#something about a 5sos song (and now especially shakes) is it can really get me in that headspace to do that | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

wastelandcth · 3 years

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In the Mountains - cth

summary: who would've thought hiking with the boys would have ended up being so eventful? as the fifth member of 5sos with a crush on a certain bass player, you’re about to find out.

author’s notes: thanks to @calumspupils for sending this request in! I hope you enjoy it!

masterlist || request

You didn't really know how you'd gotten to this point in your life. How you had ended up in a band with four people you'd give the world to, it all still seemed like a fever dream. Most mornings you'd wake up either on a tour bus or in a hotel room miles from home wondering if this was your real-life and it wasn't until you were sat at breakfast with your bandmates that you realized how grateful you were for the twists and turns that had led to your crazy life.

Some days you'd play shows and feel like you were on top of the world, rocking out on stage with your best friends. Some nights the views from the airplanes you'd grown used to being on took your breath away for so long you were afraid you'd actually imagined it all. That all the cameras flashing and fans screaming out lyrics you'd written with the four guys on stage next to you were a figment of your imagination and you'd wake up one day to find it all gone.

"Hey, I know you don't love hiking but...I'm sure we'll make it fun," Calum's voice rang out in the car, bringing you back to the moment at present, "And I'll be there to tell you all the jokes and point out cool rocks," he said with a wink.

Calum Hood. You'd turned your head to face him, the California sun was hitting his skin and making him glow. His bright smile adorning his face as the sunglasses he was wearing slid down his nose to reveal those brown eyes you'd fallen for. His soft voice and gentle teasing bringing warmth to your stomach that always seem to linger whenever you two were alone. It was something that you thought you'd kept to yourself, a little secret, but the comments online only left you a blushing mess.

If you were being honest, you'd been in love with Calum since the first months you'd spent with the band, getting to know each other and making sure you'd be a good fit into the group. those weeks had been filled with outings together where all five of you would spend hours on end telling stories about growing up and then laughing over how the internet blew up when they introduced you to their fanbase. But those few weeks were also spent trying your best to not make a fool of yourself in front of Calum, who seemed to always be at the right place whenever you stumbled or when your voice would crack while you were practicing alone.

You two had clicked instantly, both stuck to each other's hip as you took on the world. You'd write together, spending hours on a couch drafting out possible songs and humming along to tracks that had potential in matching the band's sound. You'd even become neighbors at one point when you'd first moved into the city to be closer for band work. He'd helped you move into the apartment next to his and you'd spent many weekends at each other's place, laughing over the awkward silences when you'd both caught each other glancing for a few seconds too long.

So you were in love with your bandmate, your best friend, with Calum Hood. How bad could it be?

Apparently, very bad. You and Calum had never been the subtle type and although you both pretty much knew there was more than friendship between you two, no one made a move to make it more. Ashton had asked you once when you two had gone out for lunch after a studio session.

"I just can't understand why you two haven't already gotten over it and got together. You'd thought about it, he's thought about it. Just do it," Ashton huffed, shaking his head as he watched you tense up and shake your head.

"The band is what's important, Ash. We can't let our feelings get in the way of fucking up what all five of us have created. He knows that and I do too," you'd replied, laughing quietly as Ashton only shook his head and mumbled something under his breath.

But Ashton was always one to try and make others happy in his own special way. And that's how you found yourself in the car with Calum on the way out of the city for a hike you were less than excited about. You knew Ashton was up to something when he'd texted the group saying that you and Calum would have to drive to the trail together since you wouldn't fit in his car with Luke, Mike, and their partners. As a form of payback, you'd purposefully told Calum to pick you up thirty minutes after the original time to make sure you were the last ones to get there because there was nothing more than Ashton hated than being late. And that's how you found yourself driving out of the city with Calum, lost in your own head over how beautiful he looked.

"Mhm, you always make things fun," you chuckled and winked back at him, "We're gonna need it especially now that we're late and Ashton will definitely kill us."

The hike had gone surprisingly good considering three of you were not the most athletics and Luke and Michael had constantly been racing seeing who could go the farthest faster. Ashton had tried his best to keep everyone on track until you and Calum had teased him about being the mom friend as he'd set up his phone on a rock to shoot an update video for fans to let them know about the band had been up to. It had all been going according to plan until you moved closer to Calum and twisted your ankle, ending up on the floor staring up at the blue sky.

"Oh my god, I'm going to die. Just leave me here to die because I'm not making it," you cried out, "This is the end of me!"

In a matter of seconds since your back had hit the ground, four familiar faces hovered above you, one of them looking more concerned than the others. The pain shot through your spine and down your leg, your eyes closing as you tried to stop the tears from falling down your cheeks. Soon enough you found yourself being lifted up from the ground and a warm body pressed against your back. You could hear all the guys fighting over what to do, which meant your ankle wasn't twisted backward since none of them had screamed or puked their guts out. Their voices all mumbled into one as you breathed through the pain and it wasn't until Calum's warm breath was hitting your ear that you felt yourself take a deep breath in and open your eyes.

"I'm gonna stay here with you until Ash and the others can get a ranger to bring a car or something like that, okay?" he mumbled softly, his hand rubbing at your back as he helped you sit back against a rock.

"Please don't let my leg fall off, I need it to run on stage and to kick Michael when he steals my food," you whined.

"That's not gonna happen, okay? I think you just twisted it and it's all going to be okay, sweet girl," Calum mumbled and kissed your forehead, "Promise."

The sun was still high in the sky by the time you started thinking Ashton had left you both in the desert. You'd both been sitting on the ground together, watching as your ankle grew and grew in size as the time passed by. The pain had dulled and your head was resting on his shoulder when your brain had started to think of the worst.

"You know, this wouldn't have happened if you were Australian. Us Aussies are known for our athleticism," Calum chuckled as he nudged your side with his elbow, "It's a well-known fact."

"I can do a better Australian accent than all four of you," you scoffed, rolling your eyes as you smacked his thigh, "And I can outrun pretty much all of you except Ash."

"Except right now."

"Calum Hood, I swear if you don't stop making fun of me-"

"What? Are you gonna hit me again? I dare you-"

You don't know what came over you. Maybe it was the heat of the sun beaming down on you both. Or maybe the fact that you were thirsty since Michael had taken the only backpack with water with him before you two realized it but Calum's lips looked very nice and it took no self-restraint for you to lean in and stop him mid-sentence.

"Maybe you should twist your ankle more often, huh?" Calum chuckled as you both pulled away, "Or bully you more often."

"Shut up and kiss me again, idiot," you laughed and pulled him back in for another kiss.

"Who knew all I had to do was get you two alone on a hiking trail for you to finally kiss, huh?" Ashton's chuckled made you both pull away, making you both look like a deer caught in headlights.

"Oh shut up, I'm never going on a hike with any of you again," you huffed and gratefully took the park ranger’s hand as he helped you on to what looked like a golf car.

It was a short trip back to the medical center, where they treated your very swollen ankle with ice while you downed all the water you could get your hands on. But you were grateful that Calum hadn't left your side once, his hand in yours as you squeezed it whenever you'd hit a bump or when the park ranger wrapped your ankle. His hand was still in yours as you both drove back to the city and it never left yours even when you both laid on the couch in his living room that night, drifting off in each other's company for once accepting that maybe, just maybe, this could be more than just stolen glances.

taglist: @hoodhoran @finelliine @moonlightcriess @dinosaursandsocks @mxgyver @calpops @karajaynetoday @notlukehemmo @calumrose @devilatmydoor @lyss-xo @lowkeyflop @hemmo1996-5sosvevo @myloverboyash @notinthesameguey

#calum hood blurbs #calum hood imagines #calum hood x reader #5sos imagines #5sos blurbs #5sos x reader #calum hood #5sos #5 seconds of summer #gemma writes

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jaskiers-sweetkiss · 3 years

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Heartbreak Girl

Pairing: Carrie Wilson x Reader

Word Count: 1.7K

Warnings: some swearing

A/N: This is my submission for Day 1 - Favorite Song for @jatpx5sos week! It’s also my first Carrie fic which I’m really excited about! I dont have just one favorite 5sos song so I chose Heartbreak Girl because it is an absolute bop. Let me know what you think and send me an ask if you want to be added to my taglist!

Masterlist

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You couldn’t exactly say you were surprised when you got the text from your best friend informing you that her boyfriend had just broken up with her. You’d seen the signs: their disagreement after the pep assembly, their interactions at the dance, and the way Nick was suddenly very interested in Julie. You knew it was only a matter of time before they broke it off again.

So no, you weren’t surprised when you got Carrie’s text a couple of days after the dance but you were supportive.

You were in your car minutes later, on your way to the grocery store to pick up Carrie’s favorite ice cream and some chocolate. Not long after you were pulling through the security gate before being pulled through the front door, ready to hold your best friend while you ate cookie dough ice cream straight from the container and marathoned all her favorite movies.

“Thank you for coming,” Carrie sniffled once you were safely tucked into the privacy of her bedroom.

“You know I’d do anything for you Car,” you replied honestly, pulling the ice cream out of the grocery bag and handing her one of the spoons you snagged from the kitchen earlier.

You settled down on the bed next to her, handing her the ice cream while taking the tv remote and beginning to flick through the various streaming services.

“What do you want to watch first?” You asked, looking away from the tv for a moment to look over at her.

You didn’t wait for an answer before turning on Mean Girls. Carrie and Nick had been on-again-off-again for long enough for this to become a routine for the two of you. You always started with Mean Girls, and then moved on to the rest of her comfort movies.

You laid back into the pillows after that, tossing a comforting arm around your friend’s shoulder. You stayed that way for the rest of the night, sharing the cookie dough ice cream and a variety of other snacks and occasionally talking.

It was bittersweet, you thought as Carrie laid curled up to your side as you lounged against her pillows, Clueless playing in the background and empty ice cream container long forgotten. On one hand, you were absolutely livid that Nick had broken Carrie’s heart once again but on the other, you couldn’t help the way your heart warmed when you looked down at the girl beside you and the intense desire to never let her go.

Alright so maybe you had a crush on your best friend, but even if it wouldn’t destroy your friendship you couldn’t tell her. She just got dumped and it would be beyond unfair to dump those feelings on her.

She’d fallen asleep sometime during the third movie and she looked so peaceful, no worries about stupid blond-haired boys in her dreams. You didn’t want to wake her up but you had a curfew to make and you knew she’d be pissed if you left without saying anything.

“Car, I have to go,” You whispered, shaking her lightly as the credits for Clueless rolled in the background.

“Please don’t go,” she pouted, wrapping an arm around you in an attempt to keep you there.

“My parents will kill me,” you said apologetically, pulling her arm away from you but holding onto her hand for a moment longer. “But I’ll be by your side all day at school and I can come over right after.”

Carrie nodded, looking up at you from her pillows as you stood from the bed, her hand still in yours.

“Thanks for being such a good friend,” she said sleepily, squeezing your hand before letting go completely.

You felt your heart drop along with her hand at the words but you shook off the disappointment. Your friendship with her was much more important than whatever feelings you might have.

___

As soon as you arrived at school the next day Carrie was glued to your side. As soon as you stepped onto the pavement of the parking lot she was swooping in, slipping her arm around yours.

“Good morning my bestest friend in the whole world,” she said cheerily, a smile plastered on her face.

You could tell it was all for show, however. You could see right through the exaggerated smile and haughty look, you knew her too well and for too long to fall for the persona she’d created for everyone else at school. She was still hurting and if you couldn’t fill the hole Nick had left in her heart then you’d at least do your best to help mend it.

“How’d you sleep?” You asked, using your free hand to sling your backpack over your shoulder.

Carrie shrugged, “Good I guess.”

You nodded silently as you walked arm-in-arm towards the doors. You noticed her hesitate when you reached the threshold of the building, afraid of what might lie inside the doors, but you didn’t say anything, merely turning to give her a reassuring smile before tilting your chin up and walking confidently through the doors. Carrie mimicked your show of strength, pushing her shoulders back and her chin up as she entered the school, fully embodying the appearance of the Queen Bee she’d made herself out to be.

Nothing seemed out of place as you walked through the halls to your lockers, crowds parted to let you through. From the outside, you and Carrie must’ve looked like the picture of poise and you could tell that was reassuring your friend. The façade wasn’t shattered until you were nearing your first class.

Carrie nearly froze when the two of you turned the corner to see Nick walking in the opposite direction. Rather than show weakness, she quickly shook it off, reaching out to lace her fingers through yours, letting your hands hang between you rather than keeping your elbows linked. You squeezed her hand gently as you steered her through the door of your English class and out of the Nick-infested hallways.

The rest of the day proceeded similarly, Carrie holding onto you either through linked arms or linked hands for support, especially if Nick was in the vicinity. The worst was music, the only class you didn’t sit with each other in since Carrie was a vocal student and you were a pianist. Fortunately, though, Mrs. Harrison decided today would be a good day to assign a duet project and you and Carrie were able to partner up. Before you knew it, the final bell was ringing and Carrie was practically dragging you to the parking lot, desperate to get as far away from the school as possible.

“So I was thinking we start with Legally Blonde, and then Bring It On, followed by Mamma Mia,” Carrie rambled off her movie list as you walked arm-in-arm to your cars.

You laughed slightly but nodded.

“Sounds good.”

You separated briefly and only to drive your cars to her house. Carrie linked your arms once more when you arrived, marching assuredly up the driveway. There was no falsity in the confidence she embodied in her own home, though she now also wore her vulnerability on her sleeve. You felt lucky that she trusted you enough to let her guards down, you got to see a different side of her than pretty much everyone else. Maybe that’s why you fell for her.

The rest of the afternoon and evening went similarly to yesterday, with the two of you snuggled up to each other talking through the movies. You’d both seen them so many times that you could practically recite them from memory.

You took it a step further when you got to Mamma Mia, you having pulled Carrie off the bed when Dancing Queen started. You danced around her room wildly as you sang through the rest of the songs in the movie until you were laughing too hard to breathe and your limbs felt heavy and you collapsed once more onto the bed.

“I wish I had what they have,” Carrie said mournfully as you watched Sam and Donna and Sophie and Sky celebrate their relationships.

“You’ll find it someday,” you said softly, trying to reassure her while also desperately trying not to picture her with someone else. You weren’t sure your heart could take it at that moment.

Carrie scoffed, rolling over to face you. “I’ll never find someone as good for me as you.”

“W-what?”

Carrie peered at you, a mixture of sadness and hope and something else you couldn’t determine.

“I wish I could find someone who’s as good for me as you are,” she repeated, switching up the phrasing as if that’s what you were struggling with, not the fact that this felt like some kind of confession of forbidden love.

“I- well… why not me?” You stuttered out, a burst of bravery you didn’t know you had in you pushing the words out of your mouth. You figured you never would have said it if you hadn’t been so caught off guard by her words.

“Y/N don’t be stupid, you’re not into girls,” Carrie huffed, starting to roll away from you but your arm shot out to grab hers, halting her movements.

“Caroline Wilson I have been in love with you for like two fucking years!”

“You what?!” She practically screeched, jumping up until she was sitting on her knees on the mattress, pulling you up until you were doing the same. “Why didn’t you say anything?”

“Because you had Nick and I couldn’t ruin our friendship,” you shrugged, your words coming out calm despite the pounding of your heart and the butterflies flapping around your stomach.

“I would’ve ditched Nick in a heartbeat if I’d known I could have you,” Carrie confessed and when you looked up she was much closer than you’d remembered. Your lips were mere inches apart, your noses nearly bumping each other. “Can I?” Carrie breathed out, voice barely audible over the pounding of your heartbeat in your ears.

You’d barely nodded when her lips were on yours, softer than you could’ve ever imagined and tasting slightly of her favorite strawberry lip balm that you’d seen her apply earlier.

“So does that mean you’ll be my girlfriend?” You asked quietly when you finally parted.

“Yes you idiot,” Carrie laughed, her smile the biggest and brightest you’d seen in days and suddenly you were being pulled into another kiss.

Beautiful mood board made by the lovely @bright-molina!!!

___

JATP Taglist: @meangirlsx @morganayennefertyrell @n0wornever

#jatpx5sos #jatp #jatp fic #julie and the phantoms #julie and the phantoms fic #carrie wilson #carrie wilson x reader #carrie wilson fic #erin writes

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wendystales · 3 years

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Memories - lrh (Chapter Fifteen)

Memories (also on Wattpad)

Chapter Fourteen ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ Chapter Sixteen

Marnie pov.

I walk into the record company, finding a very young guy at the front desk, probably the intern. Encumbered with phone calls and notes, I wait for him to finish everything before speaking. His lost eyes soon find me and he smiles sympathetically.

“Hi Marnie, Luke is in studio three.” he whispers quickly, getting back on the phone.

I smile in thanks, heading down the hallway he's pointed out. I didn't think it would be so easy. The noise coming from behind the door to studio three startles me. The boys are laughing and screaming so loud, it amazes me that no one came to complain.

I knock on the door twice, hard, to try to get their attention over that area. A guy in a cap opens the door, revealing a room with at least eight people inside.

Luke is the first to jump out of his chair, coming over to me, grinning hugely, pulling me into the room. Ash gets up too, following close behind.

“Sorry for interrupting, but I needed to talk to you.” I look at Luke, who agrees. I pull him out of the room as I hear Irwin complain.

"A disregard for my friendship. Before, she used to come here to see me, not to see you, you empty-headed bunch.”

"She never came to see you." Hood opposes.

I ignore the pre school fight, focusing on the tall blonde in front of me. I lean against the wall, letting him get closer.

Luke had spent Friday night with me, taking care of me. We also spent Saturday morning together, just existing on the couch. That was definitely a very good point for both of us and it really strengthened our relationship. It also didn't make him leave my thoughts, earning him the title of the cutest guy I know.

Never would Stephen do that to me, even because when I was bad he didn't even come close, not wanting to “catch my bad energy”.

“You forgot that at home.” I give his coat, trying to hide it was against my will deliver it so easily.

I saw the coat the second Hemmo left the house, but when the perfume enveloped me, I decided for my own good, to just keep it for a little while, spending day and night in it. Luke stares at me with a raised eyebrow before taking the coat from my hands, smiling.

“Funny, I really missed it, but yesterday, I saw it in your stories, so I didn't worry anymore.” I roll my eyes, feeling my cheeks heat up. "Let me enjoy that you still don't hate me today."

“Too late.” I interrupt him, biting my lip.

"I wonder if I can pick you up, so we can go to the Troubadour together."

The boys are playing there today, for the Friends of Friends event, and I was particularly excited, it would be the first time I would see them play live. “First time”.

I wrinkle my forehead and look around, pretending I was thinking about it. Luke looks at me in disbelief, holding back his laughter. I pout, shaking my head.

"I think you can! Yes, you can. I allow.” I press my lips together, wanting not to laugh.

“Oh God, you.” he shakes his head, looking away. I let out my laugh. "Can I pick you up at 7pm? I need to be at the Troubadour at least an hour before the show.”

“Of course! No problems. Go! Now I need to talk to Ash.” I push him back to the door.

“It's about my birthday, isn't it?” he opens an excited smile.

I dissolve my expression, wanting to hit him. Damn it, he knows. I feel the surprise party going straight down the drain, but I don't want to give in to it.

“No! The world doesn't revolve around you, Hemmings.” I cross my arm, teasing him.

“It's about my birthday! Alright, I'm going to pretend I don't know anything.” he takes two leaps into place happily.

“My God, I hate you.” I hide my face, sighing. I can't believe he screwed up his own surprise party.

“Hey.” I hear his voice close. I take my hands away from my face, finding his very close. His lips steal a kiss from me, quickly.

“Go away!” I pick up my bag, hitting him.

Luke walks into the studio laughing, yelling at Ash that I've been waiting. I walk around the hallway, wanting to wipe the stupid smile off my face. I hide my face again, returning to the scene that just happened about 50 times, at least.

“Say it!” Ash approaches.

“I hate him!” I point to the studio, taking a deep breath.

“Of course you do! And the sky is green. I can see how much you hate him, by that silly smile on your face.” Irwin raises an eyebrow.

"Don't make me use my purse against you too." I scare away the latest happenings, focusing on what mattered. "Do you have the ring?" he hands me a silver ring set with a black stone.

“Quickly, because he's already noticed he's gone.” I nod, still analyzing the jewelry.

