#so while we were waiting for the cloakroom guy to return with his jacket he was like 'listen i lost the fucking thing

[rhinoswriting]

A Life On The Road - Part 4 (A Luke Hemmings FanFic)

Overview: Elizabeth and Calum have been best friends since they were 15/14 respectively. Elizabeth is from and lives in the UK, but her family lived in Sydney for a brief 2 year period which is how the two met.

With 5SOS embarking on their biggest and most ambitious world tour to date, Cal has invited Elizabeth along to work as a photographer/content creator for their social media. This is in the hopes that travelling with them will help Elizabeth achieve her dream of becoming a full-time travel writer.

Elizabeth is acquainted with the rest of 5SOS but doesn’t know them tremendously well. Obviously that changes as they are all forced to be in one another’s company for the duration of the tour. As the tour progresses and new friendships blossom, Elizabeth feels the connection between her and Luke grow more and more.

A/N: Picking up in Paris. There’s drinking and swearing in this one.

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3

******************************************

“That was genuinely one of the best meals I’ve ever had.” Michael announced as we exited the restaurant.

“It was incredible! I’m still so jealous of your main though, Mikey. Like, mine was good but I should have got the same as you.” I replied.

“So where to next? The night is still young and we have no obligations before tomorrow’s soundcheck.” Ashton asked the group.

A bar was obviously the unanimous decision. But I did convince them to walk aimlessly until we found a bar. That way we could see some of the landmarks lit up and I could get some content both for the band insta and to go alongside any Paris articles of mine that got picked up.

“I’m going to have my work cut out topping these,” I told the guys as I reviewed the short series of photos I had just taken of them by The Louvre, “So I think that counts as me done for the night. Time to find the nearest baaarrrr!”

It didn’t take long to find a bar. It also didn’t take long for us to all have a cocktail glass held in each hand. While the meal was excellent, it was quite a posh place, something none of us were exactly used to. This bar felt much more like our kind of place. It was time to really relax and have fun as nothing more than a group of friends.

In terms of music it was a bit hit and miss as to whether or not we knew the song playing. While that stopped us singing, it never stopped us from dancing. Also, not being familiar with a song was an excellent opportunity to get the next round of drinks in.

“Hurry up! I don’t have a good grip on these! Quick! Take your fucking drinks!” I yelled as I returned from the bar doing my very best to carry five glasses.

“Thanks, EP!” Cal shouted back as he took two glasses from me, passing one on to Michael.

“TO EP FOR ADDING MORE FUN, AND RIGHT NOW DRINKS, TO TOUR AND BEING A STEP CLOSER TO ACHEIVING HER DREAMS!” Ashton called as he raised his glass into the air for a toast.

“TO EP!” The four of them shouted as they clinked their glasses together.

“You guys are too much at times,” I laughed, “But thank you very much none the less.”

With that slightly embarrassing moment of attention out the way we got back to dancing and sipping on our drinks. After a few songs Cal excused himself to the smoking area. Not long after he’d gone Michael went up to the bar as it was his turn to buy the round, leaving just me, Luke and Ash dancing in a little triangle of space. That was until Live In The Moment by Portugal. The Man started playing. 

As soon as we recognised the song Luke gave me a knowing look as I exclaimed ‘As if!’ because only hours ago in that random little coffee shop had we bonded over our mutual current obsession with the song. From that point until the song faded into the next Luke and I were solely focussed on one another as we passionately sang the lyrics at each other and let the beat draw our drunk, dancing bodies closer together in the already small space. 

Without even realising it we became only inches apart, loudly singing into each other’s faces with our drink-free hands moving between air punches, waves and resting on each other (his hand on my waist, mine on his shoulder). And then far too soon the song was over.

“That’s officially made my night,” I declared as I took a step back and downed what remained of my drink, “That was the best coincidence ever.”

“I think that just became our song.” Luke smiled down at me while pushing a few curls back out of his face.

“Are you fucks going to take your drinks now? Because I’m 30 seconds away from drinking them.” Michael somewhat playfully asked, pulling the two of us out of our bubble.

It wasn’t long after taking our drinks from Michael that Mr. Brightside came on and the five of us went mad for it on the dancefloor. And it turned out that, just like a multitude of other clubs I’d been to, Mr Brightside was a subtle signal that closing time was fast approaching. After the two songs that followed, the music stopped and the house lights came on.

“Boooo!” We all declared, clearly not ready for the night to be over just yet.

We collected our jackets from the cloakroom as we were ushered out into the cold Parisian night air with the rest of the crowd. Once out on the street we checked the time for the first time in hours. Realising it was 3:05am and nowhere else was likely to still be open we began our walk back to the tour bus.

It may seem strange to say, but drunk walks home at the end of a night out are one of my favourite things in the world. I get such a feeling of togetherness when I’m laughing and slightly staggering down the street with friends. It always makes me feel like I belong. And semi-lost under the streetlights of Paris I had that feeling of belonging wash its warmth over me. I took two large steps to catch up with Cal and looped my arm through his, 

“I so fucking glad I’m here. Thank you so much for being my best friend. And thank you for having bandmates that are so easy to get along with.” I told Cal as I placed my drunk, sleepy head against his arm as I wasn’t quite tall enough to reach his shoulder.

