Distant (Book 3)

Chapter 4: Not the Same~

"Austin?" Ashton says.
I turn to Ashton.
"Maybe you should go. I'll see you at later." I tell him.
"But Sadie-"
"Ashton please." I say.
He nods, then goes out the door. I turn back to Austin.
"What are you doing here Austin?" I ask, trying not to break down in tears.
"I don't have anything to do in Miami right now, so i thought i would come out and visit." He says.
"Why?"
"I-i miss you." He says.
"Oh don't even go there." I say.
"What? You don't believe me?"
"No, not really. You did exactly what i thought you would do, you started focusing on your music more and you forgot about me." I say.
"Whoa, i never forgot about you. I think about you every day." He says.
I scoff.
"You said i would always come first, that your music wouldn't get between us. Look where we are now."
"Do you know how much courage it took me to come out here, because i knew how upset you would be and i knew i wouldn't be able to get you to forgive me. But i came anyways. I cant do it anymore Sade, i cant be away from you, i cant not talk to you."
"So you came back, to try to convince me to come back to Miami with you?" I ask.
"No. I came back because i just needed to see you." He says stepping closer.
I look down.
"I-" i start.
"Have a boyfriend, Ashton, i know. Im not going to ask you to be my girlfriend again. I just want my best friend back." He tells me.
I want to back away from him, i want to scream at him, but i just cant. I cant because losing him for a few months is way better than losing him forever. I look into his eyes and the tears start to come out. I wrap my arms around his neck and hug him tight. At first he doesn't hug back, he's surprised that I'm hugging him and not yelling at him. Then he wraps his arms around my torso.
"Ive missed you so much." I whisper.
"Ive missed you too Sade. Im so sorry for being such a jerk. You don't even deserve me as a best friend."
I pull away and look at him.
"Im not letting you go again. I cant be put through that again. Ive been a wreck ever since we stopped talking. I haven't been the same. You're the only one who can bring a true smile on my face." I say.
"What about Ashton?"
"I love him. But he's not you." I say.
He smiles.
"Im so sorry Sade. I cant believe i actually let my music get between us, it was the biggest mistake I've ever made." I say.
"Its okay. I just want it to go back to the way it was." I say.
He nods.
"Okay. We can do that."
"How long are you staying?"
"Until Mike calls me telling me i need to come back to do something." He says.
I nod.
"I hope thats a long time." I say.
"I do too." He says.
I smile and wipe tears away.
"Okay first things first, i have someone who wants to meet you, i kind of promised her i would let her meet you." I say.
"Okay. Who is it?" He asks.
"Ashton's sister. She's in love with you."
"And you're not?"
"Ha ha very funny." I say sarcastically.
"Okay lets go meet her." He says.
"Do i look okay? Is my face puffy?" I ask.
He smiles.
"You look beautiful." He says.
I smile then we head over to Ashton's house. I make Austin stand off to the side so that Kealie wont be able to see him when she comes out and then i knock on the door. Ashton opens the door.
"Hi." He says.
"Just so you know, nothing happened." I tell him.
"I know, i told you i trust you." He says.
"Then why did you start to protest when i told you to leave?" I ask.
"I wanted to make sure you weren't going to get hurt by him."
I see Austin tense up out of the corner of my eye, i pray he doesn't jump out and attack Ashton.
"Thats very sweet, but Austin would never hurt me." I say.
"Seemed like it, from the way you looked at him when you found out he was here." He said.
"Ashton, i know your just being protective but i promise I'm okay." I say.
"You promise?" He asks.
I kiss him sweetly.
"I promise." I say.
"Okay, i believe you. So did you just come here to say that to me?"
"No, i need Kealie to come out here." I tell him.
"Okay, i'll go get her."
"Okay."
He leaves and a few seconds later Kealie comes out.
"Hey Sadie, you wanted to see me?"
"Yes." I say.
Then i signal Austin to come out. Once he comes around the corner Kealie covers her mouth.
"Oh my gosh!" She says.
Austin smiles.
"Hi Kealie." He says.
She goes up and hugs him and he hugs her back. I smile.
"I'm shaking." She says.
I laugh.
"You're welcome." I tell her.
"Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" She says running to me and hugging me.
I smile.
"Seriously Sadie, i cant thank you enough." She says.
"Its no problem. You can come over to my house anytime, you know that 99.9% of the time Austin will be there." I say.
"Are ya'll ever going to date again?"
"She's with you brother, Kealie." Austin stays.
"But ya'll are so cute." She says.
Ashton comes out.
"Well we're just friends, really good friends." I say.
"Yeah, Sade and i-"
"Aww I've always loved how you call her Sade." She says.
"Kealie stop. We're not getting back together okay?" I say, sounding a little more annoyed than i intended to be.
"Sorry." She says.
"No I'm sorry, i didn't mean to raise my voice."
"Its okay. I'll see you guys later." She says, starting to head back inside.
"Bye Kealie." Austin says with a warm smile.
She smiles back.
"Bye Austin."
She goes inside.
"Oh my gosh. I feel so bad."
"She'll be fine." Ashton says.
"Don't worry Sade, she's not mad at you." Austin tells me.
"How do you know?" I ask.
"Because i told her bye." He says.
"Oh my gosh! Shut up!" I say.
He laughs.
"What can i say, they love me."
I roll my eyes at him then turn to Ashton.
"You want to come back to my house with us?" I ask him.
"Sure." He says.
So the three of us go back to my house. We don't do much but watch tv and talk a bit. I hear the door open, thinking its my dad i just ignore it and keep watching tv.
"Oh Sadie." I hear Alex sing song.
I look over and see Alex, Zach, and Robert come in. I scream and run up and hug them all in a group hug.