"I'm going right now and tonight I'll return you at the Troubadour." I keep the piece in my bag. "All set for Friday?" he nodded. "You know he knows, don't you? How did he find out?”

“Behind that stupid face, he's smart sometimes.” I roll my eyes at my friend, laughing. “Seriously, if you pay attention, sometimes it feels like there's an elevator song playing in his head. Especially when he's standing staring at something.” I laugh when Ash decides to imitate Luke, staring blankly at the wall.

“You guys are terrible. Well, I'll be on my way, see you later.” I give a kiss on his cheek.

Thursday is Luke's birthday and I, more than anyone, want it to be a perfect day. Also, I want to give him a nice present that somehow doesn't involve my body, as I apparently did before.

Searching the internet, I found a store in east LA that sold some jewelry that I thought would be to his taste. I was going after a box with five rings and three necklaces, which looked like they were made for Luke.

If I could, I would advance the time, just to give the gift soon. I just want to see his face and hope he likes it the way I think it will.

I walk past reception, waving goodbye to the poor receptionist who still seemed tangled up with the phones. Interns.

"Marnie?" I turn around when I hear my name. The man in the dress shirt, who had just passed me, approaches smiling.

“Yes?” I look at him confused.

“Of course, you don't remember. Sorry! I'm John, 5sos’ tour manager. How are you?”

“Oh! I'm great, thanks.” I soften my posture. Being Luke's girlfriend, I must have seen John a thousand times.

"It was quite a scare. I'm relieved you're okay.” I smile gratefully at the concern. "Would you have a minute for us to talk?"

Luke pov.

I lean against the car, waiting for Marnie to get out. I take a deep breath, trying not to let the anxiety get the better of me. We've practically spent the weekend together, we're getting closer, she's letting her guard down with every second we spend together, letting me fight to win her back, and yet here I am, shaking like a stick, as if it was the first time we went out together.

"Pathetic!" I say to myself, not accepting being like this.

We dated for two years, it's not like she was a stranger. I know her better than she does. I already know everything she likes, how she's going to react to every move I make and even then, I'm terrified of doing something wrong.

When I realized I was falling in love again with every detail of her, I didn't think that insecurity would come back with it. In fact, I thought it would be better than the first time, that I would be more confident and secure. But it’s Marnie I'm talking about, she eliminates any security and logic in me.

I twirl the little ring through my fingers, noticing how cold and sweaty my hand was. Yes, that human being not five feet tall, can mess with me.

I hear the door unlock, prompting me to put the ring away quickly. Marnie steps in front of me, walking around with open arms. I give her the dumbest smile.

“So? Am I OK?” she stretches out her Friends of Friends hoddie proudly.

"You look spectacular." I sigh, feeling my heart race.

"Not really, it was a little old thing that was in the back of my closet." she laughs, sounding like her mother last week. I blink a few times, trying to disguise the stupid face I must be making.

“You really look fantastic.” I say before holding her body against mine. I sink my nose into her neck, taking in all of her scent, letting into my bloodstream, fueling the butterflies in my stomach, along with the touch of her skin against mine, even with the clothes between us.

I ease my grip, releasing her, but her body remains pinned to mine and she pulls me back, squeezing me tighter. The action takes me by surprise. Not that I didn't want to hold her, I could live the rest of my life here, in her arms. But that indicated something was wrong.

“Is it everything OK?” I whisper, overcome with worry. Marnie just nods, affirming, or rather lying to me. She's not fine.

Her body pulls away and I see a sad glint in her eyes. My body tenses, seeing that fake smile take her lips, unlike the one she gave just minutes ago. My face hardens, realizing she was acting.

“Marnie…” I start my speech to say that she could tell me anything, but she interrupts me.

“We're late, we need to go. Let's go!” she dodges around me, heading for the car door.

I sigh, seeing that I won't be able to get anything out of her today. As far as I know, she doesn't want to spoil the night and will hold it off until the end. I hate when she does that. Keep everything to herself, without the slightest need, we can share the problem and even the pain, that's what a couple does, they support each other.

We left the building, taking the expressway to get there faster. Marnie babbles about her excitement to see the band play live. Normally, I love to hear and see her talk too much. Seeing her eyes flashing rapidly, her tongue getting tangled up in some difficult word, or seeing her start to laugh before she can get the funny part out. Her clumsy hands, moving quickly until she managed to drop something.

But now, I can only move my head automatically, still with my mind on her bad performance from before. Until this morning everything was fine, she was excited and happy. Until minutes ago she was happy. But now it's just a facade covering something I can't quite make out what it is.

She didn't argue with Leah, because the gossip didn't get through to me, and I'm sure Noah would have let me know by now, so we can set the process for the two of them to make up. I didn't see anything on the internet that could have messed with her. Unless something happened during the photo shoot.

"Luke?" I look quickly at her, who was looking at me amused. “Are you OK?” now she was the one asking.

“Yeah! Sorry, I daydreamed a bit. Thinking about everything I need to do getting there. What did you say?” I try to push my worry away, focusing solely on her, which is what I cared about.

"I asked if you're going to play my song?" my cheeks heat up. She knows?

"What song?" I question carefully.

“The one made for me, Amnesia.” I stop at the light, staring at her mischievous smile. This one is not fake.

"You didn't make that joke." I say disappointed. Marnie laughs beside me. “I refuse to accept that you made such a horrible joke. Marnie, you were not like that.” I shake my head.

“It was good, you can't deny it.” she pulls my hand into her lap. I freeze from the movement, feeling my skin tingle.

“It was terrible and it insults me somehow. I taught you wonderful jokes.” her fake, forced laugh catches my attention as I accelerate.

"I hear your jokes are horrible." I look quickly at her, who's sitting sideways, her head leaning back against the bench. Shit, she is so beautiful.

“This is a huge lie.” her laugh fills the car again.

The mood gets better the rest of the way. I still have my mind hammering at that moment, but I leave it for later, as she probably would. We entered through the back of the Troubadour, meeting everyone in the hallway and dressing room.

I hold her hand, pulling her close to me as we walk into the crowd. As I expected, M&Ms become the center of everything, everyone wants to say hello to her and see if she really was okay. I leave her for a few seconds in everyone's company, pulling Ashton and Leah aside.

"Do you guys know if something happened to Marnie?" They deny it. "Didn't you discuss?"

“No! In fact, I'm missing it.” Leah turns her face away, watching M&Ms laugh among the crowd. “What there was?” she looks at me again. I resume the scene for the two of them.

“She was fine when she left the record company.” Ash reinforces my thinking.

"I didn't know anything about today's photo shoot." Leah adds. "You don't think Stephen might have shown up again, do you? Or even that bitch? Bethany?” I shake my head.

Stephen had to be really, really dumb to show up to Marnie after she said she knew everything. And Bethany never tried to talk to her after what happened, I doubt she would try now.

“I'm sure she doesn't want to say anything yet so as not to spoil the night, we know how she is.” Leah rolls her eyes, she also hates such an attitude. “But later on, she might tell what happened and right away it will be with one of the three of us.”

"If she says anything later, I'll talk to you." Hastings warns.

I thank the brunette, who quickly rejoins Marnie. I watch her extend her still-in-a-cast arm for them to sign in the few empty spaces.

I quickly prepare for the show so I can stay with her for a few more seconds before taking the stage. I position myself behind her, who was sitting on the arm of the sofa, letting her body lean against mine. I watch for her hand moving up to her shoulder, placing it under mine. I drop a kiss to her pink hair, watching her lean her head back further, looking up at me with a beautiful smile.

Shit, I'm so in love with her.

Minutes after a lot of mess, we got ready for the stage. Marnie comes to me before running to their place. I adjust the guitar, opening my arms to her, who comes bouncing.

"How much have you had to drink?" I ask, laughing, looking at her rosy cheeks.

“Just a little.” It hangs around my neck. “I promise not to pick a fight with anyone." she laughs.

“Thanks! I feel more relaxed.”

“Good show!” she wish me, stealing a kiss like I did earlier.

Marnie escapes my arms like sand, running to the door and running away hand in hand with Leah. I rub my face hard, not accepting how she can move me so much.

I approach the guys, doing our circle like every time we go on stage.

The lights blind me for a few seconds and soon I can see that sea of people ecstatic to see us there. Ashton takes the lead, thanking everyone in advance for their presence and explaining why we're there.

I position myself at the microphone, ready to start singing Youngblood. Before I give the cue, I look upstairs, seeing her cotton candy hair watching me with a mixture of admiration and sadness. I blink at her, who smiles lightly and without strength. I play the chord, trying to focus my attention on the show and the new song I'm going to sing for her next, but all that goes around my head is: What's going on, Marnie?

OMG! Luke's new music video, am I right?

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malumsmermaid · 4 years

Text

Sweet Dream or a Beautiful Nightmare?

Happy Halloween everyone! This is the halloween event fic for the collab discord!

I chose the prompt of “Person A sells their soul to Person B, a crossroads demon,” for Mashton.

Word Count: 4.6k

Pairing: Demon Michael x Ashton

Description: So I made this an alternate timeline. 5SOS is still 5SOS, but, they don’t really take off until after Ashton is already 18, and Ashton joins the band much earlier than Michael does, for the sake of the prompt and my plans.

Warnings: Demons, mentions of death

Event Masterlist My Masterlist Buy Me a Ko-Fi

Ashton took a deep breath, giving the book and bag of supplies sitting in his passenger seat an anxious glance. He’d bought the spell book from a local used bookstore months ago, assuring his two friends that it was just as a joke. This week however, curiosity and desperation took over, leading him to dig through his closet until he found the note-laden spell book, still in the bag it was placed in the day it was purchased.

He steeled himself, grabbing the book and bag and turning off his car, climbing out and taking sure steps towards the intersection of the streets. He grabbed chalk from the plastic bag, trying not to look too long at the other ingredients for the summoning. He set the book next to him on the ground, shivering as it fell open to the exact page he needed. “Okay Ash,” he breathed, “get yourself together and let’s do it, for the boys. Six guitarists in six months is fucking ridiculous.”

He dug in the cloth bag for the box of chalk, taking a piece out and walking to the center of the intersection. He kneeled on the pavement, focusing on the crossroads he was at mentally as he drew out the symbol illustrated in the spell book. He knew that Luke, Calum and himself had a great fit for their band, the only thing they were lacking in their balance was the right guitarist. He had a feeling that if they didn’t find another guitarist soon, and if this seventh guitarist wasn’t the missing piece they’d been searching for, the two younger boys may lose hope and give up. He maintained focus on his goal as he meticulously followed the instructions laid out in the book.

Everything completed he took a step back, eyes closed as he focused on what he needed. When he opened his eyes again, there was a cloaked figure in front of him, orange glowing eyes showing from beneath a hood. Ashton stood his ground, even with the lit candles flickering out, staring the orange eyes down as he waited for the crossroads demon to speak. Ashton thought he could make out a smirk on the demon’s lips as he sized up the eighteen year old in front of him.

“Was this just some dare from your friends or do you actually need me for something, kid?” The demon’s voice was low, almost bored.

Ashton squared his shoulders, standing up straighter and sticking his chin out, pushing down even the slightest bit of fear. “I truly believe my band has a good chance of making it in our field, we just are failing desperately at finding the right guitarist.”

The demon blinked, “You’re willing to sell your soul to a demon...for a guitarist. Not the success of the band, just the guitarist.”

Ashton nodded, sighing, “We’ve been through six guitarists in as many months. I’m here for the perfect guitarist for our band. The success will follow from that.”

“Are you sure about that?” the demon asked, fingers fiddling with the large sleeves of the cloak. “This is really what you want to sell your soul for, no little extra guarantee that it will actually work out on top of this guitarist?”

Ashton looked at the ground, silent for a moment, before looking up into the glowing eyes through his fringe, “It really is. I think my bandmates may give up if this next guitarist doesn’t work out, and I don’t want that to happen. Besides, if it had been one of their ideas, I would’ve made sure I was the one to do it. They don’t deserve that.”

“And you do?” The demon retorted, though his voice took on a concerned note.

Ashton paused, eyebrows pulling together before shaking his head. He reached his hand across the sigil he’d drawn in the road, “Do we have a deal?”

The demon took in Ashton’s unwavering position, his refusal to back down, convinced that this was the measure he had to take for his friends. “Deal.” The demon responded, grasping Ashton’s hand in his own. “Guitarist lucky number seven will be at your next rehearsal,” he stated before turning around and getting ready to disappear back into the darkness, “Can’t wait to see how this one turns out.” He muttered to himself.

Ashton gathered what remained of his ingredients, taking them to the car and grabbing his thermos full of water, rinsing the chalk off of the roadway before finally getting back in his car and going home.

~~~~~

Two days later Ashton was setting up his drum kit in Luke’s house. He was anxiously tightening a wing nut to a cymbal when the doorbell rang. Luke frowned, putting his guitar down and going to answer the door. Ashton could hear Luke talking to someone and hummed, continuing his set up. Soon Luke returned, another boy following behind him. “This is Michael,” the blonde started, getting both Ashton and Calum’s attention. “He told me that he heard from a friend that we were looking for another guitarist?”

Luke’s blue eyes were questioning, wondering if his other two bandmates had spoken to anyone about the recent opening. Calum looked just as confused as Luke and Ashton whirred through some excuse he could make up. “I uh, may have mentioned it to one of the people at the barbecue I went to after practice the other night. Didn’t think they’d actually know someone looking for a band though, guess I was wrong.”

Luke simply shrugged and nodded, turning back to Michael, still hanging behind him. Ashton caught the guitarist’s eye and...did he just wink at him? No, he had to have imagined it. Michael’s brown hair fell in his face and he crouched on the floor, pulling his guitar out of the case and tuning it, knowing that the band would need to hear him play before anything was decided.

Ashton finished setting up his kit and took a seat in front of the Hemmings’ Christmas tree. Calum was on one side of him, fidgeting with the shoulders of his tank top, Luke on the other looking at Michael. He’d pulled his guitar strap over his shoulder, guitar hanging on his back as he fidgeted with the strands of his hair before stepping up to Calum’s keyboard. He took a deep breath, calming his nerves before he started playing the opening notes to Nightmare by Avenged Sevenfold. He swung his guitar around and began to play. He leaned into the microphone and began singing the lyrics as well and Ashton thought he caught another furtive glance and a smirk from him.

Luke got to his feet halfway through the song, stopping Michael. “Dude, if you can get along with the three of us as well as you can play guitar, I’d say you’re in. What do you guys think?”

Calum spoke up from his spot, “Yeah, hang out with us some after practice today and same at the next and if we’re all getting along, I’d say it’s going to work out.”

Ashton simply nodded his agreement with the other two boys and got to his feet, going to settle behind his drum set, ready to start practice. Michael was beaming as he moved to the other side of the living room stage, looking at the tabs Luke was showing him for one of the original songs that he wanted to work on today.

~~~~~~~

Michael blended into the group with ease, Ashton and Calum welcoming him in before the first rehearsal with the new guitarist was even over. Ashton brushed off his apprehension about the looks that Michael had been giving him, he was a nice guy and there was no way he could know about the deal the drummer had made. By his third rehearsal, Michael had come up with a name for the group, the other three boys having been struggling with that for a long time, especially with the more pressing issue of keeping a guitarist on the forefront of their minds.

Soon, 5 Seconds of Summer were posting more videos to Luke’s youtube channel and playing more local shows. With Michael fitting in so well with the group they were now working harder than ever before. After a few months, they finally got a call from a label. They worked out the details with their parents and began touring around the country, and then across the world.

The years went on and the band’s success continued to grow, multiple albums debuting at number 1 and playing larger and larger venues. During one tour Ashton dyed his hair black, posting a picture in front of a window, captioning it “feeling like a demon again.” Michael was in another room, and he let out a low chuckle when he read the caption, double tapping the photo and carrying on.

It was coming up on ten years since Michael joined the band, ten years since Ashton made a deal with the crossroads demon. He wasn’t really in the mood to celebrate his 28th birthday when it came along, knowing in five months, he would no longer be himself, if he was even still here. They finished recording their sixth album and Ashton went back to Australia for a month, spending time with his family. When he got back to LA in mid-September he began pulling away from his friends, only responding to band related texts immediately, sometimes taking three days to reply to even Calum when he tried to check in. He tried to say that he was working on a second solo album during the lull before they had to start promoting the new record, but he knew that would only hold them off for so long.

By October Ashton’s nightmares of the orange-eyed demon he’d been having from time to time since they met were now nightly. The first week of November he just gave up on sleeping entirely, throat raw from waking up screaming as the cloaked demon dragged him out of bed and down through his bedroom floor into darkness.

At the end of the week without sleep, Ashton once again found himself spending the whole day sitting on his couch, staring intently at a blank page of his journal. The room grew dark around him as the sun sank in the sky. The last few golden rays travelled through the windows when he recognized the sound of Michael knocking on his door. Before he could get up or even respond to the sound, the door opened, Michael walking straight in. Ashton wearily raised his head, looking at his friend standing in the doorway to the living room. “You look soulless.” Michael said, “Trust me, I would know.”

Ashton shook his head, placing his elbows on his knees and leaning his head on his hands. “What do you need Mike?”

“I know why you’ve been avoiding us, pushing everyone away.”

Ashton let out a dark chuckle. “Sure. Take a guess.” He muttered, keeping his head down.

Michael stepped further into the room, boot stomping on the hardwood. “Ashton. Look at me.”

There was something different to Michael’s voice, and Ashton found himself unable to disobey. He sat up, turning to look at the blonde and gasped. The same glowing orange eyes that had been haunting his nightmares were staring straight at him, coming from Michael’s face. Ashton scrambled backwards until his back was against the far arm of the sofa, the guitar that had been next to him dropping to the floor. Michael frowned, stepping forward, picking up the instrument from the ground, checking it and carefully beginning to tune it again while Ashton searched for words.

“Y-you!” He choked out, “Get out of Michael!”

The demon sighed, eyes fading back to green as he fiddled with the guitar. He snapped his fingers, turning on some lamps. “Ashton,” he said, voice soft, “I’ve been Michael the whole time, from before you came forth to make the deal to now.”

Ashton shook his head, “So I wasn’t being paranoid about the looks you were giving me when you tried out for the band.”

Michael chuckled, nodding. “I was sort of hoping you’d notice much sooner. I was just drawn in by your confidence that all you needed was a guitarist. And you were right.”

Ashton was still pressed against the arm of the sofa, so Michael stayed where he was, tenderly cradling Ashton’s guitar, letting him set his boundaries, letting him figure out how he felt. Finally, Ashton shifted, actually looking at Michael, no longer pinning himself to the end of the couch. When he spoke, his voice was raw, “It’s just...god, Michael. I’ve trusted you with things I wouldn’t tell anyone else. I’ve been vulnerable with you...I--I’m in fucking love with you.” Ashton’s scoff turned into a disbelieving laugh. “I would fall in love with a demon, makes so much more sense now.”

“Hey now,” Michael said, voice soft as he moved to sit next to Ashton, hand resting on the drummer’s thigh. Ashton didn’t pull away and Michael carried on, “I gave up my original job out of curiosity after we met. The past ten years I’ve spent with you...and the band...I’ve been closer to my old mortal life, old feelings, than I have been in centuries.”

“What do you mean?” Ashton asked, hazel eyes meeting green.

“I mean, I wasn’t always a crossroads demon, if that’s what you’re asking. In my old life I was a travelling minstrel, and one day, I performed the same ceremony you did, summoned the demon who would be my master in order to make a deal.”

Ashton tilted his head, understanding crashing over him and he nodded, curls bouncing. “Did you make the deal you expected me to make? Asking for success and fame?”

Michael chuckled, “No, Ashton, I assumed that’s where you were going because I’ve been a crossroads demon for four hundred years. The number of times I’ve heard that request in the past fifty years alone...it’s not a hard assumption to make.”

Ashton nodded, quietly waiting to hear Michael’s story. Michael hummed, leaning back into the couch as he began. “It was a festival, celebrating the arrival of spring. We were playing in the market square and a boy caught my eye. I later learned he was the son of the lord and lady of that region and doubted I had much chance. But I had to have him. So, that night, I made a deal and within the next fortnight, I was a regular in his bed.

