"Well we can't delay boys. We have an interview at 2! Let's go!" Michael says excitedly and him and Calum run racing each other onto the bus. Luke takes his sweet time walking to the bus and lazily climbs in. Before I get on the bus Ashton turns around and looks at me.
"It's weird getting on the bus and not having to kiss you goodbye." He says smiling.
"It's a good weird though." I say leaning and kissing him.
"COME ONE! LETS GO LOVE BIRDS!" Calum says sticking his head out of the bus door. Ash and I laugh and he helps me climb up onto the bus. I had only ever seen the bus from the outside and the inside looked exactly like it did in all the photos and keeks. The small kitchen area, the mini hall of bunks, and then the back room with the couch and television. Ashton takes me by the hand and guides me to the bunks. He stops at one directly in front and to the right of the backroom.
"This my dear is my bunk." He says smiling as he throws his suitcase on top of it. "And your bunk is right here." He says turning around and pointing to the bunk directly opposite from it.
"That used to be Luke's bunk but Ashton kicked him out because he'd rather wake up and see your face rather than Luke's" Michael says and Ashton sends him a stern look. But Michael just giggles and smiles at him.
"I've been downgraded to another bunk." Luke says. I smiled but I felt kind of bad about kicking him out of his spot. All of a sudden the bus starts to move and the guys give a cheer.
"Yay! We are off!" Cal says as he lays down on his bunk playing on his phone. All the other guys are laying on their beds and Luke has even fallen back asleep with his headphones in. Asthon grabs me and we go to the back room closing the door behind us. I sit on the couch resting my head against his chest as he runs his fingers through my still damp hair.
"Look at us. Touring together." He says smiling at me and his cheeks get red.
"I know. I never could've imagined any of this. It feels like yesterday I was standing in the front row." I smile and I feel Ashton's grip become tighter around me.
"Now you'll be backstage watching from the sidelines." He says kissing me on the head. I lean in closer to him and I can feel his steady heartbeat.
"Do you ever get tired of doing interviews?" I ask him since I knew he had one today.
"No interviews are fun. I just wish sometimes they'd ask us different questions. It seems like sometimes you're answering the same questions it's just a different person asking them." He says.
"Do you ever wish they asked you personal things?" I ask.
"Sometimes yeah. But at the same time I'm happy they don't. The fans already know so much and there are some things you want to keep as your own you know."
"Like what?"
"Just certain things." He says quietly.
"Things you couldn't tell me?" I say placing my hand on this thigh and rubbing it lightly.
"Things I just need to keep to myself." He says quickly and shakily. I didn't know what that meant. I obviously knew that Ashton hadn't told me everything about himself but I wish sometimes he was more open about things so that i could help him like he helps me.
"If you want to keep them. You keep them." I say with a sigh as I lean up and kiss him on the cheek.
"Hmmm" he says and I rest my head back on his chest. He turns on the tv and flips through the channels. Friends is on so I ask him to stop there. He seems kind of distracted and takes out his phone, probably tweeting or something. Then the slider separating the back room and the bunks opens and Calum walks in with his phone in hand.
"And this is the back room." He points the phone at usand says "oh look! It's a wild Ashton and Daniella." I cover my face and hide in Ashton's shirt. I groan since I didn't really put much effort into my makeup this morning. Ashton laughs a little and makes a really strange face at the camera.
"Whatcha doin' there Calum?" He says in the strangest voice.
"I'm keeking. I thought I'd show the fans Gus 3.0. Then again, Gus 3.0 is basically the same as Gus 2.0" Ashton fake gasps at Calum's comment and says
"HOW DARE YOU!?" He puts his hands flat against the wall of the bus. "He has feelings too!" Ashton being to fake sob. Calum laughs and turns the camera back to his face.
"Oh god I have 3 seconds left. Okloveyouguysbye!" He stops the keek and sits on the couch across from us. I remove my hands from your face and sigh.
"Why'd you have to point the camera at me?" I groan.
"Because the world has to see your beautiful face." Ashton says and pecks your lips.
"Ugh. This is getting too cute for me, I'm gonna go to the front of the bus."
"No! Calum! You are the king of cuteness!" I shout after him and you and Ashton laughs.
"Hey I thought I was the king of cuteness." Ashton pouts. I giggle.
"You are, I just want to make sure that everyone feels special." I say.