"Wow how come you didnt do that when you saw me?" Austin asks.
"Because i was mad at you, remember?"
He pouts.
"You want me to do it to you now? Will that make you happy?" I ask.
He smiles and nods. I laugh.
"Austin!" I squeal then run up and jump on him, wrapping my legs around his waist.
"Thats exactly what i wanted, thank you." Austin says.
I laugh and get down.
"The things i do for you." I say.
He smiles.
"You know you love it." He says.
I smile and then turn back to the guys.
"So, Sadie, who's the guy?" Zach asks.
"Everyone this is Ashton, my boyfriend, Ashton this is Alex, Zach, and Robert." I introduce.
"Nice to meet you guys." Ashton says.
They all take their turns saying it back.
"You have a lot of guy friends Sadie." Ashton points out.
"I get along with guys better than girls. For the longest time these four boys were the only friends i ever hung out with." I say.
"So is Rhett your only girl friend?" He asks.
"Pretty much." I say.
He nods.
"What? You're not jealous are you Ashton?" I tease.
He scoffs.
"Me? Jealous? Yeah right." He says.
"You should be jealous." Zach says.
"Why?" Ashton asks.
"Hello? Look at us." Robert says.
I laugh.
"Well look at me." Ashton says.
"What is happening right now?" I ask.
"Sadie who is hotter me? Or the other guys?" Ashton asks.
"Oh no, I'm not getting into ya'lls little debate. You can figure out who is the hottest by yourselves."
"You don't think I'm the hottest do you?" Ashton says.
"I didn't say that."
"By choosing to not answer, you basically did." Alex says.
"Why don't you shut up ok? Just because i said something doesn't mean i was thinking another thing."
"Sade calm down." Austin says.
"Im calm. Im perfectly calm." I say.
"Didn't seem like it." Alex says.
I glare at him. He puts his hands up defensively.
"So who wants to play MarioKart?" Zach asks.
"Ooo! I do! We haven't played that in forever, lets go!" I say then rush upstairs.
"Sadie what is up with you?" Ashton asks.
"What do you mean whats up with her? This is how she normally is." Austin says.
"Really?" He asks.
"Yeah...she's never acted this way around you?" Alex asks.
"No.." He says.
"Okay enough chit chat lets play MarioKart!" I say, interrupting the conversation.
They all come upstairs. I hope Ashton doesn't think I'm fake around him, because I'm not, I'm just not fully myself. So we go upstairs and all play MarioKart. We have fun but soon Ashton has to go home. I walk him outside. I realize he doesn't look happy.
"Whats wrong?" I ask.
"How come you never act like that around me?"
"I don't know, i always thought you would think I'm weird or something. And when I'm with the guys it just comes out."
"Right, when you're with the guys." He repeats, looking away.
"Ashton you said you wouldn't be jealous. You said you trusted me." I tell him.
"I do trust you, its just hard not to be jealous when you hang out with four boys all the time." He says.
"It doesn't change the way i feel about you, i still love you."
"You love the boys too." He says.
"Yeah, like brothers." I say.
"What about Austin?" He asks.
I don't answer.
"Ashton-"
"Im sorry, i-i just don't want to lose you."
"You're not." I say, placing my hand on his cheek, "i promise."
He leans in and kisses me.
"You know they're all watching us right?" I say, after we pull away.
We both look at the window. They all quickly look away and try to act casual. Ashton and i laugh.
"I promise from now on, i'll act crazy around you." I say.
He smiles.
"Just be yourself Sadie, thats all i want." He tells me.
I nod.
"I can do that."
"Alright, i'll see you at school tomorrow." He says.
"Okay."
He kisses my cheek then leaves. As i head back inside i see the boys scurry off. I get inside and see all of them sitting in the living room casually.
"So what happened?" Alex asks.
I take a pillow and throw it at him.
"Hey!" He exclaims.
"Haven't i told you guys that i don't like when you spy or eavesdrop on my conversations."
They all hang their heads in shame.
"And you," i say, pointing to Austin. "I expected you especially not to eavesdrop and to tell them that they shouldn't eavesdrop." I tell him.
"Sorry Sadie." They all say at the same time.
"Yeah you better be."
Then someone comes in the front door. I look and see that its Dad.
"Hey Dad." I say.
"Hey sweetie...and boys." He says starting to walk past us, then he stops.
"Wait, what are you guys doing here? I thought you were in Miami." He says.
I smile.
"We came to visit." Austin explains.
"Well welcome home." He says.
"Thank you." They all say.
Dad goes to his room.
"So what are you guys going to do while I'm at school?" I ask.
"None of your business." Robert says.
"Ummm okay..."
"Could we come and have lunch with you tomorrow?" Austin asks.
"No." I say.
"Why not?" He asks.
"Because all the girls would come up to you and i wouldn't even get to talk to you. You wouldn't even get to eat."
"Can you come out to eat with us then?" He asks.
"Yeah sure." I say.

The next day at school I'm getting ready to leave for off campus lunch.
"Where are you going?" Ashton asks.
"Off campus lunch with Austin and the boys." I tell him.
He nods.
"Want to come with?" I ask.
"Yeah, i'll drive." He says.
"Okay."
So we both head to his car and go to What-A-Burger to eat lunch with Austin, Alex, Zach, and Robert. We get there and sit in a booth that they are already in.
"You guys don't mind that i brought Ashton right?" I ask.
"No not at all." Robert says.
"But you should know, that if you ever hurt Sadie, you'll have to deal with all four of us, and her dad." Alex says.
"So basically if i mess up with her I'm dead, got it." Ashton says.
"Would guys stop? Ashton is a great guy." I tell them.
"Thank you." He tells me.
I smile. So we all eat and catch up. I really hope they are here for a while. Ive missed them all so much. I don't know what I'm going to do when they leave.