His parents knew nothing of the matter and within two years he was married to the daughter of some duchess, but we had an understanding with her. She had little interest in lying with her husband anyway, her heart laid with one of the maids who helped her dress.

Much too soon my time came and I became a demon. I stopped aging, learned my trade, and began my work. I still spent nights with my beloved, but he continued aging, and soon, at least to me, it became clear that he couldn’t keep up with me anymore. I held his hand as he crossed over. He and his wife never had children, even for the sake of appearances, and so their line ended with their deaths. He chose to be reborn, I check in on him once every century, but I always miss when he would be my apparent age. The two times that I caught him in his later years, his soul recognized me for who I was and we had long talks when I came by, but nothing more.”

Ashton stared, nodding as he listened to Michael’s century’s old tale, of who he had been before Ashton was even a thought. “H-have you found him in this century?” He voiced.

Michael chuckled, “Yes, I have. As much as you remind me of him, you aren’t him. No, he’s the man you’ve known as my dad the past few years. Hate that I had to put that sort of spell on him, but I needed a cover. But, like I said, my timing has been off, probably the curse of being a demon, can’t keep up with the man I loved.”

Ashton nodded slowly. “But you know why I can’t tell anyone why I’ve been pulling away. Luke and Calum wouldn’t understand. I...I don’t want to hurt them.”

Michael hummed, pulling Ashton to rest on his chest. “I know, but I have a plan. I’ll get us both out of this. But first you need to get some sleep.”

Ashton wanted to protest, to explain his nightmares, but the warmth of Michael’s body and the song beginning to fill his ears were making his limbs heavy, eyelids drooping.

~~~~~~

Ashton awoke in his dark room, feeling more rested than he had in months. He was dimly aware of the other body in his bed, but opted to continue to lay still, see if sleep would claim him again, unsure how long he had been out. “Good morning, sleeping beauty,” Michael murmured, shifting to face Ashton.

Ashton didn’t jump, he wasn’t as foggy as he would normally expect upon waking up. He still remembered his conversation with Michael before he’d fallen asleep, and he still felt comforted by Michael’s presence, despite now knowing the truth. “How long was I out?” He hummed, turning to look at Michael’s silhouette.

Michael shifted, picking up his phone to check the time. “So it was like almost 7pm when you fell asleep the other night, then all of yesterday, I cleaned up the house by the way, and now it’s 5am the next day. Thought you were gonna wake up a few times during the day, but you just rolled over after mumbling something.”

Ashton blinked as he tried to take that in. He didn’t think that he’d ever slept that long, even at his most jet-lagged or exhausted following a long tour. “Makes sense, it’s been so long since I’ve gotten any sleep, since I’ve slept without any nightmares.”

Michael nodded, tentatively reaching out. Ashton moved closer, letting Michael place a comforting hand on his shoulder. “Looked up tickets, got us a flight home tomorrow afternoon, figured you’d be awake by then. Do you wanna get Luke and Calum together for lunch or dinner today and just have a boy’s night, have a heart to heart?”

“But we can’t really tell them all of it, can we?”

“Up to you, I don’t mind them knowing, my plan includes shrugging off my old job, getting rid of these guys.”

Even knowing the truth, the sight of Michael’s glowing orange eyes still made Ashton flinch. “Let’s just plan getting together today, and decide what we’re going to tell them when we get there. I’m going to go do some yoga, stretch out after being in bed so long.” Ashton got out of bed after Michael nodded, stretching out his back as he walked around the bed. “How about dinner? Then we can come back here and talk more.”

Michael agreed, “I’ll send them a text later to get everything planned, doubt they’d appreciate a 5am text.”

~~~~~~

Ashton ended up deciding against telling Luke and Calum the full story, since it sounded like Michael was planning on no longer being a demon by the end of the week, and he still wasn’t sure he wanted to explain how Michael had really become part of the band, by Ashton making a deal with the demon. They’d been nothing but supportive, reminding him that they’re always there if he needs to talk. Michael was sitting next to him, occasionally giving him gentle touches and reassuring looks as he explained some of what he’d been going through.

Ashton slept the whole flight back to Australia the next day, only waking during a spot of turbulence to find Michael had rested his head on Ashton’s shoulder, also asleep. Once they’d landed, Michael rented a car and they went to get dinner before checking into the hotel. “Let’s get some rest,” Michael said after he set his bag down, taking a seat on the bed. “Then tomorrow night we’ll go back to where we first met and get this reversed, neither of us will have anything to worry about anymore.”

Ashton nodded, and both men took turns getting ready for bed. There were two beds in the room, but Ashton looked over at Michael anxiously. “Can I sleep next to you? I...I don’t want to be alone in a bed again.”

Michael nodded and Ashton flipped off the lamp by the bed he’d originally claimed, crawling in next to Michael. He moved close to him, scared to be touching him, still not entirely sure where they stood. Michael however, closed the distance after he turned off the lamp, pressing his body closer and throwing an arm over Ashton’s shoulder.

The pair slept soundly through the night, spending the day laying low, having lunch and dinner out at quieter local cafes. As the last rays of sunlight disappeared below the horizon, full moon rising higher in the sky, Michael drove out to the crossroads where Ashton had summoned him just a month shy of ten years ago. He pulled over, reaching into the backseat for the bag he’d brought with him. Ashton followed him to the center of the intersection, watching as Michael began the summoning ceremony Ashton had followed, but in reverse order. The asphalt swallowed up the ingredients as Michael threw them down, the demon chanting in an ancient language as he circled the ground. He traced glowing orange runes into the road.

Once there was a glowing circle surrounding the runes, Michael stepped back, arms open wide as he continued chanting, Ashton hesitantly stepping forward to stand at his side. Michael fell silent as before them appeared a figure far more terrifying than anything Ashton’s nightmares had conjured. Ashton was petrified, rooted to the spot. Michael gave him a glance before looking back at the entity before them. “Hey Cain, been a minute. Could you do human form, for the sake of my best friend here?”

The figure began to shrink, swirling shadows of dark fog turning to flesh and animal skin clothing, terrifying features morphing to human. “Cain?” Ashton squeaked, “Like Cain and Abel, Cain? Like…”

Michael simply nodded, “Told him about 150 years ago that he owed me a massive favor, now I’m cashing in.”

Cain snorted, now fully human, leaning on a wooden club. “I have existed for millenia, young minstrel, that may as well have been yesterday.”

Michael simply rolled his eyes, carrying on. “Look, you owe me big time and that’s what matters. Ash owes me his soul and his day is coming up, but I don’t want it anymore. I’ve spent the last ten years with Ashton and our bandmates and I’ve been more in touch with my mortal side than I’ve been since my beloved died the first time. After watching him die that first time, and then several times after that, I’m done. I have a new love and I can’t go through that again, watch him age and die. And none of that redemption myth stuff that goes around. I want to be mortal, I want to grow old for the first time in my entire existence, and I want to do that with Ashton.”

Ashton blinked, staring at Michael before he turned to look at Cain, who was deep in thought over Michael’s request. “That definitely is well within your right to request, and fills my debt to you without leaving you in debt to me...well thought out, minstrel.”

Michael’s face remained neutral and Cain held his hands out on either side of him. In his right hand, a scroll with what Ashton recognized as his signature at the bottom, in his left, a glowing ball of light. Cain released the ball of light, which began to float toward Michael as the scroll tore in two and burst into flame. “The deal is complete.” Cain stated, disappearing into shadow as the ball of light reached Michael, floating into his chest.

As soon as the light touched Michael’s chest, he collapsed onto the pavement, Ashton gasping and rushing to his side. Shadows poured from Michael’s eyes, nose, mouth and ears, sinking into the ground. Ashton crouched on the road, holding Michael’s head in his lap as the last of the shadows trickled out and faded away. The blonde’s eyelids slowly fluttered, finally blinking open fully. Ashton stared down at him, an extra glimmer of life showing in Michael’s green eyes that Ashton didn’t think he’d ever seen before. “Ash,” Michael croaked, trying to push himself up, but Ashton firmly pushed his shoulders back down.

“You just got blasted back by that bright thing, you need to chill for a moment.” He stated, hands staying on Michael’s shoulders.

Michael remained still, smiling up at Ashton. “It was my soul, my original soul, the one I signed over,” Michael whispered, “I can feel it.” He paused, then his eyes widened, “Do I look fucking ancient now?” He gasped.

Ashton chuckled, shaking his head, “No, you look like Michael, the same Michael I’ve known for the past ten years, just a little more soul behind your eyes.”

Michael rolled his eyes at the joke before looking up at the stars. “I meant it, when I said I wanted to grow old with you.”

“I know. I do too, I’m glad we have that option now.”

Michael smiled and they sat there quietly until Ashton felt that Michael had recovered, finally getting to their feet and driving back to the hotel. They spent the rest of the week in Australia, Cain’s deal hadn’t undone Michael’s spell on his parents, and both he and Ashton were glad of that, visiting with both their families while they were there.

Once they were back in LA, Michael began moving his things into Ashton’s house. They had dinner with Luke and Calum, and the other two men could tell that something had changed between their friends, but didn’t push it. They knew that they’d be told when Michael and Ashton were ready.

Months later, Michael and Ashton were in their garden, sitting around the fire pit. They’d told Calum and Luke about their relationship at New Years, to which Luke yelled “Finally!” They’d all laughed and hugged before staring into the sky as fireworks exploded across the city, well ahead of midnight.

Tonight was the last night of peace before they were set to go back into the studio. Ashton cuddled closer to Michael on the bench, lazily poking at the burning logs with the hook. “Y’know,” he whispered, “I feel like, if we were both human the whole time we’ve known each other, I’d still offer you my soul.”

Michael glanced at him, green eyes wide and eyebrows raised. Ashton giggled, dropping the metal rod to the grass and leaning up and giving Michael a kiss.

“Like in the I’m totally in love with you way, you worry wart.” He said. “I trust you with my heart and every bit of my being. I know that you won’t hurt me.”

Michael hummed, smiling at Ashton, watching the flames dance in his hazel eyes. “You know what?” He said after a couple of minutes, “I’d give you my soul too.” Michael tore his gaze from Ashton for a moment, sticking his skewer into the flames, watching the marshmallow goo that was still stuck to the metal blacken and drip into the fire. “Feels a lot better this way.” He observed, “With my first love I signed over my soul to get it, but to you, I’d give it freely.”

“That’s how it’s supposed to be.” Ashton whispered.

Michael nodded, dipping his head for another kiss. “I love you Ashton Irwin.”

“And I you, Michael Clifford.”

Tag List: @irwinkitten @calpops @goth5sos @wildflowergrae @talkfastromance4 @maluminspace @notinthesameguey @superbloomirwin @sexgodashton @castaway-cashton @treatallwithkindness @theyorthemrecords @another-lonely-heart @ghostofmashton @opheliaaurora23 @loxerofmine @youngblood199456 @megz1985 @strawberriesonsummer

Slash Tag List: @tigerteeff

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#michael clifford #ashton irwin #mashton #michael clifford angst #ashton irwin angst #demon!michael #mashton angst #michael clifford 5 seconds of summer #michael clifford 5sos #ashton irwin 5 seconds of summer #ashton irwin 5sos #michael 5 seconds of summer #ashton 5 seconds of summer #michael 5sos #ashton 5sos #michael clifford fluff #ashton irwin fluff #mashton fluff

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falling-fineline · 3 years

Text

Native of mine you’re just my kind

(A Cake one shot)

Title and lyrics from “Lonely Hearts” by 5SOS and some inspiration from Ashton’s breakdown of CALM that he did for #1yearofCALM.

Summary: Distance makes the heart grow fonder, or so they say. What they don’t tell you is that it also exhaustingly lonely.

Warnings: smut and fluff! You’ve been warned!

can also be found on ao3!

Our house on fire

We’re burning

We dance inside

You’re hurting

If you leave me in the morning

I’ll have such a

Such a lonely heart

“I’m only gone for a week to see the family, Luke. Not moving back there forever. Plus, it’s my fourth day here so there’s technically four more days until you see me again. There’s no need to bring out that pout of yours, pet.” Calum rolls his brown eyes but smiles fondly at how childish his boyfriend is being right now.

Luke pouts for a second longer at the screen, then a small grin breaks the pout.

The blond loved these facetimes they have. There were no verbal promises but they’ve been facetiming at least twice a day, sometimes more. Mostly about silly things, most calls that don’t last more than 5 minutes. But these little nuggets of seeing calum’s really are the sole thing that’s Luke got looking forward to every day since Calum’s been gone. Luke won’t admit it to himself, and he thinks that Calum has caught on but just doesn’t say anything about it, but most of the calls are from Luke, and it’s whenever he gets a spike of ice cold fear that he calls Calum. An irrational fear, he knows, that calum’s going to stay in Aus, and not come back, essentially breaking up with him.

Aside from walking Petunia around the block every morning and night, Luke hasn’t doesn’t anything else other than lying around in bed, waiting for Calum to call him.

A pretty sad sounding existence, he knows. But ever since Calum left to visit his family in Australia a few days ago, luke’s been spiraling. He had sensed the his mental fragility settling in when he said goodbye to Calum at the airport and his mood has had a downward trajectory ever since. Luke went from quarantining with Calum ever since they came back from tour, seeing Calum every day, to suddenly not seeing him. This has thrown his head into a pitiful sad loop.

“Luke, you still with me, love? I know it’s late over there in LA but you called me.” A light chuckle rang out from Luke’s phone, in his hands as he laid on his side in bed.

“I just… couldn’t sleep. Wanted to see your stupid face again.”

Luke actually hadn’t slept for more than 2-3 hours every night ever since Calum left. This morning, Luke woke up, head in a hazy state, and just sat out on their balcony, staring at absolutely nothing. Begging to feel the sun that’s shining on him, the warm hug she would have beared for him. Anything but this dark pit that regenerated out of thin air, in his chest, that seeped into his bones during the night Calum left and he hasn’t felt a thing in days.

Calum sees through Luke right away. It’s as if their souls were grown in the same origin, or something. Calum’s the only one that takes one look at luke and instantly reads him like an open book. Eager to read every word, every sentence, meticulous in not missing any clues along the way.

“Luke, you can be honest with me. This is your 5th call ever since I woke up and I’ve only been for 6 hours. I’m not saying to call me less, but today’s been a lot, huh? How have you been feeling?” calum’s concerned brown orbs search Luke’s through the screen, trying to see any minute change in the blond’s features that would give him away.

Luke closes his eyes for a moment, thinking of a suitable answer. He readjusts on the bed so he’s sitting up against the headboard. The younger lad had been so caught up in his head, wallowing in his sadness, he hadn’t really checked in with how he was feeling. Luke’s speak is thoughtful when he speaks.

“ive been feeling… lonely. Nothing new to me, nothing new to you.” A dry chuckle leaves the blond’s mouth and he see’s his boyfriend readjust in his own bed, mimicking Luke’s position. Calum’s eyes are filled with concern for the blond, a frown on his lips.

“now what have we talked about using humour to minimise how you’re feeling? Remember, for me to understand how you’re feeling, you gotta be honest with me, especially with how you feel.”

“I just hope that you’re missing me half as much as I’m missing you right now, cal.” Tears begin to form in the blond’s eyes, making his vision of Calum a misty one. But he continues on with how he truly feels. “Like, my heart hurts whenever you’re not here with me. I’ve got such a lonely heart without you here, cal.” A choked sob escapes out of the younger lad’s lips. He’s quick to wipe his tears with his hoodie sleeve before he looks like a right mess in front of his boyfriend.

“Oh, pet. Don’t cry. If anything, I do miss you, so, so, much. My chest can barely hold myself together. Every song reminds me of you and I’ve been listening to my music nonstop without you here with me. Mali keeps making fun of me cuz I’m glued to my phone, chatting with you all day long.” A wet grin appears on Luke’s lips then, reveling in the feeling of being missed. Of being thought about. Of feeling wanted.

Interest grows in Luke’s as he watches Calum innocently lick his lips. A low groan comes out of Luke’s mouth as he sinks into the bedframe, sinking deeper into his beige hoodie, his hood flipping flat on his blond locks.

“oh, I know those eyes whenever I see them. You in the mood right now, Hemmings?” Luke blushes even when he sees Calum strip out of his black calm sweatshirt through his screen, revealing a number of scattered tattoos all over his abdomen and arms. Luke drools at the thought of what comes next.

Luke begins to play with his growing bulge that’s beginning to come alive in his briefs, causing the camera to shake a bit. Calum noticed the movement and smirks.

“Are you touching yourself right now, babe? Is me being shirtless causing you to become hot and bothered, my boy?” just to seemingly directly add to Luke’s erection and to the mental wanking log he has of visuals of Calum, Calum flexes his tattooed arm for the camera, muscles seemingly bulging out of his skin.

Luke moans in luau of responding, one hand starts the task of getting his dick out of his briefs and one hand holding the phone steady. He moves his camera back a bit, revealing his angry red cock that glistens at the tip with precome. Calum’s whistles lowly at seeing his boyfriend’s big cock.

Luke overtly stares at calum’s tattooed arm. The way the 5 o’clock shadows are casted on his muscles, clinging to every curve and jutted out vein. The blond fantasizes that it’s calum’s hand that’s jerking himself off right now, arm pumping up and down, muscles working overtime to get Luke to his climax.

Luke’s eyes become hooded eyelashes fluttering as he feels the familiar warmth coil itself in his abdomen, close to release. Mouth hanging open, Calum doesn’t think Luke realizes the soft continuous “ah ah ah’s” that are leaking out of his mouth as he feels his orgasm building. Small tears escape his eyes with how good Luke feels as he imagines it’s his boyfriend’s thumb that goes over the tip of his leaking cock, sliding his precome over his slick dick. At one point during their FaceTime, Luke had stopped jerking himself off to hike up the beige hoodie that he has on, tucking it under his chin, revealing perky nipples and pale skin with luscious chest hair.

“Look how pretty my boy is, all desperate for me.” Luke preens at calum’s words, warmth growing in his cheeks and heart. “Look how beautiful you are, at worked up, just from imagining me jerking your big huge cock off. And it’s at for me, my eyes only. God damn it Hemmings, what am I gonna do with you?” Calum lips his lips in anticipation. Luke loved when Calum got possessive in their dirty talk. It made him feel wanted, lusted over, and more importantly, loved.

A low whine escapes Luke’s lips as the blond imagines face-fucking Calum. He’d take his cock so nicely into his mouth. His greedy greedy mouth. Luke imagines calum’s jaw going slack as the brunet succumbs to his own pleasure and with a dazed look in his brown orbs, the blond imagines fucking calum’s throat relentlessly as he jerks himself to climax.

With a shout of calum’s name, Luke comes all over his stomach and chest, huge spurts of white spunk paints his chest hair, mingling in the unruly curls.

Eyes glazed over with his orgasm, the blond sees his boyfriend’s mouth open in a silent scream as Calum cums too in his own pants.

After a couple minutes of silence from both ends as they came down from their orgasmic highs, Luke chuckles.

“I really needed that cal. Thanks. I’m so relaxed now…”

They stay on the line for a while longer, just smiling like goofs to each other.

#cake hoodings #cake 5sos #calum hood #luke hemmings #one shot #smut #fluff #drabble #fan fic #my work

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suchalonelysunflower · 4 years

Text

Entangled Part II (c.h) (h.s)

Pairing: Calum Hood X Reader / Harry Styles X Reader

Requested: Yes!

Summary: After months on tour, the boys finally make a move. But you are too caught up to even notice it. Let the triangle begin!

Warnings: Love Triangle! Pinning, unrequited love, language, angsty with a little fluff, mentions of alcohol and some grammatical error (English is not my first language, I’m sorry)

Word Count: 8 K

Author’s note: Part 2 is finally here! Thank you so much for all your support, it really means the world to me. Reblogs, comments and feedback are always welcome, I love to hear from you guys and if you have any questions about the series, please don’t doubt to reach me 💕 You can read my other works for Harry and 5SOS HERE. Hope you like it and happy reading 🦋✨

Part 1

Part 2: Dates and other names

“Calum stop that right now!” You said sternly while glaring at him. The boy, however, raised his eyebrows defiantly.

“Make me”

“Oooh” You heard Michael say, teasing at the probability of a conflict while he sipped his beverage with a metal straw, sitting in front of the vanity. But you paid no mind to it, not when Calum was at risk of doing something incredibly stupid.

