Veronica
***

Veronica giggled lightly, the amount of alcohol she had drank getting to her a bit. She wasn't drunk. Not even tipsy. Just giddy.

She leaned into Ashton's shoulder today. In s completely friendly manor. Luke was trying to get rid of Quinn and Veronica just took her chances with the drummer. They had been joking around all night and Veronica had to admit that she didn't hate him as much as before.

They were joking about the few other bands that were there, making fun of the worst stages the band could of had. A lot of bands that were in the Los Angeles area were having a giant party to celebrate the release of the new Pierce The Veil album. Anyone that had contributed was invited. Luke had taken Quinn but made sure that she'd leave within enough time for him to go to Veronica.

Veronica had shown up with Michael for that reason, knowing that Michael would just leave her and find another girl to hang out -hook up- with.

"All Time Low was definitely the worst. They were all scrawny and had the worst haircuts. Jack slept with everything that breathes and Alex cheated on his girlfriend numerous times," Ashton admitted.

Okay, so maybe Ashton was a lot more drunk than Veronica and she was using it to her advantage.

"Don't even get me started on his thing with Taylor Jardine. He used her as a rebound and dumped her quickly after he slept with her. He just used her on Warped and made it a game with the others," Ashton added.

Veronica was a bit surprised on how much Ashton was saying but she would definitely hold it into account later.

"And then Zack is so fucking dumb. He talks so slowly and I feel like I lose a few brain cells whenever I talk to him," Ashton continued.

Veronica hadn't even been able to get one word in but Ashton kept going. She was kind of surprised. She didn't expect Ashton to be the one to throw the most shade, especially tell his friend's secrets. He always seemed like the happiest and the most bubbliest, the trustworthy one. The dad of the group honestly.

Ashton kept drinking and it seemed like more idiotic things left his mouth about All Time Low. She thought the band considered the other band as their older brothers but this proved differently.

Veronica listened to him go on and on about his friends and sometimes she would chip in but one comment had her freeze.

"Alex and Jack only became more famous because they were seen writing with us. They leech off of us to get more famous."

It hadn't been really the whole comment that had thrown her off, because she had noticed that they did have a few more younger fans once they started hanging out with the band but it was what came after.

His comment hadn't been entirely accurate though. All Time Low had been around for many, many years before 5 Seconds of Summer. Their fan base was older and not all of them had Twitters. Veronica had always been so convinced that All Time Low would have similar numbers if they had started out only a few years prior instead of thirteen years prior.

Still what surprised her was when she heard someone clear their throat behind her. She slowly turned her head and cursed seeing none other than Alex Gaskarth standing behind him, looking very pissed off.

"That's fucking fantastic. It's always great to find one of our best friends talking shit about us," he said sternly.

Veronica glanced over at Ashton and watched as his eyes went wide. He was gaping and didn't really know what to say. He didn't think that someone from the band would hear him.

"What do you have to say for yourself, Ashton? You always do this when you're drunk and I fucking hate it," Alex added.

The older man seemed so disappointed at the boy that was sitting on the couch.

"Do you really think we leech off of you? We don't care about fame as much as you apparently do. We just want to make good music. No need to make it a competition. I'm honestly disgusted that you would say that. Are you even going to try and cover it up?" Alex said. He had a sad look in his eyes and Veronica kind of wanted to hug him but she knew it'd be highly inappropriate.

Veronica felt bad because she had just listened to Ashton ramble on and hadn't tried to stop it. Everything he said just sounded so dumb and it was amusing. She didn't think that it'd actually be heard by a member of All Time Low and that they'd take it to heart.

"I-Uh-Sorry?" Ashton tried to stutter out but all it got was a roll of the eyes from Alex. He hadn't even tried to make the apology sincere and that made it worse.

"I listened to everything you said for ten minutes. You're disgusting, Ashton. I told you some of those things in confidence. We're supposed to be celebrating a really good new album but you just had to bring the attention to yourself. I want you to leave and to take the rest of your band mates. You're acting shitty and I don't want them to be dragged into it either," Alex said finally, before turning away and making his way over to a different side of the party.

Ashton seemed to be a bit more sober now, the weight of Alex's words affecting him. He sighed, standing up and dragging Veronica with him.

"Let's find the boys and let's go," Ashton grumbled.

"But," Veronica started but was cut off quickly.

"Let's go," Ashton's voice was harsh and clipped which scared Veronica. She quickly got up and followed, not wanting to anger the young, male celebrity more.

***

This kind of hurt me to write because I love love love All Time Low and I just shit talked them for half a chapter omf

Anyways, I'll update again soon!

-El