It was my last day over in the USA. And that meant the last day with the five guys I never expected to meet. I woke up in the morning with Ash's arm slung over my waist and his leg hooked over mine. Instead of pushing him off me like I had done previous mornings, I lay there and took everything in, savouring each moment. When was I going to see him again? Where were we gonna go from now on? All these questions raced through my head as I stared at the bass guitar mounted on the wall. I felt Ash stir next to me. He rolled over and propped himself up on one elbow. I could feel his gaze on the back of my neck, and I knew that he was thinking about what happened last night. I felt him lay back down next to me, and his strong arms wrapped back around my waist as he shuffled closer to me.

"Don't leave," he whispered, resting his chin on my bare shoulder. I smiled at his child-like gesture.

"I have to," I said, stroking the bridge of his nose.

"No you don't" he said. "Stay here with me. I could get somebody to fly your stuff over from England and you could move in," he said, his breath warm on my cheek. I rolled over to face him.

"You know I would. You know that I'd leave everything in England behind me and move here with you."

"Buuuut?..." he prompted.

"But I'm not good at relationships, and I'm scared that this is moving too fast. So that's why I'm going back to England for a couple of months. And if things are still good between us, then yes, I'll move in with you." I planted a kiss on his forehead as he smiled at me, happy that I'd aggreed to move in.

"How am I gonna cope without you?" Ash pouted, pulling a sad face that a child would make when it didn't get its own way.

"You'll cope. But promise me one thing, Ash?"

"What?"

"Don't sleep around. We're together now, and I don't wanna sound like the jealous girlfriend, but I don't want you to be with anybody else."

"I don't wanna be with anyone but you." he said, playing with a loose strand of my hair. "But you know that you're not technically my girlfriend." My heart stopped. My panic must have shown because Ash quickly corrected himself. "I mean that I haven't asked you out yet."

"My fucking God, don't do that to me!" I scolded, pushing his shoulder. Ash smiled and leant in for a kiss. He pulled away and looked straight into my eyes.

"Noelle, you know how much I love you. And I want to be with you forever. So, this is me, asking you, to be my girlfriend" He said, a slight smile curving his perfect lips. I looked at him, my stomach doing somersaults and my head light and spinning.

"Yes, yes of course I will!" I squealed, a huge smile lighting up his face. I practically threw myself on him, our arms and legs becoming intertwined and our lips pressed together. A cough at the door startled me, and I heard Ash's groan of despair as his lips parted mine and turned towards the intruder.

"At it again? Wow, who knew little sis was up for morning sex?" CC grinned, leaning against the door frame and drumming his fingers against the wall.

"Who knew that you were a total douche bag who walks in at inappropriate times?" Ash grumbled, sitting up to face CC.

"I'm gonna choose to ignore that comment, Ashley," CC smirked. "He treating you right, Noelle?"

I smiled at CC's concern. "Yea, he's great," I said.

"You heard her, I'm great. That's what they all say," Ash laughed, pushing himself out of bed and walking over to the bathroom. He was, of course, totally naked, and I saw CC avert his gaze away from Ash. I did, however, grimace as the sting from Ash's last comment hit me. I kept forgetting how many girls he'd had.

"Yea yea, whatever Ash," CC said, stepping forward and running his hands through his hair. He sat next to me on the bed, and I pulled the covers up over my shoulders. "Can't believe you're leaving us," CC said, fiddling with the corner of the bed sheets. "Stay a little longer?"

"I can't. CC. I wish I could. But I've got work to get back to and..."

"Screw that shit. Works good for nobody."

"I told Ash that if things are still good between us in a few months or so, then I'll move over here."

CC's eyes lit up, and a childish grin was plastered over his face. "Seriously?"

"Yea, seriously."

"Awwwwww yeaa! Aw, come here!" He said, grabbing me for a hug.

"Um, CC? You might wanna know that I'm kind of not wearing much..."

"I don't give a flying fuck. I want a hug, and I don't care if you're naked or not." CC said, keeping me locked to him. I smiled. I didn't want to go. I couldn't leave them all. CC let go and scooted back over to the edge of the bed and then he stood up. "You gonna come down for breakfast? I know that Jake sweaty-Pitts will demolish half the fridge in half and hour, and Jinxx is no better."

"Hahaha, yea I'll be down in ten," I laughed. CC smiled and walked out the room.

