CHAPTER NINE

My eyes widen to saucers and I'm pretty sure my jaw is on the floor. To say I'm shocked and confused is a fucking understatement. I'm flabbergasted, astounded... appalled.

"G-girlfriend?" I stutter, still trying to believe what I just heard him say.

"Yes," Daniel leans back into the sofa, "Fake girlfriend actually. It'll only be for a year. That way, the fans will be convinced that he's changed and has stopped fucking around".

Is this some kind of sick joke. They only brought me here so I'd act for them, not because I won the contest. I quickly correct my face, changing it from the previously shocked expression, to a more serious one.

"No," my tone is firm and final. It's that simple. To think I actually believed the whole contest set up. I, being the winner of the contest, was all too good to be true. I stand up and straighten the non-existent wrinkles on my skirt.

Walking towards the door, someone grabs my wrist. I turn around to see Skylar glaring at me.

"Don't be a baby about this," he hisses, dropping my hand harshly.

"Baby?!" I yell in frustration, "I'm getting whisked into a contract relationship I didn't know about until now!"

"Stop it!" hell yells back, "I told you before and I'll tell you again. CUT THE ACT. Stop deceiving people and pretending to be so innocent. You knew what you were getting into when you agreed to enter the contest, so deal with it!"

The nerve of this guy.

What is he even talking about? Act? What act?

"I have no clue on what you're yapping about but I'm not doing this," I say, fuming.

He rubs his temple in frustration. He has no right to do that, he knew all along. I'm the one who should be frustrated. He looks down at me with a very dirty look, "Do you think I want this? I have to spend a whole year acting like I'm madly in love with you, when I can't even stand being around you for five minutes!"

"Well then, why don't you find one of your plastic boobed bimbos to do this for you because guess what fucker, I'm out," I give him the middle finger and turn around, still holding it up for him to see, "To hell with your fucking tour!"

I'm about to walk out the door when someone stops me by grabbing my wrist.

Oh hell no!

Who the hell had the fucking guts to ruin my totally awesome, totally savage dramatic Exit. I turn around, contemplating whether to give the person a resounding slap or my best death glare.

Hmmm. The former sounds nice.

My hands freeze mid-way in the air when my eyes meet with Mason's pleading ones.

"I'm sorry Ashley. When Daniel told us about this plan, we knew that you'd be perfect for the job," he says, "We've known you long before we met you in person, that's why we know you won't take advantage of the position, you're the best option for the job".

"We didn't know how to approach you with the proposal and coincidentally we needed an artiste to open for us, so we thought, why not kill two birds with a stone," I hear Connor say from where he is seated on a sofa at a corner of the lounge.

"We decided to specifically mention 'Female Artiste' on the flyers, in order to have other options, in case you didn't win the contest," Mason explains. I breathe out a sigh and turn to look at Skylar who has his signature scowl etched on his face. I roll my eyes and look away.

Connor gets up from where he's been sitting, walking towards me, "Our opening band bailing on us wasn't planned at all. And you winning the contest also wasn't planned. You won the contest fair and square".

"Please Ashley, if you aren't gonna do it for Skylar, do it for 'FOREVER ALIVE'. Do it for Connor, do it for me," Mason pleads, his voice breaking into a whisper.

Connor places both hands on either sides of my shoulder, "I know this is overwhelming, but please, for the sake of the band. We're ready to hear whatever conditions you have".

I breathe out a huge sigh. I can't say no to Mason and Connor. We've grown pretty close over the past two weeks and they've been so nice to me except for that egotistical ass. They've been through so much and have faced a lot of slander and hate because of Skylar's wayward life.

Sometimes, I wonder how they put up with him.

"Fine," I agree, earning hug attacks from both Mason and Connor. I notice Skylar rolling his eyes. Sigh. Such a lovely jerk.

"Thank you for agreeing to the job Ms Reynolds," I hear Daniel say.

Woah, I totally forgot he was in this room. "Why don't you call me Ashley, since I already call you Daniel," I tell him, while making my way towards the sofa where I previously sat.

Daniel smiles in agreement, "Here are the contract papers you'll need to sign. Feel free to read through it and let me know your thoughts".

I shake my head while signing in the specified columns. I trust Mason and Connor enough to know that they won't let me do anything I'm not capable of doing. After signing, I raise my head to look up at them, "I do have one condition".

"What is it?" Mason, Connor and Daniel ask, almost in unison.

"Well, Mr Dicky Doritos over here has to take a long break from his fuck buddies while we're 'dating'," I put emphasis on the 'dating'.

"You don't get to call me that," Skylar growls. Mason and Connor snicker beside him.

"That's the whole point of fake dating. I believe Skylar has changed, but if he has any fling during the period of your dating, feel free to walk away from the contract," Daniel says as he pushes up his glasses before continuing, "Ashley, we have to keep this fake dating confidential. Do not disclose it to any of your family members or even your friends. I know how hard it must be to do that, but we cannot afford any leakage or else this whole operation is a bust".

