FRIENDS

epilogue

Six Months Later

Ashton's plane was supposed to be landing at any time and I was standing in the airport with Zoe, feeling more nervous that I should've I wasn't really sure why I was so nervous, even. At first I thought maybe it was because it was the first time I'd be seeing Michael since their Australian tour three months ago, but it hadn't been that. Honestly, I didn't really care about seeing Michael. We're not friends, but it wasn't as awkward as it could've been.

Part of me believed that maybe I was nervous because there was this small fraction of me that believed that Ashton might step off of that plane and not be in love with me anymore, even though that was absolutely ridiculous. Ashton loved me like I'd never been loved before. He loved me the way I had dreamed of being loved my entire life.

"Maybe you're just excited, but your brain is confusing it with anxiety." Zoe suggested. "That happens to me sometimes." I shrugged. Maybe she was right.

I didn't know what was causing me to feel that way, but as soon as I saw Ashton walking towards me, every trace of the feeling melted away and I literally leaped into his arms. I had never kissed him as fiercely as I did that day.

I had seen him for a few days when the boys came back for their Australian tour, but I didn't join them for the whole leg. It was still awkward with Michael and so I decided I would be better off staying at home while the boy of my dreams and my best friend went around the country, and then over to New Zealand.

Maddy and I spent that time watching movies in my basement.

"Hi, baby." Ashton greeted quietly, a smile spreading quickly across his face. He was still holding me and I didn't necessarily want to be put down any time soon. If we wouldn't get a bunch of strange looks, I'd let him carry me to the car like this. But after a minute, he put me down and I grabbed his hand instead. I just want to be close to him.

I said hello to the other boys and couldn't help but smile when I glanced over at Calum and Zoe; they were still hugging, murmuring things to each other quietly and it was absolutely adorable. In the terms of fandom, I "shipped" them.

Michael and I said a quick hello but it never went any further than that; no asking each other questions about how we'd been or anything like that. It was better that way.

The six of us and the bodyguards began the walk to the car, hoping and praying there wouldn't be too many fans hanging around. Surprisingly the airport was pretty dead. They had managed to make fans think they were flying to the UK rather than home so that they wouldn't be bombarded.

When we got into the car, I leaned my head on Ashton's shoulder and I could tell he was loving all the affection.

"How was the album promo?" I asked.

When the four boys had finished the last two legs of their tour, they had very minimal time before they returned to the States to do a promotion tour for their new album that would be coming out in a month. It had lasted three weeks and now they would be home for a week and a half before heading to the UK to continue the promo. Luckily, I would be going with them this time.

"It was amazing. It's so fucking cool to watch the fans get excited for the new music, you know? They're just as invested as we are and I can't wait for them to hear everything."

"Sometimes I just wanna leak the album myself so they can hear it." Luke chimed in, smirking to himself. I laughed, knowing that he was only half kidding. None of these boys even cared about fans buying their music; they just wanted fans to listen and love it and come to shows.

Luke and Ashton continued to tell me about the funny things that happened on the promo tour and about all the cool gifts that fans had given them, and how even a couple of girls had given Ashton things to give to me.