“Calum Thomas Hood” You threatened, knowing that everyone has a reaction to their full names being called with such a tone, Calum was no exception “Put down the brush and leave your hair alone before I grab a razor and shave your entire head”

Calum just kept staring at you, still standing on the couch where you couldn’t possibly grab a hold of him or the brush that was dripping with pink dye. He shot one of his charming smiles at you, shaking his head.

“You wouldn’t. You always tell me that you love my hair as it is”

“I do. That’s why I don’t want it pink!”

“But Michael has pink hair! Why wouldn’t I?” He argued.

“Let Michael deal with the consequences of too much bleach when he’s older” You heard Michael give you a whiny ‘heey’ “Sorry Mike, your hair is lovely as it is but it’s true that you need to take a break on all of these dyes before you end up bald”

Michael groaned an ‘okay, fine!’ Before turning all of his attention back to the interaction. You, on the other hand, turned to Calum with one of your ‘dont fuck with me’ face and placed one of your hands on your hips, extending the other so he could place the brush there.

“Okay, I'll tell you what” he bargained “I’ll leave my hair alone if…”

“If?”

“If you go to dinner with me after the concert” He smiled.

You stared at him, lips slowly going upwards as a shy smile formed on your face. You lowered your gaze from his eyes, shaking your head as a small giggle came out of your lips. Calum, on the other hand, didn’t even flinch his eyes from you, his smile growing wider and wider while the teasing tone of the question still lingers on between the two of you… And Michael who was just as invested in this scene as anyone would be.

“You seriously are crazy, Cal” You said “Of course we can go, are you kidding? It’ll be fun”

Calum’s eyes gleam in delight at your words. His face at that moment could only be defined by comparing it to a child receiving their dream toy on Christmas morning.

“Now, give me the brush before I change my mind” You threatened again, extending your hand to him. Calum jumped off the couch and compiled, handing you the dyed tainted brush as he walked past you to sit in his own chair and giving Michael a small fist bump while doing so.

You walked over to the green eyed boy, finally being able to keep going with your work and the conversation started flowing once again.

It was amazing, but at the same time not so hard to believe, how well you got along with all the guys. The end of the tour was close, but you didn’t want to focus on the sadness that brought you, instead you decided to enjoy every single moment of it. It was amazing how you found yourself creating a loving family among them and Lottie, who was always by your side calming your nerves the first few days. The way you find it so easy to talk to either one of the Australians or the 1D boys is something you didn’t expect, quickly creating emotional connections with each of them.

For example, you always considered Louis like an older brother to you, always very protective and attentive. Who would’ve thought that Zayn fell under the same category? On the first few days they, along with Lottie, always made sure that you were taken care of as well as having fun and not overworked yourself as you normally would. But it was hard to even consider this a ´serious job´when you had nine young adults running around your little office. However, when it did get serious, you knew you could count on Ashton or Liam for an encouraging chat, always ready to listen and give you the best advice for any situation, creating a sense of trust you never really had with someone, especially someone you just met not too long ago.

For quiet moments though, Michael was perfect. It didn’t seem like it at first, knowing that boy had a reputation for being extremely loud sometimes. But if someone understands the need of just staying silent and doing nothing for a few minutes, was him. Always inviting you to play some of his games or just sit around you, keeping you company or just relaxing after a tiresome day, Michael was your guy. On the other hand, Niall was the complete opposite. That Irish little shit never stayed quiet for long, bringing his guitar with him wherever he went and lifting your spirit anytime he caught you feeling a little off. He made you laugh the most along with Luke who was just as chaotic as he was but with a little more common sense. He was like a little brother to you, even though he was a feet and a half taller than you, and you always felt the need to protect him of any harm. If someone won the soft spot on your heart, it was Luke, without a doubt.

And then there’s Calum and Harry, your boys. You would never admit this to anyone but they were your favorites. From day one they were nothing more than pure sweethearts. Yes, you did have your rocky start with both of them, nearly breaking one’s nose and the other one almost breaking you, but you wouldn’t have it any other way with them. The best moments on tour were the moments you shared with them, and they seem to agree on that. They always look for excuses to spend time with you, trying to get your focus completely on them and you find that funny, assuming it was their nature, but what you didn’t know is that they were both completely and utterly smitten by you.

Harry and Calum both laid their eyes on you from the beginning, practically jumping at every chance they had to help you or hang out with you or just talk to you about anything. And the funny thing is that you were completely unaware of all this circus around you. Friendship was one thing, and you were very grateful for that, not even in your wildest dreams you thought you would’ve befriended all of these amazing guys, so the idea of something else was absolutely out of the question, that was just simply impossible. Only if you knew what you were getting yourself into…

You were so unaware of these feelings that you didn’t notice how Calum’s smile didn’t leave his face for a second after he asked you, watching you work through Michael’s hair through the mirror.

“So,” Michael said, while your fingers were entangled in his hair “Are we going to wait for the full concert to be over or just our set to go back to the hotel?”

Lately they found excuses to hang around backstage after their set, management wasn’t too happy about that decision, not wanting even more attention to the Aussie band than to the actual main act, but they managed to sneak around them, only staying backstage and not actually being able to see the concert.

You, on the other hand, never missed a set, not only because you promised Harry and Calum that you’d be present in each one, but because you actually enjoyed the energy of the whole thing. You loved to jump around and dance to their songs, you already mastered the lyrics of every song on the set list and even created some kind of choreography with Lottie for each one. It didn’t matter to you that your feet hurt afterwards from the massive tiredness of the next few days, you were living your best life watching your boys perform and you would do that every single day of your life if you had to.

“Oh, I’m staying the whole concert” You answered “Can’t miss see them on stage”

“Aw, c’mon Y/N” Said Calum, faking a whine “You can miss at least one concert”

“Who is going to miss the concert?” Someone asked as they opened the door.

Everyone turned their faces as they saw Lottie came in with Louis and Harry. You smiled at them while they took a seat in front of the vanity, Harry’s eyes shining when they met yours through the mirror, smiling almost at the same time when Calum lowered his gaze and started fidgeting with his thumbs.

He didn’t know why, but he always got uncomfortable with the idea of Harry being around you and spending your time with him. Is not like he didn’t like the guy, on the contrary, they had a very good relationship, but the fact that you shared jokes, touches and moments with him made Calum feel uneasy. Same thing goes for Harry, he didn’t particularly enjoy how close you and the bassit were, but he wasn’t going to mention it, it would make him look like an asshole to you and to the Australian who he considered a friend. And you, as usual, were completely oblivious to it.

“We were just asking Y/N if we are going to skip the concert so they could get ready for their date” Michael said, pointing his finger between you and Calum as your cheeks went red.

Harry’s smile went away in an instant, snapping his head towards Louis who just stared at him blankly as he gave an apologetic smile to the curly haired man.

“What..? Michael, is not a date.” You said in an awkward laugh “We are just hanging out, right Cal?” You asked, smiling at him, not noticing the surprise in his eyes.

All eyes were on you again. Louis, Lottie and Michael gave you a confused look while Harry looked like he could breathe again. Calum, however, just blinked a couple times before lowering his gaze again, trying to hide the hurt in his eyes as he responded “Yeah.. it’s not a date”

An uncomfortable silence fell upon the group for a few seconds, no one really knowing what to say until Lottie was brave enough to break it by commenting on Michael’s new hair color that needed rincing, making the conversation flow easily among them, well, among everyone but Calum and Harry who stayed silent in their seats, having very different but similar thoughts.

A few moments later you excused yourself to go towards the catering section, expressing your dire need for a snack before you pass out applying gel to the boys hair. Louis offered to go with you.

As you were walking down the halls of the venue, he ventured “So… What made you accept the lad’s proposal?”

“Calum’s? it was not a proposal” You rolled your eyes “It was more like a quid pro quo kinda thing. He threatened to dye his hair if I said no” You chuckled.

Louis hummed “And you’re sure it’s not a date?”

“This again?”

It wasn’t the first time this conversation rolled around between the both of you. He had been teasing since that night of the party, where you found yourself with two drinks in your hand, one from Harry and the other from Calum. You spend the whole night talking to them, apologizing for the misunderstanding and thanking them for being such sweethearts. For you it was an innocent act of good manners, a nice gesture from the two boys. For Louis, that witnessed the whole thing, was more than that.

He was convinced that they had a thing for you. He believed, no, he knew that they were completely head over heels for you and, he had to admit, it was pretty funny to see all the things they did to gain just a little bit of attention from you.

“He is just friendly and so am I. We are just going to hang out, nothing more. It is not a date” You explained “We’ve had this conversation over and over again and it’s still the same answer, don’t you think that if he was making a move I would know?”

“Actually, no, love. You are completely blind and I would be very surprised indeed if you happen to notice that”

“What? Lou…”

“Didn’t you see the face Calum made when you said it wasn’t a date? Or Harry’s when Michael said it was? He was crushed”

“I-“

Louis shook his head and sighed “Look, love. I know you don’t mean to, but you’re breaking those guys’ hearts”

“I’m not breaking anyone’s heart. How could I? They’re just my friends, they can’t like me like that”

“Why not?”

“Because! Look at me, Louis”

“I am looking, love! And I’ll I can see is a beautiful person, inside and out, with an enormous talent and even bigger heart. Anyone would be lucky to have you” Louis said, placing his arm around your shoulder and giving it a squeeze “And I just happen to know two lads that would kill to have that privilege” You rolled your eyes and he sighed again “Fine! Don’t believe me. But don’t say I didn’t warn ya”

After grabbing a snack and a drink, you started to make your way back to your little room, but then you realized it was almost time for them to start the show so you decided to go wait by the side of the stage until the Australian band came out to the public.

On your way there, your mind didn’t stop thinking for a minute about what Louis had said before. Was Calum upset that it wasn’t a date? Did he expect it to be? And why was Harry even a topic? Did he talk about you with Louis? They couldn’t have a crush on you… could they?

Suddenly flashes of the past few months flew by in your head. How Calum’s eyes shined every time he heard you talk about hair related things because he knew you were very passionate about it, or how Harry always seemed to have some kind of trouble with his hair and needed your help, and only your help, to fix it because you were the only one who ‘understood his curls’ even though Lottie could’ve done a better job if he asked her. Calum put you in charge of recording his keeks and always made you feel welcome and comfortable around him and the guys, making you laugh uncontrollably with each shenanigan they pulled, or when every time Harry told a really bad joke he always looked at you first, almost like searching for your approval and smiling every time you did laugh, even if it was out of pity. How every night they were on stage they looked to the sides to find you dancing or singing along to their songs, making faces at you or copy your movements or give you reassuring smiles as they kept performing. They always seemed to know when you were feeling under the weather and they always went out of their way in order to make you feel better, going from making silly things on stage that night to just hold you and listening to you rant about what was bothering you, not even flinching at your touch but actually craving it. Every time you hug they don't pull away, in fact, they hold on. And you didn’t seem to mind at all.

You love them both, truly and wholeheartedly. And you would be a fool if you didn’t think they’re very attractive and attentive and different and special in their own ways. At the beginning of the tour you could’ve easily fallen in love with one of them if they ever showed interest in you, but you were sure they didn’t and probably never will so, why bother to think like that as a possibility? It will only get your heart broken in the end. You were sure that if they liked you as more than a friend they would’ve said something by now.

The thing was that they tried to tell you, countless times. But they were, in all honesty and innocence, idiots. So you had no clue on their true feelings.

But you would be lying if you said that Louis didn’t plant the seed of doubt in your mind.

“Hey, Y/N!” You heard a voice call you from the end of the hall. You lifted your gaze and smile when you saw Calum approaching, bass in hand ready to go out on stage. You lifted your finger and brought it to the side of your nose and he did the same. It became your own little secret ´handshake´

“Calum! Are you ready to go and kill it in front of a thousand screaming fans” You teased, resting the back of your hand on your forehead, mocking a faint.

He laughed, shaking his head “I rather concentrate on the fan that keeps dancing along Amnesia like it’s not an acoustic song backstage”

“Are you saying I’m distracting you?”

“You always distract me, sweetheart” He smirked “But I can’t say that I don’t like it”

You felt your cheeks get warm with his words. You must admit that Calum had a way with words, always tempting the line of cute remarks and downright flirting, creating a friendly banter between the both of you. Now you begin to wonder if they were ever friendly at all.

“Well the job of a fan is to hype their favorite band while on stage, right?” You smiled. Calum’s eyes shined like glitter.

“Are we really your favorites?” He asked.

“Hey, I don’t go around creating bomb coreos for any band, you know?” You slightly punched him in the arm as you both chuckled.

Suddenly you became very aware of his proximity to you and you didn’t seem to mind one bit, in fact you were enjoying how close he was, noticing even the crinkles by his eyes every time he smiled. “Hey, Cal. I’m sorry for earlier” You apologized, not really knowing how to approach the subject “I’m sorry if I made it awkward and-”

“What? No, no, no, no,” He said way too quickly, shaking his head rapidly “It wasn’t awkward” Calum said awkwardly.

Your face visibly cringed “Yes it was! And I’m sorry, I didn’t know that-”

“Hey, hey hey. It 's okay. If you say it’s not a date, then it’s not a date. We are just hanging out and that okay” Calum calmed you, rubbing his hand up and down your arm in a reassuring manner “It’s more than okay, actually. I really love spending time with you, Y/N”

You looked into his eyes and you could see the honesty in them, you covered his hand with your and smiled “I really love spending time with you too, Cal”

“CALOOUM” You heard someone yell from the side of the stage, not even a second after Ashton popped out his head from the wings “Get your ass over here, the concert’s abou to start you dipshit!... Hi, Y/N”

“Hi, Ashton” You laughed.

Calum rolled his eyes at his bandmate and took a step back from you “Well, duty calls. Someone has to woo the thousand screaming fans, right?”

You nodded as you quickly cupped his left cheek on your hand to give it a small kiss “Go kill them, you dipshit” You chuckled.

Calum did his best to try and hide the redness of his cheek, lifting his finger to the side of his nose as he walked away, turning around quickly to delicately press his palm to his cheek, still warm from that little kiss you just gave him and smiling like an absolute idiot.

“Mate, you’re whipped” Luke teased when he saw Calum’s grin.

“Shut up”

It was after Calum had turned away that you realized what you just did. You mentally slapped yourself, it was no big deal, right? just a friendly kiss like you and Louis do all the time but, why did it feel so different?

In the midst of your internal debate, you decided to walk to the other side of the stage where you knew Lottie would be waiting for you, you also knew it was Calum’s side of the stage, but it had the best view you could ask for. So you made up your mind of sucking in the embarrassment of your careless and innocent action from earlier and started making your way.

You enjoyed walking backstage, you knew every venue was different but the backstage rarely changes so it was easy to find your way around the messy halls full of people you now know and love. Every person you met along the way greeted you with a smile or a nod, they all respected your work and you respected theirs, all of you knew that this tour couldn't work without any of you.

Tonight, however, there was a new face in the multitude of people. You catched her eye as you almost walked past her, but she stopped you by gently putting her hand round your shoulder.

“I’m sorry, dear” The woman said with a smile “But aren’t you Y/N L/N? The stylist?”

The mysterious woman stood in front of you, her hand already gone from your shoulder, but she had your full attention now. She was wearing a black suit with a white button down to go along with some killer heels. Her black hair stopped right at the end of her neck, giving her a Uma Thurman in Pulp Fiction vibe, elegant yet powerful. She was smiling at you like you were her next meal and it made you uncomfortable.

“Yes, I am. Well, one half of the team,actually” You answered, nervously looking around for nothing in particular “Can I help you with anything, Miss..?”

“Oh, how silly of me,” She laughed “I’m Mariah Slendge, I work for Jordan Coutier? You heard about them?” Of course you have! They were the most famous, most expensive, most stylish beauty company of all times! Led by the Jordan Coutier himself, the legend of legends when it came to hair and make up. A true inspiration for you and for many others. You nodded, trying not to freak out too much in front of one of his representatives “Well, we’ve heard about you too”

“‘Bout me?” You asked in disbelief.

“Why, yes, darling. I’ve seen your work with the boys, very impressive”

“Oh, it’s nothing really-”

“And your Instagram?” She said, pulling out her phone and showing you your feed that was filled with different hairstyles you’ve made along the years and on the tour, showcasing your work on different types of hair and for a wide variety of people “You are very talented”

“Thank you, but-”

“I have an offer for you” She stated, putting her phone back in her purse “Well, an almost offer, actually. I wanted to have your consent before I do anything”

You stared at her, wide eyed as your mind was a blank space. What was happening right now?

“Once this tour ends I want you to come work with us in New York as a paid intern for a few years. You would learn everything you need to know in order to succeed in this business and more. You’ll be working with the best professionals in the world and you’ll make really good connections in the industry, I can assure you that”

“Y-you want me to work with you?” You stuttered.

“Only if that’s okay with you, darling. I haven’t said anything to the big boss yet because I needed your approval first but-”

“YES!” You yelled “Sorry! I’m so so sorry. I didn’t mean to do that but, yes. My answer is yes, I would love to”

Mariah smiled like the cheshire cat “Wonderful! You’ll be hearing from me in a few days. Take care, darling”

She blew you a kiss and waved as she walked away, leaving you in complete awe before you could even begin to thank her.

You shook your head, waking up from your daze and practically ran towards Lottie, who was waiting for you at your usual spot from the side of the stage.

“Where have you been?” She asked when she took on your breathless appearance “The boys are in the middle of the set already and-”

“I know! I know, I’m sorry but,” You said, panting as you tried to gain some composure “You would never believe what just happened”

To say that Lottie was over the moon with the news you just brought to her was an understatement. She celebrated with you and congratulated you like you just won the lottery “Oh my god! I can’t believe it”

“Well, it’s nothing sure yet, but-”

“But nothing! This is amazing and you completely deserve this, honey” She hugged you “I’m so proud of you”

You melted into the hug, wondering how on Earth did you get so lucky, having a best friend like her was… Oh, it was more than you could ever ask for “One more thing,” You said, separating from her embrace “Don’t tell anyone. I don’t wanna jinx it”

“But Louis will be so happy and-”

“Lottie, please” You pleaded with your best puppy stare. She rolled her eyes and muttered a ‘fine’ before wrapping you into a hug once again.

When she let you go, you focus all of your attention towards the stage. Your eyes met Calum’s as he was looking at the two of you with a quizzical look. You lifted your finger to your nose once again and brushed it off, he smiled and mouthed something like ‘You’ll tell me later’ making you laugh and shrug as you started dancing to their cover of Teenage Dream.

Moments later, when their set ended, Calum came running towards you but you pushed him away “Uh uh, no touching until you get into a shower”

“What about you, Lot?” He asked your friend with open arms, she just shook her head and started laughing “What? You can hug but I’m left all alone?” Calum pouted.

“Take a shower and we’ll see, Hood”

He mocked a salute and said “We’re still hanging out later, right?”

“Of course!”

“Great, can’t wait”

Calum smirked and ran offstage. You stayed with Lottie, talking about your hypothetical plans for the future until it was time for One Direction to take the stage.

The energy on the concerts was hard to ignore, every night you found yourself with goosebumps running up and down your skin every time you heard the guitar riff or when you felt the bass and the drums shake the floor, literally. Not to mention the vocals of every single one of them, it filled you with joy seeing them perform and give their absolute best to all of their fans, who loved them just as much as you did.

You followed your usual routine with Lottie, dancing your specific choreographies to each song, but something was different tonight.

Every time you glanced at the stage you found a pair of green eyes already staring at you. Harry smiled whenever your eyes met, but his gaze always seemed to lurk around you for a second too long before putting all of his attention on the crowd once again.

When it was time for a break, Harry, as usual, took center stage and started interacting with the fans.

“Okay. Here in One Direction we sing a lot about love” He said, making the crowd go absolutely ballistic “Now, who here came with a date? C’mon now, wanna see those hands up, who here is taken?”

You laughed at how the fans started screaming unintelligible things at the boys, you saw how some brave ones started lifting their hands, showcasing their love in front of a full arena of people.

“Aww that’s wha’ I wanted to see! And what ‘bout over there at the sides” He said, pointing to your side of the stage “‘nyone in the crew who might be on a date today?”

He was asking the crew of the sides in general, some of them raising their hands in amusement, but Harry's gaze was locked on you and how you were giggling with Lottie about the whole ordeal.

