Last night had really shown me just how much I needed Ashton in my life.

He was so sweet throughout the entire night, holding me, kissing me, complimenting me constantly.

Ashton was a touchy person, but last night it was over the top. He was always kissing my neck, cheeks, or lips, hugging me and touching me tenderly.

He told me that I was beautiful, that I was smart, that I was nice, caring, funny, and pretty. He told me he loved me, and that I was everything ito him. He told me he needed me and wanted me more than anything else. He told me I was his and he was mine, and nothing would or could ever change that.

It had been everything I needed and I was so thankful for him.

These last couple of weeks had been emotionally rough on me, and yesterday had just been the tip of the iceberg. I had needed to get all of that out.

But I woke up this morning with a brand new attitude and a fresh outlook, and I was ready to take on whatever life threw my way.

I woke up before Ashton and went to make he and I some coffee before taking him his cup and walking in the bedroom, sitting down on his waist.

His eyes fluttered open when I did this and a sleepy smile came to his face.

"Don't put us in this compromising position if you don't plan on doing something about it." He smirked as he stretched his arms above his head and then put his hands on my waist.

"You have rehearsal this morning." I reminded him.

"Oh yeah." He smiled sleepily and began to massage my waist.

"And I brought you coffee like the good little fiancé I am." I handed him his cup after he sat up.

"Ooo thank you." He smiled and leaned up to give me a kiss.

"I never got to thank you for everything you've done for me these last few days. You've been so sweet and comforting and I really needed that."

"I'm glad you're feeling better. I don't like it when you're not happy."

"Well right now I am more than happy, so thank you."

"Of course baby." He reached up a hand to brush my cheek.

I finally got off his waist and let him get up so he could start getting ready while I carried a snoozing Gracie around the hotel room.

She was sleepy this morning and didn't wake up until Becca arrived.

At that point she wanted to cuddle and pulled my shirt down in front of Becca, causing her to sit in timeout for ten minutes.

"I'm going to find a good child psychologist and make her an appointment for when we get to London." I told Ashton.

"Okay. They had child psychology at that place where I took the parenting classes."

"I'll check it out." I gave him a smile and then went to get dressed and ready.

"Car, I need you to take me to my test today." Ender walked out of the bedroom after getting dressed.

"What time?" I asked.

"It's at 11:30." He said.

"Ender I made a hair appointment for that time, why didn't you tell me this yesterday?" I folded my arms across my stomach.

"I forgot. Can Ashton take me?"

"I've got rehearsal this morning bud, I won't get back till then." Ashton shook his head.

"Ender." I sighed loudly.

"Where's his test at, maybe I can take him?" Becca piped up.

"At some school, I have the address." Ender found his folder and showed it to Becca.

"Yeah I can take you." She smiled.

"God you're a lifesaver!" I relaxed.

"I go too?" Gracie asked her.

"Sure! There's a park next to the school where we can play while Ender takes his test." She looked up at me for approval.

"You don't have to watch her."

"Oh it's no problem!" She smiled, and I agreed to let her go.

Ashton finished getting ready and then came to say goodbye.

"Hey, when you get back we can go out for lunch." He said and I nodded happily before giving him a kiss. "I love you."

"Love you too."

He hugged and kissed Gracie and Ender goodbye and then kissed me again before he left.

I helped quiz Ender on his science questions before it was time for me to leave and I said my goodbyes before having the driver take me to the hair salon.

When I got in the car I noticed Brad sitting in the front seat and told him hello.

"Ashton called and said he wanted someone to watch after you today. Hope you don't mind me tagging along." He chuckled.

"Oh not at all. I just hope you don't mind going to a hair salon."

"Not at all." He smiled.

I got to the salon and had the lady just give me a quick trim before I decided to go to a coffee shop down the block.

Brad sat at a table across from me while I pulled out Ashton's laptop and began to check the shops email, responding to a couple of bookings.

As I sat at the table I noticed what seemed to be several fans looking in the window at me and soon a few men showed up with cameras.

As the time progressed more seemed to arrive.

I finished working and put the computer away, getting up to get another drink.

"There's a lot of paparazzi out there." I commented to Brad.

"Well you're a pretty popular young lady." He shrugged.

Brad continued to stand behind me in the coffee shop while I waited for my cinnamon latte.

I could see the paparazzi increasing outside the windows and wondered why there were so many today.

Yes Ashton and I had dealt with paparazzi before but never this many, and I had never dealt with this many by myself.

Once I received my drink I took the headphones from my backpack and plugged them into my phone and then into my ears.

I started the music and turned it up loudly to block out anything and calm me down since Ashton wasn't here with me.

