Michael's POV

Winter to group chat w/o Ash:

Get Luke and Calum and meet me in my room.

Calum to group chat w/o Ash:

What about Nicole?

Luke to group chat w/o Ash:

She is asleep

Me to group chat w/o Ash:

YOU SAID THAT LAST TIME

Winter to group chat w/o Ash:

Come here assholes.

Ashton's POV

"We will be back." Michael smiled my way as he stood. Calum then stood up too.

"Where are you guys going?" I asked surprised.

"Well-"Calum started. "We are going downstairs to pick up hot chicks." Michael interrupted.

"Yeah mate, nothing you would enjoy." Calum stood up tall, seemingly proud of himself.

"You have Winter and Luke has Nicole. Calum and I are lonely." Michael pouted sarcastically.

"Wait, who said I had Winter?" I asked as they left the room.

Since everyone was gone and tomorrow we were all meeting Winter's friends, I decided to just try and sleep now.

---

Michael's POV

I knocked on Winter's door just as Luke was leaving his room.

"Come in." Winter said when she opened the door.

All of us piled into her and Calum's room and waited for her to speak.

"What's up cupcake?" Calum teased Winter.

She stared down at her hands as she sat on her bed. She seemed too serious and the whole mood of the room changed.

"What's wrong?" Luke asked softly taking her hands.

"Is something wrong back home?" Calum added.

"Or did someone say something to you? You know I'll fuck 'em up." I said.

"No." She laughed. "I just think it's time we have that talk." Winter said as she grabbed Luke's hand and smiled at him.

"Okay." I smiled taking a seat beside her.

Luke sat at her other sides and Calum sat on the floor in front of her.

"What do you guys want to know?" She sighed.

---

Nicole's POV

A few minutes after Luke left the room, I quickly sat up and stopped pretending to be asleep. I slowly opened the door and looked out into the hallway.

I saw no one and quickly ran over to John's room. As I heavily knocked on the door, John opened the door in shock.

"What's wrong girl?" He asked concerned.

I walked past him and sat on his desk chair. "Can we speak?" I asked.

"So many people want to speak to me today." He laughed taking a seat at his bed.

"How long did you know that Ashton lost his memory?" I snapped.

Everyone seemed to know but me, even that new girl. Something was strange about her and how she came into our lives like nothing.

"So the boys told you?" John sighed. "I've known since it happened."

"They didn't want to tell me. I over heard them talking about it with Winter." I snapped. "How come no one told me?"

---

Michael's POV

"How long have you known Ashton?" Calum was the first to think of a reasonable question after a long while of silence.

"I've known him for as long as I can remember. After my family and I moved back to Australia, Ashton and I became friends. I must have been small, maybe 6 and he was 8. None of the other neighborhood kids wanted to play with us, so naturally we became good friends." She smiled.

"Did you guys ever-" I started. "Date?" She laughed.

"No, we never dated. But Ashton and I watched each other's back when it came to people we liked."

"I'm sorry but I have to ask," Luke sighed and we knew what he was going to say, "What's up with your family? They are quiet odd."

---

Nicole's POV

"For the obvious reason I just explained, you can't tell Ashton." John finished his explained and yet I wasn't convinced.

"Okay, thanks John. Goodnight." I smiled before leaving his room.

I stood there in the hallway for a little while. Ashton deserved to know what happened to him. He couldn't live in the dark. If he found out I knew, he would hate me just like everyone else.
Plus, Luke would never leave me. I know he said he would leave me if I told Ashton but, he would never.

I walked up to Ashton's door and knocked.

---

Michael's POV

"Did you hear that?" Calum said. We all heard the knocking noise in the hallway.

"It was probably room service." Luke shrugged.

"Anyway, my family is quiet odd, but it wasn't always that way. When I was growing up, we had a strong family. My mom and dad were the ideal couple and my brother was one of my best friends. Ashton really got along with my family too." Winter small smiled.

"Then what happened?" Luke asked still holding her hand for support.

"We don't want to be rude or anything like that-" Calum started. "-your brothers were cool but when your mum and dad came-" I added.

"Shit got tense." Winter sighed. "Yeah, I don't know what happened either. The whole time my mom was pregnant with Matthew and even after he was born, everything was normal. But my whole family structure went to shit when Matthew turned 1."