As Cal and I continued our drunk heart-to-heart we absentmindedly followed the other three in what we hoped was the direction of the tour bus. Seeing as we hadn’t been paying much attention to them and their antics, it was a bit of a surprise to hear Ash shout “Smile!” at us. Thankfully we were quick enough to pose. 

The result was a pretty cool photo of us, arms still linked, pulling tongue-out faces while flipping the camera off. I asked Ash to send it to me, edited it a bit and kept it in my Insta drafts for review and posting in the morning. By the time I’d done this, we’d managed to find our way back to the bus. Once we all piled in we promptly collapsed in our bunks for what remained of the night.

*

The next day was actually quite a relaxed one for me by touring standards.

I was woken up by Michael repeatedly prodding my upper arm. Once I stirred and opened one eye to find him there, he let me know that Ashton had gone and done a coffee run and mine was waiting for me in the kitchen area. Begrudgingly I got up, because I knew the caffeine would do me good, and I also really needed painkillers for my head. As I padded into the bus’ kitchen area in my XXL tee I saw that the guys were looking just as rough as I felt and probably looked too.

“Thanks for the coffee, Ash.” I said as I picked up the cup with my name on, “I don’t suppose there’s any painkillers on this bus?”

“Got some on my coffee run. Here you go.” Ash responded handing me the small rectangular box.

“You lifesaver.” I said taking the box and settling down on the small sofa next to Luke who was barely awake.

As everyone was pretty hungover we didn’t talk much. We just sat in a comfortable silence while we waited for the caffeine to kick in. 

The silence was finally broken by Lou getting onto the bus and letting the four guys know it was soundcheck in 30 minutes. This prompted them to go and change out of their joggers and freshen up a bit. As they did so I dug out my laptop, charger and notebook from my bunk in order to set up a temporary desk at the kitchen booth’s table and get some work done.

After two hours I’d managed to finish, proof read and send off my article on Glasgow to ELLE; as well as flesh out two article ideas for Paris. Pleased with what I had achieved in that time, despite my headache only being dulled slightly by the painkillers, I took a break. 

Predictably, after making some instant mug ramen, I ended up on Instagram; which was when I remembered the photo in my drafts from last night. I clicked onto it and saw drunk me had gone a bit too far when altering the brightness and warmth of the photo. Once I had edited them down and was pleased with how it looked, I tapped out the caption “Two of a kind!” with the emoji of the two dancing girls at the end, tagged Cal and hit ‘Post’. Not quite ready to go back to work, I decided to get dressed and head into the venue to see what the guys were up to.

The guys were just finishing up the meet and greet, so I hopped round to the front of the venue and gave some of the roadies a hand with prepping the t-shirts and hoodies into piles by size at the merch booth. In between pile sorting, Lou appeared to let us know the boys were in Dressing Room 4 doing radio interviews over the phone and to avoid that area of the venue until they were done. Not knowing when exactly that would be, I headed back to the bus once the merch had been sorted and video called Drew.

“Work is so shit without you. Your replacement sucks too.” Drew complained.

“Aww I’m sorry, Drew! Have you heard back from the other firm you applied to?”

“No, not yet. But I should hopefully within the next week. I can’t survive much longer with these people. How’re you surviving on the road?”

“Really well actually! Not to rub it in or anything.” I laughed.

As I was divulging into some of the details and anecdotes I heard someone slapping their hands along the length of the bus as they approached the door.

“Oh. It sounds like I’m going to have to go.” I managed to say before the door opened and Luke stepped onto the bus, “Adios. I’ll call you again soon.”

“Oh shit, sorry, I didn’t realise you were on the phone.” Luke apologised as he caught the tail-end of my conversation, “We’re all just chilling in the main dressing room now, so I said I’d come and find you.”

“Let me grab my camera gear and I’ll be right with you.” I told him while shimmying out of the booth at the front of the bus.

After a few wrong turns backstage, which resulted in a game of Marco Polo between Luke and Michael as a way to guide us the right place, we were back into our comfortable evening routine. They got prepped and hyped up and I documented it with my camera. That evening I took each of them down the hall to a really cool, cobalt blue door I’d spotted for some solo shots. Luke, taking the longest to decide on his stage outfit for the night, was the last of the four I photographed.

“That red silk shirt was such a good choice.” I complemented him as I held my eye up to the viewfinder, “It contrasts this cobalt door so well. And the two together really bring out your eyes.”

“He doesn’t need a bigger head than he’s already got!” Cal called playfully down the corridor.

Luke let out his infectious giggle and I seized the opportunity to grab another photo while chuckling myself. It was a great photo. Such a pure moment captured. I almost didn’t want to share it on their social media, but I knew that was a foolish, and not to mention selfish, thought.

