Dedication: Lashton_Narry [caz Angie's queen, he's king, and I'm princess (just like Ashton)]

I had a difficult time writing this chapter, to be honest.

The video is of my Wattpad best friend's friend reading a poem dedicated to Luke Hemmings.

Malum, because I can. Sorry if you don't like it. The exit button is somewhere around here...

"Ashton, get in the passenger seat right now," Luke ordered and I didn't hesitate to obey as I got out of my seat and climbed into the front. Luke took my spot and was examining where Calum got shot. "Shit, I can see it, the bullet."

"Frederick, start driving to the hospital," I said, sounding a bit frantic. My driver nodded and he started driving out of the alley and towards the nearest hospital, wherever that was.

I could hear Calum groaning and attempting to keep in any cries of pain from the bullet in the back of his shoulder. He was also holding Michael close to his chest, but his hold gradually loosened as he seemed to be in more pain.

Michael's face was barely visible from my angle, but from the little part I could see I could tell he was shocked and terrified, looking pretty much traumatized.

"This is going to hurt," Luke said to Calum as he removed his blazer. He then pressed it against Calum's shoulder, causing my friend to hiss some more.

"Fuck!" Calum cursed as he finally pulled away from Michael and I was able to see my manager's face more clearly.

Like I thought, he was certainly scared and he looked as if he was going to pass out.

Calum looked up at Michael and I could see his lips curve upward just the slightest bit. "You okay?"

"Okay?" Michael repeated. "Okay?! You're seriously asking if I'm okay?! You just got shot!"

"It's just a flesh wound, I'm sure." Calum groaned and my manager pulled him back towards him so his arms were wrapped underneath his arms. I could tell that Luke was still pressing his jacket down on Calum's wound, because my friend's face twisted in an expression that displayed pain as he was trying to hold back any noise of discomfort. "I'm fine, Mikey, really."

"Let go of Calum," Luke said, looking towards Michael. "You don't want to hurt him, do you?"

"But I..." Michael began, but he snapped his mouth shut when he couldn't find anything to say, so he dropped his arms from Calum.

"It's okay, Luke," Calum said. "I want to be in his arms before I die."

"Stop being dramatic," my bodyguard said as he rolled his eyes. "You're not going to die. You just got shot in the shoulder, that's all."

Calum made a groaning sound. "Oh, I can see the other side. The angels are waiting and singing for me. Sweet, beautiful angels."

Michael's eyes widened and he pulled my friend back into his arms, hugging him tightly and pressing his face into his dark hair. Calum snuck his good arm around Michael and snuggled into him.

"You shouldn't have gotten shot," Michael said, almost sounding like he was about to cry.

"But it's better I got hit than you," Calum said.

"Calum-"

"And I would've dealt with a greater emotional pain than the physical one I have right now."

The entire car went silent, even Frederick shut off the radio that was playing classical music quietly in the background.

"You're so stupid sometimes," was all Michael could say before more his hold on Calum tightened.

"I may not be a bodyguard," my friend said, "but I would certainly do anything to protect you."

Realization just hit me. The way Calum was holding Michael before the gun shot, how it was the back of his shoulder that got hit...

He was protecting Michael, and if he didn't react fast enough Michael would've had a bullet straight through his head.

Michael would've been dead.

And knowing Calum's feelings towards my manager, of course he'd would end up in a state of depression if Michael died.

"Stop moving around, Calum," Luke snapped, trying to follow Calum's movements. "You're making this harder for me to keep the jacket on your wound."

"Just... one... last... thing," Calum whispered as he glanced up at Michael, their eyes locking. Then they both closed their own eyes and started to lean in.

It was like fate decided it was a good idea for the car to hit a pothole, making everyone jump and Calum feel pain in his shoulder once again. Michael seemed more freaked out about Calum's reaction though as he started yelling random stuff, making me smile a bit.

