This fanfic takes place just before 5sos started to become big. Sorry if some of the facts about them are wrongs, I'm new to the fandom! (: Enjoy!

"Home sweet home!" I squeal running into our summer house.

"Its technically our 2nd home." My boring twin brother named Nate says plopping down on the couch.

    My name is Ashley by the way. I'm American, but every summer my family comes to Sydney, Australia. Its like a tradition. Both my brother and I are 17 (since we are twins) and our younger brother Mason is 7.

"I'm going exploring!" I yell slipping into my sandals. My mom and dad don't even bother to stop me for they've learned that I don't listen to anyone when it comes down to an adventure.

"Please be safe!" My mother calls out to me as I run down our driveway.

"As always!" I holler back trotting down the sidewalk.

    I've always been afraid to go into the city alone, it's just so big and intimidating... but wouldn't that make for an epic story? If my mom ever found out about this she would ground me, so I guess she won't be finding out!

    My summer home isn't that far from the city. Probably about a 20 minute walk until you start to get into it. I notice lights glimmering above and gasp at the beauty of the city. How have I never visited this place? I notice a small convenient store and decide to buy something to drink.

    A bell jingles as I enter and I smile at the diner like features of the store. I walk to the back where the drinks are and reach for an Iced tea. A curly blonde haired boy is at the cash register and I start to walk to him when BANG. The front door swings open to reveal a scary, tall man.

    It doesn't take me long to realize that he is not here to buy anything, but to cause chaos. I jump behind the counter where the curly haired boy is and we both watch in horror as the man pulls a gun from his pocket.

"Down on the ground!" The man growls and I freeze in terror. One lady attempts to make a run out the door but he shoots her in cold blood. I scream at the sight and hide behind the counter. This day just went from 0-100 real quick.

    I cover my eyes, hoping for everything to disappear. I feel a light touch on my arm and uncover my face to see the boy. He holds his finger to his lips, telling me to keep quiet.

"This way." He whispers crawling towards a carpet sprawled out on the floor. He lifts it to reveal a trap door.

"Don't look at me!" I hear the terrifying man bellow. 

"Quickly." The boy tells me motioning down the ladder of the trap door. I don't take one more moment and quietly descend down the ladder. The boy makes sure to cover the door and slides down silently.

    I take a look around the secret room. Some guitars were hung on the walls, along with a drum set in a corner. There were also some speakers with some microphones scattered about. This was strange. I turn around to see the boy staring at me. He quickly looks away.

"You just saved my life." I mumble realizing the extent of his helpfulness.

"Our," He corrects me revealing his bright smile, "We aren't out of the woods yet, call the boys In blue."

"Boys in blue?" I question. Probably an Australian reference.

"Sorry, Police. You American?" I nod and dial the 3 digit number. Luckily, I knew that the emergency service line was 000. I quickly told the police everything and they were on their way.

"Do you think the lady who was shot will survive?" I ask nervously.

"I would like to say yes, but since she was shot in the chest, I don't think the odds are very good." He mumbles, a hint of sadness in his eyes. Guilt washed over me, we could be trying to help all of innocents upstairs. Instead, we are hiding away downstairs.

"We wouldn't so any good by going upstairs. It would be reckless, and we would probably end up dead." The boy tells me like he read my mind.

"How could someone do this?" I croak, tears brimming my eyes. The curly haired boy shrugs helplessly. BANG. Another shot is fired from upstairs. I wince at the sound.

We could finally hear sirens and there was no more yelling from the man. After about a good 10 minutes of listening to only sirens, we decided that it was safe to go upstairs. The boy climbed the ladder first, making sure the coast was clear. He the took my hand and helped me up.

My mouth hung open when I saw the scene. Blood was splattered on the walls and shelves of the store. 7 out of the 8 people were either injured or dead. Two body bags were on stretchers, clearly full. A sob escapes my mouth and I quickly cover it with my hand. My other hand was still clutching the boys, and I pull it away to cover my eyes.

"Hey! Hey, hey, hey. None of this is your fault!" The boy tells me comfortingly. He had both of his hands on my arms, holding me to face him. I could see the horror in his eyes as well.

"It's not yours either." I whisper returning his kindness. He weakly smiles at me.

"Excuse me. Who are you two?" A cop asks us.

"I work here, my parents own this place. We were here when all of this happened. We hid down there." The boy explains pointing to the trap door.

"Oh. Well you did the right thing by staying down there. We could of had 4 deaths on our hands. Follow me." The policemen says, his expression softening. He leads us to a paramedic who does a quick check up in both of us.

"Would you guys like to call your parents?" The paramedic asks. I shake my head.

"I'm not really sure what to say.. would you mind doing it for me?" I ask.

"Sure." She smiles taking my phone like she's done it a hundred times before. I look to the boy and he didn't seem to be making any phone calls.

"Are you gonna call your parents?" I ask him.

"Not right now, they're out of town anyways. Plus I'm 19 so I live on my own. I don't think I caught your name by the way." The boy smiles.

"Ashley." I say shaking his hand.

"Ashton." He laughs, probably because of the similarities in our names.

"Ash squared!" I giggle.

"Your mum is on her way. I also mentioned a therapy group to her. Its hard to get over these types of things without a mental or physical scar. As for you Ashton, you could go as well, but that's a decision that you can make for yourself." The woman explains to us.

"Also, are you two up for explaining to our illustrator what the person who did this looked like." She adds. My heart dropped to my stomach.

"He got away?" Ashton questions.

"Sadly, but we can find him with your help." She says. We both agree to explain what he looked like.

"He had brown hair, was very tall and was wearing dirty red converse." Ashton explains his features.

"He also had a mole on the left side of his face. Just below his eye." I whisper. A small whimper escapes my mouth reliving the moment.

"You aright?" Ashton asks me putting his hand on my shoulder. I nod and sigh when I see my mom. I jump of the back of the ambulance and run to her.

"Oh honey! Are you okay?" My mother asks me worriedly. I nod as she calms me down. The paramedic then comes over to us, and talks about therapy to my mom. As they talked, I walked back over to Ashton.

"I just wanted to say thank you. For potentially saving my life." I smiled him.

"It was my pleasure. Do you think you are gonna go to the counseling thingy?" Ashton asks.

"I think my mom is going to make me." I sigh.

"Ashley! Lets get going!" I hear my mother call.

"Guess this is goodbye. See ya Ashton." I wave walking back to my mom.

"See ya at therapy!" Ashton yells to me with his beautiful smile.

"Who's that?" My mom asks.

"The boy who saved my life."