Not long after that the guys were called to the stage. I took my place side of stage and ritualistically fist bumped each of them as they took to the stage for another amazing show. I felt I had already got enough content while in Paris, so I chose to just enjoy the performance instead of worrying about shots and footage. It was the first time I had let myself do so on this tour and I had a blast.

“It looked like you were having a good time tonight.” Cal later remarked when we were all back on the bus and on the road to Brussels. 

“Don’t tell Lou, but I sort of let myself take tonight off shooting to enjoy the gig as I already have so much Paris content.” I confessed as I reclined on the sofa in the lounge at the back of the tour bus.

“Your secret is safe with us.” Cal reassured with a wink, before taking the final swig that remained in his beer bottle, “Right you fucks, I’m off to bed. See you in Brussels.”

Not long after, Mike and Ash made their way to their bunks as well. This left just Luke and I chilling in the back lounge. As he was scrolling through Netflix looking for a film to put on, I asked him, 

“Are you not shattered too?”

“Eh,” He shrugged, “A bit, yeah. But I always have trouble sleeping. Plus after our drunk chat the other night I’d like to hang out with you more, and I seem to only really get the chance at night.”

“I’m not going to argue with that.” I responded while draping a blanket over my shoulders as the opening credits to Groundhog Day began. After a pause I continued, “We can hang out during the day you know. Like take a break and grab lunch or something. Hey, why don’t we do the coffee run together tomorrow? That’ll be an opportunity to hang out.”

“I’d like that,” He smiled, and then tugged a little at the blanket, “Don’t go hogging all the blanket.”

I released my grip on the blanket, allowing Luke to drape it over himself as well. The added warmth of his body next to mine made me feel even cosier and it wasn’t long before I nodded off to sleep.

The tour bus abruptly coming to a stop a few hours later managed to rouse me from my slumber. As my eyes fluttered open, the rest of my body registered that I wasn’t in my bunk, or even laying down, and that the warm thing my head was on smelt very good. Once my eyes were open and no longer fuzzy with sleep I realised that I had fallen asleep during the film, as I was still sat on the lounge’s U-shaped sofa. Luke must have fallen asleep at some point during the film too, as the nice smelling thing my head was resting on was his shoulder, and I could feel his head resting gently on top of mine as he snored softly.

“Wake up. Hey, Luke. Wake up, “I prompted as I gently shook his thigh, “I think we’re in Brussels.”

#luke hemmings x ofc #luke hemmings fanfiction #luke hemmings fanfic #luke 5sos #luke hemmings #5sos fanfiction #5sos fanfic

[chris--dixon]

why not? | chelix & niam

C // N: Noah was pumped for tonight. Ever since his quite recent break up, he'd learned to love going out and getting drunk. Although that didn't happen as much as he would've hoped. His mother could be a pain in the ass at times, way too overcaring and it's gotten even worse since said break up. She was out of town until tomorrow afternoon though, and his father didn't seem to mind much as long as he was able to work in his home office in peace. They had pre-drinks at a bar close to Why Not, the drinks were cheap and it was a good place to start the night. Noah was already pretty tipsy and he didn't notice that until they stood in the queque to get inside the club; he was good at not letting it sho. It was almost their turn to show their IDs. "Okay, okay, the following is going to happen. You'll let me do the talking." He looked between his best friend and his potential hookup of the night, "I know Kirk, he's a friend of a friend," he explained, shrugging, "and he's going to let us pass, not even a single worry there," Noah's attention was suddenly on boys their age that got sent home, but he quickly regained his composure and shook Liam by the shoulder. "I can't believe you've never been here before. It's like we're taking your virginity or something. Your Why Not virginity."

F // L: Felix had made sure not to hold back on drinks at the bar they'd gone to before, since prices at Why Not were nothing short of ridiculous. He hated having to explain to his parents where his allowance for this month had gone so quick. So he was positively buzzed, cheeks warm despite the icy wind and a giddy smile plastered on his face. Liam had turned out to not be so bad, though Felix still felt a pang of jealousy at the two of them and how easy Noah seemed to have it with boys. Felix really was beginning to wonder whether it was him or everyone else. He rolled his eyes good naturedly at Noah's explanations, unsure whether he may have been boasting a little for Liam's sake, but he decided not to call him out on it. "Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know. I'm shutting up," he agreed with him, rubbing his hands together against the cold and pointedly not looking at the way Liam had his arm around Noah.

F // L: Liam, in the meantime, was watching Noah closely as he laid out the plan for the night as it seemed mostly directed at him anyway, an amused smirk on his face. He nodded along at all the right places, even though he didn't have too many doubts that it would work. From what Felix and Noah had been telling him over pre drinks, they'd been to Why Not quite a few times already, so he figured there were some prior connections. It was nice to see Noah in a different environment, one that he felt was fully his element, his best friend in tow. "Got it, boss," he told him in a put on deep voice, kind of endeared at the way the other boy could go on a tangent which served a little bit to make him seem like the one worrying. He wrapped an arm around Noah's back loosely, resting a hand on his hip and raised his eyebrows a little at his last statement. "I was gonna say, might be a bit late for that," he said with a grin. "But I'm honored to be losing it to the two of you," he said, this time with a playful glance directed at Felix as well, not wanting to seem like all his attention was solely on Noah – even though it kind of was. "Met you pretty soon after moving here, though, didn't have a reason to find this place."

