simmer down // a.i. [ON HOLD]

[24] the game plan

The stare Ashton fixed on me from the moment I walked into the living room was super intimidating, I'll give him that. But I managed to ignore him and stalk straight on past.

'Ooh, pizza's here!'

The boys paused their Xbox game and put down their controllers. Michael brushed straight past me, pretending that I was invisible, and I giggled as he poked me gently as he went by, making a beeline for the food. Luke laughed and dropped the bowl of salad down next to him as Calum came up to me, slinging an arm around my shoulder. He pulled me off to the side a bit, and I saw Ashton eying us carefully.

'Hey, Em, sorry about last night,' he murmured sheepishly. 'You know how I am - me and drink don't go down too well, and, er, in terms of friend support and all that, I 'spose last night really wasn't one of my best moments.' He chuckled. 'I can't remember much, but who knows, maybe I got a hot hookup- Joking! I'm joking!' Calum laughed and held up his hands in surrender as I hit him on the chest, but he added sincerely, 'Really though - I'm sorry.

Well you should be, because if you were there last night, you could've stopped Ashton from almost murdering an innocecent guy and saved me from his jealous wrath and all the terrible consequences that came after.

I smiled and squeezed his arm.

'It's okay. I forgive you.'

Calum gave me another apologetic smile before dropping down to grab some lunch. I looked around to see Ashton still sitting in his armchair, staring stubbornly at the wall. I inwardly rolled my eyes at his sulking before plastering a smile on my face and climbing over the couch to sit next to him. He didn't even glance at me.

'Aren't you going to have some pizza?'

Still staring at the wall, he didn't move or answer at all, so I sucked in a deep breath, widened my smile and tried again.

'Ashton? Aren't you hungry?'

Before I could gauge any reaction from him, Calum sat back down on the other side of Ashton, a plate of food balanced on his lap. He started to fork into it, but paused when he realised Ashton wasn't eating.

'Dude - are you gonna get some food or what?'

Yeah Ashton - are you??

Ashton stiffly turned around and shook his head.

'Nah. Not hungry.'

Calum narrowed his eyes suspiciously.

'Are you alright Ashton?'

'Yeah, are you alright Ashton?' I repeated, chiming in, and tauntingly placed my hand on top of his, feeling him freeze under my touch, but he didn't dare pull away with Calum watching so closely. His eyes shot to me angrily before fixing on Calum.

'Yep, I'm fine. Just a little tired, you know.'

He faked a yawn and a smile, and I saw a flash of his dimple for a split second - despite the situation, I suddenly felt like leaning forward and wrapping my arms around his wide chest. I shook my head slightly, trying the shake the idea from my mind.

'Maybe you should go to bed then,' I bit back, and watched as he turned around and looked at me, trying to figure out what I was doing. Ashton pulled his hand out from under mine slowly.

'Maybe I will.'

I watched him get up and leave the room curtly. A part of me kind of wished he would stay out forever and leave me and my mind alone. But I knew that 'd be forced to talk to him later - whether it would be by Ciara, Luke or Michael, or my own stupid conscience, I didn't know. I sighed and rolled around to see Calum giving me a strange look.