Brad nodded at me and opened the door before we stepped out into the storm. The flashes were bright but their words were muffled as I turned up the volume even more. He opened the car door for me and helped me in and I let out a breath as the door closed to the SUV and waited until we were down the block to take out my earbuds.

Literally the second I took them out my phone began to ring and I looked to see it was Ann.

"Hello?" I answered.

"Carter. Honey are you and Ashton okay?" She asked me in a very careful and concerned voice.

"Yes?" I furrowed my eyebrows. "Why, is something wrong?"

"There's reports all over the news and internet that you two broke up." She explained.

"What?" I almost yelled.

That explained the mass of paparazzi.

"No, no we are definitely still together." I assured her.

"Okay, I had a feeling they weren't right but I wanted to make sure. God if that was true it would break my heart."

"Ashton and I are perfectly fine, that I can promise you."

"Good. I won't respond to all of these reporters until you two figure out what's going on."

"Okay. Thank you for calling me."

"Of course. Will you both call me tonight?"

"Absolutely."

"Alright. Talk to you later dear, I love you." She said with a smile. It made me so happy when she told me she loved me.

"I love you too, Ann." I replied happily and then hung up.

By the time my call had ended we were at the hotel.

I was led through the back and headed up to the room, walking through the door where Ashton was playing video games with Michael.

"So apparently we've broken up." I said as I dropped my bag on the table.

"What?" Ashton looked up at me confused.

"Your mom just called me asking me if I was okay. There's apparently reports that we've broken up all over the place." I folded my arms across my stomach.

His eyes went from confused to surprised and he paused the game, snatching his phone from the sofa behind him.

"Holy shit." His eyes widened as he unlocked his phone to see a hoard of messages. Instead of reading them he went straight to Twitter, and an article with our picture on the front with an edit that made it look torn in half was the top post.

ASHTON IRWIN AND CARTER CHASE END ENGAGEMENT AFTER ONE MONTH

The headline was large and my stomach tossed at the lies we were about to read.

After five months of dating and one month of engagement, Ashton Irwin and Carter Chase have ended their relationship.

Sources say it happened in the last two days after they had been fighting for awhile and finally called it quits. Despite their happy appearances in public, tensions were apparently high between the two.

A source says "Carter and Ashton had been struggling for awhile. They realised they took everything too fast and tried to make it work for their kids, but ultimately decided to end things."

After all of the pictures and videos the couple have shared of their romance it's hard to believe that they are over.

"They are both pretty heartbroken about it but know it's for the best. Carter is going back home to their house and moving Ashton out while he's on tour. They just broke the news to the kids and are staying as a united front right now in trying to console them." The source also says.

And Ashton's cryptic tweet last night that said 'No one knows why bad things happen, but all you can do is know that one day it will get better' has only added fuel to the rumours.

Neither Carter nor Ashton has said anything directly about it and confirmation from their reps have gone unanswered.

We wish them both the best.

"What the hell?!" I practically screeched. "Who is this source?! That's a lie!"

"I don't know." Ashton rubbed a hand across his face. "Sometimes I really freaking hate this industry."

He reached over to take my hand and squeezed it tightly.

"Don't worry. We will get this all cleared up. I'll call Adam right now." He sighed.

I nodded solemnly and he hurried to pull me into his embrace.

"Hey, we've got this under control, don't freak out." His hands went to each side of my face and I nodded again. "You know we are perfectly fine. We're happy, we're in love, we're engaged, we're getting married; none of that will ever change baby. I promise you."

"Yeah. I'm just really upset about this." I sniffled.

"I know. We're going to get to the bottom of this okay?"

"Okay." I looked up at him and he gave me a smile.

"I love you."

"I love you too." I smiled back and he leaned down to take me into an extremely passionate and long kiss.

He pressed a few more chaste kisses to my lips before letting me go and grabbing his phone, immediately calling his manager.

I listened intently to the conversation.

"So basically we are going to let this calm down for a day and then release all of the statements tomorrow that we are still together." Ashton said once he hung up.

"Why can't we do it now?" I asked.

"Adam said the phones are ringing off the hook and there's just not enough man power with everything being this crazy. He wants to give it a few hours to die down."

I nodded, not entirely happy with that choice.

Suddenly our hotel room door was flung open and Ender marched in, Becca holding Gracie behind him.

"You broke up?!" He yelled at us, hurt in his eyes.

"No Ender, we didn't break up." I rushed forward, taking him into a hug where he immediately broke down.

"Shh, hey, hey, everything's okay, Ash and I are fine." My hand brushed over his hair trying to soothe him.

Ashton jogged towards us and put his arms around the both of us.

"Hey, Ender we're fine okay? We didn't break up." He told the hysterical child.

Ender continued to sob and I knew he was super emotional right now. Lately, whenever something happened that was the slightest bit distressing, Ender broke down.

"Come here, bud." Ashton lifted Ender up, Ender's arms going around his neck as he cried and Ashton had his arms around Ender's back. He carried him over to the sofa and I followed them, Ashton sitting down and pulling Ender into his lap while I sat next to them.

"Ender, Car and I are still engaged. We didn't fight, we didn't break up, everything is perfect between us alright? I'm still going to marry your sister, nothing has changed." Ashton rubbed Ender's back while he rested his head on his.

"Then why did they say that?" Ender cried.

"Who said what to you?" I asked him as he pulled his face back, giving me the space to start wiping away his tears.

"The paparazzi were outside the testing centre when we left and started yelling that you had broken up." He sniffled. His cheeks were pink and wet and he looked absolutely devastated.

"We just found out about the rumours. Don't worry baby we're handling it okay? None of its true and we're going to clear things up as soon as possible." I assured him.

"I don't ever want you to leave." Ender clutched onto Ashton again who hugged him tightly.

"I'm not going to leave End. I love you and your sister and Gracie way too much to ever leave. Your my family bud, I can't even think about leaving you guys. I'll always be here." Ashton told him, holding the back of his head so Ender's head was tucked under his chin.

"Everyone always leaves." Ender let out another sob and I felt my heart break at his words.

"Not me. I'm always going to be here, no matter what."

"You're the only dad I have left." Ender said next and I saw Ashton's eyes flash to mine, heartbroken.

I reached over to caress Ender behind his ear, something that used to calm him when he was little and it apparently still worked because he began to settle down.

Ashton pressed a kiss to Ender's hair before Ender leaned back.

"So you're still engaged?" He asked us.

"Yes baby we are still engaged." I smiled at him, touching his cheek.

"You didn't fight?" He sniffled again.

"No we didn't fight. Everything is absolutely perfect okay, that won't change." Ashton patted his back.

"Then why were you crying yesterday?" He asked me.

"Just something someone said about me online, but it's nothing, it doesn't matter anymore." I assured him.

"We love you so much End. I'm sorry you had to hear that lie." I frowned as I spoke.

"It's okay. I'm just happy you didn't break up." He gave us a little smile.

"We're not ever breaking up okay. Carter and I love each other very much." Ashton smiled at him.

Ender leaned forward, resting his head on Ashton's shoulder and I leaned more on Ashton's arm to be closer.

"It's all good baby, it's all good." I rubbed my hand up and down his back while Ashton and I held him.

Glancing up I saw Michael, Calum, Luke, and Becca all watching us with somber faces and I could even detect some tears in their (mostly Becca's) eyes.

I felt Ashton press a kiss to the top of my head and I leaned into him more. We held Ender for a long time, consoling him and loving on him.

"You gonna be okay End?" I asked him softly.

"Yeah." He peeked up at me.

I nodded and Ashton patted Ender's back before we sat up.

"I'm going to call management, I'm not waiting any longer." Ashton said and I nodded in agreement.

"Why don't you go change and pick out a video game to kick my butt at while Ash makes his call." I suggested to Ender.

"Okay." He smiled and I kissed his cheek before he ran off to the bedroom.

Ashton immediately reached for his phone but I placed a hand on his to stop him.

"Hey, take a deep breath before you call. We're a little worked up." I said quietly.

"Yeah." He sighed and took a few breaths before calling Adam.

"Ashton just give it till the morning." Adam pleaded.

"My son just walked in here sobbing because the paparazzi screamed in his face that his sister and I had broken up. I'm not waiting any longer this is ridiculous."

"Alright then. We'll go ahead and release our statement." Adam gave in.

"Thank you." Ashton sighed. "And we'll make our own statement as well."

Once he had hung up the phone I smiled.

"See it's all going to be over soon." I rubbed my hand up and down his chest.

"Yeah. I just wish it wouldn't have happened at all."

"Well, there's nothing we can do about that, but we can go play video games and make Ender feel better." I suggested and he smiled.

"I like that." He leaned down for a kiss and we stood up, heading to the bedroom where Ender was already setting up a game.

We went to sit down when our phones went off and we looked to see the statement.

'Ashton Irwin and Carter Chase have not ended their engagement despite reports. The rumours are false, hurtful, and the so called "source" is not credible. Ashton and Carter are still happily engaged.'

I mentally thanked Adam and the bands PR team.

We played a couple of rounds of Mario Kart before Adam gave us the all clear to release our own statement, so Ashton and I took to Twitter.

'Carter and I are completely disgusted by the fact that someone would spread such horrible and hurtful lies about our relationship. We are still very much in love and happily engaged and will continue to be together for the rest of our lives.'

"That's good." I said as I double checked it and he sent it out.

That night after a family phone call with Ann, I took a bath with Gracie to settle a sudden tearful outburst over "Mommy cuddles" and then got her into bed and to sleep.

Ender stayed in the living room watching a movie while Ashton and I headed to bed and I curled up closely to Ashton as he wrapped his arms tightly around me.

"Ender broke my heart today." He sighed as we nestled into each other.

"He broke mine too." I said as Ashton began to rub my arm. "He really looks up to you."

"He said I was the only dad he had left...how could he think I would ever leave?"

"Ashton, not only did Ender grow up without a dad, but you did too...I think that's something for you to bond with him over."

"Gracie didn't have a dad either." He thought aloud and I shook my head.

"But she does now. She has you Ashton, and you're an amazing father."

"I just never knew Ender thought of me like that."

"Well I mean, you're like his best friend. You talk to him, listen to him, take care of him when he's sick, drive him to school and footie practice, cheer him on at his games, help him with homework and practice drills with him. You do the things with him that a father would do. He's right Ashton, you are the closest thing to a dad he has left."

Ashton nodded.

"I didn't grow up with a dad, and I don't want him and Gracie to go through the same thing. I want to be that father for them. I want to be their dad."

"And you are Ashton. Gracie has your name as her father on her birth certificate, you're signed on as Ender's other guardian; not only legally are they yours but emotionally they are too."

"It just hurts me that he would even think I could ever leave you guys." He sighed.

"He knows you're not going to leave. Ender was just really emotional and scared." I explained to him and then let out a thought hat had been pestering me for quite a while but I had never brought up. "I think he needs to go see the therapist again. He's just been really emotional lately and I'm getting a bit worried."

"I've noticed. Why do you think that is?"

"I don't know. It just seems like when something happens that's even the slightest bit distressing he loses it and completely breaks down."

"Maybe I can talk to him before we take him to the therapist. See if there's something we can do at home to make it better."

"Okay." I nodded against his chest. "You know...one day when you and I decide to have kids of our own, I hope you know that they are going to have the most amazing father with you."

"You really think so?"

"Ashton I know so."

He squeezed me to him and I let out a little laugh.

The sound of the bedroom door opening had us looking up to see none other than Ender walking into the room.

"Hey bub." I smiled.

"Can I sleep in your bed tonight?" He asked us.

"Yeah, of course."

He closed the door behind him and crawled up onto our bed. Ashton and I untangled ourselves to make room for him.

He came up to lay between us and we wrapped our arms around him to give him comfort.

"What were you guys doing?" Ender asked us.

"We were just talking." I smiled.

"About what?"

"About you." I leaned in to kiss his cheek.

"What about me?"

I glanced up to Ashton who gave me a nod and I gave him one back.

"We've just been a little worried about you lately. I know today was a bad day, but recently there's been a few incidents where you've kinda broke down, and we just want to make sure everything's okay, or if there's anything we can do for you?" Ashton spoke carefully.

Ender looked confused.

"Do you know what we're talking about?" I asked him and he shook his head no. "Okay, here's an example. The other day when that girl said those mean things about me and you freaked out; it was like you went into a sudden melt down."

He frowned.

"Or when we were at the airport and you saw the plane." Ashton said.

"And when we were on the cruise ship." I said; Ender seemed to understand what I meant. "We just want to know if there is something we can do for you to help you, because you seem a bit emotionally fragile right now and we want to be there for you."

"It's just that everything's been changing lately and I didn't know it was going to." Ender bashfully admitted.

"I know, and it sucks, but it's also a good thing. Ender, not a lot of kids your age get to experience the things you do. You're about to see so many different places and cultures while learning more than you know. This is a great opportunity for you to grow."

"I just miss home." He looked up at me with sorrowful eyes.

"I know you do babe, but I want you to know that if you're feeling down or are upset then you can come to us."

"We are here for you, okay? We may seem busy or distracted but you and Gracie come first and we will drop everything for you guys, alright?" Ashton added.

"Okay." Ender smiled up at us and I patted his cheek.

"Let's go to sleep, come on." I said.

Everyone got adjusted under the blankets, Ender still between us with Ashton's arm draped over us.

I leaned in to kiss Ender's head and told him goodnight before Ashton did the same.

"Why do you kiss me too?" Ender asked Ashton and Ashton let out a chuckle.

"Because I never had a dad to kiss me goodnight or hug me when I got home or tell me that he loved me, and I won't ever not do that to my son." He replied and I felt my heart melt at his words.

"Thanks Ashton." Ender smiled before closing his eyes.

"Thank you." I mouthed to Ashton who leaned across to sweetly kiss me goodnight before we fell asleep, ready for our last day in LA tomorrow.

--

Yay more drama!

And prepare for more in the next chapter!

Comment and vote if you'd like and I'll have the next part up soon!

Much love xx -M