"CC shut the god-damn door!" Ash yelled from the bathroom. CC ran back, rolled his eyes and slam the door shut.

After getting dressed and sorting out my face, and after Ash had done whatever he needed to do, we both walked down to breakfast. Before I walked into the kitchen, Jake ran out towards me, skidding along the floorboards before stopping centimetres from me. He smiled and quickly hugged me.

"Hey, Jake!" I said, laughing as he spun on his heel to face the entrance to the kitchen. He flung his arms open and turned his head to face me.

"Welcome to the black veil breakfast bar! All you can eat breakfast, on the house!" He said, putting on a posh voice and skipping over to the table which was laid out with an assortment of food and drink. Ella, Sammi, Jinxx and Andy were sat down. CC was raiding the fridge for remaining food, and Ash was stood at my side, assessing the damage done to his food supply.

"Wow, thanks you guys," I said, walking over and sitting opposite Ella.

"I'd hurry up and eat before the five fatties hoover up all the good stuff," Ella smiled, picking up an apple and cutting into her pancakes.

"I'll have you know, I am not fat!" Jinxx said, pretending to be offended. Sammi looked at him and ruffled his hair, smirking as he looked at his belly and prodded it.

"No, you're just a gluten," Andy said, looking up from his plate and laughing as Jinxx put back a waffle he'd picked up moments before. Ash sat down next to me, and CC returned, his arms full of toast and syrup and lucky charms.

Breakfast was lovely. It was great spending my last morning with the guys, and of course Ella and Sammi. By the time lunch came, I was too busy packing for my flight home to even think about eating. And before I knew it, it was 3pm and my cab had arrived to take me home. I stood at the front door, making sure the driver didn't manhandle my suitcase too much. I turned to face everyone.

"Well, I gotta go. Thank you for everything. I've had an amazing time... fuck that its been the best time of my life." I said, trying to keep my voice steady. Ella stepped forward, brushing her long dark hair over her slender shoulders before hugging me.

"I'll miss you. But when I get back to the UK we'll go partying, yea?" She said.

"Yea, I'd love that. Thanks for the clothes, Ella. I'll miss you," I said. She stepped back to let Jake run forward and lift me up in a boyish hug.

"Gonna miss you, Noelle. Feels like part of our group is leaving us." Jake said, putting me back down to the floor. I smiled at him before Sammi hugged me.

"When you come over here to live with Ash, I'll show you how to really party," she grinned, tucking a stray strand of hair behind my ear.

"Yea, I'd like that," I smiled. Jinxx ran over and hugged me.

"Next time you come over here, try not to demolish ALL the food Ash has," he joked. I laughed.

"Yea, I'll try my best not to."

CC walked over, his head hung low. He looked at me before leaning down and scooping me up.

"Take care of yourself, Noelle. You've got my number, so I want a daily update of what's going on. If Purdy has got you preggo, I want to be the god father. Oh, and please, learn to surf," He said, kissing my forehead.

"I'll try to," I said, my voice cracking. I swallowed back the tears, but when Andy wrapped his arms around me, they burst out.

"Andy I'm so sorry. I didn't want to hurt you, I'm so sorry," I blubbered.

"Noelle, it's fine. I'm fine." He said, resting his forehead on my shoulder.

"I'm sorry," I said again. Andy pulled back and kissed my cheek.

"Look after yourself. I'll see you again, but I'm gonna fucking miss you. When we next tour, I'll get you and your mates backstage passes and free tickets. You can even tour with us if you want. I'm gonna miss you so much." He said, stepping back. I turned to look at Ash. He stood there, his eyes watery. I ran up to him, wrapping my arms around his shoulders and clinging on to him, burying my face into his neck. He held me close to him, his forehead resting on top of my head.

"I love you," I said, the tears now gushing from my eyes.

"I love you too," He said, his voice cracking.

And then he pulled away from me. "I'm coming with you to the airport," He said.

"You don't have to, Ash."

"No, I do." He said. He turned to face everyone else. "I'll see you later, guys. Don't wreck my house. And CC, stay the fuck out of my fridge." Ash warned.

CC smiled. "I'll see you later, surfer pro," he said.

"Be safe, Noelle. I'm gonna fucking miss you. I'll text you, ok?" Andy said.

"You better."

I took one last look at them all, and clambered into the car.