Miles of Pleasure (22 page)

The next day, Noah called everyone over to the house, band and management alike, to start asking for forgiveness. He knew that he had a long way to go before they would forgive and trust him again, but he was willing to do whatever it took to make that happen.

During the meeting, the absence of his sister didn't go unnoticed, nor did the dark circles under Ashton's eyes. Noah wasn't the only one to notice, but they all knew they had to focus on one problem at a time.

After Noah spoke, the guys shook hands and told him that they were on the road to forgiveness, but they had a lot of work to make up for to get their album out.

Their managers told them they would be back in the studio the next Monday, and to rest up because they would need to work hard to meet their deadlines. Noah couldn't have felt worse after hearing that, knowing that they were all going to have to suffer through long hours of hard work, all because of him.

When all the guys left, Noah sat Ashton down for a talk. "Anything you want to talk about?" he asked.

"First of all, this isn't something that I want to talk to you about, of all people. Second, don't try to play big brother now, after all the shit you've put Kaylee through lately. You know, I can forgive you for what you did to me and the band, but all the crap that you put on her, that's inexcusable."

"I can speak for myself," Kaylee said, walking into the room after hearing Ashton go off on her brother. "Stay out of our business. Besides, what the hell do you care? Do you think that you haven't hurt me either? You have no room to talk after what you did!"

She thought she was ready for the confrontation, but she wasn't. The emotions were too raw, too big for her to deal with. She turned and ran out of the room, refusing to let him see her cry.

Noah and Ashton shared a look, both realizing what they had put her through. "Sorry man. I guess she's right," Ashton apologized.

"Wow, looks like you really fucked up," Noah said, finally smiling.

"She sure looks at it that way, but I don't," he said, getting out of his chair. He sighed, hating how stubborn women could be.

Outside of Kaylee's bedroom door, he put his hand on the door knob, only to find it locked when he tried to turn it. Annoyed, he raised his hand and pounded on the door. "Come on Kaylee. Let me in so we can talk about this."

"Go away! I don't want to talk to you. Go find one of your groupies, I'm sure you miss fucking them," she shouted through her sobs.

"Fuck you!" he responded.

Ashton had started to walk away when the door flew open to show a visibly upset Kaylee. "No, you made it quite clear last night that you wouldn't fuck me," she said.

"Now, you listen. If I was to do anything to you, it wouldn't be fucking. I would be making love to you. You're better than that, to have someone fuck you. If you would just listen to what I have to say before you jump to conclusions, then you'd save us both a lot of time and anger," he shouted.

He started to walk away again, stopped, changed his mind, and then seemed to let frustration get the best of him. "Damn you!" he hollered as he headed down the hallway.

Kaylee was stunned and didn't know how to respond. She walked out of the room, wanting to know what he was going to do. She was too late though; he had already gone outside and gotten in his car. By the time she got outside, he was peeling out of the driveway.

"Ashton, wait!"

But he was gone, leaving only car exhaust behind him. Beaten, she hung her head and went back to her room.

For the rest of the afternoon and into the night, every time the front door opened and closed, Kaylee would jump up, looking to find Ashton. Each time would end in disappointment, and she'd go back to her room.

She began to wonder where he was. Had he gone out drinking? Had he found a few groupies and decided to sleep with them? Would he ever let her make up for pushing him away? Would he ever tell her the things that she had refused to hear, but that she wanted to hear now? She felt unworthy of him, and she was so worried.

Finally, at 2:45 in the morning, she heard the front door slam open and a loud voice call for Noah. She knew it was Ashton, and he was obviously drunk. When she got out to the foyer, she found him on his knees. Noah had just gotten there, and all Ashton could say was, "Taxi, no money." He put his hands in the pockets of his jeans, and turned them inside out to show they were empty.

Noah turned to Kaylee. "I'll take care of the taxi. You get him to his room...or your room...wherever."

Kaylee nodded and went over to Ashton. "Come on, can you stand up?" she asked.

"Kaylee...Kaylee, la-la-la-la Kaylee," he sang and slurred. "Love Kaylee." Ashton wobbled a few times, but eventually stood. Kaylee had never seen him so drunk. This was 'clear out the bar' kind of drunk. He put his arms around her neck to keep from falling, and tried to plant a kiss on her lips.

"I don't think so, playboy," she said sharply, and turned her head. His kiss slobbered on her ear. "Come on, let's get you to bed," she told him and walked him to his room.