C // N: "Aww," Noah practically cooed, hiding his face in Liam's neck at the last comment, which must've looked pretty awkward seeing as Noah was so much taller than Liam, "Isn't he cute?" he asked Felix once he was in his original position, taking Liam's face into his hands to squeeze his cheeks, his lips forming a pout. Maybe he was a bit more than just tipsy. The queque started to dissolve and then suddenly, it was already their turn. "Kirk!" Noah greeted enthusiastically, letting go of Liam to hug Kirk, a man in his mid-forties. He might've seemed rough at first sight with his tattoos and bald head, but he was the softest person you'd ever meet.

F // L: Felix couldn't help the doubtful look that passed over his expression for a moment at their interaction, but quickly smiled when Noah turned to look at him. He just wasn't sure if he should quite buy the whole lovey dovey thing, but that may have been bitter jealousy talking. "Adorable," Felix purred back mockingly, blowing a kiss Noah's way after to let him know he wasn't serious. He breathed a laugh at Noah's enthusiastic greeting of Kirk, leaning in to Liam a little to stage whisper, "He's doing that to make it seem like people actually like him in front of you."

F // L: Liam pressed his lips together at the compliment, face forming into content. "That's me," he said with a shrug to Felix, very quickly having his attention pulled back to Noah who was squeezing his face currently. He laughed, patting Noah's hip lightly to let him know he could let go again and giving him a light push to get moving, since he hadn't seemed to have realised it was their turn already. He chuckled at Felix's comment, watching the interaction with a quirked eyebrow. "I feel like he doesn''t have to do much to make it seem that way," he stage whispered back, noting the way this Kirk person's face split into a friendly grin at seeing Noah.

C // N: "Hey kid," Kirk laughed deeply as he returned Noah's hug, suddenly lifting the teenage boy off the ground which caused a sound of surprise to escape Noah's lips, followed by laughter. That was quite a sight. Once down on the ground, Noah adjusted his shirt and mastered the small talk, simple things like how he's been, how the club is doing tonight, if there will be a lot of people coming, what kind of music they're playing, etc. etc.. ".. it's us three tonight," Noah said, waving Felix and Liam closer, immediately putting an arm around the latter. "Felix. Doing alright?" he greeted the second familiar face once they made their way closer. He eyed Liam a little longer, "I don't think I've seen you around before. Age?" Noah, before Liam could even answer, chimed in, "Pf, Kirk. He belongs with me. He's new in town and I want to show him what a good party is," he looked at Liam for a second, beaming at him before looking back at Kirk, "that's cool, right? We won't cause any trouble, promise." He put one hand on his chest and his other up in the air as if that meant it couldn't be broken.

F // L: Felix had made half hearted small talk with Liam himself while Noah was chatting to Kirk, answering all his questions but rarely asking any back, as he stayed focused on trying to make out what Noah was saying. He kind of felt like he was being shown up a little, so he couldn't wait to get inside, get a few more drinks and let inhibitions loose a little more. He didn't hesitate stepping forward when Noah told them to, giving Kirk a smile. "Yah, s'alright, thanks," he answered easily, glad to have been acknowledged by name now too. "Bit chilly out here," he said with a grin, hinting at the fact that Kirk should let them in soon.

F // L: Liam was about to answer Kirk, reply on the top of his tongue, but Noah was quick to cut him off. He raised his hands a little, as if to say 'You've heard the man, nothing to add' before putting his arm around Noah again as well. "I've heard it's the very best, after all," he said easily. He watched Noah scout's honor promise to Kirk that they wouldn't cause them any trouble, a fondly amused smile creeping onto his lips before he nodded in agreement quickly. Noah had said to let him to the talking however, so he decided to bite back on another comment – bouncers were a particular way about people they didn't know sometimes after all.

C // N: Kirk looked back and forth between the three underaged boys until he eventually sighed and stepped aside to let the boys pass. Noah's eyes sparkled as he quickly passed the bouncer, "You're the best, Kirk! I owe you!" which the said only fondly rolled his eyes at as if to say, 'yeah, yeah, I know, get in now before I'll change my mind'. Muffled electronic music was heard, reminding him just how ready he was for tonight. He turned around to make sure his friends were following him inside, he waited until they caught up. "Anyone else got something for the cloakroom?" Noah asked as he took his coat off.

F // L: As soon as he stepped into the dark interior of the club, music playing a little more pronounced already, Felix felt his mood lift – not that it had been particularly down before. "Fuck, yeeeeees," he exclaimed happily, accidentally elbowing someone in the stomach as they were passing them, mumbling out a quick, "Oh, sorry," and turning a little red. "I'm so ready now," he said, once turned back to his friends, and began shrugging off his own coat. "Let's hope queue's not too bad tonight."