"Okay," I nod, "I can work with that".

"You'll start dropping hints of your relationship as from tomorrow. Then, on Saturday—the day of Nick Brandon's beach party—you'll officially announce your relationship to the media".

Nicholas Brandon, THE Nicholas Brandon?!

I start squealing... in my head of course. Nick Brandon is the former lead singer of the band 'DREAM CATCHERS'. The band has broken up now and decided to focus on their normal lives, but Nick still features in some of 'FOREVER ALIVE's' singles.

"Thanks for doing this Ash," Mason says and I turn to look at him and Connor.

"You have no idea how much this means to us," Connor says. I smile at them. I can see the gratitude in their eyes. It makes me so happy.

"Come on guys, let's go to the studio," Skylar calls out, walking towards the direction of the hallway.

Mason and Connor nod while Mason starts following him. Connor turns to me, "Meet us at the studio after you and Daniel go through the dating schedule". I nod and he walks off.

#~#~#~#~

Today was fun.

Okay not so fun with 'he who must not be named' around. He found fault in everything I did and I mean EVERYTHING. It was either that I jumped into the song or I was singing too slowly. I swear that boy's got issues. And I have to put up with him for a whole year?! Pity me people.

I'm about to drive out when someone taps on my window. Ugh... really?

Winding down the windows, I turn to look at him with a really harsh frown etched perfectly on my face, "What do you want?"

Yep, you guessed right. The almighty Skylar Anderson.

"Just want to make this one thing clear," he pauses, "Don't catch feelings for me, don't try to fall in love with me because all this is temporary. I don't want to deal with having to get rid of a love sick puppy because of some dumb contract".

Seriously? Like is this jackass being real right now?

"Do you really think I'd fall at your feet like every other girl," I hiss and with that I drive off.

Who does he think he is?

To think I even agreed to help him. Relax Ash, you're doing this for your favorite band... not him. While driving home, I start planning on how to tell my family that I have a boyfriend.

Yikes, that sounds so weird.

#~#~#~#~

"Hey honey, where've you been," I hear mom say as I close the door behind me.

"I had to g—" I freeze at the sight in front of me.

I know I've got a weird family. And this is not surprising, it's just... new.

My crazy family covered in flour, all frozen in the following way:

Dylan holding Sophie's waist from behind while Sophie's right hand is in the air with a fist full of flour. Jacob's on the floor on his back while Cole is on top of him both hands on either sides of his cheeks. Damon looks like he's about to sneak up on them with a bag of flour in his hands. Dad has pizza dough on his head and mom is frozen behind dad with a bag of flour in her right hand and her left hand with a fist full of flour just above dad's head.

"Did I miss something?" I break the silence, causing everyone to unfreeze.

"Sophie wanted to make us pizza," Jacob starts to explain while pushing Cole off him.

"Then Dylan said he'd help me," Sophie adds.

"I offered to help because you couldn't make pizza," Dylan tells Sophie.

"Shut up Paris prince," Cole chimes in, "I heard Dylan teasing Sophie about being horrible at making pizza".

"Then I got mad and threw the pizza dough towards Dylan," Sophie murmurs childishly.

"Fortunately for me, I ducked. But, unfortunately for someone, the pizza hit him while he was eavesdropping on his kids," Dylan says, turning to dad and giving him an accusing glare. Dad gives him a sheepish grin, looking really sheepish with the pizza dough on his head.

"And?" I urge them to continue.

"That's when I come in and see my husband covered in pizza dough," mom says, turning to dad and removing the pizza dough from his head, "Now tell me, what kind of wife would I have been if I didn't defend my husband by retaliating?"

A normal one!

"So mum picks up a bag of flour and empties it on Sophie's head," Cole says in a dramatic tone, "And that's when it all started... FLOUR FIGHT!"

Oh... the things my family do.

"Interesting," I nod my head, "Well guys, I've got news".

"Really?"

"Wow!"

"What is it?"

"Spill," I hear them say as they all make themselves comfortable on the sofas with their flour stained clothes.

"A guy asked me out," I spill out, with my eyes shut close dreading their reaction. Especially that of my brothers.

As I open my eyes, Sophie and mum squeal in unison and attack me with hugs. Dad and Dylan smile at me. Hmmm, that actually went better than expected, I though—

"Oh Hell No!"

Or not.

I dart my head towards Damon, Jacob and Cole who are—for some unknown reason—glaring at me.

"What do you mean?"

"Just tell him, whoever he is, that you're done!" Cole hisses.

Done? When I've not even started. Come on guys, be reasonable.

"Yeah and you can forget about dating him because that's not happening," Damon adds walking away, probably to the kitchen.