"Are you okay?! Are you hurt?! Oh, my God! You're hurt! Luke, do something! Make Calum hurt less! Ashton, stop laughing! This is serious! Calum's hurt and you're just giggling your butt off over there! Calum, you're not gonna die, are you?! Show me you're okay-"

Calum silenced Michael's blabbering with his lips, my manager's eyes going wide.

And Michael didn't even kiss back. He just kind of remained as he was, shocked.

When Calum pulled away, he looked at the surprised expression Michael wore. I thought that my friend would look hurt a bit, sensing a silent and nondirect rejection coming his way, but he only smiled.

"I'm fine," Calum said, a smile still remained on his face. Michael still looked surprised, unsure of what to say.

But when he finally did think of something, Frederick announced that we were at the hospital.

"Great," Luke said, opening his side of the door. "Michael, help me carry Calum into the hospital."

"Wait, what do I do?" I asked as I was about to get out of the car.

"You sit there and be your princess self."

I frowned and huffed as Michael and Luke assisted Calum towards the emergency room. I slouched in my seat as I watched the three disappear through the automatic sliding doors.

"I'm going in anyway," I said, opening the door.

"But Luke gave specific orders for you to remain here," Frederick said and I rolled my eyes.

"Luke isn't the boss of me. He can't tell me what to do." Before my driver could say anything more, I got out of the car and started heading towards the hospital.

When I walked in I saw Michael talking to one of the doctors as Calum was carried off in a stretcher. I was about to walk over to my manager, but then I felt two hands slam down on my shoulders, causing me to yelp and turn around to see Luke glaring at me.

"I told you to stay in the car!" he yelled. "Can't you do one simple job?"

"Calum's my friend, too!" I snapped back. "I should be here for him as well!"

"You leaving the vehicle without me knowing a thing just makes my job as your bodyguard even more difficult."

"I didn't ask you to be my bodyguard!"

"Well, I didn't ask to be the bodyguard of a spoiled brat, but look where I am now. The world ain't always fair, princess. So deal with it."

I was about to shout something back at him, but Michael softly sniffling stopped me from saying anything more to Luke.

"What's wrong now?" Luke asked. "You know that Calum's going to be okay, don't you?"

"I know," Michael mumbled, "but it's my fault that he's hurt."

"It's not your fault, okay?" Luke pulled my manager into his arms and gave him a reassuring hug. Michael returned it and continued his sniffling into Luke's shoulder. "Calum's fine. It's just a bullet to the shoulder, that's all."

Even though Luke was only comforting Michael, I didn't like what I saw. It was like the blond idiot that's apparently my bodyguard was stealing everyone away from me.

I crossed my arms over my chest and cleared my throat, earning the two's attention. "As much as I'd like to stay here for Calum, we should really hurry to the studio. I still have some work to do."

"R-Right." Michael pulled away from Luke. "But I really want to be here for Calum. Can you two go to the studio without me?"

"You're asking me to be alone with this guy?" I gestured over to Luke who cocked an eyebrow.

"You still need to finish up your songs and, well, someone has to be here when the doctor that's treating Calum calls for someone who's acquainted to him."

"I don't think it's a good idea for anyone to be separated at the moment," Luke said. "How about we all stay here? Ashton can work on his songs here, can't he? It's not like he's going to be recording anything."

Michael thought for a moment before agreeing. "I'll just go to Frederick and tell him to pick us up when I call him."

Luke nodded and Michael walked out of the waiting room. Then he looked over at me.

"You might want to sit yourself down and get comfortable, princess," Luke said. "We're going to be here for a while."

I rolled my eyes. "Thanks for nothing, idiot."

"You're welcome."

------

I made zero progress in writing. I couldn't come up with any more lyrics for my new song. Every time I thought I had an idea, I would end up putting down Calum's notebook that Michael got out of the car before Frederick left. The notebook was one of the things where Calum and I kept all of the song lyrics. I usually used my phone, but that piece of crap's broken.

Michael had fallen asleep waiting and had his head resting against Luke's shoulder. The two were awfully close and it really bothered me. I rolled my eyes and placed my feet on the chair I was sitting on, resting my chin on my knees while my arms wrapped around my legs.

