Dirty Little Secret [5SOS]

17: San Fran

I lie here now in the hotel room alone thinking over the past few hours. After the plane ride, we went straight to our hotel in a shuttle and then tried to decide who gets to sleep where. Michael of course gets clingy and suspicious after I chose Luke over him on the plane, so he decides that he and I get to share one room and the boys can share the other. But I have a feeling that Ashton will come up with some way to rearrange that. So, after they had to leave for their appointment, I had to stake out in the hotel by myself. They told me that they were going to be gone for most of the day and would be back to pick me up for dinner. So, seeing as that I have been bedridden for most of last week, I decided to head down to the hotel’s gym and do a little cardio. I didn’t want to look bad for my first date with Christian so I went to their spa and also got a face mask after a quick shower. It was nice getting fully clean after having that stupid cast. After I finished at the spa, I treated myself to a little sushi and walked back to the hotel. San Francisco had so many steep hills compared to Alexandria and LA. I turned on one of the TV movies as I ate my sushi and then after decided to work on my class. I opened up my laptop and worked on it until the boys were about to be home. I went to the bathroom and slipped into the first pair of jeans I’ve worn in so long and they were a bit tight which made me worried and then slipped on a plain white t-shirt. I lay down on the bed, which is where I am now. The phone buzzing from my back pocket is what brought me out of my reverie. It was a text from Michael saying they were on their way. I went to the mirror and applied some quick chapstick before they came barreling through the door. Michael always texted they he was ‘on his way’ when he was just outside the door. He always forgets and then does it at the last minute. Luke went to change his shirt and they all put their guitars down in a corner of the room.

“Did you have a lovely day,” Michael asks, kissing my forehead. He must have had a really good day.

“Yeah. I went out for sushi.”

“Sounds fun. What else did you do?”

“I went down to the gym and spa. It was relaxing.”

“You didn’t stay too long did you?”

“No. I only went for a couple of hours and then I was done. Just a bit of lifting, that’s all. I was bed ridden for a week, you know.”

“I know, but you didn’t really stay in bed the whole time.” He looked at me, raising his eyebrows, and then walked with me outside. I slipped on a jean jacket and we took a cab to some restaurant called ‘Lou’s Fish Shack’ and of course we all had to order the fish and chips to be absolutely original. We all had a really good time. They told me that they were recording this song called ‘Teenage Queen’ that they knew all the fans were going to go nuts over.

“There is this song we worked on today that we think is hilarious. We are going to put the word ‘underwear’ in the chorus as many times as possible,” Michael laughed with Ash and Calum. Luke was just embarrassed by it, but I could tell he thought it was funny too by the way he bit his lip to hold back the snicker. “Imagine all the girls in the audience singing, ‘She looks so perfect standing there in my underwear.’ It’s a working progress but I think it’s going to be awesome.” He sing sang and then laughed.  We finished up dinner and then Ashton insisted we go across the street to this candy store called the ‘Sweet Spot’ that sells enlarged versions of assorted candy and candies with different themes. We walked in and the boys immediately went nuts.

“Hey, we know them,” Calum laughed as he pointed towards the One Direction themed candy section. It is a bit strange seeing people you went to a party with and slept next to on a lunch box or lolipop. Then it got even weirder when there was life size cutout of them in the corner. They must be super popular in the US. I went over to the other selection of candies and found a giant ghost shaped gummy lollipop. I knew I had to get that for Christian. As the boys got a bag each of candy, I stood in line with my one lollipop. We went back home and of course they gorged on their candy right away. Soon, Luke and Ashton came down from their sugar highs and slumped onto the beds. Calum was taking up my bed, playing video games they brought with Michael in one room so I told Michael that I would sleep in the other room with Luke and Ashton. He was so involved with his game that he just said yes and I went to the other room after telling him goodnight. Luke was already snuggled up in bed and Ashton was watching some silly program on the TV. I changed into some sweats and a t-shirt and then slipped into bed next to Ashton.

“Hey, I’m sorry if it feels like I’m forcing you to go off with me to Seattle. I just want to see you happy and I figured this was the best idea.” I looked over at him and could really see how genuine his apology was, but I couldn’t help but notice something else like sorrow or disheartenment.

“I appreciate it. I’m just nervous.”

“Why? You’ll be perfect.”

“I don’t know what I’m going to do with him. He’s already so attached and I don’t think I’m at the same level yet. And what if I do start to – to…” I stopped talking and then whispered, “l-l-love him.”

“Then you’ll live happily ever after,” he said and let out a breath that could almost be considered a sigh.

“No. I’ll have to tell Michael that I’ve been keeping this from him. He’ll be furious.”

“Well, you never know. Michael is pretty chill.”

“And what happens if I have to break up with him?”

“Then I’ll be right here to catch you,” he smiled and then brought me in close.

“Thank you. So, what’s the official plan?”

“We’re going to have to get up around six to catch the eight o’clock flight. Then, we’ll hop in a cab and take it from there. I have the money to fly back so we can leave whenever you’re ready. And Luke is covering for us, saying that we are out doing some early touristy stuff and that we didn’t want to wake him because he was up so late. Then, we just won’t answer our phones so he thinks we’re just busy.”

“Thank you. I really appreciate all this.”

“You’re very welcome. It’s the least I could do,” he smiles and then lies his head back. “Try to sleep just a little. But if you can’t then wake me up when my alarm goes off at six, okay?”

“Okay.” After a while, he loosens his grip on me and his soft snores fall into rhythm with Luke’s. They're in harmony even when they are sleeping, I think to myself. I become bored so I get up and start finding something to wear for my date with Christian. I search through my case for the perfect sweater and I find it: a dark green one with small brown trees patterned into it. I smile and search for the tan skinnies I brought and my tan converses. I stuff them and some black jeans into a bag and then go back into the bed for the night. I snuggle up against Ashton’s ever moving chest and pull the duvet up to my ears.

As I’m about to fall asleep, I hear the quiet tone of some song and a vibrating coming from the floor. I check and see that Ashton’s alarm is going off. I shake him awake and then go to slide the alarm off. As I’m squatting on the floor, Ashton sleepily rubs his eyes and turns over to me groggily.

“Morning, muffin,” I tell him and he just smiles. He slowly makes it out of bed and moves his way to the bathroom to brush his teeth. After he finishes that and uses the dunny, he comes out and quiet sits next to me on the bed.

“Ready for an adventure, Payson?” he asks with a smile.

“Absolutely. I’m going to get dressed first though.” I get up and go to the bathroom with my clothes. I change into my navy blue Vans sweat shirt, some comfy blue jeans and my black Converses. I brush out my blue hair and sloppily pull it into a bun. I brush my teeth and apply some mascara and concealer around my eyes so at least look a bit awake although I am completely exhausted. I come out and he is already changed into a Marvel t-shirt and some black jeans. His hair is perfectly sloppy and he looks like he’s be sleeping for days. He already has his bag packed so we just grab the last couple of things from the bathroom and somewhere between then and now, Luke has woken up.

“You guys leaving this early,” he groggily moans.

“Yeah, just going out for some early sightseeing, remember,” Ashton tells him.

“Of course. Have fun, you two.” Then he turns back over and the soft snoring continues. Ashton and I get a cab and make it to the airport. I feel so rebellious. I’ve never run away or deliberately lied to Michael. I may have kept some big this like Christian from him, but nothing like this. And I like it.

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Sorry this is just a filler, next week will be great. I promise. :-) Remember to check my twitter @MyStoryOnLife Thanks!