Dirty Little Secret // C.H.

Forty-seven

Ashton stepped out from the small bathroom of the tour bus, pressing a towel to his dripping curls as he looked around for the others. He could hear snores coming from Michael's bunk and he found Luke scrolling through Twitter from the comfort of his own bunk.

He heard a raised voice from the entertainment area of the bus. He quietly made his way in that direction. As Ashton peaked around the doorway, he found Sienna with a book in hand and Calum stretched out along the sofa, his head in Sienna's lap and a video game controller in his hands.

Calum's head was turned in the direction of the television, but Ashton knew his real attention was on Sienna. It was always on Sienna.

Sienna held a book in one hand and ran the other through Calum's hair as she read aloud to him. Ashton smiled softly as he listened to her words and noticed as Calum smiled too. He glanced from Sienna to Calum and back again, studying the simplicity in the happiness that surrounded them.

This is all it takes, Ashton thought. All it takes to make him happy is to be near her.

"This Darcy fellow," Calum was saying. "Really needs to work on his game. This is all too cheesy-"

Ashton thought Sienna's eyes may pop out of her head upon hearing Calum's insult to Pride and Prejudice.

"It is not cheesy!" Sienna scolded him, her eyes glaring daggers down at him but her laughter bubbling through her defense of Darcy. She moved her eyes back to the book in her hands before reading to him once more. ""In vain have I struggled. It will not do. My feelings will not be repressed. You must allow me to tell you how ardently I admire and love you."" She quoted to him aloud, as she finished she glanced down at him. She took in the peaceful playfulness of his grin. "That is too cheesy for you?"

"It's too much." Calum chuckled, knowing his words would upset Sienna more.

"It's romance!" Sienna defended loudly, throwing her hands up. "He couldn't just walk up to Elizabeth and say "I like you, you like me, wanna' bang?"

Calum erupted in laughter, the sound of his cackling filling the atmosphere of the entire bus. Ashton muffled his laughter, not wanting to spoil the moment happening between Calum and Sienna.

"Why not?" Calum asked laughingly. "Short and simple. Get straight to the point."

"Guys." She scoffed before she began reading silently.

"Woah, woah, woah. What are you doing?" Calum asked, looking away from his game in alarm.

"Reading?" Sienna said in an obvious tone, meeting his eyes with a playful look.

"Well?" Calum said, awaiting Sienna's response eagerly. "What did she say?" He asked, anxious to see how the story played out. "Did she turn my man down or what?"

Sienna laughed once again and began reading to him where she had left off before. Calum, now content with finding out how Elizabeth responded to Darcy, placed his head back on Sienna's lap comfortably and smiled up at her, not bothering to lift his game controller to mask his interest in Sienna's reading. He did, however, lift Sienna's free hand back to his hair, urging her to continue running her fingers through it as she had moments ago; he closed his eyes happily as she did so.

Ashton smiled at them again.

What have they gotten themselves into? He wondered. And how in the hell has Luke not figured it out yet?

Anyone could see what was happening between them, the bond between them growing with every passing day.

They were radiant together; comfortable and content. It was easy to see the way they made each other whole. Together they just...made sense.