Tears form in my eyes, threatening to spill. Immediately, I dash out of the living room towards the stairs, ignoring mom and dad's calls. This isn't about not being allowed to date Skylar, I'll do it anyway. It's just that, this is the first time my brothers raised their voices at me. I understand they're just trying to look out for me, but this is a bit much. They've always been like this... overprotective. Especially Damon, Jacob and Cole. I don't get why they can't understand that I'm no longer that vulnerable 13 year old. As much as I love them, they always make me feel like I can't make my own decisions.

I enter my room and slam the door. Lunging into my bed, I pick up my giant stuffed Pikachu and cry into it. After a while, I slowly drift into sleep.

Knock, knock, knock.

Ugh, what's that annoying sound?

Knock, knock, knock.

There it is again.

Knock, knock, knock.

It's louder this time. Seriously, all I ask for in this house is a little sleep. One fucking little moment of sleep.

"Can we come in?" I hear Dylan ask from the other side of the door. We?

"In a minute," I mumble, still feeling a bit sleepy. I switch on the lamp on my nightstand and straighten my skirt which rode up. "Come in!"

The door swings open and all my brothers walk in, in their PJs. I subconsciously take a glance at the clock. Then I do a double take.

10:32pm?!

It feels like I just closed my eyes. Also, this scenario is suspicious.

"Mom! The boys finally snapped, tell my boyfriend I love him!" I yell dramatically.

"Mom went out with dad and we have no idea who your boyfriend is," Dylan deadpans, walking over to my vanity and sitting on the stool.

Oh.

"What do you want!" I snap, still feeling quite irritated about what happened this evening.

"Well," Cole starts, "Sophie talked to us and she told us about what you told her and that we weren't being fair to you". Yeah, no shit Sherlock.

"We're sorry if we've made you feel like you're 13 and not 17," Jacobs tone was soft and regretful.

"Yeah Ash, it's... it's just that, you're our only sister and our baby sister at that," Damon comes to me and carefully leads me to sit at the foot of my bed.

"We don't want you getting hurt by guys," Cole says again, "I know what I'm like and I know the guys in your school aren't any different".

Typical Cole. He was the star quarter back in our school when I was still a junior. He was that typical heartbreaker and player every school tends to have. Everyone knew. But, for some reason, girls still flocked around him.

"Sophie actually pleaded with them to come apologize and explain their reasons for being too protective, so you'd understand," Dylan says, getting up from the stool.

"Pleaded?!" Cole gasps.

"More like, smacked our heads together and dragged us here by our ears," Jacob winces, probably remembering the painful moment, "My poor ears".

"Yeah, she pointed her nail file towards us and threatened to file us to bits if we waited till tomorrow morning to apologize to you," Damon says in a terrified tone.

"But that's not the point. Sophie made us realize we were being unfair to you by being overprotective and not letting you date anyone," Jacob plops on my bed right beside me and wraps his right arm around me.

"We don't mind you dating anyone,"

"We're sorry," Cole finally says, sitting by my other side with his left hand wrapped around me.

The slight curl on my lips breaks out into a huge grin. They prepared this whole apology speech... for me? This makes my heart bubble with warmth and love.

Lots of it.

"Thanks guys... I love you so much," I give them each a big wet peck on their cheeks because I love them... also, mostly because they hate it.

They smile at me, each giving me hugs and goodnight kisses. They quietly leave the room, until it's just me and Dylan.

"I know you must be hungry, Angel," Dylan sits beside me, holding a tray I didn't even realize he brought along. I nod my head and he feeds me.

Once he's done feeding me, he gives me a hug and plants a kiss on my forehead before leaving with the tray.

This might sound cheesy, but I don't care. I love my brothers so fucking much. I don't care whether they're my step brothers and we aren't related by blood, but I love them so much. I love my mom. I love Sophie. I love my step dad and no one can ever replace him as my father... not even my real father.

I know what you might be thinking, but my biological father is an ass and he doesn't deserve to be called my father.

He's dead to me.

I hate him. I hate what my biological dad did to HIM. I hate what he did to my mom. I hate what he did to me. I hate that he still gives me nightmares. I hate that I have to take sleeping pills and anxiety pills because of him.

I... I just hate him.

#~#~#~#~

A/N

Hello my day makers,

Any other single pringles like me?

Anyway... How was your day? I really hope you enjoyed the chapter... Thanks for the collections in the previous chapters. They really keep me going.

Ashley and Skylar are now dating. Any ideas why Skylar's being an ass?

And that sibling moment. Wasn't that the cutest? But seriously, if all my brothers troop into my room to apologize for anything, I mean, anything at all... I'll drink water from my fish tank.

Yep... that's how possible the scenario is. Also, who do you think the mystery 'HIM' is?

Who knew before now that they're her step brothers?

Next update: soon

Vote and comment even if you're 10,000 miles away,

Just know you'd make me smile today...

STAY WILD ♡♡♡