Some people in the waiting room recognized me and asked me to take a picture with them. I would have barked at them and tell them to leave me alone, but I didn't want to be too rude. So I reluctantly agreed to countless pictures and autographs and all of that kind of jazz.

A couple of hours probably passed by the time the doctor entered the waiting room and asked for anyone that was here for Calum.

Luke shook my manager awake and Michael's snoring stopped. He sat upright and rubbed sleep from his eyes before he stood up, stretching his arms in the air. Luke placed a hand on Michael's back and led him over to the doctor. I remained where I was before I decided it was probably a good idea to hear about how Calum was doing now.

I stood up from my spot, the notebook held by my side, and I went over to where Luke and Michael were. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to get to them before a girl hopped in front of me.

"Sorry to bother you, but can I get a picture with you?" she asked, looking up at me with hopeful eyes.

"Yeah, sure," I responded, hiding my annoyance. Then she stood next to me, her arm wrapping around my waist since she was much shorter than I was. My arm was around her shoulder and I faked a smile at the camera as she took a few pictures.

She thanked me before going back to wherever she came from and then I returned to going over to Luke and Michael.

The doctor had already finished talking to them by the time I arrived and they looked over at me.

"Calum's okay," Luke said to me. "They safely removed the bullet and he's now resting in one of the hospital rooms."

"I don't think we can visit him now since he's asleep," Michael said with a pout as he took the notebook from my hold, "so I guess we should just go on ahead to the studio."

"But I'm too tired now," I groaned. "Let's just go back to the hotel. What time is it?"

"Make a one-eighty turn and you'll see a clock," Luke said, pointing behind me. I did and saw that it was already noon. "We should probably get something to eat. Michael, go ahead and call Frederick."

"Did," responded my manager. "He said he'll be here in ten minutes tops."

Luke nodded and then the two decided that we should wait outside. So then they walked out of the waiting room abreast and I was left behind them. I stuffed my hands into my pockets and headed out, following Luke and Michael.

But once the automatic doors slid open, a camera was shoved on my face and a flashing light blinded me.

I immediately snapped my eyes shut, placing a hand over them when my eyes started hurting as I started walking backwards. From behind my eyelids, there were so many flashes happening all at once and I couldn't open my eyes in fear of becoming blind.

I heard feet pounding and soon I was sure that I was surrounded by paparazzi. There were a ton of questions thrown my way and a bunch of other chattering that I couldn't seem to make out.

"Ashton, is it true that Calum Hood is in the hospital?!"

"Did Calum Hood really get shot, Ashton?!"

"Tell us the whole story! We only want the truth!"

I felt myself being shoved, making me fall to the ground. However, no one bothered to help me up as they continued to bombard me with questions. I continued pushing myself away from everyone, but they just followed me.

"Stop!" I shouted, waving my other hand in front of me like I would somehow get them to move away. "Leave me alone! I can't see!" Everyone ignored my cries and tried to get information out of me. Once my back hit the wall, I curled up into a ball on the ground. I felt so trapped where I was and I pulled the neck of my shirt over my face to hide behind it. "Go away! I want to get to Luke!"

"Move it!" someone shouted as I heard a lot of grunting and curse words. Suddenly an arm was wrapped around my waist and a hand was at the back of my head, pulling me closer to the person's body.

I immediately recognized the person as Luke and I desperately clung to him, my shirt falling from my face and I pressed my face into his shoulder.

"Luke, make them stop," I pleaded, my voice somehow loud enough for Luke to hear me over the loud commotion.

His fingers combed through my hair as he said, "I can't do that, but I'll see what I can do."

Without moving his arms, Luke helped me stand up and I assumed he was shielding me from the paparazzi, since he was still making us face the same way. He shouted for the people to get away from us and then he led me into the building, my guess was the hospital waiting room.

I could hear some of the employees working at the hospital keeping the paparazzi out, even someone shouting to turn the automatic doors to manual and lock the room to keep anyone from entering.