“I think he’s talking to you, love” The young Tomlinson whispered in your ear.

You looked at Harry with your eyebrows furrowed, he returned the gesture by raising one of his own, asking you to answer him. You rolled your eyes and smiled while giving him the middle finger. His face visibly relaxed as he gave you one of his signature smirks and went back to amuse the crowd, who by now, were already losing their shit.

“‘M very glad to know that” Harry claimed into the microphone “Love is love everybody so if you love someone you gotta tell ‘em” And while his eyes were fixed on the crowd, you managed to find Louis bold stare already setting on you, giving a knowing look that you tried your best to ignore “Let’s celebrate love, everyone! This song is called Little Things”

As they settled around the stairs of the stage, you and Lottie started to sing and dance, not noticing how, every time he had a moment of silence, Harry would glance at your direction and smile a little bit to himself, hoping that you would look his way. And the universe seemed to listen, because when his last chorus was approaching, you turned your gaze to meet his. Harry smiled as he started singing, and, for the first time, he didn’t advert his eyes from you.

You felt a warmness spread from your chest to your whole body as the curly haired man started his last verse, green eyes staring right back at yours as the words slipped through his mouth with such an ease and calm melody, you didn’t dare to look away.

The feeling had no name, for what you could tell at least, but it was almost the same as the one you had when Calum was close to you earlier in the evening. It’s not uncomfortable, in fact, it’s totally the opposite. It’s almost like a calming breeze flowing through your entire body. Safe, noticed, warmth, shyness, love? You couldn’t figure it out.

The trance ended just as the song did, you felt a little nudge on the side of your body and turned to see Lottie giving you a smirk. You were about to tell her off when you were interrupted once again by a known beat, the next song was already starting as Harry’s eyes concentrated on the crowd once again, only glancing at you a few more times the entire set.

After the show ended, you and Lottie went backstage to celebrate with the boys.

“That was amazing!” The girl said, giving her older brother a pat in the back, not wanting to get all sweating because of him. You joined the congratulations and started simple conversations about what happened tonight on stage. You were so invested in the story Liam was telling about how he thought he saw the clone of Justin Bieber watching the show, that you didn’t notice how close Harry was to you until he whispered in your ear.

“Did you lie, earlier?” He asked.

You turned to face him, his face was unreadable, but his eyes had a glimpse of desperation in them, almost begging you for an answer he might like. “What are you talking about?” You responded, looking around, but no one seemed preoccupied with your little conversation.

“When I asked if anyone was on date”

“Mmh, and I recall I gave you the finger, didn’t I?” You smiled “Why did you think that was?”

Harry smirked “It was a tad rude, actually” You rolled your eyes at him “So you’re not seeing anyone at the moment?” He pressed, even when he saw you shake your head “Not even an Aussie lad that’s traveling with us?”

You sighed “No, I’m not dating Calum. We are just hanging out, as friends and nothing more. Just like I do with you, H”

Harry tried to mask the sudden hurt expression that came upon him, is that all you thought of him?

“And besides,” You continued “You can’t believe anything the Tomlinsons tell you, most times at least”

He chuckled “That’s true, love. I just…” He sighed “I really care about you, Y/N”

“I really care about you too, Harry” You said in all honesty.

“No, but I mean-”

“Hey, Y/N” Interrupted Lottie “Shouldn’t you be on your way to the hotel now?”

You opened your eyes like plates and looked at the time on your phone “Oh shit” You grabbed your stuff as fast as you could and said goodbye to everyone as you ran through the exit to grab a taxi.

Once you reached the hotel, you already saw Calum waiting in the lobby for you and suddenly you felt way underdressed when you saw him wearing a white shirt and some nice black pants to go with it.

Calum lifted his gaze from his phone and smiled when his eyes met yours. You gave him an apologetic smile as well as your secret code of putting your finger on the side of your nose while you walked up to him “I’m sorry I’m late, I got caught up in the concert and-”

“Hey, I get it” He chuckled “I know what it’s like to be a fan and those guys give a whole damn spectacle of everything. I’m glad you came, though. So,” He said, clapping his hands “Ready to go?” You nodded and let him guide you through the streets of the city.

You ended up in a little secluded sushi restaurant, not so far away from the hotel “The best sushi in town” Said Calum “Or at least that what they told me”

The night was spent between laughter and deep talks. You got to know a side of Calum you never expect. The way that he talked about his family and how hard it was for him to leave them behind in Australia but how, at the same time, he was happy he did it because now he could live his dream with his best friends. He told you anecdotes of when he, Michael and Luke were in school and played all kinds of pranks to their music teacher and how he lived in Brazil for a few months before realizing his dream was music all along.

He got to know you as well, how you grew up in a very strict family and how you were the ‘child-with-too-many-dreams-to-count’ how you met the Tomlinsons and how they became your real family in no time. He listened enthusiastically when you talked about when you first found out about your passion for styling someone when your first dance came around and you had to do all your classmates' hair and make up with the help of Lottie, creating a form of art that was so simple yet so special at the same time.

He made you laugh as well, playing with the chopsticks that were mostly for decoration and pretending to be some weird animal, he was so invested in his act that he didn’t notice how much wasabi he had put on his sushi bite, having to excuse himself to go to the bathroom.

You were wiping away your tears of laughter when you notice something, or rather someone, walking outside and entering the restaurant at that exact moment.

“Harry?”

The curly man turned around and faked a surprised face “Y/N? Hi, darling. What are you doing here?”

“Me?” You laughed “What are you doing here? I thought that maybe you and the other would go to a club after the concert”

Harry grabbed a chair and sat down next to you “The others did, but I was jus’ so tired tha’ I asked someone to recommend me a place to grab some take out” He chuckled “The food at the hotel is truly awful for a four and a half star restaurant”

“Well, let me tell you. This salmon roll is just exquisite so you won’t be disappointed here” You said, not giving too much thought at his excuse.

Calum got out of the bathroom soon after, he couldn’t see Harry just yet, but he could tell you were laughing at something. Once he got closer and noticed the british boy sitting next to you, making you laugh and give you the pretty eyes, he felt that uneasy feeling again, the one he always had whenever Harry was around you. He noticed how his jaw clenched and how his hand became a fist when he heard you laugh again, knowing it should’ve been him the one who should make you smile like that tonight.

When you looked at him, however, the uneasiness went away as soon as it came. He walked over to your table and put on a surprise show at Harry’s sudden appearance.

“Harry,” He said with a fake smile “What are you doing here?”

“Jus’ passing by, looking for something to eat and then I found Y/N here” Harry answered in a cool tone “What a coincidence, right?”

“Yeah, weird” Calum said, looking directly at the green eyes from across the table.

An uncomfortable silence came upon them as they glared at each other. From any perspective it was easy to see that they were having a silent conversation with those looks. A conversation filled with questions, realizations and accusations as the two men finally acknowledge the feelings each one had towards you. And, just like any situation when a man feels threatened by another man's feelings, it meant war.

However, they were not stupid. They knew they had to keep it civil for your and the tour’s sake, knowing it would not be fair for anyone to start fighting over you and especially when you seem to have no clue about what’s going on. So, with one look, a deal was sealed: You would have to choose eventually, and whatever you say goes, they were mature enough to respect your decision, but that doesn't mean they are not going to try to win your heart.

“So,” Harry said after a while, faking modesty as he made a move to get out of the chair “I should better get going, I don’t want to interrupt whatever’s happening here”

“Oh, you are not interrupting” You said, completely oblivious “Right, Cal?”

Calum looked at you, and he found it impossible to deny you anything at this moment, even if it mean having Harry joining your ‘not-date-date’ So he gave a fake smile to the curly haired man and said “Nope, not interrupting at all”

Harry smiled with sufficiency and sat back down, officially joining you for the night.

From your perspective, you were having a great night next to two of the people you love the most, having fun and joking around. Too busy enjoying their company to notice the passive aggressive attitude they excelled, silently competing to gain your attention. At one point in the evening, Harry started singing along the song that was playing on the restaurant’s speakers, telling you a story about the composition of that specific Fleetwood Mac song and you gladly listened. Calum then proceeded to woo you with some food related tricks, making you laugh at his failed attempt to try and put three California rolls in his mouth.

The talks came to a neutral ground when you started mentioning the tour. They both loved to hear you talk about your experience so far and they even shared some stories and tips about it too. You shared anecdotes and your favorite moments, making your boys smile whenever they realized they shared most of those moments with you. They understood that, whatever happens, they were truly the lucky ones just by having you in their life.

The evening went on and as it did, all of you started to feel more and more tired, given that you had to be on an airplane somewhere the next afternoon, so you decided to call it a night. Walking out of the restaurant, you made your way into the hotel again. Calum said his goodbye with a kiss on your cheek, making you blush and Harry clenched his jaw. He lifted a finger to his nose and disappeared into the other hall of the lobby where the elevator to his room was. You were about to do the same, already walking to the other elevator, but Harry had another idea.

“There’s an ice cream shop down the block” He said as he grabbed your hand to call for your attention “Wanna try it, Y/N?”

“Oh yes! I would love to” You smiled at Harry“But, aren’t you tired? You perfomed a big show tonight and-”

“I could never get tired if you’re by my side, love” He grin and tugged on your hand, leading you once again into the streets.

The ice cream shop was very small and it was horribly decorated with pink and purple cows. Their ice creams, however, were a delight. You sat down in a tall stool next to Harry, enjoying your scoop of rocky roads with chocolate syrup and sprinkles on top. Harry was staring at you, his smile never fading for a second.

“What?” You asked when you felt his green eyes on you “Do I have something in my face?” You brought your napkin to your face, but Harry just shook his head.

“You’re just too cute,” He said, smiling again.

“‘m not”

“You are” He countered “Knew that from the moment I met you”

“You mean when you knocked me to the ground and almost broke my bum?” You teased, raising an eyebrow at him.

“Exactly,” He said, unfazed by your sarcastic tone “Thought I died and went to heaven”

You laughed and gently punched him in the arm “Oh, shut up, Haz”

For the rest of the night and the beginnings of an early morning, you and Harry sat down on those stools in that ice cream shop, talking about everything and nothing at the same time. He talked about how hard it was to be constantly under a magnifying glass in the eyes of the media, about the rumors and about how he didn’t expect his life to turn this way “I assume it’s not easy” You said “But what you’re doing is amazing, Harry. You and the boys have changed the lives of so many people, it’s… truly something else” He thanked you for your words and then started to change the subject so the conversation was focused on you.

You pretty much told him the same old story you told Calum a few hours ago, he too, was very invested in whatever you had to say and let you ramble on and on about everything you thought it was worth mentioning. He even let you play with his curls a little bit before noticing your eyes were beginning to close, already too tired to keep the conversation going.

You walked to the hotel once again, this time it was you who gave Harry a good night kiss on the cheek before making your way to your shared bedroom with Lottie and basically plopping down on the bed, thinking about how great this night was.

There were two more stops before the tour finally ended. You could feel the tension in the air. It seemed like everyone was anxious about coming back home and seeing their families again, and you were too, but you got to admit that you were going to miss this even more.

And it seemed like it was the same for Harry and Calum, because for the past few days they barely left your side. And it was not like you were complaining, not at all.In fact, you were savouring every moment of it, not knowing if you would ever have the chance to do this again. So you let them play with your stuff, hanging out till late at night , you laughed at all their antics, from Calum’s keeks with the band to actually helping Harry pull down a prank to their bodyguards. On stage the energy was always the same, stolen glances and mocking faces between you, inner jokes said at loud only for you to understand and weird dance moves to make them break in front of the crowds.

You were definitely going to miss all of this.

When the last night of the tour arrived, so did an email addressed to you. You were sitting in your little office, cleaning and setting everything up before the boys needed to get ready when you phone dinged.

Your breath got caught in your throat as you realized who that email was from.

From: [email protected]

To: Y/E/[email protected]

Dear Y/N, I am very glad to inform you….

Suddenly the door bursts open, a breathless Calum standing right under.

“Y/N” He panted.

You looked at him, confused “Calum, what’s going on? Are you okay?”

Calum smiled “Yes! I’m more than okay actually, uuhm,” He said, trying to find the words “You know the band is going on tour, right?” He said referring to one of the biggest tours 5SOS was going to make following the release of their new album.

“Yes! And I couldn’t be more excited for you! That 's huge!” You celebrated.

“Come with us”

“What?” Your smile faded. Calum got nervous.

“Uh, I- well I mean we-” He took a deep breath “Me and the boys want you on tour with us as our stylist” Your mouth hung open, Calum took it as a good sign “We already talked to our management and they all agree. We want you to come on tour with us”

You were speechless. Part of you wanted to jump in joy, but the other part… “Cal, I-”

“Hey, Y/N” Another familiar voice called from the door “Great news, love. Yo- Hello, Calum, what are you doing here? Harry said when he laid eyes on the Australian, who wasn’t very fond of the interruption.

“I came to tell Y/N some good news,” Calum said, dryly.

“What a coincidence, I came for that as well”

“I don’t think there are any coincidence when it comes to you, Styles”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Harry asked, defyenty.

Calum was about to answer with another passive aggressive remark when you interrupted them “Guys, not now” You said with a tired tone “What’s up, Haz?”

“You’re coming on tour with us” He said, smiling at you “We already talked to management about it and you and Lottie are staying for the next tour��

You opened your mouth to respond but Calum cut you off, fuming.

“Well, that’s not possible”

“And why not?” Asked Harry, putting his attention on the other boy.

“Because Y/N is coming on tour with us”

Harry scoffed “As if Y/N would want that”

“How do you know that? You’re so arrogant and self centered-” Calum said a tad too loud.

“Don’t start something you cannot finish, Hood” Harry started, leveling his tone to match Calum’s “You immature prick -”

“Enough!” You yelled over their voices, making them turn their heads to you “What the hell has gotten into you today? It’s the last day of tour and this is the memory I get from you two? What a parting gift!”

“Wait-” Calum said

“Parting gift?”

You sighed “Guys, I can’t go on tour with either of you. I got an internship job with Jordan Coutier” You could see the disappointment in their faces as you softly said the words that would break their hearts “I’m going to New York”

Part 3

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mermaidcashton · 4 years

Text

if i knew you were comin’

author: claire (@mermaidcashton) ship/AU: ashton irwin/reader, baker AU prompt: “I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but I have no idea what I’m doing. I almost never do.” wordcount: 3344 warnings: swearing a/n: • written for @maluminspace & @h0tsos ‘s 5sos fic writers collab (in which we all chose from a list of AU’s and had the above prompt quote to include - check out the masterlist linked to see everyone elses!) • i do not give permission for this (or any of my writing) to be reposted, by anyone, on this or any other website. please don’t do it! • title from ‘if i knew you were comin' i'd've baked a cake’ by eileen barton if i knew you were comin’ ***

It would have been a real cliché had it been pouring with rain, the first time you saw him. If an unexpected thunderstorm in June had sent you into the little hipster bakery by necessity, a beacon of shelter in the form of a black & white sign that said ‘Dagger & Snake Bakehouse’. As it was, you were simply hungry in the rich sunshine, miles from home, and a sucker for bagels. That wasn’t very rom-com, really.

The cliché came in when you saw him for the first time; laugh bright on his face, flour in his pillar box red hair. You felt every love-at-first-sight trope possible in that moment; brass band playing, lightning striking, arrows piercing.

But it was raining now - slowly but with determination from the grey September sky - and you felt it, still.

***

The old fashioned bell above the heavy door rang out as you pushed your way into the bakery, immediately feeling enveloped in warmth. You shook off the excess water pooling on your umbrella out of the open door before you let it close as gently as possible behind you, spinning back around to assess the scene before you.

The shop was an assault on the senses every time you visited; the smell of 50 different baked goods intermingling and somehow achieving a harmony in your nose, the sound of the eclectic playlist they kept adding to filling the shop, and the assault on the eyes came in the form of bright hanging lights, extensive art on the walls, and the staff themselves.

“Hello, you! Get in here; it’s horrible out there!”

You smiled widely, genuinely, at the greeting. “Hey, Calum! How are you?” You replied, stepping up to the counter. Calum ran his hand over his very short blonde hair with a smile that you were sure accounted for at least 25% of their sales. Not that you’d know; only one of the co-owners kept you spending more than you could really afford on focaccia bread, and he was nowhere to be seen.

“Can’t complain, real-well, actually, I can,” Calum changed his mind mid-sentence, face growing indignant. “Ash went to drop the banking off at Natwest 30 minutes ago, and Luke was due 5 minutes before you walked in, and I’m dying for a piss, and I-” The bell above the door shook like a hurricane had just come through the door, and in the form of a 6’2” blonde streak of limbs, it kind of had. “Sorry, sorry, I’m he-woah!” Luke skidded across the shiny white floor on his damp black Converse, windmilling his long arms until he caught one of only three tables in the place, and brought himself to a jolting stop.

