AN: Oh, dear... this chapter.

I fucking love you guys, by the way. So. Fucking. Much.

Guys, listen. A song.

Dedication: malumwhatever [I forgot about the covers, but here they are now c:]

It was now a little bit past six, it was dark out, and Michael was waiting for me and Luke in front of the hotel suite. He had this happy expression on his face, but it looked a bit forced to me. He was telling me to hurry and get to the car so we could leave right away.

But on our way to wherever the hell we were going, I couldn't get Calum's voicemails out of my mind. I didn't bring them up at all to either Luke or Michael, because I wasn't sure how to. Michael was going to freak out if he found out something happened to Calum, but he was going to find out sooner or later, wasn't he? Yet, no matter how hard I tried to get myself to say anything about what I just heard through my phone, I couldn't form any words.

Speaking of my phone, even though Calum told me to get rid of it, I was clutching the device in my left hand. I just got it back today, and now he wanted me to just throw it away? I don't think anyone in their right mind would just simply toss away their phone. It's like their precious baby. I was separated from mine for days, but even though I was back with it, I didn't have a strong urge to use it as often as I used to before.

Michael was on his phone, looking through stuff and Luke was staring out the window. I just kept flipping my phone around in my hand, not sure what else to do with it. I could do what Calum wanted me to do, but what could possibly be wrong with my phone that I had to dispose of it?

My thoughts were interrupted when I heard Luke snort. "I don't know which is brighter," he said, breaking the silence in the car, "your phone screen or Ashton's future."

My manager looked up at him and said, "This is on its lowest brightness."

"Oh. Now I know which is brighter."

I threw one leg over Luke's lap and purposely jabbed the heel of my shoe into his thigh. He didn't flinch though, and I was disappointed with the results.

"My future is very bright!" I snapped, my defensive side resurfacing. "Look where I am now!"

"You're in a car yelling at me," Luke deadpanned.

I groaned and glared out the window. I really didn't feel like dealing with Luke's stupid games at the moment.

The area we were in was unfamiliar. We were on this highway and I was staring into darkness that had small specks of lights shining in the distance. I turned to Luke and asked, "Where are we and what am I looking at?"

"You're looking at me in a car," Luke said, grinning at his response.

Michael started laughing and I glared at my bodyguard before yelling, "No, stupid! What city?! And what's out the window?!"

"We're in a city called Huntington Beach and out the window is the beach and the Pacific Ocean."

"Why?"

The whole car was silent and both Michael and Luke were looking at me, like the answer was going to hit me any moment--oh.

"Wait, the party?! That's today?!" I exclaimed. "What the hell, Mikey! Why didn't you tell me anything?!"

"I did. I told you to dress appropriately, and you did."

"What if I wore something else and ended up standing out because I didn't dress like everyone else?!"

"Yeah," Luke chimed in. "Like, what if he showed up with a fluffy pink dress with a tiara on top of his head a pair of princess gauntlet gloves on his arms?"

My jaw dropped and Michael burst out laughing, his arms clutching his stomach as he leaned towards the side. I unbuckled my seat belt and reached my arms out at Luke, but he grabbed my wrists and kept me from hurting him.

"Why the hell would you say that?!" I yelled.

"Hey, there's nothing wrong with that! I mean, I can imagine it now and you'd look really sexy--"

"Stop thinking about it, pervert!"

Michael only laughed louder and his eyes were squeezed shut. It really didn't look like he was going to stop his laughter any time soon. If he died laughing, the blame would all be pinned on Luke.

"Shut up, Mikey!" I snapped, my eyes glaring at him.

He tried to regain his breath so he could answer me, but he ended up laughing some more. His laughing was really annoying me and I just wanted him to shut up already.

I drew away from Luke and yelled, "Luke, kick him in the face or something! Make him shut up!"

"Why? He's not doing anything wrong," Luke said, shrugging. "He's just laughing."

"It's your fault he's laughing!"

"Stop yelling and find your chill."

I growled in annoyance and Michael's laughter began to die down. "Okay," he said, taking in deep breaths as he sat upright. "I think I'm done."

