annabelle | hemmings

[2]

It was the following night and the four boys had just arrived at their location of choice. Collide, the newest, and right now most crowded, club in town. It was more of a large warehouse than a club but there were lots of people and a stage and the boys were excited beyond belief. It had just gone half past eight as they all started to lug their gear inside, instrument cases and amps as well as all the other crap that they'd need for tonight's performance.

"Jesus, it's bigger than I imagined." Michael murmured as they began to set up onstage. The room was still filled with booming dub step music and grinding couples as he helped Ashton with setting up his drum kit, his light eyes scanning the crowd for the people that he'd invited.

"Shit, look there's Niall and Zayn." Ashton announced, causing Michael to look up as the two older guys made their way closer to the front of the stage to talk to the band.

"Yeah, I think Cal might have invited them."

"Lads! How's it going?" Niall asked, laughing out loud and hoisting himself up onto the stage so that he could give the boys a hug, careful not to spill his beer in the process. Calum came around the corner seconds later, his bass in one hand and a large amp under his left arm.

"Holy shit! You guys made it." He said before jogging over and enveloping Zayn in a large hug.

"Of course we made it, as if we'd miss out on one of your biggest gigs." The Irish boy laughed, smacking Calum on the back and smiling widely. "Harry and Liam should be here soon as well, I think Louis was coming with El too. I'm sure they'll be late though, you know them." He finished before the two made their way over to Luke to say hello.

"Wow, that's great." Ashton gushed, scratching the back of his head and looking out over the crowd once more.

"Who else did you invite?" Michael asked, nudging him in the waist before meeting his eyes as he leaned in close to speak, it was almost impossible to hear each other over the music.

"I invited Liam and Soph, and Ollie said he'd probably bring a couple of his mates. What about you?"

"Just Harry, he said he'd probably bring Gemma if she wasn't busy and oh my god-! You'll never guess who I saw at Starbucks yesterday." He exclaimed, making Ashton giggle under his breath and meet his eyes.

"Who?"

"Naomi, do you remember her? From high school?" He asked, causing Ash to furrow his eyebrows at the familiar name. "Red hair, kinda short, she's got glasses and she always used to wear those goddamn combat boots-"

"Ahhhh right, she used to be in our home room?"

"That's the one!"

"So she's coming? That's cool." He replied, turning his gaze towards Luke and Calum who were now sipping on beers and joking around with Niall and Zayn, rather than setting up the instruments.

"Yeah, she said she'd bring her friend, she just got back from London or something. Amanda? Amelia? Ana-something or other." The black haired boy replied before laughing out loud and shrugging, playing with the tuning pegs on his guitar as Ashton's mouth fell open a little bit.

"Annabelle?" He questioned, watching as Michael's eyes widened a little, a small smile crossing his lips.

"That's it! You know her?"

"You're a fucking idiot, Mikey." The hazel eyed boy groaned before stealing a look over at Luke who was now hugging his girlfriend hello. She must have only arrived a few minutes before.

"What the hell, what have I done?"

"Annabelle Lewis? Naomi's best friend. Blonde, green eyes, kinda tall-" he was cut off by Mikey waving his hand, signalling for the older boy to stop as Ashton stole yet another glance over at Luke who seemed to have not heard a single word of their conversation. Michael nodded at Ashton's descriptions, though he was still thoroughly confused.

"What are you getting at Ash?"

"She used to date Luke." He stated, meeting Michael's eyes and giving him a look.

"And? He's dated so many girls he's probably lost count and so what-"

"She ruined his life. Luke fucking hates her."

=====

The final chords of Voodoo Doll were ringing out across the building accompanied by the sound of about two hundred girls screaming. The concert had gone pretty fucking well and all four of the boys were absolutely stoked as they bid the crowd farewell and made their way offstage.

"That was fucking great!" Michael yelled, running and jumping so that he could wrap his arms around Calum in a large hug. The brunette boy didn't seem to mind, just laughed in reply and returned the hug, jumping up and down as he caught sight of the wide-eyed drummer of the band.

"I can't believe how well that went." Ashton stated, running a hand through his now sweaty and messy curls before dropping down onto one of the couches that was set up backstage. Luke was right now talking to Hayley who was squealing in excitement, though she refused to hug Luke while he was covered in sweat.

"You guys, that was brilliant!" They were soon interrupted by Harry who had managed to make his way backstage in order to pull Michael into a huge hug. Gemma, Liam and Sophia soon followed closely behind and seconds later the four band mates were once again cheering out loud.

"I'm going to grab some drinks to celebrate!" Michael announced, Calum saying that he'd come with as the two made their way out of a stage door and started through the many throngs of people.

They were soon at the bar, trying to work out how many drinks they'd have to purchase when Michael felt a quick tap on his shoulder, turning to be met with a red haired girl who smiled widely and announced a "hi Mikey, great gig" loud enough to be heard over the pounding music.

"Naomi! You made it." He smiled before realising that she was alone and sighing a minuscule sigh of relief, thank God she'd come alone.

"Of course I made it." She gushed, taking a sip of the cherry flavoured drink in her hand before meeting his eyes once more. "Calum, right?" She asked as the extra boy nodded in reply, giving her a friendly hug hello before turning his attention back to the barman who was currently listing out different drinks.

They were soon joined by Luke, who had come to help give a hand with the drinks and Michael introduced the two. Luke recognised the young girl though he couldn't quite place where she was from.

"Anyway, we're going to have a few drinks backstage if you wanna come with?" Michael asked, a bottle of vodka in one hand and a few shot glasses in the other. Luke and Calum both nodded in reply, absolutely sure that Michael had a thing for the auburn haired girl that stood in front of them.

"Sure, I mean, that'd be great- I just need to wait for my friend, she's just in the bathroom-" she was soon cut off by Michael who paused and held up one hand, his eyes widening as she let go a small laugh at his expression.

"Your friend?"

"Yeah, you know the one that I was telling you about at Starbucks the other day-" she started, her eyebrows creasing together a little in confusion.

"Okay, um Luke? Maybe you'd want to head back to the others and just check on things. You know, just asking if they want any food or whatever-" Michael attempted to get rid of the blonde though he just shook his head and laughed that it was fine, he'd already asked everybody.

"Wait- it's okay. Here she is now." Naomi smiled, pointing across the crowd and Michael immediately recognised the girl that Ashton had described earlier, hair pulled back in a high ponytail, making her way through the dancing crowd. She soon joined the group and Calum flashed her a friendly smile. Michael and Luke both just stood there with wide eyes, staring at the blonde beauty in front of them.

"Guys, this is my friend Anna-"

"Annabelle." Luke spoke, his voice quiet as he kept his eyes on hers. She was still exactly the same. Her eyes the same green, her hair still undeniably messy and that same smirk still plastered across her pink lips.

"Hey Hemmings. Long time, no see."

"What the fuck are you doing here?"