He collapsed onto the bed and lay there staring at the ceiling with bloodshot eyes. "Kaylee," he said, and then seemed to fall asleep. Or he had just passed out. She wasn't sure which.

Sighing in resignation, she lay down next to him, thinking it was for the best in case he woke up in the middle of the night and needed something. She cuddled against him.

As his arms automatically circled her body and pulled her tightly against him, she let out the deep breath that she had been holding since the night before, and drifted off into a fitful sleep.

T
he next morning, Ashton awoke and reached over for Kaylee's hand. "I'm sorry," he whispered into her hair. "I'm sorry for leaving when I should have stayed to talk. I'm sorry for drinking so much and staying out late. I'm sorry for whatever I said last night because I'm sure it was something stupid and incoherent. I'm sorry for holding you captive and making you sleep in the same bed with me, especially when I'm sure it was the last place on earth that you wanted to be. And mostly, I'm sorry that I am so bad at relationships and am a horrible boyfriend."

Kaylee was stunned. She never expected to hear all that from him...she suspected he was still a little drunk. "I'm sorry too. And you're not a horrible boyfriend."

She backed away and gave him a small smile, still feeling a bit hurt. "You better get in the shower. You've got a long day at the studio ahead of you."

She kissed his forehead and stepped out of his room, closing the door firmly behind her. He put his head in his hands, knowing it was going to take a lot to make up for all he had done wrong this time.

The next three weeks passed by in a blur. The guys were in the studio from sun up until after sundown, every day, trying to get their album finished by the deadline set by the record company.

Ashton hadn't been able to talk to Kaylee alone since that hungover morning, but he was constantly letting her know that he was thinking of her by sending flowers or leaving little notes for her. She wasn't awake when they left in the morning, and by the time they got home at night, she was already asleep. They saw each other every now and then at the recording studio, but she was only there for business purposes, so they didn't have the time or space to talk about personal matters.

Kaylee felt like things were still unresolved between her and Ashton. They weren't even sleeping in the same room at night, and the distance was really getting to her. She could only hope that once the record was finished, things would get better between them.

The guys finally finished the last track for the record, just hours before the deadline. They had three days off before the big record launch party in New York, which they were immensely grateful for. All of them were exhausted, but they were proud of the finished product. Kaylee's song even made it as one of the tracks, something she wasn't aware of yet.

Ashton caught his second wind as he walked into the house and went in search of Kaylee. Just thinking of spending time with her gave him more energy. He looked in her room, which was empty, then went to the living room and kitchen, not finding her anywhere.

"Dude, where's your sister?" he asked Noah.

"I think she's in New York already. There was some PR stuff she needed to check on," Noah told him absently as he walked into the kitchen looking for something to drink.

"Why didn't she tell me that?" he asked, frustrated. He finally had some time to talk to her and she wasn't even around.

"She did. She told us all at the studio the other day. She stopped there before she went to the airport," he looked at Ashton like he was an idiot.

"Oh. I must have been out of the room," he said. "I think I'll give her a call." He picked up his cell phone and dialed her cell, then listened to ring after ring. Just as he was about to hang up, Kaylee answered.

Ashton smiled. "Hey, I didn't think you were going to answer."

"Hey!" she said excitedly. "It's so good to hear your voice. Are you guys done?"

"Yeah, we just finished up about an hour ago. We have the songs all lined up and edited. Everything is done now, thankfully."

"You sound exhausted," she sympathized..

"I am," he admitted. "I didn't realize you weren't going to be here. I was hoping to spend some time with you."

"I know. I'm sorry, but I had to tie up some loose ends before you guys got here."

Ashton yawned. "Why don't I fly there early to spend some time with you?"

"I'd love that. But all I'm doing is working, and all you're going to want to do for the next few days is sleep. I'll see you when you guys get here. It's only a couple more days," she told him, feeling bad that she was turning him down. Plus she figured that he was so tired he'd be in a horrible mood the whole time. If he stayed home and rested, he'd be a lot more pleasant to be around when he did get out there.

He yawned again. "I see how it is, you don't want to cut your alone time short with your new boyfriend, right?" he asked, trying to put a teasing tone in his voice. "All right Kaylee, I'm going to go before I fall asleep on the phone. I'll see you in a couple of days. You're going to be my date for the launch, right?"

"I'd be honored," she laughed. "Get some sleep...you're going to need it!"

"I love you," he told her.

He could hear her smile through the phone line. "I love you too. Good night."