"Good," I said. "Now, why didn't you--"

Michael burst out laughing again.

"Okay, that's it!" I shouted, preparing myself to launch at Michael and strangle him to death. Luke held me back though and he kept telling me to relax, to which I snapped, "I am not going to relax!"

"You need to calm down," Luke said. "Princesses shouldn't get upset so easily."

"In the mean time, stop with the princess thing! I want Michael to shut up, but you're making him laugh even harder!"

"Sorry, princess."

"Just shut up!"

"We have arrived," Frederick said calmly and I almost forgot that he was here, even though he was the one driving the vehicle Luke, Michael, and I were riding in. "Now please take the commotion outside. I can only handle so much noise."

After finally shutting up his stupid laughter for good, Michael apologized while trying his best not to laugh again, "Sorry. Would you like some beer? We've got beer at the party."

"Are you stupid?" I asked. "He's driving and you're offering alcohol to him?"

"Oh, right. Whoops. Anyway, I'll let you know when to pick us up, okay?"

Once I was out of the car, Michael and Luke followed after and we all watched as Frederick drove off. We turned our eyes towards the beach and my jaw dropped at the sight before me.

There were two rows of Mason jars with lit candles inside, the rows forming a pathway that led to where a group of people were already hanging out and holding their drinks in their hands or dancing to the music the DJ was playing. Ropes of LED lights were hanging above everyone and were held up by the party tents that were placed every ten feet from each other. Underneath the largest tent was a long table that held the food and beverages and other round tables were set nearby where some people were seated and chatting there while eating.

"This is pretty cool," Luke commented, standing beside me and wrapping an arm around my shoulder.

"Cool?" my manager repeated. "I worked my ass off planning this evening, and all you got to say about it is cool?! Well, we didn't set it up. We hired other people to do that, but still!" He gasped, pretending to be offended by Luke's choice of describing the party. "Wait! Calum's missing all of this! I need to take pictures and send them to him!"

At the mention of his name, I was reminded about the three voicemails I had received from Calum back at the hotel. I was about to bring it up to Michael, but he had already walked off, holding his phone up and pointing the camera at the event to take pictures.

I reached for my own phone that was inside my back pocket, but didn't take it out. I just brushed my fingers over the hard surface before pulling my hand out. I really didn't want to just toss away my phone like Calum told me to do. There was no reason for me to get rid of it, so I decided to keep it with me. What was the worst thing that could happen, anyway?

"Come on, princess," Luke said, pulling me away from my own thoughts. He moved in front of me and held his elbow out at me. "Your party awaits."

I couldn't help the smile on my face as I blushed and linked my arm with Luke's. He led me through the pathway of lit Mason jars and I noticed there were about five bouncers that were standing along the border of the event. But I already felt safe just having Luke next to me.

My bodyguard led me over to where Michael was greeting some of the guests. My manager introduced me to a couple of people I haven't met before. And for the rest of the hour, I chatted with some of the party guests and took pictures with them while Luke kept an eye on me the entire time.

-

I was standing by Michael who was welcoming newly arrived guests. Luke wasn't with me at the moment, because he had spotted someone who was apparently one of his favorite artists and he really wanted to talk with them, so I let him.

"You enjoying the party so far?" Michael asked as soon as the group that just came to the party were in.

"I've been to better parties," I said, shrugging and seeing the frown on Michael's face. I laughed a little. "But you really did do an amazing job with this one."

He smiled. "Thank you. Why don't you find someone to talk to?"

"I already did that for an hour."

"But it doesn't hurt to talk to a few more people, does it?"

"Well, no, but... maybe you should go have fun right now. You worked hard. You deserve it."

Michael looked back to another group of people approaching. "I'll do that in a bit. You go on ahead."

I patted my manager on the back and excused myself as I went over to where the round tables were set up. I found one that was empty and sat down, looking around the place for Luke, but I didn't see him anywhere.

A sigh went past my lips as I propped my elbow up against the table and leaned my head against my hand. My eyes turned towards the cloth on top of the table and my finger traced random patterns into it.

"Nice party you got here," a voice said and I glanced in the direction the voice was coming from.