F // L: Liam took off his own jacket, throwing it over his arm before he held his hand out for Noah's with raised eyebrows. "Want me to get those taken care of?"

C // N: Noah raised his eyebrows at Liam, "Are you sure?" he asked, slowly putting the coat into Liam's hands. He wouldn't mind some alone time with Felix before going inside, if he was being honest, so the offer was hard to decline.

F // L: Liam smiled, closing his eyes briefly as he nodded. "I'm absolutely sure." He grabbed Noah's coat from him the rest of the way and threw it over his own, turning to Felix after. "Come on, yours too. I'll find you guys inside," he directed the last bit at Noah again, followed by a wink, before he turned to queue up.

F // L: Felix watched with raised eyebrows, admittedly a little surprised before he handed Liam his coat easily. "Oh cool, thanks, man. See you in a sec." He rather unceremoniously shoved Noah forward. "Let's get fuuucked, tonight."

C // N: Noah gave Liam a thankful smile and he had no idea if it was the alcohol or not, but he suddenly felt like smootching him right then and there. He didn't as Felix shoved him towards the entrance. "See you inside!" Noah said and looked over his shoulder while being shoved by his best friend, holding his thumb up at Liam until Felix and him disappeared into the club. Music immediately filled his ears, men and drag queens dancing, chatting, drinking; simply having a good time and Noah loved it. The energy of it. "I'm so ready to get shitfaced." Noah admitted, getting on his tiptoes to get an overview. "Bar?" Noah almost yelled over the music.

F // L: Felix huffed a little at Noah's antics, actually reaching up to turn his face to where they were going. "Chillax, man, you'll see him again in just a moment." Once inside, Felix's face split into a wide grin until he spotted the couple that was rather heavily making out right next to them. His expression turned slightly disgruntled when he noticed they practically had their dicks out as well and he quickly nodded at Noah. "Yeah, and let's make it quick. I don't know whether you can get Crabs from just watching but I'd rather not find out," he joked with a jerk of his head in their direction, before pushing Noah into the crowd once more.

C // N: "Aye, aye, no need for pushing!" Noah protested with a grin, but he didn't make any move to stop Felix either. They made their way over to the bar, dodging dancing figures on the way. Once they reached their destination, Noah leaned over the counter, his elbows propped up ontop of it while his hands where clasped into one another. He saw the bartender and quickly waved him over - he didn't seem to see it though. "So, what do you think?" he asked nonchalantly, obviously referencing to Liam. He kept trying to get the bartenders attention.

F // L: Felix joined Noah at the bar, propping one elbow on it so his body was facing Noah's entirely, bus his eyes scanning around the room. At Noah's question, Felix' eyes snapped back to him and for a moment he was confused about the question. It seemed like an oddly worded way to ask him what he wanted to drink until he saw the way Noah was trying to extra hard to seem non-invested and it clicked. He shrugged. "Yeah, he seems nice enough I suppose. You reckon the nice guy is a facade?" He asked with a smirk, though he felt a little bad about the comment when he remembered their little fight from Wednesday. "No, but he's chill, I guess."

C // N: Noah finally caught the bartender's attention who gave a sign that he noticed them and will be with them in a second. Noah turned his head to look at Felix but rolled his eyes with a smile, he took with humor this time, not wanting a repetition of Wednesday's events. "You're really resentful, huh?" he half-joked, but let it go. "We're going to find you someone hot tonight, don't worry," he said, patting Felix on the back before telling the bartender, who made their way over already, his order.

F // L: "I'm /not/ resentful, I just think.. I'm looking out," he finished, though he was glad that Noah hadn't seemed offended by his answer. He didn't know what exactly made him so negative towards the whole Liam/Noah development and he was kinda mad at himself that it made him seem so bitter. Felix looked around the club doubtfully at Noah's comment, though the effect was lost when he realised that Noah was busy ordering a drink. "Hah, you'll probably be off ghosting me within ten minutes anyway, so I'll find myself someone hot."

C // N: Noah feigned hurt, his voice suddenly getting two octaves higher, "Excuse me," he said in exactly that tone, "I think the fuck not. It hurts me to know that's what you think of me," he said with a shake of his head, although he knew that Felix was probably right. Maybe not in ten minutes, but definitely at one point or another, "Twenty minutes," he joked, pushing Felix. "Are you not gonna order anything?"

F // L: Felix snorted, mimicking Noah's talking with his hand like he didn't believe a word that was coming out his mouth. "It's the reputation you've earned for yourself. If the shoe fits.." He laughed and tried to defend against the push that he saw was coming, swatting at Noah's hands. "Fuck off. Vodka Soda, please" he directed the last part at the bartender, a little louder.

