you mean?" Ashton asked, crouching in front of his suitcase and looking for a clean shirt. He really needed to work on his packing skills. It was a mess in there and he didn't even know what was clean and what wasn't.
"Don't act dumb, Irwin." Michael said. He always got annoyed whenever Ashton avoided any sort of question. Especially by feigning not knowing what they were talking about. Michael especially hated that. "What happened with you and Mia? Are you two like together again?"
"We sort of had a-um... a talk?" Ashton said but the words came out questioning. Michael obviously caught his hesitation and sat up; that Michael famous smirk plastered on his lips as he raised an eyebrow towards Ashton.
"You two hooked up, didn't you?" Michael teased, obviously having a party at Ashton's expense. And Ashton hated that, that Michael was having a blast at his expense.
"Okay, yeah so what?" Ashton said, his cheeks becoming flustered as he pulled off his shirt and put on a clean one (or at least he hoped it was a clean one). "It's not like she is a stranger or anything."
"No, she's not but you two have been pretty complicated from what Heather told m-" He cut himself off. His lips forming a thin line after he realized he had mentioned Heather.
Obviously Ashton and the guys knew all about his crush on her. It had started back in LA as well; but, unlike Ashton, he had decided not to pursue it. He had not seen the point since she had her eyes fixed on that other guy; a guy that Michael and Mia had helped her get, even if they were broken up now.
In Ashton's opinion, he had been an idiot for not pursuing it sooner, but maybe it worked better this way. Who would have thought they would be seeing each other again, he definitely had not expected to see Mia again.
"So you finally get the girl you like in your room while she's single and the two of you are alone and you spend all of your time discussing my relationship with Mia?" Ashton teased; his eyebrow arching in the same way Michael had earlier.
"Fuck off..." Michael said with a slight glare, his words a mumbled mess as they left his mouth.
Ashton chuckled and walked over to the bathroom, leaving the door open so he could talk to Michael still as he brushed his teeth.
"So what really happened with you two last night?" He asked, running his hands through his messed up curls. Wow, he really did look like a mess. No wonder it had been obvious he had hooked up with Mia last night.
"Definitely not the same things that happened between you and your Mia last night. Heather had this big argument with Mia after they left the restaurant. Something to do with her bumping into us at the airport and knowing we were in New York. She had no place to go to so she called me and asked if she could come over to our hotel." Michael said with a slight shrug.
"So you were her knight in shinning armor, yet again." Ashton pointed out as he leaned against the doorframe; there was no need to question it. It was simply how Michael was. "Are you still in the friend zone?"
"I don't know," Michael simply said. He shifted uncomfortably on the bed, obviously hating to be put on the spot. "At first when she got here things felt exactly the same as whenever we talk or when we hung out back in LA but the more time I spent with her, it began to feel different..." His words trailed at the end, his eyes unfocused, as he probably got lost in thought.
"Different how?" Ashton asked.
"I thought it was you who I heard in here!" Calum said excitedly as he barged into the room, making both Ashton and Michael jump. "Jeez, you two jumped just like Luke did when I walked in on him and April in their I love you war. You would think they were doing something worth being jumpy about."
Michael chuckled nervously; obviously trying to brush off the left over embarrassment he had from talking about Heather just moments before. Ashton just rubbed the back of his neck and sat on the edge of the bed.
"Anyways, I thought you were going to spend your day with Mia, Ash. Wasn't that the whole point why you were going to be MIA all day from rehearsals and the party planning?" Calum said.
"Wait, you were bailing on us for her? Again?" Michael asked; his tone a little too loud for Ashton's liking.
"Still am... I am still working on fixing things, I just came for a clean shirt." Ashton said, raising his arms in defense after he motioned to the coffee stained shirt that now lay forgotten on the floor. "And don't act so innocent Michael, you were obviously going to go out with Heather this morning if it hadn't been for me and Mia coming back to the hotel."
"Heather? Mia's friend Heather?" Calum questioned, looking between the two. "Wait, hold up! What did I miss?"
"Heather had a fight with Mia last night and she spent the night, no big deal." Michael said shrugging while his pale cheeks now became a prominent shade of pink.
"Umm, yes a big deal! You've been pinning over her almost as long as Ashton has been after Mia." Calum exclaimed.
"I think we're about done here." Michael said as he stood up, heading towards the door. "Are you done Ashton?" He asked. Ashton smirked and patted Calum on the back as he headed towards the door as well.
"I'll see you later at the party, buddy."
"Don't forget to make it right this time!" Calum yelled. "I won't forgive you if you don't!"
Ashton chuckled as he and Michael made their way out of their suite, waving goodbye to April and Luke who were still having talking in hushed whispers on the couch.