"Oh, hey," I responded when seeing Chelsea with a drink in her hand. "Michael invited you?"

"He invited a lot of people. Trust me, I saw the list of invitees. Anyway," she pulled out a chair, "may I sit?"

I motioned for her to go ahead and she did. Walk the Moon's Shut Up And Dance was playing and there were a lot of people on the dance floor.

"You look bored," Chelsea spoke up. "Where's your boyfriend?"

"He's not--" I was going to deny Luke and my relationship, but decided not to. I sighed and said instead, "He's somewhere. I don't know, I haven't seen him in a while."

"What a bodyguard he is." She took a sip at her drink and I glowered at her.

"He's a great bodyguard, mind you," I defended. "So far, he hasn't let anyone hurt me."

Chelsea scooted her chair closer to me and then brought two fingers close to my arm. I yelped when she pinched me and I rubbed at my arm.

"He failed," she said, smirking, "but you're right. He's doing a pretty good job at protecting you."

Before I could say anything else, I spotted Luke in the crowd and he was chatting with a couple. He looked like he was enjoying himself and I smiled, seeing the expression on his face as he laughed with them.

"How long has it been since you two met?" Chelsea asked and I turned my gaze towards her.

"Um, a few days?" I answered, unsure. It really didn't feel like a few days. So much had happened and somehow Luke and I went from hating each other to becoming boyfriends.

"Only days?" She raised an eyebrow and I nodded. "Wow. How do you look so in love with him already?"

I snorted. "I'm not in love."

"Right. You love him."

"And how exactly are you supposed to know that I love him?"

"Have you seen the way you look at him? Anyone with eyes could tell, but no one would guess it all happened in merely a number of days. The look of love on your face is more real when you're looking at him than when you're looking at your own reflection."

Rolling my eyes, I averted them away from Chelsea, crossing my legs and arms. "Shut up. I don't need someone to tell me about how I feel."

"Whatever. Keep telling yourself that. But I suggest you don't wait until it's too late to admit it."

"Believe me, that won't happen."

"It might."

Just then, Luke was walking over to me and I smiled as he ran his fingers through his blond hair. He greeted, "Hey, princess."

"Hi," I said back.

He extended his hand out at me. "Want to dance?"

My eyes widened and I glanced over at Chelsea who signaled me with her brown eyes to accept Luke's offer. I looked back at my bodyguard and awkwardly said, "But people are here."

"Um, okay? I didn't think we were alone."

"And they'll watch us."

"So?"

"Luke, I--"

"Just go with him, Irwin!" Chelsea snapped. I winced at her loud tone, but I sighed, nodding my head and taking Luke's hand. He pulled me out of my seat and led me towards the crowd that was dancing to the music that was drawing to an end.

But when we went past the crowd and were approaching the border of the party, I asked Luke, "Wait, where are we going?"

"Just a little bit farther away from the party, that's all," Luke answered.

Before we could get away, one of the bouncers spotted us and walked closer to us. The next thing I knew, he grabbed my arm and I winced at the tight hold he had on me.

"And where do you think you're going?" he asked in a very deep voice.

"Hey, hands off!" Luke snapped, prying the much larger guy's hand off of me and standing in between us. "There's honestly no need to get aggressive with him."

"Guests are not allowed to leave as long as the event is still going on."

"Yeah, well, he's the guest of honor and I'm his bodyguard. This whole thing was made for him. We'll be back, big guy, so don't miss us too much."

"Orders from the top. No one is leaving."

Luke huffed before telling me to follow him. I did as he told me, ready to turn back to the event, but then Luke started running past the bouncer.

"Hey!" the large guy yelled.

"Ashton, run!" Luke shouted. I hesitated in doing so, but when the bouncer's eyes looked at mine, I instead ran back into the crowd.

I squeezed my way through the crowd while the large guy was trying to get closer to me. Once I was out of the crowd and he was still in it, I made a run for it, going in the direction where Luke had ran off.