Some other people who were in the waiting room were asking the hospital crew questions, asking how they were going to get out or what they were going to do in a hospital.

"Ashton, are you okay?!" I heard Michael beside me. I didn't know when or how he got into the waiting room, but I didn't question it.

I nodded my head against Luke's shoulder, not wanting to talk at the moment. I felt Michael place a hand on my back, telling me that I was okay.

"The paparazzi can still see us," Luke said. "They're still taking pictures. Uh, excuse me? Yeah, can we borrow an empty room real quick until the paparazzi go away?"

"I suppose I can make an exception this time," said a lady's voice. "There's a break room down the hall, turn right into the first hallway and it's the first door on the right. I don't believe anyone's on break right now."

"Thank you. Michael, call some security to keep the back of the hospital clear and tell Frederick to drive there." Luke started to take me to that area while I heard Michael asking about updates on Calum if they were available.

Once Luke and I got to the break room, he sat me down on a couch and I pulled one arm away from him as I rubbed at my eyes.

"Are you okay?" he asked. "I'm sorry that I wasn't quick enough to come to your rescue. You're okay now."

I drew my arm from my eyes, opening them. Everything was blurry and I felt a feeling of discomfort in my eyes. I repeatedly blinked, but the feeling wouldn't go away, so I was back to shutting my eyes and placing my hand over them.

"My eyes hurt," I complained. "I can't see well."

Luke sat beside me and pulled me closer to him. "I'm sorry. I take full blame of this. I should've kept a better watch on you. We're going to stay here until your driver arrives, okay?"

I nodded my head and the two of us sat there quietly. I asked Luke if I could rest my legs on his lap and he let me, but I somehow ended up sitting on his lap. His arms were back around me and I leaned my head against his shoulder, my eyes still shut since I didn't want to feel them hurt again.

"Do you want something to drink?" Luke asked. "There's a water dispenser in the room."

"I'm not thirsty," I said, pulling my hands to my chest. "I just want to see again."

"Then open your eyes."

I shook my head. "It'll hurt."

"But you have to open your eyes if you want to see."

"They still hurt."

Luke didn't say anything as a sigh of breath left him. Then he finally spoke up, "Let's try this."

I felt him gently push my head off of his shoulder as his fingers grabbed a hold of my chin. I didn't know what he was doing, but then I felt something softly press against my closed eyelids.

It felt like his lips.

"Okay, try now," Luke said to me and I slowly peeked an eye open, feeling no pain whatsoever. I opened my other eye, blinking a couple of times so my focus could readjust. A smile came onto my face as I looked up at Luke.

"My eyes don't hurt anymore!" I exclaimed, sounding a bit too childish for my liking and blushing a bit as I dipped my head down.

Luke chuckled. "Good for your hazel eyes."

The smile fell from my face when I felt a fluttering feeling in my stomach.

Even though I was nothing but rude to Luke, he still found somewhere in his heart to be nice to me in times when I felt like I needed someone. Usually when I'm really mean to someone, that person would leave. But Luke's the first person to ever stick by me despite how rotten I've been to him.

Maybe it's just because it's his job as my bodyguard, but moments like this one were not necessary. All he had to do was make sure that I was anywhere away from danger, but he was actually making sure I was okay.

"How come you're nice to me now?" I asked Luke, playing with my fingers as my head was back on his shoulder.

"What do you mean?" he asked, tilting his head to the side.

I shrugged. "Well, it's just... I don't know, I feel like I don't deserve any of your kindness. I thought you'd hate me."

"That's just who I am. I can be mean to someone when they're mean to me, but in the end I can't hate them in any way."

His head leaned against mine. "I think it's just, I believe that everyone has some sort of kindness in them no matter who they are. You may be self-centered and rude, but I know there's some good in you. You just need to bring that side out."

I nodded, taking in Luke's words. It still puzzled me how fortunate I was to even be exposed to Luke's kindness. He didn't have to be nice to me, but he was and that made me strangely happy.