***
"Another party?" Mia was asking Heather softly as we both approached the girls in the hotel lobby. Her voice was so full of disappointment. Shit. Ashton thought as he looked nervously towards Michael, who was already grinning like an idiot at the sight of Heather. Oh he had it bad.
"You found out about the party..." Ashton said, making both Mia and Heather jump as they realized that they weren't alone anymore.
"I didn't know it was supposed to be a secret." Heather quickly said, her eyes wide with worry as she looked at Michael. She was probably worried this would cause some other argument with her and Mia, or worse have the boys mad at her. Not that Michael would ever allow the later one.
"No it wasn't, I just wanted to be the one to tell her. We don't have to go, I'm still yours for the rest of the day." Ashton said, obviously trying to reassure her about all the things he had said before. He couldn't have her changing her mind about spending the day with him. He still had time to win her over, to fix things.
"You can go if you want." She said; her body moving slowly as she got up from the couch and fixed her clothes. "You still owe me breakfast." She added.
Ashton felt the tension in the air between them completely dissipate when she said those words. He still had hope. He had one day, a few hours. He just hoped he didn't blow it.
"Well, ladies choice. You are the New York expert now." Ashton told her as he wrapped his arm around her waist. When she didn't pull away, he took it as a sign that she was warming up to him. Again, he felt that sense of hope, as long as he didn't blow it.
"How about we just grab some coffee and have a walk through Central Park?" She offered, her words unsure as he guided her through the crowds on the busy New York sidewalks.
Everyone here always seemed in a rush to get somewhere. Where was the thrill in that? Had Mia grown accustomed to such a thing or was she still adjusting? He realized there was so much he didn't know about her current life. So much he wanted to ask but wasn't sure if it would annoy her in any way.
"Hello! Ashton?" She called for his attention, snapping his fingers in front of his face. He blinked quickly and looked down at her.
"What?" He dumbly asked.
"Were you listening?" She asked. He was glad to hear that she wasn't annoyed due to her tone. In fact, she sounded amused by his apparent distraction.
"Umm no sorry... What did you say?" He asked.
"Coffee and a walk through Central Park?" She asked once again, this time earning a smile from him.
"Only if you promise to not spill it on me this time." He teased. His free hand sticking into his coat pocket as the other one continued to hold her close to his body as they walked.
"Not unless you deserve it." She joked easily as she laughed, taking his hand and beginning to do the guiding herself. Her hands were cold to the touch, her gentle and uncovered fingers almost making him shy away from her touch.
"You get used to the weather." She informed him with a smile as she led him into a coffee shop. It wasn't as crowded as the one he had visited that morning. Which made him glad. It meant less chances of getting recognized and no interruptions in their alone time.
"You seem to have gotten used to the city life." He pointed out, not letting go of her hand once they were in line.
"I had to, everything here is so different. I felt that if I didn't adapt and keep up I would be left behind." She said softly with a shrug. Her eyes were fixed on the menu, even though Ashton could swear she would order her usual caramel latte drink.
When it came down to ordering, he had been right. She asked for her usual drink and he asked for his, before moving along the counter and waited for their drinks to be made.
"So you like it here?" He asked, keeping her hand warm in his. Her skin was so soft... He had missed how soft her hands felt within his.
"I do, I really do. It is a lot different from what I imagined, but in a good way. And classes are intense but so amazing at the same time." She said, her face lighting up as she spoke about this new life of hers.
"Seems like you finally found your place like you wanted to." He told her, smiling at her as well.
"I think I might have. And now with this new internship, I just hope that I really am meant to write."
"You know you are, look how far you've come." He told her reassuringly as their names were called and they picked up their drinks. They walked out of the place in silence. Their hands were no longer linked together as they held their drinks.
Finally, she was the one to break the silence by saying: "Thank you, you always believed in me even in LA during the summer. I like to believe you've always been sincere about that."
"I was." He simply said. It hurt to have her sift through their past conversations, trying to figure out what was him being honest and when he was lying. He wished she knew how he only lied to her when it was time to push her away and break things up between them.
"So I heard your album." She said, obviously changing the subject. Nonetheless, her words did not fail to surprise him.
"You did?" He asked her, not able to contain the smile that crept over his face.
"I actually downloaded it the moment it came out. I really like it." She said, her eyes avoiding his quickly when she looked up at him and found him looking back at her.
"I'm glad you did, we really worked hard on it." He told her, crossing the street with her as they followed a crowd of people over the white lines on the dark pavement that signaled the pedestrian crossing.
"I know you guys did." She pointed out with a smile. "So, ready for your first stroll through Central Park?"
"Yeah, I'm ready." He said.