Never did I look back once. I kept running while my hand was keeping my fedora on my head and I was getting farther away from the lights of the party. My eyes spotted a lifeguard tower and I went up the steps, jiggling the knob and noticing it was unlocked. I entered the said tower and closed the door after me, locking it. My back was pressed against the wall as I tried to get my breathing back to normal.

Placing a hand over my chest, I walked over to the window that had a view of the ocean, but I couldn't see anything. Only the lights of the boats in the distance.

Suddenly arms wrapped around my waist and I screamed as I was being lifted in the air, frantically kicking my legs out. My hands clawed at the arms to get them off of me, but I stopped when I heard a loud laugh from behind me.

"Jeez, princess, what's with the screaming?" Luke laughed as he set me back on the ground.

"You idiot!" I shouted, turning myself around and letting my hand form into a fist. I hit his shoulder as hard as I could, but he continued his laughing. "Where the hell did you come from?!"

"I was crouching in the corner to keep myself hidden. I didn't think you'd come into the same tower as I did."

"You scared me half to death!"

"Oops, my bad."

"You're not even remotely close to feeling bad, you asshole."

"I really am sorry, believe me. I shouldn't have surprised you that way. But anyway," he leaned his forehead against mine, "we're alone now."

I grinned, unable to be mad at him any longer. "So we are." I brought my arms around his neck as his hands rested on my hips. I pulled Luke down for a kiss to which he happily gave me. His hands slipped to my bum and one of them reached into my pocket, pulling out my phone.

When I drew away from the kiss, I questioned as I watched him open up YouTube on my phone and type something, "What are you doing?"

"Lookin' up a nice, slow song for us to dance to, that's all," he answered nonchalantly.

"Oh, no." I tried to get away from Luke, but he only tugged me back towards him, one arm around my waist and keeping me from going anywhere while the thumb of his hand holding my phone tapped the screen for the song. "Luke, no."

"Princess, yes," he said.

I shook my head. "I-I can't dance to slow songs. I tried it before and I fail so badly."

"Come on, it's easy. Just follow my lead, okay?"

Lightly biting my bottom lip, I nodded and Luke pushed my phone into his pocket, the music beginning to play. I placed my hands on his shoulders as his were once again on my waist and we were just slowly swaying from side to side.

His lips were mouthing the lyrics whenever they came up in the song and I listened to it, smiling and feeling my cheeks grow hotter.

"And we're slow dancin', swayin' to the music," Luke sang softly. "Slow dancin', just me and my girl."

Furrowing my eyebrows, I said, "I'm a guy though."

"Shh, just let me sing." He then ontinued, "No one else in the whole wide world. Just you, girl."

I smiled at Luke, encircling my arms around his neck and laying my head on his shoulder, my face pressed into his neck. I left light kisses to his skin and I heard Luke inhale deeply, his hands moving back to my bum and giving it a small squeeze.

The song went on and Luke and I continued slow dancing to it without saying anything to each other, a smile on my face. His heart was pounding in his chest and mine was doing the same. Butterflies were flying all around in my stomach and I wondered if Luke felt them as well.

After the song came to an end, we had stopped moving, but we didn't pull away from each other. We stayed where we were and remained in comfortable silence, the two of us just enjoying being in each other's arms.

Before I could be the first to say something, I felt Luke begin to move and my eyes went wide when I realized what he was doing.

"Stop humping me, Luke," I said, drawing my face away from him and glaring at him.

He sheepishly smiled, stopping his actions as he said, "Sorry. It's just--fuck, you're so beautiful and I'm kind of turned on with how close we are to each other. And maybe I just want to take you right now, but wouldn't it be awkward to have our first time in a lifeguard tower?"

I just blinked at Luke, my face flushing red at his words. I pulled away from Luke and he gave me a confused look. I grabbed the brim of my fedora and tossed it to the side. Luke's eyes followed my hat before they were back on me.

"You know, I think it'd be hot," I said, slowly popping open the button of my dress pants, "if we did it right here, right now."

My bodyguard's blue eyes grew wider as I let the dress pants pool at my ankles. I toed off the shoes I was wearing along with my socks and stepped out of them and the pants.