"Mmmmm." Ash says suspiciously. I feel my phone in my pocket buzz and see that I've gotten a text from Luke. 'Meet me in the bunks', it says. I get a second one 'we need to talk.' I roll my eyes at the messages. What does he want. I start to get up as Ashton asks,
"Who was that?" I don't want to upset him or make this confusing so I just say
"My mom. I'm gonna go call her"
"Oh, ok. Tell her I said hi." I laugh a little because your mom hasn't actually properly met Ash. I realize it is strange to be out on tour with a guy your parent has never met but he's never been in a place long enough to give it a chance. I peck him on the lips.
"Ok". I go through the slider an close it again. 'Here goes nothing' and walk to Luke's bunk.
When I walk up to his bunk Luke s still looking at his phone. I tap him to get his attention and he looks up at me and he sits himself up. He gets up and he walks to the small kitchen area and I follow him. We sit at the small table across from each other.
"Luke what are you doing?" I say.
"What?"
"Why do we need to talk? You ignore me and (h/n) all day and now we need to talk" I tell him.
"I know that you and Ashton are happy. And that you two have settled things down. And I'm happy for you but I just need you to know that everything I did yesterday to help you guys was because I wanted you to be happy and-"
"And what? Are you asking for a thank you? Gee thanks Luke for helping me fix the relationship you almost screwed the fuck up." I say angrily. I look at him and he is looking down at his hands. "Luke I'm sorry I didn't mean that."
"Are you sure you don't really hate me?" he looks up at me his lips in a small frown. I don't know what to say to that, I hesitate but he says something before I can. "All I'm saying is that I'm glad you're here and that you're happy but I need you to know that..." he stops and he continues in a whisper as he leans his body across the table so that he is closer to me. "I need you to know that I still love you and I don't know how or how long it'll take me to get over you. I mean how do you get over someone who was never even yours in the first place." I stare at him and I didn't know what to say. I just wish he'd stop saying that he loved me. I didn't want to hear those words from anyone but Ashton
"Well Luke you're gonna have to learn to get over it quickly. Because I'm in love with Ash and nothing in the world not even the fact that you love me is going to stop that. And if both of us have to share this tour bus then you're going to have to learn to get over it or try not to bring it up." I tell him harshly. Luke needs to learn to accept the truth. It hurts him more than hurts me to tell it.
"That's easy for you to say isn't it. You aren't the bad guy in this situation. No one is asking you to back off or to suffer in silence. You get to be happy. He gets to be happy. Everyone on this fucking bus is happy but me. But no one cares. I'm supposed to be the best friend, the brother, and not say anything about it. I know people might give a shit about me in some dumb magazine but it doesn't feel like people give a shit about me or how I feel." He says looking straight into my eyes.
"Don't you think that's a bit selfish of you to say. People care about you Luke" I tell him.
"I'm sorry that voicing my opinion makes you think I'm selfish. And it's kind of hard to think people care when the one person you wish cared about you doesn't even love you back." He looks up at me and then suddenly I see his eyes stray away to the side. His eyes become fearful and frigid. I look up and see Ashton standing there.
"Ash-" Luke says.
"What the hell are you doing?" Ashton asks Luke as he puts his hand on my shoulder and squeezes it tightly. But before Luke can answer the bus driver stops the bus and I feel my self jolt forward.
"We're at the radio station lads. Have a good interview." The bus driver says as he opens the doors to the bus and the screams of girls roars through the cabin.
Luke gets up and pulls a beanie over his head. He throws on some sunglasses and heads out the door, without saying another word. The scream of girls gets louder as Luke steps out the door. The other two boys get out as well, leaving Ashton and I alone. "
What was that about?" He asks me.
"Why should I tell you, you're clearly hiding something from me too." I get up and look him in the eye. "Have a good interview. Maybe you'll finally want to tell me what's been bothering you since yesterday because honestly, it's bothering me too." I turn around and leave to the bunks. I hear him make a frustrated noise and then I hear the door close, signaling that he had left. I lie down on my bunk and immediately start to regret what I said to Ashton. It wasn't his fault. I was just furious at Luke. He was making me feel terrible. He made me feel as if I was the bad guy for not loving him back. At the same time, I felt terrible for making him feel so unwanted. This was just a huge mess. Literally! One moment I'm happy as can be with Ashton and the next I'm miserable because I feeling guilty for not loving someone back. I bury my head into my pillow and I feel my eyes tearing up. Ugh. Fucking tears. I walk to Ashton's bag on his bed and open it up. I rummage through it and find a sweater. I pull it over and hug it close. I snuggle into it and smell his sent. Now the tears come. It's so stupid. 'Why am I crying' I think. Freaking female hormones. I lie in his bed for what seems like ages just thinking about how much can happen in so little time. 72 hours. It has only been 72 hours, if that, and there's already a huge mess. I sudenly hear the screaming of girls getting louder. I wait and hear the door to the bus open. The guys are talking to each other and then they go silent once they get to the bunks. I feel a hand on my back and I turn around to see Ash sitting there with an apologetic expression. He sees my red eyes and hugs me.