F // L: Liam had finally gotten rid of their coats and made his way through the crowd. He suspected the other two at the bar where he found them quickly. Noah's back was turned to him, so he took the opportunity to come up behind him and surprise him by wrapping his arms around his middle. "Now I wanna know about this reputation," he threw in, having caught the last bit of their conversation but not waiting for an answer. "Same thing please," he told the bartender as he leaned forward a little, poiting at Noah with one hand, the other still firmly wrapped around the boy, before getting out his wallet to pay.

C // N: Noah was startled when he suddenly felt a pair of arms around his torso, but upon hearing the familiar voice, a grin formed on his lips, exposing his dimples. He briefly turned his head to look at him, grin still in place when he put his hand over Liam's. "Hey, that was quick," he stated matter of factly, "We were looking forward to starting the party without you," he joked as he watched the bartender mix their drinks. When Liam pulled away, Noah noticed from the corner of his eye, that Liam had obviously planned to pay. Noah was quick to put his hand over Liam's wallet and shoved it away, "Nah, I'll pay. You paid for the cloackroom."

F // L: "Oh, I bet you were. Arrived just in time, then," Liam joked back with a grin that mirrored Noah's. He really hadn't expected whatever this was when he'd swiped him on Tinder those few weeks back. He raised his eyebrows when Noah said he'd pay, lips pursed in a smirk. "Yeah, and that cost me exactly 2 dollars, because I'm a bit of a con artist," he said in a conspiratorial tone, like he was telling him a shocking secret. "I'll get these since I'm technically earning my own money, you can get the next round." Without waiting for an answer he pulled his Visa from his wallet and held it out to the bartender, the "Card, please" following a bit late. "My pleasure," he directed back at Noah with a wink.

C // N: Noah rolled his eyes at Liam, although his expression was fond. "Thanks," he said then, briefly putting his hand on Liam's back to give him a gentle squeeze. Noah couldn't help but notice how hot Liam looked and how shamelessly nice he was. He inwardly cringed at the fact that he at first thought his niceness was a turn off (he guessed that may be the wrong word; it was no turn off, it just wasn't what he was looking for). He took his beverage off the bar and held it up to the air, eying his friends with a big grin. "To tonight?" he asked, wiggling his eyebrows.

F // L: Felix watched the interaction between Noah and his new boy with an air of cool superiority, eyebrows raised a little questioningly at the realness of the situation. He made a few gagging noises that luckily went unnoticed as the both of them were /beautifully/ caught up in one another. Barf. He was glad when the bartender finally brought their drinks and his attention was pulled from the two of them. He took a sip before he caught Noah's gesture, nearly spitting the drink all over his front in an attempt to make it seem like he hadn't forgotten to join in on the toast. "Hell yeah, to tonight," he exclaimed happily, clinking their glasses together. "And to the semester being almost done," Felix added gratefully, closing his eyes and drawing a cross over his chest.

F // L: Liam raised his glass with Noah, eyes trained on his face the entire time. "To tonight and losing my virginity a second time," he carried on the joke from earlier, touching his glass to Noah's and Felix' though he remained focused on Noah. "Gotta look me in the eyes while we clink glasses," he said a bit quieter, more privately to Noah, a playful glint in his eyes. "You know what they say happens if you don't."

C // N: Noah didn't comment on Felix' cheating on their toast and laughed when they clinked their glasses together, "And to the semester being almost done," he repeated with a snort and looked Felix in the eye, pointing at him, "We still need to talk about our plans for New Years, by the way," he reminded on a side note although his tone gave away it was not a thing that will be talked about now or tonight, but rather tomorrow or whenever but it should be talked about soon. He then turned his attention to Liam and chuckled, making sure to look deeply into Liam's eyes before he withdrew the glass to take a long sip, emerald eyes never leaving his. "Wouldn't dare risking it," he said in a low voice after removing the glass from his lips, so only Liam was able to hear it. Noah got even more excited about tonight then, because for some reason Liam's comment sounded like a promise he was looking forward to. "Let's go mingle?" he asked, moving his head into the dancefloor's direction.

F // L: Felix waved off Noah's request to talk about New Year's while taking a long sip of his drink, ready to get just a little more drunk. He'd sobered up a bit and was ready to get back into a hazy state of contentment so when he brought the glass away from his lips again, half of his drink had already vanished. He eyed it suspiciously, holding it up against the light to see the contents better before shaking his head with a laugh. "I swear they just keeping adding more ice and less.. drink," Felix joked with an innocent grin, shrugging. "But yeah, we do. Still not sure if the family has plans that will––," he stopped himself when he realised Noah's attention already wasn't on him anymore, sighing with a slight roll of his eyes. "Just gonna continue talking to myself then, best conversation partner anyway," he mumbled to himself, taking another sip and only looking up again at Noah's proposal to get lost in the crowd. "Yeah, yes. Ready, let's go," he urged, beginning to make his way through the people and just hoping those two would follow.