Luke took a step back and stuttered, "I-I was, you know, I, uh--"

I gripped his tie and pulled him towards me, my lips pressing to his to shut him up. With my hands, I guided his down to my bum and let them stay there. After I let go of his hands, I brought mine up to his blazer and started to unbutton the buttons one by one.

Once that was discarded onto the ground, I noticed Luke began leaning into towards me, so I drew away from Luke and took a seat on the ground, lying on my back and moving my legs apart.

"Go ahead, Luke," I said in the best seductive tone I could make. "I know you want me."

"Fuck, I really do," he growled, getting down on the ground as well and resting his arms on either side of me, his body in between my legs. He attached our lips together once again, his tongue finding its way into my mouth. He started to move his hips against mine, making the both of us moan into the kiss.

Luke broke away from the kiss and I was panting as I watched Luke get rid of the rest of his clothes until he was left in nothing but his boxer shorts. His hands were on my waist before moving upwards and sliding my dress shirt off of me ( had to sit up a little bit so he could get it off).

Now we were both nearly naked and Luke brought me in for another kiss, my hands cupping his face while his arms were propping his upper body.

"Lukey," I moaned out when I felt his hard-on rubbing against mine. I wrapped my legs around his body and he continued grinding down on me, this time his hard-on was pressed against my bum.

"We--We need to--to get these off," Luke panted, his finger hooking into the elastic of my boxer shorts. I nodded and motioned for him to remove them.

But before he could even do so, my phone ringing interrupted him and he groaned, moving himself over to where his pants were and reaching for it. He glared down at the bright screen.

"It's Michael," he said. "Should we ignore it?"

I was going to agree with Luke, but then I remembered when I ignored Calum's calls that were very important. I shook my head and grabbed my phone, sitting upright and answering it. Luke sat on his bum and rubbed the back of his head.

"Mikey?" I said into the phone. "What is it?"

"Ash, where are you?" he asked, sounding panicked, much like how Calum sounded. "S-Something happened. A bunch of these black vans came up to the party and all these men came out of the cars with guns and have everyone on the ground. A-And for some reason they have Calum with them and he's all tied up."

My eyes widened and I put the phone on speaker so Luke could hear him. Then I answered, "I'm with Luke right now. What else is going on?"

"Wherever you are, don't go back to the party. Th-They're looking for you and--"

"You with the phone!" someone shouted and my heart almost stopped for Michael. "What are you doing?!"

"I-I was--I wasn't d-doing anything--" Michael stuttered out, but was cut off when he cried out in pain. More of the same sound followed and I flinched every time I heard it.

"Who are you phoning?! Answer me or I'll keep kicking you!" No response came from Michael as some rustling noise made its way to my ears. "Ashton?" the guy said in confusion before he gasped and called the others over to him.

I immediately hung up and flung my phone across the room, scooting closer to Luke who wrapped his arms around me protectively. My own arms went around his body and I buried my face into his neck.

"Th-They're coming after me," I whimpered, tears in my eyes and a lump in my throat. "Lukey, don't let them take me away."

"You're safe, don't worry," he said. "Hurry, we need to get dressed right now."

Then the two of us went to grab our clothes off the ground. I went for my dress shirt and fumbled to get that on. My hands were shaking too much for me to even get the buttons in.

Luke already had his socks, pants, and dress shirt back on the moment I finished the last button and he was in the middle of putting his  shoes back on. I reached for my socks that began to put them on before a loud banging sound came from the door, making me jump in surprise and almost gasp aloud.

"They're in here!" a voice exclaimed. "His phone led us to here!"

Since I was sitting on the ground, I crawled over to Luke who was now standing on his feet. He had his clothes back on already except for his tie and blazer and I was still only in my dress shirt and boxer shorts.

"Stay by me, princess," Luke whispered as I stood up, hugging him close to me as he kept an arm protectively around me. My heart was racing in my and not in a good way. I was hoping Luke could save me again like he did those many times.

The door was kicked down and I yelped in surprise as the entrance revealed a large man who entered the lifeguard tower. I tightened my hold around Luke, not wanting to let go of him.