Calum rolled his eyes. “This fucken’ guy.” He muttered, but you could see the fondness painted all over his golden brown face. “Luke, I need to pee; look after our best customer for me!” Calum bolted out from behind the counter, showing off his black tank top and pinstriped trousers as he pulled his black branded apron off on his way to the door marked ‘STAFF ONLY’ across the shop. You could hear his Doc Martens squeaking on the tiles as he disappeared through the door and Luke took his place behind the counter, chucking his backpack through the archway that attached the shop to the bakery’s kitchen. “Ooh, Ashton won’t like finding your backpack in his kitchen when he gets back!” You tease, leaning onto the ledge that separates you from Luke. The absent baker was very particular about his immaculate commercial kitchen and everything in it, and you knew something would definitely be said about the fact that Luke’s wet backpack was now lying on the floor by the ovens. Calum had once told you about a time he had simply moved Ashton’s sourdough starter across the kitchen, and the incident that had followed (and lasted for three days). “Ooh, won’t he!” Luke cooed, tying his own D&S Bakehouse apron with a messy bow on his stomach. “You’d know, being our resident Ashton expert and all.” You felt the flush begin to bloom on your cheeks before you saw it reflected in Luke’s stupid stainless steel coffee machine. You stuck your chin out as defiantly as possible. “I don’t know what that means, and I also don’t care. I’d like a Flat White, please, barista!” Luke clutched his chest with a large hand, gasping dramatically. “So harsh! My own job title! You missed ‘Retail Assistant’ and ‘Shop Hunk’, but I’ll forgive you because I know you’re having Ashton withdrawals right now. Haven’t seen you since last week, kiddo!” Opting to ignore his needling about the Ashton situation, you set your own backpack on the floor as you let out a sigh. “Yeah, it’s been a bit chaotic this week. But I said I’d try and come by today, and I can’t live without Calum’s doughnuts much longer, so here I am.” “Yeah, that’s definitely what you can’t live without.” Luke snorted, filling the portafilter with coffee grounds. The staff door swung open before you could respond, Calum sailing back into the bakery. “Does he come with an off switch?” You groaned, shaking your head at the bottle blonde as he laughed and groaned with you. “God, if he did, I’d use it so often he’d never be ‘on’.” “You love me, they love me, everybody loves me!” Luke sang at volume as the coffee machine began to grind and whir. Calum rolled his eyes as he shut the door to the counter. “The girls from the high school down the street love you, I’ll give you that, but that’s about it.” “The boys, too.” Luke wiggled his eyebrows at you ridiculously, tapping the used coffee grounds into the bin with a flourish. You couldn’t help but giggle; you’d grown so fond of Luke and Calum in the three months you’d been visiting the bakery that you considered them friends. And as you started examining the case in front of you, filled with the most delicious looking cakes, pastries and doughnuts you’d ever seen, you thought that surely friends with access to coffee and baked goods were the best friends to have. “What are you thinking, love?” Calum asked, watching your eyes flick between peanut butter brownies and cinnamon rolls. “I don’t know; everything always looks so good!” You whined. “I think I’m definitely in the mood for something sweet, though.” “I’m right here, baby!” Luke trilled as he placed a steaming cup on the counter, looking very pleased with himself. “Do I need to tell Michael about this flirty behaviour, Luke?” Calum teased. Luke shrugged, completely nonplussed. “If you want. He’s so hot when he gets jealous.” Calum rolled his eyes again as he made his way into the kitchen. “Luke, move your backpack before Ash gets back unless you want to get bollocked!” He called over his shoulder. “Uh oh, too late.” Luke groaned, looking past you through the glass of the shop front, moments before the shop bell sounded out for a third time. You would definitely play it cool and not turn around if it was anyone but Ashton; you swear, this man is actually magnetic. The Hall & Oates’ song coming from the speakers seems to slow down as he comes into your line of sight, like in every movie you’ve ever seen with a leading man half as gorgeous as this one. Ashton was wearing his signature black boots and ripped jeans, with a white tank top and the leather jacket that you were sure would smell just like him; flour, grapefruit, sandalwood and whatever he used to put his hair into any of the styles that drove you so crazy. Today he had that one styled curl falling onto his face, and right now it was soaked and sending a trail of water down to drop from his chiseled jaw. “You took your time, bread boy.” Calum called from the kitchen, doing Luke a solid of hiding his backpack underneath the furthermost kitchen counter as he did. Ashton huffed out half a laugh, running both hands through his wet hair and bending forward to shake it off as much as he could. “I don’t even only bake bread! Why do you insist on calling me that? Especially in front of my favourite customer.” Despite knowing that you were currently the only customer in the bakery, your brain immediately began questioning whether or not he was referring to you. Then, he straightened up with his arms high, hands slicking his red hair back, and looked straight at you with unwavering eye contact. “Hey.” That one word, combined with those eyes and him looking like he was in 2020’s answer to a Whitesnake video dragged your heart straight into your throat. “Hey.” You echoed, hoping you were imagining the slightly breathless quality to your voice. Ashton’s serious-supermodel face broke into his brightest smile - seemingly just for you - before he began to stride past you to head behind the counter, shrugging his wet jacket off as he went. “I see you’re sorted with a drink; what have you chosen to eat? Or is this a flying visit?” “I was just doing my usual, actually.” You replied, dragging your eyes away from the tattoos on his arms to glance back down at the many glass cases of treats. “Struggling to decide?” Ashton teased lightly, tying his apron strings into a bow at his waist. You giggled, feeling inordinately pleased that he knew exactly what you meant. “Well, my lattices should be cool by now. Cal?” Ashton called into the kitchen, where the sound of stand mixers could now be heard. You hadn’t even noticed Calum leaving the shop to bake in the back. As you realised Luke was also nowhere to be seen, the assistants’ head appeared from the side of the archway. “Calum says he is a very busy man and he thought you had things under control out here.” You frowned slightly, not understanding the inflection the blonde had put on ‘under control’. Must be a private joke; one that made Ashton steadily flush down his neck. “Shut up, Luke! I just want the top tray on the cooling rack by the main pantry, please.” Luke tapped his head with two fingers in an ‘aye aye, Captain’ gesture and momentarily vanished from view. Ashton cleared his throat, directing his words back to you. “I thought you said you were going to try and come by today. I made Cherry & Custard Lattices earlier; you love cherry, right?” You didn’t know what to say, so opted to just stare back at Ashton in surprise until you saw doubt in his eyes. “Yes! I did, say that, and I do - love cherry. You remembered that?” The smile on your face felt like it was spread impossibly wide, over your cheeks and beyond. “Of course! I’m glad you’re here, actually…” “Here you go!” Luke said, sounding almost gleeful as he put the tray of pastries on the worktop behind Ashton. Normally, you would expect Luke to arrange them in a space in one of the cabinets and carefully handwrite a little sign for them, but not today, apparently. He was already taking strides back to the kitchen to help Calum, throwing you both a look over his shoulder that was definitely cheeky. “Go get ‘em, tiger!” Ashton went so unbelievably red that it made his flush from before look like his natural skin tone. For lack of something to do with yourself in a confusing, slightly awkward situation that you didn’t fully understand, you picked up the coffee Luke had made for you and took a small sip. Ashton took a breath and seemed to steel himself for something. “I’ve got something to ask you.” He cocked his head slightly to one side before taking a slightly wistful tone. “Do you remember the day we met?” *** You looked up at the stark sign above the world’s most appetising window display. ‘Dagger & Snake Bakehouse’. It was a little after your usual lunchtime and you were starving. You’d never been to this place before, but you could see slices of puff pastry topped with everything you could imagine; asparagus, pesto, goats cheese, tomatoes, bacon, mushrooms - all topped with melted cheese, so that was that. You made your way through the glossy black door into the bakery, and were struck by how cool it looked inside. The main walls were exposed brick painted white, covered with a broad range of paintings, posters, sketches, photographs and signs. Black boards covered in white chalk writing detailing baked goods and hot drinks, opening hours and little doodles. Shelves with all manner of trinkets and decorations adorned any parts of the walls that there wasn’t something else. Sleek white tiles covered the floor, counters and the walls leading off to the restrooms and a door marked ‘STAFF ONLY’. There were ferns and succulents dotted around the place, and recycled glass bottles on a few black cafe tables with a single red rose in each. There were cases and displays of every kind of baked good you could imagine at the counter, running along the windows, and high above the worktops behind the counter. Stevie Wonder segued into Fleetwood Mac over the speakers in the corners,audible above the babble of noise of the customers already in the bakery. A couple at the farthest table were tucking into big slices of two of the most incredible looking cakes you had ever seen in your life. At the till, a girl with a high ponytail and tiny denim shorts was taking a branded pastry box from a tall, skinny-but-somehow-broad guy. Another man with a black hat pulled low on his head brushed his fluffy blonde hair out of his eyes where he sat at one of the tables opposite the counter. He shot the staff member a beaming smile and a thumbs up, then returned his attention to the laptop open on his table. You eagerly made your way forward as the girl with the ponytail began to exit the shop. “Hi! I’m Luke, welcome to Dagger & Snake Bakehouse. What can I get for you?” The worker - Luke - greeted you enthusiastically with a toothy smile. His smile faltered slightly when you asked for an iced coffee to go with your lunch, but before you could think about it, he sprang into action as a second man appeared from an archway beside him, mid laugh. You divert your attention to the newcomer and your heart skips way more than a beat. He was, without question, the most beautiful human you had ever seen in your life. He was tall - though not as tall as Luke, but twice as broad. The muscles in his arms bulged through his t-shirt, and you could see tattoos on his arms and wrists. His hair was in a perfect quiff, and the brightest shade of red you could imagine. You noticed what appeared to be flour speckled across the top of it, and melted slightly more. His face was a set of perfect, sharp angles contrasting with the soft dimples in his cheeks as he laughed. You had never been so aware of every molecule of your own body. You felt tingly and numb and on high alert all at once. The urge to lick your lips was suddenly overwhelming. “How are you getting on, Luke? Did I hear an iced coffee order over Calum’s shenanigans back there?” His voice was like hearing a song on the radio that you haven’t heard in ages but always loved. Luke shook his head and played it cool, whilst the love of your life turned to you with a warm smile. “It’s Luke’s first day! Go easy on him. How is he doing?” “Ashton! I know exactly what I am doing!” Luke sniffed, opening a cabinet door that turns out to be a freezer drawer and scooping ice with confidence. Ashton giggled again and held his hands up in surrender, shooting you another smile before heading around Luke and out onto the bakery floor. You unconsciously followed him with your eyes, across the room to the window cabinets where he began making adjustments to the display. He had to bend and lean to reach the very front, and after allowing yourself a few seconds to stare at his ass in tight, black jeans, you came to your senses and reluctantly diverted your eyes back to the counter. Luke leant conspiratorially towards the counter and you unconsciously mirrored his movement before he began to whisper to you. “I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but I have no idea what I’m doing.” He laughed as he straightened back up and steadied the coffee cup in his hand before continuing in an airy, cheerful voice. “I almost never do!” “I’m sure it’ll be great, don’t worry!” You reassured, casting an eye over the blender Luke was working with now. You were sure it would be. Probably. Your eyes traced the white printed branding that adorned the apron on Luke’s chest; a traditional tattoo style dagger and snake. “Why Dagger & Snake?” “Oh, that’s a question for one of the bossmen! Ashton!” Luke called across the shop. “Yeah?” You jumped at the voice that came from right behind you, spinning around and coming face to face with Ashton wiping his hands on his apron. “Sorry!” Ashton apologised. “I didn’t mean to scare you!” A soft, genuine smile played on his lips as you took in just how hazel his eyes were. You felt like you’d just walked up a flight of 200 stairs. “The lady would like to know why you and Cal named this place Dagger & Snake Bakehouse. Oh, balls.” Something hit the floor behind you, but you paid it no mind as Ashton’s face lit up. “They go together, to mean a bunch of stuff, right? Kept seeing them at tattoo shops, together. They can symbolise healing, the Roman god of luck, good vs evil; loads of cool stuff. But always together; that’s me and Cal - Calum, my best friend, we own this place, 50/50. He got the dagger, I got the snake. Brothers, forever.” Ashton talked with such conviction, and pulled his t-shirt sleeve with enthusiasm as he held his arm out to you, showing you a stark black tattoo of a snake. “That’s so sweet.” You breathed out, without really thinking about it. He looked at you like he hadn’t expected that adjective, but like he was turning it over in his mind. “And cool!” you added, nodding slightly. “You think so?” Ashton smiled, pulling his sleeve back down, looking quietly pleased. You let a few seconds tick by in silence, looking into his eyes to see what you could see. It looked like the whole world. “Yeah, I do.”

***

“Um...I think so, yes.” You thought you were just about straddling the line between casual and so-nervous-you-could-honestly-throw-up-a-little. “I wanted to ask you this that day, but I thought I’d sound so creepy, and unprofessional, and I didn’t want you to think I was a freak, or that I did this all the time, but-” Unless you were projecting, Ashton looked as nervous as you felt. “Ashton, point! Get there!” Luke yelled gleefully from the kitchen, followed immediately by a sound that you were fairly certain was Calum smacking him upside the head. The yelp of ‘Ow!’ that followed it seemed to confirm your suspicions. Ashton faltered slightly, looking embarrassed and mumbling something about ‘idiot’ and ‘fired’. “Ashton.” You reached out your hand and placed it on his where he was nervously drumming on the counter again before you even thought about it. You weren’t sure which of you was more surprised at your involuntary action. Ashton raised his eyes back to you, peering at you with hope in his hazel eyes.“You think I could get your number? Take you out sometime?” You allowed yourself to smile, widely, genuinely, as you knew just how to answer. “Yeah, I do.” *** masterlist for the 5sos ficwriters collab • my masterlist

#5sos writing collab #my writing #mermaidcashton #5sos fic #ashton #ashton irwin #5sos #5 seconds of summer #ashton 5sos #ashton fic #ashton x reader #ashton irwin fic #ashton 5sos fic #5 seconds of summer fic

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clumsyclifford · 4 years

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if you're still taking prompts “i haven’t seen him smile like that in ages.” with emo lashton maybe? so perhaps emo lashton having a good day i guess 😅 i love them so much sorry if you want just change this to normal lashton 🙈 -fiancee

emo lashton having a GOOD DAY i think you’re messing with the entire natural order of the world fiancee i dont even think this is legally allowed but i tried my best for you. also this fic includes a secret shoutout to @reveriesofawriter & her long way home theory so.......yeah

The thing about feeling bad is that Ashton always forgets that it ends.

When it’s him, it’s so easy to lose sight of the light at the end of the tunnel in favor of shutting his eyes and drowning in the darkness of it, sinking as deep as he can go until the pit of his stomach reaches the floor, until the soles of his feet hit rock bottom. Under the heavy weight of bad days, bad weeks, it always slips Ashton’s mind that it won’t always be this dismal. There’s an all-encompassing fact to his depression, so that when it sinks its teeth in it swallows Ashton up whole, and he thinks this is it, there’s only this, it’ll be just like this for the rest of my life, and it’s in those times that Ashton wonders if he shouldn’t just maybe cut that timeline short.

But he has to grit his teeth and bear it, because that’s really not an option for him. So he shoulders his own weight, and then one day he finds himself cracking a smile at a funny joke, and the realization strikes like a hammer, that this is the end of the darkness, for now. The tunnel has finally opened up, and the sun is starting to shine again, and Ashton feels dizzy with freedom.

The feeling of floating after being bogged down by the absolute bitch that is depression is relieving, no doubt. But there’s nothing compared to watching Luke get that feeling.

Ashton recognizes the signs of a crash as soon as it happens. Normally maybe he wouldn’t, but he’s so attuned to Luke, these days especially, that when something shifts, Ashton feels it. It’s small at first, and gets worse; Luke doesn’t really talk when they have dinner, and then he just stops coming to dinner. Ashton sees him around the house less and less, and makes a habit of knocking on his bedroom door just to hear the monotonous, “Yeah,” just to be sure Luke’s still inside, breathing. There’s no use trying to prise Luke from his misery — Ashton knows how listless Luke can be, how heavy he must feel — and all Ashton can do is tap subtle reminders into the doorframe that he’s here, if Luke needs him.

(One way or another, Luke always needs him. Selfishly, Ashton is glad, because God knows he needs Luke more than is probably good for him, and this way it’s at least a two-way street.)

In the dark fog clouding the house, Ashton rigidly maintaining his role of caretaker, they both forget their plans.

“Alex.”

Alex's smile becomes tinged with uncertainty. “Ashton!”

“You’re at our house,” Ashton says slowly, racking his brain for a reason why.

Alex furrows his brow. He’s brought his guitar, Ashton notices, and it hits like a fucking freight train.

“Aren’t we writing?” Alex asks, and Ashton slaps his palm against his forehead.

“Fuck. Shit, we so are. Fuck, fuck, fuck, I totally forgot. I’m so sorry, man.”

Alex grins. “No problem. I’ve been there. You want me to go, or…?”

“No, no, you’re here already. Sorry. Come in.” Ashton glances behind him as Alex crosses the threshold and the door swings shut. Luke is in his room. Luke’s been in his room all day, and for most of yesterday too. Fuck. If he’d remembered he would have rescheduled with Alex, but now Alex is here, and Ashton likes to hang out with him even if they can’t get much done. Besides, Ashton likes writing with Alex.

It just feels wrong without Luke, but — whatever. Life has to go on.

“Let me just,” Ashton says, feeling frazzled. Alex laughs.

“You’re high-strung today,” he observes, and Ashton runs a hand through his hair, feeling kind of embarrassed.

“Yeah. Uh, maybe. Sorry. Let me grab Luke, um, if I can.” He bites his lip. “He might not want to…he’s kind of, um.” Ashton trails off, but Alex picks up the thread anyway, and nods soberly.

“It’s cool,” he says.

“I’ll just check,” Ashton says, and leaves Alex in the living room, setting up his guitar, while he disappears to the back of the house to drum his fingers against Luke’s door.

“Luke?”

Luke pulls the door open, and Ashton breathes a sigh of relief without meaning to. Luke’s in the cotton t-shirt and joggers that he sleeps in, and his hair is unruly. Ashton resists the urge to reach out and fix it, and then thinks fuck it and reaches out anyway. He’s missed seeing Luke. There are dark circles under his eyes, and if Ashton peers further into the room he can spy Luke’s laptop open on the bed and his songwriting notebook next to it.

Luke says, “Alex is here. I know, I heard.” He leans into Ashton’s touch when Ashton rearranges his hair, and Ashton leaves his hand cupping Luke’s crown even after he’s finished fixing it up.

“You wanna join us?” he offers quietly. “It’s fine if you don’t. Alex will —”

“No, I will,” Luke sighs. “I should.”

“Don’t do us any favors,” Ashton says, joking but also serious. “Honestly, Luke.”

“I’m coming,” Luke says firmly. He rubs his eyes with the heels of his palm — almost childishly, Ashton thinks — and says, “Give me a minute to, like.” He gestures vaguely, kind of towards himself.

“Okay,” Ashton says, because he knows too well how it feels to be babied when he’s set his mind to something, and it’s too frustrating for words. Luke is an adult. If he says he’s fine, Ashton has to trust that.

“He’s coming,” Ashton relays when he returns to the living room. Alex is sitting on the couch, messing around. Ashton gets snatches of familiar tunes, but Alex switches it up before he can put a name to them.

“Is everything okay?” Alex asks. Ashton shakes his head, smiling wryly.

“That’s the wrong question,” he says, and exhales loudly. “Everything will be okay. We’ll be fine.”

Alex gives a short nod. “I get it,” he says, and Ashton believes him.

Luke appears then, bundled up in a hoodie that once belonged to Ashton and the same joggers. “Hey,” he greets Alex, with a smile that doesn’t really reach his eyes. “Sorry about that.”

“No worries, man,” Alex says, hopping to his feet to pull Luke into a hug. Ashton half expects Luke to jerk away, but Luke sinks into it, and Alex maybe hugs him tighter than usual.

When they break apart, Alex says, “There’s something I want to show you guys, actually. I forgot I had this here, but — it’s all in my 5SOS book.”

“Your 5SOS book?” Ashton repeats, sitting cross-legged on the floor. Luke sits beside him, and Alex stares at them for a moment before shaking his head.

“You know I’m, like, a grown-up, right? I shouldn’t be forced to sit on the floor with you spry motherfuckers.” Despite this, he eases himself to the carpet, stretching his legs out next to Ashton’s knee. He retrieves a familiar notebook from inside his guitar case — Ashton recognizes it from past writing sessions. “My 5SOS notebook,” Alex explains, waving it at them. “Where I put all the stuff I write with you guys.”

“Aw, he has a notebook just for us,” Ashton coos, nudging Luke gently with his shoulder. Luke huffs a tired laugh.

“I’m organized,” Alex says pointedly. Ashton grins. “Anyway, I was looking through it when you went to get Luke, and it has all the stuff from our first writing sessions ever, remember that? Five hundred years ago, or something?”

“Something like that,” Luke says. Ashton rests a hand on Luke’s knee, almost unconsciously.

“Long Way Home,” Alex muses, and hands off the notebook to Ashton. “You almost made me cry with that one.”

“What?” Luke says dimly. The page is covered in scribbles, many of them crossed out, and it’s faded with time and wear. Still, Ashton can make out Alex’s messy handwriting — Long Way Home (?) across the top, and underneath, (love song to the boys).

“Not in a bad way,” Alex says. “It was just — I don’t know. It’s like watching your kid sibling enter high school. I’d already done it, and seeing you guys do it — I mean, I knew you’d be a smash. I wished I’d had someone telling me, you know, take it slow. You don’t need to grow up so fast.” Ashton studies the page, Luke peering over his shoulder at the words. REMEMBER: SLOW THE FUCK DOWN! it says under the song title, and immediately beneath that, no one let these boys grow up before they’re ready. “I know it’s your song, but I like to think of it as my song to you,” Alex says, and when Ashton looks up at him he’s grinning shamelessly, but there’s not a hint of insincerity on his face.

“You wrote this about us?” Luke repeats, incredulous, running his fingers over the page as reverently as if it were the Bible, instead of some ratty ten-year-old notebook.

“Kind of,” Alex says. “You wrote it about yourself. I just helped.”

“The bridge,” Ashton remembers. “We’re just taking it slow. You wrote that part. You fucking sneak.”

Luke shakes his head, and when Ashton turns to look he’s smiling. This one isn’t like the one from before; it goes far past his eyes, pulling up every part of his face, loosening muscles that have probably been stagnating for weeks.

“I just thought you might want to know,” Alex says. “I played it for the band — mine, I mean — and the moment they heard it, they knew. But, you know. We get it. We got it then, and we get it now.” A hint of timidity now curves itself into Alex’s smile. It’s not a familiar look. “I don’t think you really did take it slow, actually. Ignored your own music and shot straight to fame, but whatever, it’s none of my business.”

Luke actually laughs. The sound goes straight to Ashton’s heart, gives it wings, eases an ache he hadn’t even really known he’d had, and the energy of the room shifts. Ashton thinks maybe he’s the only one who feels it, but it’s definitely different.

“We’re taking it slow now,” Luke offers, sweeping a hand around the room. The other hand settles on top of Ashton’s, on his knee. Unthinkingly, Ashton flips his palm up, threading their fingers together. “Just took us some time to realize we needed it.”

“Well, better late than never.”

“Yeah,” Luke says. It seems mostly to himself.

“So,” Ashton says. “Not that that wasn’t super sentimental, and I will be needing photos to send to Mike and Calum, but I feel like we should maybe try to write?”

“Yeah, okay. Give it back.” Alex snatches his notebook back, flips to a blank page, pulls out a pencil.