"I'm sorry. I know you think I'm hiding something from you and you have all the right to be thinking that. It's just not what you think, I promise." He grabs my hands and helps me off the bunk.
"Dani and I are going to the back to talk" he tells the other boys and pulls me into the room. We sit down across from each other and he holds my hands inbetween the two of us. I sniff and he looks up.
"Look. The truth is that I'm not trying to hide anything from you, there's nothing to hide." He pauses. "Honestly, I feel like I'm forcing you through this too quickly." I look at him confused. He thought we were going to quickly? "I know you keep saying you want this and you want more but I still don't feel confident that you're ready fo-" I break him off by grabbing his cheeks and kissing him. His hands automatically go around my waist and he kisses me back desperately. I pull away and say
"You're not rushing me. I'm 100% ready for anything you throw at me. Well... Almost anything" I laugh.
"Well. Ok then." He smiles. "But I think we should set some ground rules first." I look at him strange. "Hey! This is going to make me feel better so... Just- just go with it, ok?" I nod and he intertwines his fingers around your waist. He begins.
"Ok, so kissing:"
"Yes, duh."
"Making out:"
"Always" I wink at him. He smiles.
"Sex." He looks at me unsure. I think for a moment but I know what my answer is.
"Yes." He smiles at my response. "But only, in cases where we don't get caught."
"Deal." We both laugh.
"Ok, sleeping together:"
"Yes, but right now, always with at least underwear on." He raises his eyebrows and says
"No bra?" I hit him and he laughs a little rubbing his arm.
"Ok! Ok! With a bra." He smiles.
"Is that it?" I say as I lock my fingers around his neck and straddle his legs.
"Yes. That's all." He kisses me lightly and I smile. God I just couldn't stop smiling around that boy.
"I like your sweater by the way." He says glancing down at my clothes.
"Yeah, I saw it today and it just looked so comfortable so I had to take it." I say making up a story.
"Aha. And is it comfortable?" I look down at him.
"Very." He kisses my forehead and I lean against him. He grabs a bottle of water that was sitting on the table and starts drinking. "So how was the interview?" He chokes on his water a little and clears his throat.
"Um. It was a little awkward." He says.
"How so?"
"Well the interviewer asked us if any of us had a girlfriend, to which I proudly raised my hand." He says pressing his nose to my cheek and pulling me in closer.
"Obviously." I respond. He chuckles and continues.
"Then he asked the other guys if they had their eyes on anyone and they all shook their heads."
"Mhmm"
"But the guy wouldn't drop it so he asked all of the guys separately saying that they 'must like someone'" Ashton says mocking the interviewers voice.
"And..."
"And when he asked Luke, he glanced at me and nodded saying 'yeah, kinda. But I know she doesn't think of me that way.'" I freeze. Luke had basically announced to the world that he 'may like you'. "The guy was intrigued and he started pep talking Luke saying things like 'please you Luke Hemmings what girl would turn you down' and 'this girl must be crazy if she doesn't want to be with you. You have to fight for her.'" Ashton stops and he crushes the water bottle with his hands and I feel my face tense up. That could not have been easy for either Ash or Luke to hear.
"That's ummm...that's ."
"Frustrating." Ashton finishes my sentence.
"Yeah." I say under my breath.
"But besides that is was fine. Same old questions." He says and I had lost my train of thought.
"Hmm. Good" I peck him on the lips and he says.
"Speaking of, this one girl outside said we were a really cute couple and that she 'totally shipped us'" he says mocking a fangirly kind of voice. I hit his chest.
"Hey! We do not all sound like that!"
"Sure, whatever you say babe." I giggle and he kisses me one more time. And then I realized that Ash does this alot. In fact he was a master at it. He had this way of always changing the topic, making bad moments switch to good moments in order to avoid the problem. But I had to admit I was the master of falling for his tricks. I just couldn't help it. He makes me smile.
"You know what? I'm kind of hungry. What kind of food do you have on the bus?"
"Gus 3.0" he corrects me. I giggle.
"Sorry, on Gus 3.0?" He smiles and says
"Well, let's go find out m'lady."