F // L: Liam laughed heartily at Noah's answer, cocking an eyebrow at him. "Let's," he agreed, jerking his head in Felix' direction as he had begun taking the lead and placing a hand on the small of Noah's back, his thumb tracing light circles there.

C // N: Noah followed Felix into the mass of dancing bodies, a smile playing on his lips as he felt Liam's touch on his back - he was drunk and really felt like leaning into the touch; he didn't. In motion, he lazily twisted his free arm to his backside in order to stop Liam, his hand blindly fumbling with the other's arm until he found what he was looking for; his hand. He laced their fingers together. guiding them. Noah's eyes were focused on Felix's mop of blonde hair as he tried to swerve the obstacles until he saw a familiar face a few metres away, standing a little beyond the dancefloor with a group of men their age. Noah immediately tried to catch up with Felix, "Felix!!" he yelled over the music, hoping his best friend would come to a halt.

F // L: Felix had no mind for casualties as he made his way through the crowded space, mumbling 'Sorry's every now and then to make up for shoving his way past people. His head whipped around when he heard Noah's voice call his name, a confused expression on his face as he searched his best friend's eyes for what he was trying to tell him. "What?" He yelled back, motioning with his arms for emphasis. "Let's go over there," he added, pointing to the direction he'd been going in, wondering why that apparently didn't fit into Noah's plan.

C // N: Noah walked up to Felix, momentarily letting go of Liam's hand to put it on the blonde's shoulder as he leaned in to yell into his ear, "Isn't that Mr. Dixon?" he asked and pulled away, jerking his head in the direction he saw their teacher.

F // L: Felix leaned into the other boy to not miss a word of what he was saying, his head snapping back when he registered what Noah was saying. "Where?" Was the first thing that left his mouth, eyes immediately scanning around them before they landed on him. Felix' heart did a little jump at the realisation, eyes going wide. "It is!" He said a little too excitedly, eyes still fixed on their teacher and his free hand almost unconsciously coming up to run through his hair. "We should say hi," he added with a grin.

F // L: Liam caught up to the two, following both their lines of sight and as if on instinct, possibly due to the alcohol, brought his arm around Noah's back again. Always touching somewhere. "Who are we gossiping about?" He asked cluelessly, because both their faces were a little priceless.

C // N: Noah had to laugh. The kind of laugh where he threw his head back, slapped the palms of his hands together and his eyes formed into slits. It took him a while to regain his composure and pulled Felix in by the shoulder, "And then what? You think he's going to let you blow him on the toilets?" he laughed once more before turning to Liam, "Our teacher, that little Felix here," he shook Felix, "has the hots for, is right over there and Felix wants to say hi." He bit on his lip to refrain from laughing again.

F // L: Felix expression changed into a mockingly offended one and he shoved Noah off of him, a bit more harshly that just jokingly would've needed. "Oh, fuck off. I'm saying we should say hi, not drop on my knees in front of him," he defended himself, though the thought made him go a little red in the cheeks which luckily remained unseen due to the low light. "Can you fuck off?" He said again, though with a light laugh caught in his throat himself. "I just think it's the polite thing to do. Plus, you two can't tell me he isn't looking fine," he challenged mostly Noah, eyebrows raised with a light shake of his head.

F // L: "Oh, shit, seriously?" Liam laughed at the piece of information, trying to make out which of the men in that general direction was their teacher. "Your teacher's here? That's weird, man. Have to agree that saying hi might not be the smartest move," he supplied, holding his hands up as if to say 'Just saying'.

C // N: Noah laughed and slapped at Felix' hands when he pushed him off, all while making sure he isn't spilling his drink. "The polite thing to do," he snorted, looking at Liam as if to say, 'you hear that?', his expression amused when he watched Felix explain his motives. Noah looked at Mr. Dixon and had to agree; their teacher was looking all kinds of fine tonight but he still did not feel the desire to walk up to him and say hi. Taking a short sip of his drink, "Hey, you go ahead," he suggested, "I don't want to risk getting in trouble because you couldn't keep it in your pants," he shrugged with a grin, "Mr. D is a cool teacher but still a teacher after all."

F // L: Felix cocked his eyebrows at Noah, a satisfied smirk on his lips, and shrugged one shoulder at him. "I might just, doubt I'll get in trouble seeing as I'm favorite," he shot back, though his tone made it clear he was, possibly, joking. Though as he kept his eyes on Mr. Dixon, laughing and talking with his group of friends, he suddenly felt weirdly nervous and like he wouldn't be able to pull off saying hi in a cool manner at all. He took a sip of his drink, eyes still fixed on his group. Not that much could go wrong. He was a bit aloof on a normal day, he'd had a bit to drink and courage was easier to come by that way. "I'm gonna," he decided, though he made no move to actually go up to him, instead pulled Noah by his sleeve into his general direction. Maybe Mr. Dixon would even be the one to notice him and he could pretend he hadn't before. He positioned their little group in good view of Mr. Dixon, so he was the one facing him but looked at Noah this time. "Let's dance."

