The Only Reason

Chapter 7

"Okay, dad. Want to talk to Camden?" Ashton asked into the phone. I got excited. Maybe dad would actually want to talk to me. We hadn't seen each other for a while, so maybe it wuldn't be so awkward-

Ash frowned. "Oh. Are you sure? She's right here... "

Or not.

My heart sank and I hung my head.

"Okay, I guess you are kind of busy. Maybe you can talk to her later tonight?" Ashton pressed. It was really important to him that dad and I got along, but no matter what he did, it never seemed to work.

Dad would always be proud of mu brother. I would never know the feeling of looking up and knowing  that my father was proud of me. Dad just wasn't as close to me the way he was with Ash. 

"I didn't know you were that  busy. Does it really take so much time to call her?" Ash asked pleadingly. "Okay. Okay. Uh-huh. We're doing great. No. Miss you, call whenever you can. Bye, dad." 

He sighed and looked at me.

I put on a fake smile.

"It's okay, Bro-bro. I don't really want to talk to him anyways." 

"I'm sorry." Ashton gave me hug. "He's trying, you know."

Michael scowled from across the room, biting his lip. He had told me once exactly how he felt about my dad after seeing him talk down to me, but never said anything to Ash. We both didn't want to start an argument with Ash, who had seen the nicer part of dad all the time, what with being the favorite and all. 

"Not trying hard enough, if you ask me." Luke grumbled. 

Ashton gave him a weary look but didn't argue.

Calum just put his hand over mine, sitting next to me at the table. He smiled at me. I was able to smile back, a real one this time. One of the things I appreciated about Calum was that he knew how to talk to someone about their troubles without saying anything, telling you he understood with just a look. He was good at making me feel better.

Mallory came into the hotel, pouting, her phone in her hand.

"What's wrong, babe?"

"I'm bored.  We should do something today."

Ashton looked doubtful. "I don't know, we stayed up pretty late yesterday. Would it actually be so bad to just stay at the hotel today?"

"Yes. Let's go out and do something."

Luke, Michael, and Calum kind of looked like they wanted to stay in the hotel as much as Ashton. Heck, Calum was still wearing his baggy, stained sweatpants, the ones he used as pajamas. None of were actually ready to face the day except for Mallory.

"Mal... " Ashton's voice trailed off. "I don't know- "

"Oh, come on, Ash! We only have about a week and a half left in New York before we have to get in a tour bus, and we should take advantage or our time here. Let's go." Mallory said, taking on a pleading tone, though here eyes glinted. She knew exactly what she was doing. She was being manipulative as fuck. "You never do anything with me anymore." She added for a good effect.

That got Ashton's attention. If there was one thing he couldn't stand, it was knowing that someone was feeling neglected.

"I'm sorry, baby." He kissed her cheek. "I didn't even realize it. What do you want to do?"

"You want to go? Really?" Mallory pretended to get excited, acting as though she thought Ashton was going to ignore her. She was a good actress.

I was ready to scream. He didn't neglect her! He had spent all of last evening with her, for crying out loud! She had him wrapped around her finger, and he didn't even know it. A part of me felt bad for letting it happen. 

The rest of me said to leave it alone. It was Ashton's relationship, not mine. If there was something going on that he didn't like, he would end it himself, and he didn't need the help of his little sister to do that.

"You guys can go out together." Calum said, "But I'm a mess and I'm tired, so I'll stay here."

"Same." Michael agreed.

"Yeah, go take your girlfriend somewhere nice, Ash." Luke smiled at him. "Have some one-on-one time together."

Mallory beamed at them and they all smiled back. She looked genuinly happy.

Ashton nodded and grinned at her. "Give me five minutes to get ready so I don't look like a Sasquatch, and then we'll see if I can take the van without security getting in the way."

"Thanks, babe!" Mallory pecked his lips.

My brother kissed her back and got up, going into the bathroom to change into some jeans and a T-shirt. After coming out, he and Mallory said bye, and headed out the door hand in hand, smiling at each other.

"Well, we have the hotel room all to ourselves." Michael was the first to speak. "Why don't we find something to do?"

"Good idea." I said. 

"What is there to do?" Luke asked. "All of our Nerf guns are broken, thanks to Calum- "

"Shut up, I didn't think they would fall out the window." Cal snapped.

"The window was open."

"So? Glass is clear! You can't tell if the window is open or closed just by looking at it, because it's always going to look the same." Calum rolled his eyes.

I laughed. We usually stored our Nerf guns on the window sill. Calum had been trying to put them away earlier without realizing that the window was open, and they had fallen from our nine story high hotel room and shattered on the sidewalk below. 

"There's nothing on the TV that's any good." Michael added.

"Maybe we could draw, but none of us know how to do anything better than a stick figure." I shrugged. "We also can't go anywhere because Mal and Ash have the van."

"They're probably going to be gone all day." Luke said reasonably. "So we're probably just going to be here being bored."

I didn't like boredom. Not only does it suck, but when you have nothing to do, your thoughts return to cutting. That was always the way it went for me. And, most of the time, when I thought about cutting, I felt like I had to do it.

Nervously pulling on my long sleeves to cover my wrists, I bit my lip. I needed a distraction and fast.

"Why don't we just order a ton of food?" I suggested. "Mainly desserts?"

The boys grinned at me.

***

Sorry this chapter sucks so much omg