"Hand him over," the guy said, "or else I'll take him by force."

"Like hell I'm gonna do that," Luke spat. "You'll have to get through me first."

The man who spoke shook his head before he reached into his pocket and pulled out a gun, pointing it at us.

Luke jumped on me so we both fell to the ground, the gun going off and the bullet going straight through the window. I remained on the ground as Luke got onto his feet and charged at the guy, prepared to attack.

But the guy grabbed Luke's leg that was about to swing at his head. My bodyguard looked surprised and he tried his best to get out of the other man's hold, only to be roughly shoved back.

I gasped and was about to go over to my bodyguard, but he quickly got up and once again ran at the guy.

The bigger man tried to punch Luke, but he quickly dodged it and kicked at his, getting the guy to stumble and fall back.

Two more men started to appear, their eyes looking around until they landed on me. Panicking, I stepped away until I was backed up against the wall and they started to approach me, one of them holding ropes and the other holding cloths and a bottle of some liquid.

"Luke!" I yelled out and he hurried over, grabbing one of the men's arms and using all his strength to flip him over his shoulder and making him collide with the other guy.

"Just stay where you are!" Luke ordered. "Don't go anywhere--"

A gunshot sounded and I screamed when a bullet flew past my face and was lodged into the wall behind me. Luke went after the guy holding the gun, somehow managing to kick the firearm out his grasp and he sent a punch to the guy's face.

Picking up the gun, Luke pointed it from the entrance to the other men that were starting to get up off the ground. He backed up to the wall, his back to my body as he sandwiched me between him and the wall.

The guy who first came into the tower was the first to get up, making his way over to us. Luke didn't hesitate to pull the trigger, hitting the guy right in the shoulder. He yelled out in pain as he fell to the ground, his hand going over to where he was just shot.

Another guy, the one with the ropes got up and approached us. Again, Luke pulled at the trigger, but this time nothing came out. He chucked the empty gun at the guy, only to miss his head.

The next thing I knew, Luke shoved me to the other side of the room far away from the large man. The bigger guy threw a fist at Luke, only for my bodyguard to move just in time so the fist hit the wall instead.

Luke kicked at his side and was about to send him another kick before the guy dodged his next attack and kneed Luke in the stomach, making him double over and fall to the ground.

"Luke, no!" I shouted, rushing over to him. But I was being lifted into the air and thrown over someone's shoulder, my legs kicking wildly at the person. "Put me down! Luke, help--!"

I was cut off when something went around my mouth and kept me from saying any more. From behind I felt my feet being tied together and my arms being forced behind me so my wrists could be bound together.

"Let... go of him!" Luke yelled out weakly, trying to stand on his feet only to fall over and cough painfully.

"Put him out," said one of them and I watched with wide eyes as a cloth was being placed over my face.

I let out muffled screams as I frantically shook my head from side to side to get the rag away from me. I tried my best to not inhale whatever the cloth was soaked in, but I eventually had to breathe and my need for air got the best of me.

My head started to feel dizzy and my struggling started to come to a stop. The rag was then pulled away from my face and my eyes grew heavy as a sack was being placed over my head.

"Let's get moving," someone said and I was being carried out of the lifeguard tower, hearing Luke desperately trying to get up only for someone to kick him and telling him to shut up.

I was shoved into the back of a van and then the doors slammed shut. The last thing I heard before I blacked out was the sound of the gas pedal being stepped on as the car I was in drove away.

-

AN: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I fail to make things all epic and stuff, oh well. I'm kind of shaking right now and it's 2AM.

So that finally happened, yeah. This chapter was 5k words long, damn. Love me? Or hate me. I would understand more if you hate me after reading this, but I've been waiting for this chapter since the beginning of the book, tbh.

Since I'm going to be in uni very soon, the time in between updates might be longer. I know that I'll l\ose readers because you guys might/will lose interest in the story and get sick of waiting, but I can't do anything about it. I'm sorry I can't make more time for you guys.  

Anyway, thoughts on the chapter? This lame ass story so far? Are y'all excited for upcoming chapters?

I hope this chapter was worth the read (: Until next time! x