C // N: Noah wetted his lips and gave Felix a crooked grin when he pulled him closer, amused by the scene his best friend was performing. Noah thought the crush Felix had on Mr. D was absolutely irrational and far from reality, but he couldn't help but find it all a bit adorable. He had no idea how to ever break it to him, but that was a problem for another time and definitely another place. Instead, Noah shrugged at Liam and started to sway his hips to the music, taking a long sip from his vodka orange, desperate to be even more drunk than he was already feeling. He noted the music was really good tonight.

C // N: Christopher didn't go out clubbing every weekend. He didn't go out clubbing every second weekend either. He went out clubbing whenever he felt like it which wasn't that often to be fair. His group of friends, some of which he went to college with, were the complete opposite, pretty much out and about at any chance they got. He did join them on pub and bar nights but he wasn't too much of a fan of clubs. Tonight was different though, he was looking forward to tonight, letting loose again after months and the fact that it was his best bud's birthday was a pretty sick occasion to go all the way out. He decided to wear a black shirt, buttoned down almost all the way down to his chest, exposing the hairs he had there. The black skinny jeans fit his legs like wax, the belt matching the choice of clothing perfectly. His hair didn't do anything different to his hair, but he decided not to shave this morning, which already made all the big difference. It wasn't his mission to meet anyone tonight, but definitely wouldn't hurt if he did. He, as well as the rest of his friends were already pretty intoxicated as they listened to Brian spill a funny story, making everyone crack laughs. Christopher laughed so hard, he felt tears form in his eyes and he had to bring his fist up to refrain himself from bursting out laughing even more. "Honestly, it was ridicccc," Brian commented at the end of it, and Christopher tried to come down from his high, sighing. "I don't think I could've kept a straight face," Malcolm, another friend of Christopher's chirped, also trying to come down from laughing. "I'm going to get myself another gin tonic. Anyone else?" Christopher asked then, making use of the pause. They were a total of five people and all of them all of a sudden wanted a drink too. Christopher inwardly regretted asking and rolled his eyes. "Well. Someone's gotta come with. Can't carry five glasses, I'm afraid," he admitted, although that was only half of the truth. He didn't really wanna go to the bar by himself. "I'll accompany you," Brian said with a wink. Thanking him, Christopher and Brian made their way to the bar. He noticed Noah first when he was about to pass the group of three; tall, tall Noah in a while shirt that almost glowed in the light. And where Noah was, there was also... ah, there he was. Christopher suddenly felt a little proud with Brian in tow, and it was definitely the alcohol, but he suddenly thought it was a good idea. "Felix! Noah!" he exclaimed with a wide smile, excited and most definitely drunk, hands in the air as if he was about to... hug them? He didn't, instead he clapped on their backs. "What are you doing here?" he asked, but didn't give them time to reply seeing he called after his friend, "Brian, hey!"

F // L: Felix started dancing along to the music, alternating between taking sips of his drink which way too soon was finished and glancing up at Mr. Dixon and his group of friends. His eyes widened a little when he looked up one time and saw that Mr. Dixon had, in fact, moved and looked very much like he was heading their way. “He’s coming our way,” he hissed at Noah, pulling a face and quickly throwing back the last of drink – he was positively buzzing again and he refused to admit to himself that he felt a shiver of nervousness run down his arms right to his finger tips. He was getting ready for Mr. Dixon to pass them without so much as a glance, but was surprised when recognition passed over his pretty, pretty face and he actually addressed them. “Aha, Mr. D, no way,” he brought out quickly with a laugh lacing his tone, trying to sound like it was an absolute surprise to see him here. He was acutely aware of the man’s hand on his back and flexed his back muscles, of which he didn’t have many. His eyes followed Mr. Dixon’s line of vision for a moment, before he was captivated by his pretty features again, eyes undoubtedly dropping down his chest for a moment.

F // L: Liam watched with a slight crease between his eyebrows but the corner of his lip pulled up, not quite sure whether he was utterly amused or worried. Undoubtedly this was this teacher they'd been talking about and Noah had said he was a cool teacher, but nonetheless he didn't quite know what to make of it. He caught Noah's eye and silently mouthed to him whether he was okay, looping his finger through one of the other boy's belt loops – ready to pull him closer should he show any sign of discomfort.

C // N: Noah shook his head at Felix's antics, continuing to dance to the music and taking sips from his drink, spacing out in his own world a little where it's just him, the alcohol and the beat of the music. He was pulled out of said world when he suddenly felt a hand on his back for a moment, eyes widening a little and almost choking on his drink. He got into a little coughing fit, before swallowing, his face grimaced in discomfort. He quickly put on a smile though, surprised and well, amused by his teacher's behaviour. It was unlike him to say the least. He couldn't wait to tell Dom about it. Noah looked at Liam, biting back a grin when Felix so openly gawked at their teacher. He didn't miss Liam's asking look and slightly nodded his head to tell him that yes, he was okay, no need to worry.

#para #p: chelix #idk what to tag this but enjoy lmao #also read this ok #i'm dying