"This may sound weird coming from me," Luke spoke up, pulling me from my thoughts, "but you should smile more often." I looked up at him and saw him smiling at me. "It suits you."

"Um..." I tried to curve my lips upward, but my face started to heat up and I ended up hiding it in my hands. I shook my head. "I can't now."

"Sure, you can. It's easy. Watch." His fingers started brushing against my side and I started squirming away, but he held me in place.

"Stop that!" I yelled. "I don't like that!"

"Really?" Luke questioned. "Then why are you smiling?" He didn't stop and my annoyed turned into fits of giggles as I now attempted to gather enough breath to tell him to stop.

"N-No! That t-tickles! I don't like it! L-Luke, stop!"

When he finally stopped, I felt his arms around me tighten.

"Your giggles sound cute," he said. "How about instead of yelling at me all of the time, you giggle around me?"

"Shut up," I said, but this one sounded more playful than annoyed. I whacked his shoulder that's farthest from me and I just snuggled up against him. I decided to change the topic, my friend being the first to come to mind. "Do you think Calum's all right?"

"The doctor said that he's fine," Luke told me. "He's lucky that it wasn't a lead bullet that hit him."

I nodded, but then some thoughts occurred in my mind. The men that pretty much attacked us were after me. My friend wouldn't have gotten shot if I wasn't their main target. I kept my face low so Luke wouldn't see the small tears that developed in my eyes.

"D-Did Calum g-get shot because of m-me?" I asked, smacking myself mentally for stuttering and making my need to cry obvious to Luke. "I-It's my f-fault, isn't i-it?"

"What? No! No, it isn't your fault. It's not any of our faults but the guy who shot him. Calum's fine, don't worry." Luke's thumb brushed against my cheek, wiping away one of the tears that escaped. "It's not your fault, Ashton. I promise that."

I gasped and pulled away, my tear stained face completely exposed to Luke. He looked at me with a confused expression before I explained to him, "Y-You called me Ashton."

"Well, yeah." He shrugged. "It's your name. Isn't that what you wanted me to call you, since the name I gave you annoys you?"

"Y-Yeah, but it sounds so weird hearing you say it when you always called me... princess."

"Oh." Luke looked away, biting on his bottom lip. "I don't want to get on your bad side again, since it seems like I'm getting on your good side now. So I'll just call you Ashton from now on, okay?"

As strange as this seems, I reluctantly nodded. I had been so used to him calling me princess that him calling me by my actual name sounded so foreign to me. But on the bright side, at least he's calling me by my real name now.

I heard Luke's phone go off and I had to move off of Luke's lap so he could get his phone. He glanced down at the screen before he looked over at me.

"Michael says that Frederick's here," he informed me. "He's already waiting in the car. We should, um, we should get going now."

"Oh. Okay," was all I said as we both stood up and left the break room, Luke asking around for how to get to the back of the hospital from where we were.

To be honest, I kind of wished that my driver didn't arrive so soon, because I wanted to stay a bit longer with Luke in the room. Just the two of us.

But like what Luke said earlier, the world isn't always fair. So I'll just have to deal with it.

------

AN: Lashton and Malum feels attack me so badly. This could've been better, but this is what y'all got.

If you know me, you'd know that I could never kill off any of the 5SOS boys ): I'm not evil like a certain someone *coughAngiecough* I cried all night, because of you.

Anyway, Ashton's really warming up to Luke now. What do you guys think of that?

Luke saying he won't call Ashton princess anymore? ): Come on, we all know how long that'll last.

There's a 96% chance that Malum is going to happen in this. Like I said, if you don't want Malum, you don't have to read on. Thoughts on Malum?

Any other thoughts or predictions? c:

I wrote a future chapter before I completed this and then it made this story rated R >n< I located the source so that way this story stays PG-13. It was the stupidest word to make this story become rated R, but whatever. I just can't say that word in this story at all.

I hope this chapter was good enough and worth it ^^ Until next year! x

P.S. Happy new year, everyone! x Max loves you all (: