~Ava~

“Okay. Okay, cool. Oh, so he finally came clean about the penguin?” I chuckled into the phone as Jay laughed. I continued, “That’s good. I was starting to fear for that boy.”

“Of course you were,” Jay teased, and I just rolled my eyes playfully, “So I’ll meet you at the Plaza at eight tonight?”

“Yup,” Jay answered cheerily, and I sighed. She seemed to sense my slight discomfort, because she clucked her tongue lightly, “We’ll be fine Ava. You’ll be fine. You can do this.”

“You’re right,” I admitted, puffing up my chest in hopes that this small action would bring up my confidence.

Today was the day that the boys would be arriving in L.A. I’d been waiting a week for this, hoping to brace myself and build myself up with each passing day. And for a moment, I’d thought I’d been completely fine. But now that it was actually happening, I was crumbling down into a pile of whimpering shreds, wishing for more time.

“Shit,” Jay muttered on the end of the line, and I heard a small beep, “I’ve got to go, Ava. You’ll be okay, right?” Concern was evident in her voice.

“I’ll be fine,” I assured her, lying through my teeth. We said our goodbyes before I pressed a button on my landline, ending the call and throwing the phone behind me on my bed. I let out a breath and looked back at the laptop that was currently residing in my lap.

They’d all grown up so much. I’d watched every single video, from the very first solo that Luke had posted to their latest music video release. I’d cried watching their interviews and their radio sessions, wishing that I could’ve been there to support them, wishing that I could’ve hugged each of them afterwards, and telling them they’d done an awesome job.

I scrolled down the list of videos before deciding on one and with a swipe of my fingers, the screen lit up brightly. A short while into the video, Luke said something along the lines of, “At first, we were thinking of being called ‘Bromance’.”

I laughed out loud, covering my mouth in awe, surprised that I was able to remember that day with such painfully accurate clarity.

“We are not calling ourselves ‘Rock-Gods’,” Luke said with a sense of finality. Calum flipped him the finger, pouting dramatically because of the rejection of his idea. I laughed, my hands finding my stomach and clutching it, hoping that I wouldn’t choke up and die.

“Why not?” Michael joined in, “It’s alright.”

“I—I,” I was unable to say it, laughing too hard. We were currently seated in Luke’s basement, curled up on the sofas and debating a name for the band that Mikey and Cal had finally decided to join. Luke was beside Calum and I was sitting with Michael.

“Aww, Luke,” Calum said in a pitying voice, “Because of you, she’s dying of laughter.”

“I—I just,” I finally caught my breath, still chuckling lightly, “I agree with Luke. You guys cannot have that name.”

“And this is where I repeat: why not?” Michael asked. I just rolled my eyes and nudged his shoulder, “Because it’s lame, dude!”

Michael just held up his hands, “Don’t look at me! Calum suggested it!”

“Way to throw me under the bus, Michael,” Calum muttered, and I stood up, “Okay, let’s try this again. We need a fucking name, okay? Let’s just brainstorm.”

“I agree with Aves,” Luke said firmly, and I fell back onto the couch and buried my face into the couch cushion in order to avoid the boys seeing my pink cheeks. So maybe I had the smallest crush on my best friend. Maybe I was completely in love with him, and his smile, and his hair and his eyes, and his personality.

Just maybe…

Thankfully, they just seemed to think that I was exasperated and annoyed, because they continued to talk amongst themselves, throwing around names. I heard things like ‘Maluke’, a mix of all their names, ‘The Penguinators’—no doubt Luke’s idea—and finally, Michael suggested something brilliant.

“Yes!” I sat up abruptly and they all looked at me like I was crazy. I pointed theatrically at Michael, “That! Repeat that!”

“‘5 Seconds of Summer’?” Michael looked quizzical, like he didn’t understand why I was getting excited over something like that. I nodded vigorously, “That’s awesome!”

I looked over at Calum and Luke expectantly. Calum’s eyebrows were raised and his bottom lip was poised out—he looked like he was thinking it through.

Luke was smiling warmly at me, nodding in appreciation. I looked into his bright blue eyes for a moment, only to find that they were shining with clarity. The moment seemed to draw out, and we exchanged an understanding look, something so deep that it gave me butterflies in my stomach.

Luke looked away, down at the ground, smiling faintly before his eyes flashed back up to look at me—I hadn’t left the perfect image of his face: the sharp jawline, the muscles that were clenching and releasing a few centimeters below his earlobe. His blonde hair was hanging down, swept to the side, and he had a bit of acne on the apples of his cheeks—but he still managed to make it look so handsome.

Calum cleared his throat, and my eyes snapped to his face. He was smirking, “If you lot are done with your intimate moment—,” he paused for effect, “—we’ve just found the name of our band.”

“It wasn’t an intimate moment,” I scoffed, willing my face not to heat up. I rolled my eyes, trying to act cool, and leaned back on the couch, slouching slightly as to appear unaffected.

“Sure it wasn’t,” Michael let out a breath and leaned down, his head finding a comfortable place in my lap. Michael was practically my brother—with both of us being only children, we quickly grew to like each other, and I’d known him for close to ten years, so when he did that, it never surprised me.

In front of me, Luke scratched the back of his neck. Running my fingers through Michael’s long blonde fringe, I looked up at him, “Alright, Blondie?”

“Yeah, yeah,” he muttered, clearing his throat and looking away, rather focussing his gaze on Calum. Michael shot me a look from my lap, his eyebrows raised, and I returned it with a helpless gaze, just as confused as he was.

I sighed I let my head fall back to the cushion of the couch, closing my eyes.

It seemed like I’d only shut my eyes for two seconds, when suddenly I was being shaken lightly, “Aves? Wake up Aves.”

I opened my eyes groggily, my hand coming up to rub at my face. I forced myself to sit up, only to find that the room was dark. Someone was crouched in front of me, their eyes the same level as mine—I was startled when I found myself looking into a pair of luminescent blue eyes, eyes that shone in the dark.

“Blondie?” I mumbled, falling back onto the couch and trying to shoo him away. But he wouldn’t have it—rather he stood and plopped down onto the couch beside me, his thigh brushing against mine, “Hey,” he whispered, “You fell asleep.”

“No shit,” I grumbled, and he chuckled, “You’re always so cranky when you wake up.”

“Then don’t wake me up,” I complained in a raspy voice, falling down sideways onto the couch and curling up into a ball.

Luke chuckled softly again, and before I knew it, there was a heavy pressure on top of me. I gasped sharply, trying to turn onto my back with difficulty. When I did, I found Luke lying squarely on top of me, his beautiful eyes wide and innocent-looking, but the corners of his pink lips upturned slightly, the only hint that he was enjoying this. I glared up at him, trying to cross my arms but failing tragically.

“And may I ask what you think you’re doing?” I sassed him.

His smirk grew just a bit wider, but so did his eyes, looking harmless. I knew Luke was harmless. But I couldn’t deny that I liked this—a bit more than I was supposed to, more than I should have.

“Waking you up,” he stated simply, shrugging.

I rolled my eyes and looked into his ocean-coloured orbs, suddenly excruciatingly aware of every little thing happening. I could feel the soft breaths he took as they puffed out onto my face, smelling the faint smell of home—Luke always smelled like home.

I could feel every inch of our bodies that were pressed together—our chests, our stomachs, the tops of our thighs. He let out a huff as he places his elbows next to my head and rested his chin in his palms, staring down at me and batting his eyelashes.

I couldn’t help it—I giggled.

“See?” he told me, “You’re not really mad at me, are you?”

I sighed dramatically, “I suppose not. But I’m annoyed.”

“As you always are.”

“Shut up, Lucas.”

Luke laughed, and I couldn’t help but to smile up at him. He looked around the dark basement for a moment before letting out a low whistle, “So…want to cuddle?” Oh my god, he was so cute, I could barely stand it.

I rolled my eyes but smiled again nonetheless, managing to wrestle my arms out from the space they were wedged in, holding them out dramatically, “Come here, you big teddy bear.”

“Thanks, Aves.”

~*~

I nestled a small recording device into my bra before gripping the handle of the cab and stepping out—who knew what could happen tonight? The boys were supposed to arrive in less than fifteen minutes, and from what I could see, the hotel entrance was packed with people.

There were screaming fans decked out with merchandise, pads of paper ready with Sharpies in their hands, hoping that one of the boys would be so courteous to stop and sign autographs. The thought made me smile lightly, knowing that they adored their fans.

As I began walking up the sidewalk, two girls passed by me quickly, both of them scantily clad in a pair of shorts and an extremely low-cut top. “I’m going to ask one of them to sign my boobs,” one of them was saying to her friend, and I fought to keep in a snort.

The only one that would probably go for that was Calum—the rest of them were just too awkward.

There were also paps—everywhere. Bright lights and flashes went off, even though the main event hadn’t even arrived. I wove through a loud crowd of fans, some looking older than me, others only about eight years old. There was a section closed off for reporters and cameramen, and I walked up to the bouncer confidently.

He was a tall, burly man with light brown skin and hair that was closely-shaven to his scalp. When he saw me approach him, he eyed me up and down, trying to see whether I was someone important or just a crazy fan.

I wore navy blue flats and a pair of white jeans. My top was navy blue as well, a few sparkles decorating the cuffs of the silken sleeves I had rolled up. My hair was thrown into a high ponytail, a few wisps falling out around my face, and I wore minimal makeup. The only piece of jewellery was a silver chain around my wrist.

“Ava Summers,” I told the tall man confidently, fishing a card out of my pocket. It was my Beeline employee card, with my photo and my name, date of birth, gender, and all the other essentials used to identify an individual.

The bouncer took my card lightly and scrutinized it before deciding that it was legitimate and handing it back to me.

He then stepped aside, pulling open a velvet rope and letting me pass. I thanked him as I did so, and he mumbled a short something in return.

The small enclosed area was filled to its capacity, extremely crowded. People were constantly brushing against me, yelling things at each other, plans to record when 5 Seconds of Summer arrived.

Eventually, I managed to push my way to the front, my throat constricting as I realised where I was and what I was doing.

What the hell was I doing?

I couldn’t do this. I couldn’t face them—I hadn’t seen them in two years. They probably hated me—all of them. What the fuck was I thinking, and why had I listened to Jay?

But it was too late to turn back. Because at that exact moment, there was a high-pitched scream. And then things just erupted. There were multiple flashes and calls out to the boys. I leaned over the velvet rope separating me from the walkway into the hotel, hoping to get a glimpse of them, momentarily blinded and deafened by the shouts and cameras. I blinked rapidly.

And then they were there, stepping out of the car, pausing for photos and autographs. I studied each one in turn as best as I could.

Ashton had let his hair grow out into a mop of golden-brown curls. His smile was wide, exposing his prominent dimples and white teeth as he took a notebook from a fan and signed it with the Sharpie she handed him a moment later, saying goodbye to her afterwards.

Calum had dyed the front of his hair in blonde streaks, mixing in with the brown. It didn’t look half-bad. He was laughing at something his fan had said, his eyes crinkling as he covered his face to suppress the giggles.

Michael was waving to fans, occasionally stopping and pulling an unsuspecting girl into a one-armed hug. I saw her eyes widen as she clutched onto his shirt before he pulled back, running a hand through his bright red hair and continuing on.

And then I saw him.

He looked so good. His hair was styled up into a blonde quiff, his blue eyes wide as he leaned in. He smiled, sticking his tongue out for the picture, and I watched as the teenage girl thanked him. I couldn’t help but to notice his lip ring, the small stripe of black on the lips that I could suddenly remember being pressed against my own. All the feelings and repressed emotions came flooding back so suddenly, it was overwhelming.

I could only stand there, ogling all of them, too surprised. They’d all changed so much—it made me wonder if they were still the same people.

Slowly, they made their way up the walkway, close to where I was. Luke was standing directly across from me, his back was to me, and he looked to be signing something. I looked around at the reporters screaming things, the bursts of light from the cameras, the microphones extended, everything slowing down in my head.

And then I turned back to the boy I used to love, my eyes trained on his backside, my mind urging me to do something impulsive, to make myself known. So I did.

“Blondie!”

Luke froze.

Notes

Cliffhangerrrrrrr....

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