"It's Not Love If It Hurts" //5sos

/127/

  "Now, we have to talk about the elephant in the room," the interviewer, a tall girl with long, brunette hair and perfect posture said. "And bring up Calum's new girlfriend, Annie Cresta."

  Michael moved away from the microphone, muttering the word 'new' to Luke.

  They were doing a quick radio interview, just the two of them. It was supposed to be the four of them, but Johanna had gotten two offers, and this station was willing to pay more even if they just got Luke and Michael. It didn't matter that much- they'd still get a storm of new listeners to the show.

  "So, I have to ask, what do you guys think of her?"

  Michael scratched his head uncomfortably, looking at Luke. "Well, obviously Luke's completely in love with her." he said sarcastically.

  "Oh God," Luke agreed. "Just out of the blue, people started shipping us. Like, Annie has a boyfriend! She's dating Calum, obviously I don't like her like that."

  "Really?" the woman asked, completely out of the loop.

  Michael gave Luke a look, taking this one. "Seriously. There's even fan fiction."

  "Fan fiction?"

  "Yeah," he agreed, running a hand through his purple hair. "It's funny though, because they never get us right, and so to see them mess up someone else's character was... actually really nice to read."

  Luke chuckled. "In the one I read, she was really timid and had lots of friends."

  Michael snorted at that, and the interviewers eyes widened. "So, is she not like that in real life?"

  Luke cracked up, taking a step back from the microphone. "Yeah, no." Michael said, sending him a look. "Annie's like... really physically aggressive. And that's good, because Calum's a really physical person." He looked over behind the interviewer, where Johanna was sending him some clear signals to steer clear of that topic.

"Now, I have to know," the interviewer asked, seeming completely interested, "how do you boys like Annie? Mikey, you don't particularly care for her, is that true?"

Johanna sent him a glare that made it obvious he had to watch what he said. The interview was being broadcast over the radio, but not filmed, so no one but the people in the room saw as Michael flipped Johanna off. "Um... no, she's fine. I didn't like her at first, because... well, because... um..."

"She was really scary," Luke said, saving Michael. "She still is. We've gotten used to her now, but back when we first met her, it was like- woah."

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"We know we know we know, you've probably gotten loads of questions about Annie already, but you have to answer at least a few for us, please?" The interviewer, a thin guy maybe ten years older than the boys started with, and immediately Ashton shook his head.

"One sec, I'm gonna go take a bathroom break. It doesn't sound like I'm needed for this part," he joked, staying in his seat.

The interviewer raised his eyebrows like he might've found something interesting. "What do you think about Calum's new girlfriend, Ashton?"

Ashton laughed. "Her name is Annie, not Ashton, but I see how you could get them confused." The interviewer tried to explain, but Ashton shook his head casually. "Kidding. I like Annie though. She's good at go-fish."

"The most important part in a relationship," Calum smirked at Annie, who was standing out of the camera's line of vision. "Their ability to play go-fish."

"So, you all play together then?" The man asked, his eyebrows raising to the heavens.

Ashton and Calum burst out laughing. "Come on man!" Ashton declared, trying to calm down. For someone who talks for a living, this guy had pretty poor word choice.

"What's wrong?"

Calum did his best to wipe the stupid smile off of his face. "Nothing, nothing. Yes, we all... play together."

"Card games." Ashton defended. "Party games. Charades."

"Bingo," Calum continued, laughing silently as they can up with more and more random games.

"Pin the tail on the donkey."

"Innocent stuff like that." He glanced at Annie, trying to hide his smirk from the camera.

The interviewer nodded. "So, the boys like Annie?"

Annie crossed her arms, looking at Calum and Ashton like 'go ahead, talk me up.'

"She's just... great."

Calum nodded along. "My cuddle bunny."

Annie made a gagging motion off screen, and Calum was forced to cover his mouth to keep from laughing.

"Is that your nickname for her?" The interviewer asked, not getting any of the jokes.

Calum nodded excitedly, going along with it. "Oh yes. Our past times include long walks on the beach, telling each other how much we love each other-"

"Writing love poems," Ashton added helpfully. "Performing interpretive dances."

Snorting, Calum moved his head away from the microphone, doing his best to keep the mic from catching the noise.

"Sounds... very romantic," the interviewer agreed, still not understanding why they were laughing. "Anyways, lets go back to dud using the album...."

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"You dork," Annie poked him on the side as they left the studio. "Cuddle bunny? Really?"

He smiled, wrapping an arm around her and pulling her to his side. "What? It's cute, isn't it?"

"For a rodent, maybe" she joked, pretending to be annoyed. "How would you like it if I called you my 'snuggle rabbit?'"

"I'd be flattered. I've always wanting to be someone's 'snuggle rabbit'."

"Dork."

"You know you love me."

Annie rested her head contentedly against his shoulder. "I guess I do."