For Him.

After school was over, I hitched a ride with Ashton over to his house- or so I thought. We passed by his house without even slowing down and turned down another street towards a large house with several cars outside. The outline of Luke walking inside flashed in the corner of my eye.

"I thought we were going over to your house." I said, leaning forward as the car came to a halt. He unbuckled his seat belt and waited for me to get out but I didn't budge.

"Luke texted me and he said that everyone was coming over here." Ashton said and opened the car door, leaving me no choice but to get out. I groaned as I opened my door and joined him on the sidewalk up to the front of Luke's house. Ashton tried to lace his fingers with mine but I gently pulled them away and shoved them in my pocket.

"Don't be this way," Ashton whispered quietly to me as we stopped on the front porch.

"What way?" I snapped just as the front door opened and Luke stepped out. He greeted us both and led us inside to the living room where everyone was crowded around. Most of the group that we sit with, and a few others, were spread around the room. As soon as we got inside, Ashton slipped away from me and went to go sit with Louis. I rolled my eyes at his immature behavior and joined Luke on the couch beside Michael.

"What's the matter with you?" Michael bumped my shoulder as I sat down. I managed a small smile but he could tell that something was up. I shook my head before he mentioned anything out loud and mouthed that I would tell him later.

I didn't know someone had sat beside me until I was engulfed in a minty smell. I looked over to see Harry sitting beside me, looking out the window. He looked so peaceful, it was almost weird to see him as the total opposite of that. Luke told me he got into fights at the drop of a hat and had a bad temper. But no matter how many times he tried to persuade me that he was bad, I couldn't listen.

"Hey," I decided to talk to him and turned my attention away from the other guys. I caught Ashton's eyes but quickly looked away, I couldn't deal with him right now.

"Did Ashton force you to come here?" He asked quietly, catching me off guard.

"What?" I asked, confused.

"You don't look happy to be here." He noted, looking into my eyes.

"I'm glad someone noticed." I murmured quietly. I looked up to see his reaction but he didn't seem to hear me.

The next two hours went by extremely slowly and by the time Ashton decided that it was time to leave, I was due for dinner. We didn't talk the whole ride home and the minute he pulled up to my house, I darted out of his car and ran inside. The dining room was fixed nicely, like we were expecting guests, instead of just us three. My parents were already half way finished eating and I stayed with them until they finished completely before I could fix my plate. I ate at the end of the table and listened to the sounds from the TV coming from the living room.

"Where were you?" My mom asked when she walked in the kitchen to help my finish cleaning up the dishes. She grabbed a dish towel and began drying the plates.

"Anna wanted me to help her with some homework." I mumbled and turned off the faucet. If I told her that I was with Ashton, a million questions would be directed my way and I felt like my head would explode. She knew that Ashton and I were a couple last year but didn't think that we lasted this long.

"Oh. How is she?" She asked as she put the last of the dishes up.

"Fine." I said bluntly. I waited until I could leave and hurried upstairs into my room. My phone on my bed had already received several phone calls and texts, a mixture of Anna and Ashton. I picked up my phone and scrolled through the messages Ashton sent me.

I'm sorry about today, babe.

Please answer me, Jess.

I sighed and set down my phone just as another text came in. Ashton's name and a picture from the two of us a few years ago popped up onto the screen.

Have a good night, I love you.

I threw my phone down on the bed and flopped down beside it. It wasn't even 8:30 and my eyes were already becoming heavy, tired from the exhaustion of dealing with Ashton. I sat up and quickly stripped down to my bra and panties before crawling back in bed, this time under the covers. My phone lighted up with another text but I was too tired to roll over so I just stared at the brightness until it dimmed. I curled myself into a ball and tried to think of anything except Ashton.

Notes