Esteem

Chapter 47

ASHTON

Before I know what I'm doing, Calum's arms are locked around my shoulders, holding me back as I lunge for Luke. "What did you do?" I bellow. "WHAT DID YOU DO?" I am struggling against Calum's steel grip but it is no use, he is too strong and I can't even be mad at Luke, not with the tears that have started streaming down his face.

"I'm sorry," Luke cries, burying his face in his hands. "I'm so sorry, Ashton. I didn't want this."

Alyssa steps forward, shaking Luke's shoulders roughly. "Where is she?" She shouts in his face.

"I don't know!" Luke holds up his hands.

"Like hell you don't!" Alyssa yells. Her tiny body lunges for Luke and he doesn't even raise a hand to defend himself as she beats her palms viciously against his chest. Michael intervenes, wrapping an arm easily around Alyssa's waist and pulling her off of Luke.

"Everyone calm down," Michael booms. He looks at Luke. "Claire is safe?" Luke nods in answer, eyes wide. "That's the most important thing," Michael says. His tone takes on such authority that I wonder when we transitioned to Michael being the rational one. "Tell us what happened," he commands Luke.

Luke swallows loudly, his hands shaking nearly as much as his voice. "Claire came to me at rehearsals," he says. Luke stops to clear his throat. "And she asked me if I would do something for her, if I would help her. I thought—I don't know, I thought it was something stupid."

"What was it?" Alyssa cuts in harshly.

"She wanted to leave," Luke chokes out.

"And go where?" Alyssa snarls.

"I don't know!" Luke holds up his hands again in a show of innocence. "I really don't know, but she said she needed my help. She needed me to... keep Ashton busy, keep him away so that she could... go, I guess." Luke turns to me. "I'm so sorry, Ashton, I just... what was I supposed to do?"

"You should have said no," I snarl, slowly advancing towards him.

"I can't say no to her any more than you can," Luke defends. And I back off with a sigh, knowing that he is right. Claire is like that, one look from those crystal blue eyes and you're under her spell. Everyone is.

"What do we do?" Calum asks hopelessly. But his tone takes me by surprise, he considers this as his problem too, and for that I am grateful. One look around the room tells me that we are all ready to conquer this problem head on.

"There's nothing we can—" Luke starts, but Alyssa cuts him off.

"We keep this from the media," Alyssa says. "We keep this as quiet as we can for as long as we can. And we wait for her to contact any of us. We'll put it out between everyone on the tour that they need to let us know if they talk to Claire, but we need to be subtle about it. No one needs to know that she's gone."

It's a terrible and useless plan, but it's all we've got. I can think of nothing better. That seems to be the general consensus because no one gives the plan a ringing endorsement, but no one offers anything else. We all descend the stairs together, our hearts both lighter and heavier than they were when we made the opposite journey up.

Claire is safe, Claire is safe, Claire is safe. I repeat the words in my head over and over again, trying to convince myself that that's the only thing that matters.

Everyone walks out the front door, but I balk.

"Come on," Luke murmurs, reaching for my arm, but I jerk it back.