Safety Net • CTH

Chapter 6 • If Walls Could Talk

- Eva's POV -

We landed in LAX just 6 hours later. Margaret and I grabbed our bags and headed for the car waiting to pick us up.

"Where are we headed to first?" I ask.

She was too busy emailing to look up from her phone.

"We're dropping you off where you're staying first, then I'm going home. You can freshen up, unpack your things and get ready for our business dinner with everyone. We need to go over the expectations for our time here.", she explains.

"Oh, ok, sounds good.", I say.

We started driving to an undisclosed location.

LA was beautiful. I had never traveled outside of New York, so this was like a whole new world to me.

I wondered where they would have me staying, what I'd be doing, what the guys were like behind closed doors, would they hate me, would they change my perspective of them? Every scenario of what could happen went through my head but I had no idea what to expect.

We finally arrived to a gated community full of huge, and I'm assuming, expensive houses. We pulled in to a large driveway that lead to a giant modern home.

"Wow", I whispered to myself.

"Nice, huh.", Margaret says smirking.

"It's beautiful, I really don't think I need this much space though..", I say confused.

"Don't worry, you won't be alone.", she says with a chuckle, her eyes still glued to her phone.

"What do you me-". She cut me off as I turned to give her a confused look.

"Here's the thing, I was talking with the executives about what you told me. We all thought it would be a better idea to have you stay with the boys so you can keep a closer eye on them for us, it just made the most sense.", she says.

"Wait, so I'm going to be living with the band?", I ask, trying to stay calm but inside I was very much panicking.

"Well, technically, it's only Ashton and Calum because they live together. Don't worry, they have a ton of space.", she reassures.

We finally got out of the car, the driver took my bags out of the trunk and Margaret and I were greeted by an enthusiastic Ashton and nonchalant Calum.

"Welcome to casa de Ash!", Ashton said with a big smile on his face.

Calum says nothing, staring at me, even looking slightly annoyed.

"Alright alright, no more funny business. Eva is here to keep an eye on you guys for the month. I expect you guys to treat her with the respect you give me. We'll be having dinner tonight to go over our expectations, do not be late.", Margaret says to the boys in a stern tone.

She turns to me. "I'll text you the details later, make sure they show up on time please."

"I'm on it." I reassure her with a slight smile.

"Good.", she says, then turns back to get in the car.

She drives away and I turn back to Ash and Cal.

"Hey let me help you with your bags! I think you'll like it here, we got a ton of space and we'll try not to cause you too much trouble", Ash says smiling.

He grabbed my bags and walked me to the front door.

"Thank you, I'll try not to intrude too much.", I say shyly.

"Ahh come on, you're no intruder, we have so much space that we don't even know what to do with it; your room is just over here", he laughs, leading me to a room on the 2nd floor.

It was beautiful. It had big windows that looked over the city, white hydrangeas everywhere and a massive bed. 

"Wow", I say, admiring everything in front of me.

"We can change anything you don't like, I asked a designer what a girl would like and-", he manages to get out before I cut him off.

"It's perfect, thank you." I say with a smile.

"You're very welcome. Well, I'll let you get situated, I'll be downstairs if you need me." he says before walking out and closing the door behind him.

How is this my life right now?

How was it possible that THE Ashton Irwin was so nervous about a girl staying with him that he hired a designer to fix up a guest bedroom?

I knew he was nice but this is next level. 

I unpacked my luggage and changed into some comfy clothes. I opened the door and walked downstairs to find Ash so I could ask him where the bathroom was. I only got halfway down the stairs when I heard Ash and Calum talking. I stayed still for a while, not that I was trying to eavesdrop, I just didn't want to interrupt them.

- Ashton's POV -

"I just don't understand why she has to stay here, you know she's just here to narc on us, right. She's basically a glorified babysitter." Calum says, obviously annoyed.

"Yeah, well, you're the one that kind of got us in this mess, so you have no one else to blame. She seems nice, give her a chance mate.", I say.

I heard someone coming down the stairs.

Oh boy.

"Sorry to interrupt, I was just gonna ask where the bathroom was.", she said.

"Oh, well, downstairs it's just right of the stairs and upstairs its the 2nd door on the left, but you also have your own private bathroom in your room." I say pointing to the door, hoping she didn't hear what Cal just said about her.

"Got it, thanks. Oh, and by the way, I'm not a narc, I'm just doing my job; but if you acted your age, you wouldn't need a 'glorified babysitter'." she says to Calum.

I couldn't help but chuckle to myself.

Finally someone who can handle Cal when he's in a mood.

She walks away, into the bathroom.

"Nice one mate." I say to Calum, rolling my eyes and walking away.

- Eva's POV -

I couldn't believe what I just heard. Did he really think of me that way? I tried to get it out of my mind.

I freshened up, went back to my room and called Harmony.

***

I told her everything that happened so far and she tried giving me advice. I was soon interrupted by a knock on the door. I got up to answer it, standing before me was a man I once admired so much.

"Hey can we talk?", he said shyly.

"Hey H, I have to go, I'll call you tomorrow.", I said hanging up. "Sure.", I said opening the door and gesturing for him to come in.

He walks in and I sit back down on the bed.

"Look, I'm sorry for what I said, I'm just really frustrated about this whole situation." he said.

"It's fine. I understand you're frustrated, but I need you to know I'm only trying to help." I said.

"I know you are, I'm mostly just mad at myself. Mad that I let myself get so angry. I take it too far sometimes and I don't know how to control it." he says.

"I get it. Well, I'll try to help you whichever way I can, just let me know". I said with a smile.

"Thanks Evalina.", he says.

"Just Eva is fine", I said with a chuckle.

"Well just Eva, I'll see you in a bit." he said laughing.

With that, he got up and left the room. I couldn't help but blush at our conversation. He seemed actually apologetic, maybe I wasn't giving him enough credit, I guess only time will tell.