“Let me grab my guitar,” Luke says, and pushes himself to his feet, abruptly severing the connection between their hands. Alex’s eyes travel around the room, but Luke’s guitar is missing from its usual spot on the wall.

“It’s in his room,” Ashton explains. Luke drags his fingers across Ashton’s scalp as he leaves, a tingling trail in their wake.

“He’s been pretty bad, huh,” Alex says in a low voice. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone so…”

“Listless?” Ashton suggests bitterly. “I know. He’s been bad. But that was good. I haven’t seen him smile like that in ages.”

Alex shakes his head. “I was so worried that this would happen to you,” he says. His tone is almost mournful. “Maybe I should have done something more, I just thought —”

“Dude, stop,” Ashton says. “There’s really no point. You’re not responsible for us. As much as you probably wish you were. We made these decisions, and this is our life. It’s not all bad. It’s not even mostly bad.” At Alex’s skeptical expression, Ashton rectifies, “It’s usually better. You caught us at a rough time.”

“I’m sorry,” Alex says.

“Don’t be sorry. Fuck, man, just don’t be sorry for anything.” It’s pointless, is the thing, and Ashton had meant what he said. Alex isn’t responsible for their growing up. Nobody is but themselves, and — and despite everything, despite the burning, piercing anguish that sometimes balloons in his chest, threatening to drown him, if he could go back he wouldn’t really change anything. There are downs, and they are low; but there are also ups, and those are too high to surrender. Ashton knows he’s lucky. If he’s going to be depressed, he may as well be doing the job of his dreams.

“I’m smarter than you, you know,” Alex says, with a hint of a mocking smile teasing at his lips. “And so much older.”

“More susceptible to damage, you mean. Let’s see you crowdsurf nowadays, grandpa.”

“I’m seriously gonna fucking poison you.”

“I’d like to see you try.”

“I know where you live, you —”

“That’s nothing, I could gather your whole band —”

“Just because your band fucked off to Australia —”

“Alright, lads,” Luke interjects, returning with his guitar and the notebook Ashton had seen on his bed. “Enough fighting over me. I assume that’s what was happening.”

“If it was, I think I was winning,” Alex says immediately.

“Doubt it,” Luke says. “Not likely to leave Ashton that easily, am I?”

Alex inclines his head. He knows when he’s been beaten, evidently. “I surrender,” he says.

Ashton looks at Luke, and Luke is deliberately not looking at him, pink staining his cheeks. But the corners of his mouth are tugging themselves unwillingly into a smile, and Ashton breathes out and resists the urge to kiss Luke’s cheek, because he can see the sun coming out, finally, and it’s going to be a beautiful fucking day from here on out.

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fiveisnumber1 · 3 years

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I'm getting attached to way too many 5SOS songs for these two but you recommended it and I got hooked so here's another impromptu music analysis cuz can't stop, won't stop:

Here I am waking up Still can't sleep on your side There's your coffee cup The lipstick stain fades with time If I can dream long enough You'd tell me I'd be just fine I'll be just fine

I have SO MANY THOUGHTS. I analysed these verses as both Reader and Five. Sort of like a split screen/back and forth thing.

Reader obviously can't sleep in Five's room or stay there too long in the beginning before the grief of his disappearance threatens to make her cave in on herself. She finds his hidden stash of coffee beans and coffee cup cuz of course she got him that cup, she knew how much he loved coffee but that Reginald didn't allow it, so she knows where he keeps it and it makes her cry thinking about it cuz she misses him so much. She holds it and it's like she can feel the ghost of his fingertips still. And when she falls asleep finally after running on her own caffeine highs to avoid sleeping (before Diego and Grace catch her out), when she crashes she manages to sleep long enough to dream of Five who whispers to her that everything will be OK even though when she wakes up he's still not there and there's an emptiness in her soul and next to her.

Similarly, with Five: He also can't leave Reader's makeshift grave for the first few weeks. He can't bring himself to leave but he can't bring himself to stay long either cuz he's in despair over her loss. Her diary and locket is the "coffee cup" for him and like her, if he manages to sleep, she always haunts his dreams and tells him he'll be okay and that they'll see each other again which is hope he can't bear to give himself but simultaneously needs to keep going.

So I drown it out like I always do Dancing through our house With the ghost of you And I chase it down With a shot of truth Dancing through our house With the ghost of you

They both drown out their reality and misery. They try to forget. Reader dances around the manor pretending to be happy but she's still haunted by the memories of Five because it's literally his home and he snuck her around all these halls so they're tainted with him mumbled the stories for her in their one-sided conversations when she was invisible and trying to avoid getting caught.

For Five, Reader's ghost is literally with him at all times through his hallucinations so he tries to use that to forget that Reader isn't actually with him. His reality of the apocalypse is the bitter truth despite him making Reader up in his mind to keep him company to drown out the loneliness.

They both pretend to be happy with each others ghosts but those ghosts simultaneously remind each other about their bitter truth that they're actually far apart. They're simultaneously trying to drown out and chase the truth of each other with the remnants they have of each other.

Cleaning up today Found that old Zepplin shirt You wore when you ran away And no one could feel your hurt We're too young, too dumb To know things like love But I know better now (Better now)

So I imagine Reader finding Five's notebooks where he was calculating for time-travel and just sitting down with her head in her hands and shaking because Five just had to go and prove himself to Reginald who just had to be an asshole and refuse to be understanding. If only he had treated the Hargreeves all better maybe Five wouldn't have been so hurt and angry and the desire to prove his superiority to Reginald for some measure of control wouldn't have existed and forced him to be rash while lashing out.

Five probably finds something in the rubble belonging to Reader or maybe just her diary entry detailing how hurt she was when he left her behind but also talking about understanding his pain and it makes him ache because she understood him and his hurt and his ambition unlike everyone else and he took it for granted.

And they're obviously so young and just children but they're in love. They're too dumb to understand what it means or how to deal with it cuz it's so much emotion in such a small time but they know how it feels now that they've lost one another. They regret not saying anything and they know themselves better now and wish they had realized the depth of their feelings earlier.

Too young, too dumb. To know things like love. Too young, too dumb

The repeated lines just make my heart ache even more. It's just emphasis on their longing for each other and sort of speaks to that heightened desire over the years to see each other again the more they are apart and their hearts grow fonder. Theoretically, they were kids who shouldn't have had such a deep attachment to each other but they did. Five made a dumb mistake that landed them in a mess but it wasn't entirely his fault either and it led to their separation.

So I drown it out like I always do Dancing through our house With the ghost of you And I chase it down With a shot of truth That my feet don't dance Like they did with you

This last line hurts like a bitch. They'll continue to move on and pretend everything is fine cuz they need to keep going but they're missing their most important piece which means they can't dance exactly the way they did when they were together. They falter without each other cuz there's an empty space next to them both occupied by each other's ghost just waiting to be filled by the real person they miss. They'll drown out the truth of their emptiness as much as they can but they can never drown out the fact that the person who made them want to dance was each other.

Anywho here's my analysis. I can't wait to see what you add and I hope you liked it! :D

As always I love your analysis! I wrote a lot so I’ve put read more link below:

Here I am waking up Still can't sleep on your side There's your coffee cup The lipstick stain fades with time If I can dream long enough You'd tell me I'd be just fine I'll be just fine

When I hear these lines it gives me the feeling of time standing still, nothing is changing and it’s only little things that even dictate the passage of time. I think this is really fitting for both the reader and Five. The academy is frozen in time for the reader. The rooms of the building are the exact same and untouched from when she left to when she arrived in the future. Nothing has changed, especially so with Five’s room. It’s little things like the amount of dust collected that even show that time has passed. As for Five every day is the same in the apocalypse. It’s only the rising and setting of the sun and the changes in weather that really dictate time.

In terms of the coffee cup, I imagine after a while the reader starting to use it as it makes her feel closer to Five. She’d keep it in her room and take perfect care of it using it for whatever drink she had. The color of her lipstick staining the glass. Somehow when exploring the academy ruins, Five finds the cup perfectly intact with the lipstick stain of the reader’s on it. Five takes care of the mug but as the days, months, and years go on, the lipstick stain fades away and it breaks his heart because it’s just another part of her that he realizes is gone.

The repeated line of “I’ll be just fine” can also refer to what the reader tells other people who are trying to care for her like Grace and Diego during such a difficult time. She continues to push the issue away when they try to help by offering up the excuse of I’ll be just fine even though she won’t be fine and she is not fine.

So I drown it out like I always do Dancing through our house With the ghost of you And I chase it down With a shot of truth Dancing through our house With the ghost of you

With this, it’s both Five and the reader trying to ignore the reality of the situation they’re in. The reader tries to involve themselves in a brand new life. They make a group of friends, they spend time with Diego, they do piano, they do boxing, they work on their powers. The reader is drowning out the pain with other things but when it comes down to it she can’t escape the ghost of the memories living in the academy house.

As for Five, he turns to drinking to drown out the problem. When the pain of knowing that the reader isn’t there is too much he will chase down the problem with a shot of truth. Truth, in this case, being alcohol.

Cleaning up today Found that old Zepplin shirt You wore when you ran away And no one could feel your hurt We're too young, too dumb To know things like love But I know better now (Better now)

Even more so than finding his notebooks, I can see the reader helping Grace clean up some of the old rooms (excluding Five’s) and underneath Klaus’ bed she finds and old academy uniform, and although it’s not one that directly belongs to Five it’s still the exact outfit he wore on the day he ran away because he was angry and hurt by Reginald’s dismissal of him.

So I drown it out like I always do Dancing through our house With the ghost of you And I chase it down With a shot of truth That my feet don't dance Like they did with you

When I think of these last lines I imagine that on really lonely nights Five and the reader both get up and dance alone. They have their arms placed as if they were dancing with someone else as if they were dancing with each other, but there’s no one there but the empty air. Dancing alone, even in the loneliest of moments, is never the same as dancing with the other person.

Also like imagine this as a scene in the show with this song in the background: On a starry night in the apocalypse, Five is having a drink next to the reader’s makeshift grave at the ruins of the academy. Wanting some form of familiarity he gets up and starts to dance with the imaginary version of the reader that he has, even though he knows she isn’t real. At the same time, the Reader is in her room on a similar starry night and decides to pretend to dance with Five even though she knows he is not there. As they spin around dancing, the scene goes back and forth between Five in the apocalypse and the reader in her room making it look like they’re dancing together even though they are in two different places alone. As the song nears the final lines Five spins the reader out and there is a split-screen where Five is in the apocalypse with one arm extended and the reader is in her room with one arm out. It looks like they’re holding each other's hand but then the shots pan out and there’s nothing there. And the two of them sadly once again realize that they’re dancing through the shared house with a ghost of the other.

Just wanna add, I listened to the live version of the song, and god does it hurt to imagine Addison taking the reader to a concert and her hearing that song for the first time live. Like while everyone else is waving their cellphone flashlights side to side and having fun singing alone she just gets a distant look in her eyes as she remembers Five. Thinking of that is just like ugh, a stab in the heart really. I’d recommend it if you wanna be sad: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iwsXebE_f64 (watch 0:00-3:53)

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dekuscrybaby · 4 years

Text

best years

pairing: semi eita x fem!reader

request: no, but darcy deserved semi content after doing god’s work

word count: 1.4k+ words

warnings: mmm semi is somewhat ooc but he has a delinquent backstory so it can be considered an au, cursing, tint bit of angst, tooth-rotting fluff, barely any plot, UNEDITED

summary: you and semi share your first dance as husband and wife. heavily inspired by 5sos’ best years off their newest album calm.

tag-list: @ktdkp @miyaxs @eitalovebot @anvese @snooshiegrape @hq-luv @rayt0rade @noyasbithc

“can we please have mr. and mrs. semi come onto the dance floor for their first dance and husband and wife?” the designated dj spoke into the microphone, voice attempting to be somewhat sensual for the occasion.

hearing this, eita stood up from his chair and offered you, his bride, his hand, “shall we, mrs. semi?”

“it’d be my honor, mr. semi,” you giggled softly as you took his hand and stood from your seat, making sure to not step on your gown.

with huge loving grins on both of your faces, you strolled onto the black tiles that made up the dance floor for the night.

gracefully, you walked onto the center, your husband right behind you before you turned to look at him, your loving gaze matching his perfectly.

you slowly wrapped both arms around his neck as he wrapped his own around your waist, waiting for the music to begin to play.

just as the song’s singer began to flow softly through the venue’s audio system, semi began to sway you both softly across the floor.

“so we’re finally married huh?” he spoke through his grin.

“yeah, finally. after all the shit we’ve been through, you’re finally tied to me forever,” you laughed softly, your fingers finding a home in the short hair placed on the nape of his neck.

“i think i should be the one saying that to you though,” he said in a much softer tone, as if his mood were deflating from your small joke.

“what do you mean?” you furrowed your eyebrows, continuing the short strides in your dance.

“are you seriously going to act like nothing happened in high school? i know i had to have given you a million reasons to hesitate on my proposal, hell even my initial confession.”

“eita, don’t talk about the past. not on a day like today. today’s meant for us to celebrate our love that, hopefully, will last for the rest of our lives,” you frowned slightly.

“it’s just,” he sighed quietly, closing his eyes momentarily before meeting your eyes. “i gave you a million reasons to walk away and you did but you came back to me, when you shouldn’t have. yet i was selfish enough to allow you back into my fucked up life because i couldn’t find anyone to fill the void when you left. even after i wasted my time on people that slightly reminded me of you, you came back to me.”

“baby, that’s in the past and i want it to stay there, the future is better than yesterday. you’ve done so much to make it up to me. you’ve changed for me and i’m still so incredibly proud of you for doing so. not many juvenile delinquents can say that,” you smiled, tenderness written all over your features.

“the fact that someone like you even acknowledged a delinquent like me, makes me a little uneasy. y/n, i’ll never stop to remind you that you really could’ve been with a much better person. you deserve the world, sweetheart.” semi began to rub circles into your waist, his expression still looking rather deflated than earlier in the day.

you wanted his mood to brighten up because it was your wedding after all, it’s meant to be the happiest day for the two of you. and what better way to do that than to inflate your groom’s ego just a little?

“well how could i not acknowledge you? you were hands down one of the hottest boys at school. you looked so hot in that leather jacket of yours, and don’t get me started on the black jeans you wore that were tight in all the right places,” you snorted.

a small grin began to spread across his face, “you really mean that?”

“of course i do. it was my high school dream to fall in love with a bad boy and you just happened to be my type, so how could i not fall in love with you?”

“cigarettes and all?” he raised an eyebrow inquisitively.

“the cigarettes were especially hot, in theory of course. lung cancer isn’t exactly hot and i’m glad you’re slowly quitting that habit,” you laughed softly.

“you’re too good to me, you know that right? you’re practically an angel, how’d i get so damn lucky?” he groaned as he dipped you, attempting to spice up what you assumed to be a somewhat boring first dance.

but you had more important matters to attend to than to put on a show for your guests.

“well you can always repay me,” you suggested as semi urged you to continue with one glance.

“promise to give me the best years of my life as your wife. build a home with all the ‘broken pieces’ you may have caused and make it a home for us. i know you feel terrible for causing me tears earlier in our relationship, especially during your delinquent phase. so, make it up to me by giving your all into the marriage, make me the happiest person.”

small tears began to sting in corners of semi’s eyes. something in him refused to believe that you were meant to be his for the rest of his life, but hearing you speak to him moved something in him.

you wanted him to promise you something. you had faith that he’d keep something between the two of you. you had faith in him to keep your marriage well and healthy. hell, you even had faith that he’d make a home for the two of you. together.

and who was he to deny a request from a girl on her wedding day?

“i promise. i promise to give you the best years,” his voice began to shake as his emotions began to overwhelm him.

“darling, i promise you won’t ever regret marrying me. i know i'm basically contradicting myself at this point, but your words erupted something in me. you’re tied to me now, and i’ll make it my mission to make you the happiest so you don’t ever regret taking my last name to be your own. and i promise to never make you worry over me. any traces of my delinquency are burned out like that cigarette you saw me smoke last night.”

the slight reference to his nervousness before today made you laugh a little before you allowed him to continue spilling his heart out to you. despite your vows from earlier already doing part of it.

“i’ll never shut up about how overjoyed i was to hear the wedding officiant declare us husband and wife. i can’t wait to spend every single day of our lives together and i can’t wait to make up for all my dumbass mistakes. you’ll never know how ecstatic i am to finish growing up with you. you did so much for me when i wasn’t even half of the man that you deserved but you stuck around so let me be the man you deserve for the rest of our lives.

“let me hold your hair when you drink too much or when we finally get the opportunity to start a family of our own. let me build a home for us and for our future family. i know i’m not perfect, my criminal record is proof of a few of my imperfections, but let me attempt to be a husband you can be proud of.” he finished his speech with a breathy laugh.

not able to find any words to respond to him, you leaned up and pressed your lips to his.

salty tears began to slowly stream down both of your cheeks, but it didn’t stop you guys from sharing a passionate kiss. it wasn’t even a sexual one with tongue, just a soft kiss between two lovers to symbolize the pure love you held for one another.

eita slowly pulled away from your lips and rested his forehead against yours, his breath slightly ragged from the long kiss.

you mimicked his own actions, forgetting about your surroundings until you heard clapping around the two of you.

slowly glancing to your side, you remembered where you were. the song had wrapped up and everyone was gushing over how perfect eita was for you and you were for him.

“let’s give up to the newlyweds!” the dj cheered, subtly wiping under his eyes.

“well that was an amazing first dance, don’t you agree, dear?” semi smiled down at you.

“it would be rude of me not to, let’s not let it be the last.”

#haikyuu #haikyuu x reader #haikyuu imagine #haikyuu imagines #semi eita x reader #semi eita imagine #semi x reader #semi imagine #semi fluff #semi eita fluff #semi eita #eita semi #eita semi x reader #eita semi imagine #hq #hq x reader #hq imagine #hq imagines #hq fluff

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writing-mermaid · 4 years

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The Princess and the Mad Hatter, Chapter 1 : Tonight, I’ll become the most dazzling precious treasure

Summary : What if Snow-White wasn’t the fairest of all ? What if the most beautiful princess of the Enchanted Forest has been forgotten because she didn’t fell in love with a prince ? This is the story of a curse and of a love story defying all the codes of fairy tales.

Pairing : Jefferson The Mad Hatter x Princess Rose (OFC)

Warnings : None

Word Count : 1 258

Author’s note : Chapter 1 and we dive into the story ! I’ve already posted this, on my main blog, but I decided to rework on it to repost it. Hope you’ll like it. Don’t forget that feedback is appreciated and really important.

Song of the title : Treasure - Flyleaf

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Enchanted Forest, several time ago.

In a kingdom surrounded by the mountain, the forest, and the sea, lives a young and arrogant prince. Charles thinks that since the day of his birth he could get anything and everything for free, from the most random little thing to the most unreachable one. As an adult, and before being crowned king, he falls in love with a beautiful noble young woman named Sophia, whom, for Charles’ unhappiness, is engaged to a blacksmith, Alister, whom she had chose herself with her parents blessing, seeing in a very positive way their daughter be wed by love and choice, rather than out of a sense of duty with someone of her league.

Totally obsessed by Sophia’s beauty, Charles decides one day to challenge her fiancé to a trial for the beauty’s hand. Relying only on his courage, Alister accepts the fight to defend his fiancée’s honor. Unfortunately for him, Charles’ hanger for power and the fact that he never accepts “no” as an answer, the prince calls Rumpelstiltskin, the Dark One, to get what he wants : the blacksmith’s death to marry the beautiful Sophia. Thanks to the dark wizard curse, Charles manages to defeat his opponent who however was stronger than him and marries Sophia less than a week later. Full of sorrow, she resigns herself to marry him and her new princess life, and then, queen, less than two years later.

A few times after the coronation, the newly queen knows that she is pregnant. She secretly hopes to give birth to a boy for giving an heir to the crown and that maybe, she hopes, her husband will leave her alone for a few times. What she doesn’t expect however, is that her royal husband never paid his debt to Rumpelstiltskin and that this one invites himself to the sumptuous party given in the honor of the future baby.

“Well, well, it’s like we are celebrating something dearies”, he exclaims, with his very shrilly voice. “Rumor has it, it’s a baby.”

