"Positive 'accidental' publicity is good."

☆

Without another moment to spare, the stranger is being pulled in through a back door of a building. The door slams closed, leaving the pair of them silently breathless as they once again waited for the crowd to pass by. "I think they're gone." The guy speaks as he looks at Ash, who had pushed him flat against the back of the door, their bodies pressed together in the moment of panic. 

Ash suddenly takes a step back, in shock, realising the intimacy of his action. "Oh... good. That's good." He stammers as he looks about the male rather than at his face, However, that moment of awkward closeness was soon replaced by a frown. "Why did you pull me in the bin? I stink of shit now!" He lifts up his shirt, inhaling, before pulling a face to remind him of the fact. 

"Then so do I," the male says laughing, stepping away from the door, but Ash steps back a little warily, that moment of heroism now feeling like it was perhaps not the best thing to do. This man was a stranger and now they were locked in a space together, alone. 

"Who are you? Why were they chasing you, really?" Ash's stare scrutinises the male. Now in the unnatural light, Ash could see that he was wearing more than just a good pair of trainers. "Is that a diamond earring?" He looks once again at the man's left ear. 

The stranger holds his hand up to the lobe, covering up the jewellery with his fingers. "I… I umm…" 

"Are you in a gang? Are you a mobster?" 

"What?" The stranger bursts out laughing. "No, I'm not!" 

"Then who are you? Why were you afraid?" Ash's stare stays fixed at the male, making him swallow hard. 

"Who am I?" He begins, feeling the heat rise from within him. His heart begins to race. "I'm…" 

BZZZZZZ BZZZZZZ.

The moment is distracted by the stranger's phone vibrating in his pocket. He takes out the device and holds it to his ear. "I'm ok….ok." He ends the call, replacing his phone. "I'm gonna go." He says as he turns to the door, pushing down at the handle. 

"Hey wait!" Ash hurriedly steps forwards, but the man is out the door and into the night before Ash has a chance to stop him. He looks out into the dimly lit alleyway to see the figure running to the end, only to get into a black car, which no sooner had the door closed, was pulling away. 

He stands in place momentarily at the sudden stillness of the night, reflecting on those past moments. Who was that guy? A sudden breeze whisks its way down the alleyway, bringing Ash from his thoughts. He looks down at the rubbish bag, still sitting where he had dropped it. Taking a heavy sigh, he lifts up the dumpster lid once again and picks up the bag, hurling it inside before letting the lid fall to a close.

***

"What the hell happened?" Comes the question from the other male, who was already sitting in the back of the slick saloon. 

"I just wanted some space Jojo. I need to be alone sometimes, but it obviously didn't work out." Comes the breathless reply as the car with the blacked out windows heads down the city street. 

"Seriously Luca, we were all searching." Jojo responds as he pulls his fingers through his perfectly styled blonde hair. 

"By 'we' you mean the security team." Luca replies, raising an eyebrow. 

"Of course! I wouldn't be so stupid as to walk out there, not now we are recognised by literally everyone. Noah only looked out of the hotel window for a second, a single second and his face was all over tweeter." 

"Let me guess, he was shirtless and happened to be standing by the window without a net curtain." Luca says laughing. 

"Ok, you have to give a bit." Jojo concedes. "Positive 'accidental' publicity is good." He quotes the word accidental as he speaks. "But you can't just go for a walk when you feel like it. Every action you take, comes with a risk." 

"I know I know! It won't happen again." Luca huffs as he looks out of his window. "But you're not right about everything" he mumbles under his breath. 

"What do you mean?" Jojo leans forwards, looking at Luca, trying to get his attention. 

Luca turns back to look at him. "There was this guy… he didn't know who I was." 

"You're joking right? How could he not know who you are?" Jojo looks at Luca confused. "Was he having you on?"

"I swear he didn't." Luca looks at Jojo wide eyed. "He asked if I was in a gang. A mobster, he said." Luca says laughing. 

"He must have been having a laugh." Jojo says smiling. 

"Yeah, maybe." Luca says, as he looks down, but there was something in the guy's eyes which Luca saw, in which he believed that he was being honest. He didn't know who he was. He didn't know that he was Luca Brailsford, part of the hottest boy band on the planet, 'Ultimate Crush.'