Chapter 6

Ash woke up with his head pulsing. He groaned and opened his eyes. Everything was too bright. He looked around and saw a room that wasn't his. He looked down and saw he was mostly naked. Well fuck. Possibly literally. The door opened and it squeaked so loud.

"Morning, Sunshine" Jaryd walked in with a bottle of pills in one hand and a glass of water in the other.

"Good god, please lower your voice" Ash whispered.

" Aspirin? " Rain asked

"Please!" Ash begged and grabbed the pills.

"I also got you sunglasses " Jaryd said as he pulled it out of his pocket.

"Thank fuck" Ash moaned. "You're an angel"

"How's your memory?" Jaryd said with a smirk.

It all came back to Ash. The drinking, the singing and all the embarrassing shit he did after that. "I'll never drink with you guys again" he said.

"Why not? Drunk Ash is fun" Jaryd pointed out. " He sings like he owns the world".

Ash went red. "So you only like me for my voice?"

"Among other things" Jaryd got up. "There's an extra toothbrush in the sink. Breakfast is ready downstairs".

Ash walked to the bathroom and saw himself in the mirror. He looked like shit. He washed his face and brushed his teeth. He looked around and found a bath robe and a comb so he tried to salvage his hair and put the robe on and walked downstairs. The others were sitting at the kitchen table, eating. Jason had sunglasses on too but Zain was relatively fine.

"Mornin' " he mumbled.

"If it ain't the lead singer himself" Jason beamed.

" The life of the party" Zain added.

"Guys chill he's had a rough morning" said Jaryd.

"Was i that good?" Ash said as he sat at the table. "

"You kidding? I put the video on YouTube and people love it" Jason pointed at his phone and showed him the views and the likes.

"For fucks sake you put me on YouTube?!" Ash looked horrified.

"Relax" Zain interjected. " It'll get you followers on insta and possible customers for your shop".

I also tagged you and Dan on insta so expect a rise in your followers too" Jason chimed.

"Is this what it's always like? " Ash asked Jaryd.

" More or less. It's a makeshift cover band, Ash. It's not like you're devoting your life to music" Jaryd said seriously.

Ash hummed in approval. He checked out his phone and there were lots of notifications on insta.

"You're staying right?" Zain asked.

"Why?" Asked Ash.

" To hang out, play video games" Answered Jason

"I haven't played in ages" Ash said shyly.

"Come on! You look like a proper nerd. I'm sure you can play just fine" Jason teased.

"Alright" Ash reluctantly accepted. " No Wii sports though" Jaryd snorted .

"Deal" said Jason. After 3 hours of relentless gaming Jaryd got up and disappeared in the basement.

Then he came back with Ash's last night clothes clean.

"Jaryd, your boyfriend is getting his ass kicked" Jason gloated.

"Back off" Jaryd snatched the controller from Jason." Only I am allowed to touch that ass".

Ash laughed. "Are you now?" He challenged.

"I'm not?" Jaryd asked as he tried to beat Ash in the game.

"Well you didn't seem to want any last night" Ash retorted".

"You were wasted" Jaryd shot back.

"Boom" Ash cheered as he won the game. "Now your ass is mine" he said with a smirk.

" I think you're still drunk" Jaryd laughed .

Ash went silent for a bit. " Maybe i am" he said .

The other three laughed at him and eventually he laughed with them. They ordered pizzas for lunch and it was all in all a good time. It was the evening when Ash decided that his social battery died and he needs some time alone. Jaryd drove him back to his his place.

"I had a good time" Ash told him as they stopped in front of his building.

"Me too" Jaryd agreed.

"People seem to call me your boyfriend alot lately" Ash said matter-of-factly.

" How do you feel about that? ".

"Warm and fuzzy inside" Ash answered.

"So it's official?" Jaryd grinned.

"Yes" said Ash as he closed the distance between them. Again with a soft slow kiss. Jaryd kissed back eagerly. Ash broke their lips but Jaryd followed hungrily. Ash laughed. "I'll see around" he said as he left the truck.

" Text me!" Jaryd called .

Ash raised his thumb and walked inside the building.

In his room, he pulled out his laptop and looked the video up . He put on his headphones and watched the video. He then looked through the videos of the channel. Most of their vids were instrumentals. With random people appearing to sing here and there. It felt weird. Like they've been looking for a lead singer and none of those randos clicked with them. Ash decided he shouldn't assume though. He looked around for drum covers and he found plenty. It was very stimulating hearing the rhythms of Jaryd's drums. Later he closed YouTube and binged Netflix til he felt his brain finally started rotting and the thoughts finally stopped. So he opened ao3 and started reading to his heart's content.