“What are you doing here, fitly gnome”, Charles jumps from his throne and runs towards the little man. “You were not invited to this party, so go back from where you come from.”

“Well, I’ve not been invited, but it seems to me, your highness”, he replies, exaggerating Charles’ title, “that you owe me something. Hihihihihi.”

A whisper rises in the crowd. All are looking at each other, trying to understand what the dark wizard talks about. He starts to talk again.

“So, I came to finally have what’s mine, your majesty”, he says shaking his hands.

“I am not going to give you anything. Go away before I give my guards the order to kill you.”

“You perfectly know that they can’t do anything to me”, the Dark One chuckles. “But I can do something against you, in fact, I am going to do it, take it as a warning. King Charles, this is your punishment for failing our contract : all the children you are going to have will be girls, you are going to tell me, having only girls can be a gift, especially if your little princesses are pretty as gems, but and this is the beauty of my curse, all your daughters are going to be uglier and more stupid the next than the previous one, starting with the one your wife is carrying right now.”

Speaking those words, he disappears with a mad laugh. At the moment he pronounces these words, Sophia collapses on the ground shaken by sobs. This marriage already makes her unhappy, and now in addition, she is condemned to only give the realm only girls and moreover ugly girls, who are probably going to be miserable all their life. It is too much for her and her mental state.

“Don’t you worry”, Charles tells her, hopping he is going to comfort her, “this is not going to happen, I am pretty sure that the magic of that imp will have no effect on our children.”

Sophia isn’t reassured at all, she knows all about Rumpelstiltskin’s powers, and perfectly knows that he wasn’t faking. This is a punishment, she thinks, a punishment for marrying the man who killed the love of her life, her true and only love. Sophia isn’t stupid, she knows that Charles only married her as a trophy, and not for love, because she knows perfectly that her husband is incapable of loving anyone but himself. In a last effort, she wishes with all her strength for a miracle to happen. Her pray is heard and a little blue halo entered but one of the throne’s room window.

“Maybe I can help you.”, says the little halo before materializing into a brown hair woman.

“You can ?”, Sophia asks, her voice filed with hope.

“I can only reduce this spell, that’s the best I can do.”

“What do you mean ‘reduce the spell’ ?”, enrages Charles. “You are going to cancel this spell, and this is an order !”

“I don’t take orders from you, even if you are king.”, the Blue Fairy curtly replies. “You have, by vanity, stole another man’s fiancée and you used dark magic because your oversized ego wouldn’t have supported a defeat, and you refused to pay. However, I can’t for your wife and your future children let it be. Queen Sophia, I can only act on the child you are already carrying, everything will depend on her. Unfortunately, I can’t change the fact that all your children are going to be girls, nor the rest of the curse, but I can do something for that little princess. The child you are carrying is going to be the most beautiful princess that kingdom have ever seen, and probably the most beautiful the Enchanted Forest ever known. She will be brilliant, and loving with everyone, and especially with her sisters. This child will be your only hope to break Rumplestilskin’s curse.”

“How could she do that ? Tell me please.”, Sophia whispers.

“Simply by receiving a true love kiss.”

“If it’s that simple”, Charles mocks the Blue Fairy, “she will receive one soon enough when we will engage her to a prince.”

“Don’t you think that it’s going to be that easy, the spell will be break only if her true love gives her that kiss. Don’t consider that this will work with the first comer to whom you will give your daughter. That’s all I can do for her”, she finishes turning around towards Sophia. “Take care of your precious little flower your highness.”

This is her last word; before becomes again the little halo and goes out same way she came in. Not really relieved, but a little reassured about the baby she is carrying, Sophia notices by the corner of her eye that her husband is fulminating. Obviously, he doesn’t believe in Rumpelstiltskin and the Blue Fairy spells.

A few months later, Sophia gives birth to a dazzling and perfectly healthy little girl. She has a light white skin, auburn hair, light hazelnuts eyes, a straight and delicate nose, and thin lips of the color of a pink rosebud. She is, indeed, the most beautiful princess of the Enchanted Forest. That’s why her mother decides to name her after that flower. The whole kingdom celebrates princess Rose’s birth, and even if Charles sees in her a future currency to make his kingdom grow, Sophia, on her side, sees in her a flower who will bring hope to a better future.

Taglist :

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jynxes · 3 years

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Leather n’ Red - Reggie Peters

Summary: Much like the deceased boys of Sunset Curve, Duchess died right before the gig that could’ve been her band’s big break. Thing is, she left the dark room a little earlier than they did, made a couple friends and learned a few tricks. What will happen when she and the boys can be seen when singing with Julie, the only alive person that can see them all?

Paring: Reggie Peters x Duchess Himura (OC)

Word count: 3.2k

Warnings: One f-bomb dropped, 2020 slang and the boys being confused

Thank you to @beansisarat7 for beta reading this chapter for me!

A/N: Here’s the second chapter! A quick little disclaimer, I’ve never actually been clubbing, so I’m sorry if this isn’t really right. That being said, I had a lot of fun writing this chapter, especially since I did it instead of doing homework, anyway, I hope you enjoy!

♪°•°∞°•°♪°•°∞°•°♪°•°∞°•°♪°•°∞°•°♪

Chapter 2 // No cap, but go off I guess

After hanging out in the garage for a bit, Luke poofs us somewhere. The guys grunt a little, not used to poofing everywhere.

Reggie looks down at himself for a second, letting out a "Huh?"

We all look out below us onto a familiar street, watching people passing on the sidewalk in silence.

Luke breaks it, "Hey, I know being dead isn't our first choice, but I mean, it sure is easy getting around."

"It's like, super easy to get everywhere," I agree.

"Easy for you, maybe," Reggie says, "I lost my shirt on that one," he gestures to his bare torso. I let my eyes linger a little longer than they should've.

Then his shirt poofs back and I let out an almost inaudible, "aww." Based on the look Alex gave me it wasn't as quiet as I meant for it to be.

"Ooh never mind! There it is," Reggie says, happy his shirt is back and Luke chuckles.

Alex and I notice the sound of neon buzzing and look up to see a sign for the Orpheum.

"Okay, so, why'd you bring us here?" Alex asks, "Just another painful reminder of where we never got to play?"

"Yeah, thanks Luke, not cool," I back him up, Luke and Reggie look up to the sign before Luke brings his eyes back to Alex and I.

"I mean, dudes, the game isn't over yet," Luke says before poofing us down onto the pavement below and begins walking, "I'm telling you, we've been given a second chance. Let's find some music. Let's see how many clubs we can hit before sunrise."

"We're going clubbing! A'right!" I exclaim, getting excited and giving Luke a high five.

We keep walking for a second when we realize Alex isn't with us, we turn around, walking backwards, "Hey Alex, you coming?" Luke asks.

"Let's go!" Reggie yells to him.

"We're partying tonight!" I yell before poofing away the red and black striped sweater below my AC/DC graphic tee.

"So, where are we hitting first?" Alex asks, running to catch up to us.

"I, uh, I actually have no idea," Luke reveals.

"Okay, don't worry, I know a few places," I say confidently before remembering that they think I arrived at the same time as them, "If they're still here that is."

"Okay, tell us, where we heading first?" Reggie grins excitedly.

"We're gonna see if we can get into The Doe," I tell them, "It's about three blocks over," and with that I poof us to The Doe.

The boys look at the sign for the club, and then to the line to get in. If we were alive then we'd have to wait like an hour to get in, but since we're ghosts we can sneak in in two seconds.

"Come on!" I say, grabbing their arms and dragging them in.

There's some music playing, but it's not any 90s songs, nothing they'd find familiar. It takes me a second but I'm pretty sure it's that band named 5 Seconds of Summer or something, Billy's been trying to get me up to date with music and I've been doing fine so far.

"She looks so perfect standing there

In my American Apparel underwear,"

Yup, it's 5SOS, Billy would be proud.

"Wow," Reggie says, looking around at all the lights and people on the dancefloor.

"Yeah," I smile, "What d'you think? Is music different now?"

"Well, this is one song, but it's pretty good, no Sunset Curve though," he grins.

"Yeah, I agree. But it's pop rock, so it won't be as full on as Sunset Curve."

"Wanna dance?" he asks me, extending a hand for me to take.

'Fuck it,' I think, "Sure," I take his hand and we begin to dance. It's not really a song you can dance with a partner to, unless you're grinding I guess, but we make it work, dancing next to each other and he spins me every now and then which is fun.

When the song finishes we go to check out what Alex and Luke are doing. When we find them they're looking at the DJ's playlist, and they are skimming through the names trying to figure out which are rock bands and which they think would be best to listen to.

"Luke," I say, taking his arm, "Just let the DJ play her playlist. If you wanna hear the new music then just listen to it."

"But, Duchess, I wanna hear the competition. I wanna find out what rock bands are like now!" he protests.

"Please Luke?" I say, tugging on his arm again, "I'll dance with you?" I offer.

"Ugh, fine, only because I can't say no to a pretty girl that wants to dance."

"Sure you can't Patterson," I smirk, pulling him onto the dance floor as a slower song begins. It takes me a second until I recognize it as a song by the Vamps, Somebody to You.

"Look at me now, I'm falling

I can't even talk, still stuttering,"

We hold hands and dance, lip-synching to a song we don't even know, laughing when we clearly mess up. He spins me around a couple times, and I dip him at the end of one of the choruses making us burst into giggles. I'm really starting to like hanging out with the boys, they're great fun to be around.

The song ends and we hug, "So," I begin, "What did you think of that song?"

"Well, it's not rock, and it's definitely not Sunset Curve," I roll my eyes at these observations, "But it was good, I had fun dancing to it."

"See? Just because it's not rock doesn't mean it's trash," I laugh, and he rolls his eyes.

I turn to Reggie and Alex before taking a step towards Alex, "Well, since I've danced with these two morons, I guess I owe you a dance?"

I put my hand out for him to take and after looking to Reggie and Luke, who both nod at him, he looks back to me and takes my hand.

The song we dance to is Girls Like You by Maroon 5. It's a nice song, slower and a pop rock song that's more pop than rock. We both have a lot of fun doing turns and exaggeratedly pointing to each other for every,

"When I come through

I need a girl like you, yeah yeah,"

Alex is definitely a dancer, and a good one at that. We both have fun dancing more hip-hop when we get to Cardi's verse and we're laughing the entire time.

When the song ends we join the other two and they just look at us both wide eyed.

"What?" we ask.

"You two really like to dance," Reggie says.

"Yeah, guess Alex isn't the only dancer in the group now," Luke comments. Oh, if only you knew.

"So, next club?" I ask.

"Sure, where to next?" Reggie asks me.

I think for a bit before deciding, "How about we go to Okay?"

"Okay?" the boys chorus.

"Yeah, Okay, it's a club, you down?"

The boys exchange a look before shrugging, "Sure," Luke says, "Take us to Okay."

♪°•°∞°•°♪°•°∞°•°♪°•°∞°•°♪°•°∞°•°♪

I take the guys to Okay and we dance for a bit, Okay plays a few older songs from like the 2000s and the 90s, so we actually know the words to these songs. We're goofing about and dancing when Reggie and I bump into someone, we exchange a look before looking back at the person we bumped into.

The person has short green hair, a long sleeved black and white top and a black skirt with black suspenders seemingly holding it up, they look great.

"Oh my god, I'm so sorry," they say before realizing what just happened. "Ghosts?"

"Yeah, we're ghosts, I'm Duchess," I tell them.

"And I'm Reggie," Reggie says, putting out his hand to shake theirs.

"Well, I'm Kai," Kai says, shaking Reggie's hand," And in case you were wondering I use they/them pronouns."

"They— th- what?" Reggie stammers, confused.

"Oh, uh, Kai, Reggie died in the 90s and only just left the dark room, he's still catching up," I explain to them.

"Oh, that's okay, I can explain if you want," Kai offers, and Reggie nods his head.

"When we refer to people we use pronouns, right?" Reggie nods again, "Well, instead of using he/him or she/her, I use they. Like what you would do if you didn't know if someone was a he or a she. Think of it like you found a wallet, you'd say 'oh, someone left their wallet here, I'll leave it so that they can find it,' do you follow?"

"Yeah, I do. Thanks for teaching me," Reggie smiles, still slightly embarrassed, "I use he/him pronouns, is that right?"

"Yeah, it is," I smile, "And I use she/her."

"Well, now that we're properly introduced, do you wanna come meet my friends?" Kai asks.

"Sure, can we go get our friends, Alex and Luke?" I ask.

"Sure, go ahead," Kai says, "We'll be over in the booth over there," they point to a booth in the corner of the club.

They walk to their both and Reggie and I scramble to find Alex and Luke. When we do we tell them we found other ghosts and Reggie explains to them Kai's pronouns, he seemed really proud to be educating them and it was honestly adorable.

We go over to the booth Kai pointed out to us and meet their friends, Mel, who died in 2017, is cis and uses she/her and Eli, who died in 2019, is trans and uses he/him. They're really cool people who told us a lot about newer music, and what it's like being a ghost. They also told us that they like to prank alive people even though they don't really know how to do much as ghosts.

"Just because you can't touch 'em doesn't mean you can't mess with 'em," Eli says with an evil grin.

"What do you mean?" Luke asks.

"Well, for instance, they can't feel your skin, but they can feel fabric and texture," Mel explains, "They can feel the wetness of water on your hand but not your hand. Ya get me?"

"Yeah, I get you."

"I know this is off topic but tbh I don't care, Luke, your fit is so 90s but like it's also fire," Eli compliments.

"Uhhhh," the guys sit with their mouths open, not knowing what to say, because they are not up to date with 2020 slang.

"Eli, dude, they're literally from the 90s," I laugh, "They highkey have no clue what you're saying."

"Oohhh, tea," Mel gasps.

"Yeah, they make knowing basic slang seem like a flex," I giggle.

"Cap, that's gotta be cap," Eli shakes his head.

"No cap, but go off I guess," I shrug.

"Damn, no need to be salty."

"I'm not salty, they're just himbos."

"They're himbos?" Mel asks, "You sure?"

"Well, yeah, but like they also create a himbo when combined. Luke is beefy, you see those arms? And Reggie is dumb of ass," I say before turning to Reggie, "said with love. And Alex is pure of heart. Ergo, they create himbo."

"Can't argue with that logic, but I'm shook, how do you understand what we're saying, and they don't?"

"Well, first off I died in 2005, second off, I've been here a little bit longer than they have, that's why I have the 200 IQ plays that they don't."

"Still don't know what you're saying," Reggie says.

"Stop messing with them," Kai scolds, "I'm sorry about them, I died in 2014 and spent a little while in the dark room, it took me a while to figure out what they were saying."

"It's fine," Alex says, "We just, uh, just have a lot to catch up on I guess."

"You do, but it's getting late and if we don't yeet ourselves back home then Angel is gonna kill us, again," Eli says.

"Bet!" Mel agrees.

"We gotta get going, is what they mean, but we'll see you around?" Kai asks.

"Of course," I say, "See ya."

"Bye guys," they all say.

"Bye," the guys reply before Kai, Eli, and Mel poof away.

"Shall we hit the next club?" I ask the guys and they nod. And so I take them to what will be our final club of the night, a place called Midnight.

I poof us there and the guys drag me to a table before all turning to me.

"What?" I question, confused.

"How the hell do you know all that stuff?" Luke interrogates me.

"Yeah, I thought you showed up same time as us," Alex adds on.

"And what's a himbo?" Reggie asks, the guys look at him, "What? It's a valid question!"

"Okay, well, I didn't appear into the afterlife with you," I elucidate, "I just became visible to Julie with you guys. I've been here for like a month and a half already."

"A month and a half? And you didn't think to tell us?!" Alex all but yells at me.

"Sorry! I was confused when I was brought to you and Julie and then I realized who you were, and then I found out Julie could see me! Sorry if I didn't spill my life story to you," I sass.

"Yeah, no that makes sense," Reggie agrees.

"Yeah, I mean it's not every day you meet your music idols," Luke says arrogantly.

"And it's definitely not every day you realize they're huge dorks either," I say, pushing Luke's shoulder gently and he laughs.

"Reggie did raise a good question earlier though," Luke says.

"Oh? And what is that?" I ask.

"What is a himbo?"

"Ah, no. You're not ready to learn that yet."

"What do you mean?" Alex questions.

"You're just not ready. Trust me on that. Now come on, do we wanna stay here or will I show you some new things in LA?"

"Let's stay here a bit," Luke suggests, and the boys agree.

"Okay, let's dance then," I say grabbing them to the dance floor. It's definitely different clubbing as a ghost, there's no eating or drinking and no mingling unless you meet other ghosts.

After a bit of dancing the music quiets down, it's still playing but if you sang into the mic onstage then you could drown it out. I look to Reggie and he smiles at me, I nod to the mic and he taps Luke's shoulder and points to the mic, we smile and go onstage.

I look at the DJ's playlist and find a song that would absolutely be fun to sing with the boys. It's a song by Green Day and so although it came out in 2004, they'll still know the band. Before I put it on, I explain to them that although yes, the song does have a slur in it, it was meant as a reclamation and beyond that we can just not sing it, we agreed on the latter. I hit play on the karaoke option and make sure the boys can see the lyrics.

And so we begin as any normal person would start a song, screaming at the top of our lungs,

"DON'T WANNA BE AN AMERICAN IDIOT

DON'T WANT A NATION UNDER THE NEW MANIA,"

Singing with the boys was so much fun, honestly, I want to sing with them again for sure! People are confused when we finish because no one was up on the stage and we don't exactly sound like Green Day, but they enjoyed it, nonetheless.

♪°•°∞°•°♪°•°∞°•°♪°•°∞°•°♪°•°∞°•°♪

After staying in the club for a while the boys decided that they did want me to take them around the city. I show them all the new venues and places where bands play gigs, I show them what places shut down and what's there in their place.

The guys immediately stopped the tour when I revealed that I learned a couple ghosting tricks from my ghost friend. They really wanted to see what I could do, I can't really do much, but I showed them regardless. I lifted a couple things and set off a couple car alarms but I couldn't do much other than that. The guys found it really cool though, I gotta introduce them to Billy at some point.

The sun starts to rise and we decide that we need to start getting back to the Molina house, the boys want to wander for a bit longer, but I decide to go back to go check on Carlos, he's gotta be a little confused, especially after seeing Julie see me last night.

I poof to the door outside his room and knock quietly before hearing Carlos saying, "Come in."

"Hey Carlito," I smile after walking through the door.

"Hey Dee," he smiles, sitting on his bed, "What's up?"

"I just thought you'd want to know what's going on. Ya know, because of last night."

"Oh, yeah, could Julie see you?"

"Yeah, she, uh, she can."

"She can see you? How?!"

"Well, it's a long story, and I'm not 100% sure how she can see me either, but she can," I then whisper to myself, "I really don't understand why she can see the others and you can't though."

"What?" he asks.

"Oh, nothing. So, what's new, what are you gonna do today?" I deflect.

"Since we're moving, I have to pack my room, which means cleaning under my bed, and we both know that I don't wanna clean under my bed," the boy says, shaking his head.

"Hey!" I say, offended, "You found my demo under your bed!"

"Yeah, and who knows, I might find more demos and summon more demon ghosts!"

"I'm not a demon!" I protest, "I'm a ghost! A normal ghost, just tryna get through the afterlife."

"That's fair, well, I gotta get ready for school, but I'll see you after?"

"Yeah, of course Calo," I assure him, "I'll see you later."

"Bye DeeDee."

And with that I poof to the guys, they were still wandering around LA and when I show up we all decide to go back to the studio.

We all poof into the back of the studio and we hear Julie singing and playing the piano. This is surprising to the boys because she told them that she doesn't play, and it's surprising for me because I know that she hasn't played since her mom died, so it's a little crazy for all of us.

"Wake up your dream and make it true Look out, look inside of you When you feel lost Relight that spark, time to come out of the dark Wake up, mm-mm, wake up"

We all look at each other in awe of Julie. This girl has an incredible voice and she plays the piano amazingly, honestly I'm glad she's playing again, depriving the world of her talent is almost criminal!

When she's done, Julie lifts the last sheet of music off the piano reading the note that her mom left at the bottom of it before hugging it and crying softly.

♪°•°∞°•°♪°•°∞°•°♪°•°∞°•°♪°•°∞°•°♪

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