---

Nicole's POV

A sleepy Ashton opened the door, rubbing his eye as if he had just woken up. "What's wrong Nicole?" He yawned.

I walked past him inside the room before he got a chance to turn me away. I knew telling Ashton wouldn't exactly lift up my place in this group but it's fucked up lying to him.

"I need to tell you something." I started as I gestured for him to sit next to me on the bed.

---

Michael's POV

"After Matthew turned 1 and thinking about it now, a little bit before then, my mom got really depressed." Winter said with a confused look on her face.

Calum reached out for her other hand and smiled up at her. "Why was she depressed?" I asked.

Luke and Calum shot me death glares due to my question. But if this whole situation was hurting Winter, I think we need to know. She's more than just Ashton's old friend, now she is our friend too and we want to take care of her.

"Miles and I have yet to figure it out." She shrugged. "She started drinking and we all tried to help her. My dad eventually gave up and said he hasnt left her because of Matthew. She was different in every way, even with Ashton."

---

Ashton's POV

"What is it? Cant it wait till tomorrow?" I asked taking a seat next to her.

"It really cant. I think its waited long enough." She sighed.

"Well then, I'm all ears." I smiled.

She must want to talk about Luke and their relationship. Nicole deserves someone that can listen to her rants other than Luke. Especially now that we our on tour and the only people available to her is us. For that, I would listen to her.

---

Michael's POV

"What happened with Ashton?" I asked.

"My mom and Ashton had a strong relationship, but in the end they hated each other. My mom told me I wasn't allowed to see Ashton anymore, so we constantly had to sneak around to see each other. Then Ashton was always mentioning that he needed to talk to me about something, but since we were sneaking around we never had enough time for him to tell me." She sighed

"That's strange." Luke said. "Maybe no one wanted Matthew to grow up." Calum smiled trying to make a joke.

Winter laughed and then I remembered something she said to me the first day we met.

"So why me? Obviously Ashton didn't tell you guys about me" She sighed.

"That is the truly interesting thing." I smirked. "Ashton never spoke to us about you in the whole time we knew him."

"No." She laughed, "He wouldn't have." She sighed

"When I told you that Ashton never spoke to us about you, you told me 'he wouldn't have.' What did you mean by that?" I asked.

"Well, we moved away from Australia 3 years ago and I thought Ashton never forgave me for leaving. So when you told me he never spoke about me, I knew it was true." She sighed.

---

Ashton's POV

Nicole stayed quiet for a long time. It was as if she was having a debate in her head. "You know if this is about Luke-" I started.

"No, its not about Luke. Its about you." She finally spoke.

"'Me?" I laughed. What could she have to say about me that was so important.

"The others, they've been keeping a secret from you. I just found out about it and I need to tell you." She starred at me seriously.

"What is it?" I asked.

---

Michael's POV

"... and that is why we don't speak of Ashton's family." Calum finished the joint explanation.

"That's pretty fucked up and I would have been just as angry." Winter small smiled.

"Well it's getting late, we should head to bed." I smiled standing up.

"Yes, leave my roommate and I alone." Calum teased jumping onto his bed.

Luke got up and left the room first while I stuck around for a bit.

"Thanks for sharing Winter. I cant wait to meet those friends of yours tomorrow." I teased.

"You'll love them because they are nothing like Nicole." Winter laughed.

"Score!" Calum shouted.

I heard footsteps in the hallway then Luke came rushing in. "NICOLE IS GONE!" He shouted.

We all rushed out of the room and then I remembered Ashton was alone.

I went to open the door but forgot my damn key in the room.

---

Ashton's POV

"ASHTON OPEN THE DOOR!" Michael shouted pounding on the door. I glanced over to his bed and saw the key laying there.

I got up to grab it and Nicole stopped me.

"Ashton, just wait." Nicole sighed.

"ASHTON!" Luke, Calum and Winter's voices said on the other side of the door.

"Everyone will hate me more for telling you but you need to know." Nicole small smiled.

"OPEN THE FUCKING DOOR!" Michael yelled.

"NICOLE DON'T YOU DARE!" Calum shouted.

Nicole glanced from the door to me and then let out a deep sigh. "Ashton a year ago you got into an accident and lost your memory."