Posters and Polaroids

Hidden Camera

~Luke's POV~

"I dunno, you guys, this seems a bit creepy. We're basically peeking into their private life." I ran my hand through my hair, still unsure whether this was a good idea or not. Calum nudged me, "C'mon, it's just for a bit of fun." Ashton frowned. "We will, of course, turn it off if anything inappropriate seems about to happen. If that's what you're worried about." Micheal sighed, "But that takes the fun out of it!" Calum smacked him upside the head. "That's disgusting, Micheal."

"Are you guys ready, or do you want to keep discussing how dirty-minded Micheal is?" Ashton asked, exasperated. I sighed and leaned over the back of the couch where the others sat. "I guess." I didn't have to watch if I didn't want to, I reassured myself. I'll just seeing how their crazy trick turned out, then walk away.

"Ta da!" Ashton hit the mini camera at the corner of the screen with a flourish. Suddenly the screen showed a clear view of a rather nice room, with two women sound asleep in a bed. The taller one had long brown hair, with honey-gold underneath. It was spread over her pillow, and a smaller, strawberry-blonde woman was tucked into the curve of her body.

"Lesbians?" Micheal asked, curiousity clear in his voice as he leaned forward. "Not necessarily.." Ashton mused. "I hope not." I murmured, attention fixed on the brunette. Something about her seemed so peaceful and natural, in a calming way I couldn't describe. And the way she shielded the other woman, even in sleep, was endearing. Micheal hooted, interrupting my thoughts. "So you're okay with this after all, huh? Which one changed your mind?" I rolled my eyes at him, but pointed to the chocolate-haired woman anyway.

 "I like the blonde one." Calum said quietly. Micheal looked disappointed. "You can't call them both without giving us a chance to pick!" He protested. He looked at Ashton for support. "Hey, they didn't call anybody. You can't 'call' a person anyways, they aren't objects." He corrected, then clapped his hands together and set the laptop on the coffee table in front of him. "Now we should hit the sack, we gotta record tomorrow."

As they trickled off to their respective rooms, I remained looking at the screen, not wanting to leave just yet. The two women seemed surreal, almost, as though if I blinked, they would be gone. Calum patted me on the shoulder as he passed, startling me. "They're.. special, aren't they?" I nodded, glancing at him. He smiled at me, then headed down the hallway to his room.

Debating for a moment, I sat on the couch and pulled the laptop onto my lap. As I watched, the blonde whimpered in her sleep, and curled closer to the brunette. My breath caught as chocolate-haired woman woke up and blinked down at the blonde, began to stroke her arm, murmuring reassurance, then laid her head back on the pillow and closed her eyes.

I sighed, clicked the camera at the edge of the screen to exit the feed, and closed the laptop. Ashton was right, we have to record tomorrow. So I better get some sleep, while I had the chance. As I went down the hallway, I heard soft humming coming from Calum's room. I recognized it as Amnesia.

I pushed open the door, startling him. "Thinking about her again?" I asked, leaning against the door frame. He nodded, plucking the strings of the guitar in his lap. "I know it hurts, Cal." I began. "What if the same thing happens again? Or worse, what if we never get to meet them?" He interrupted. It took me a moment to realize he was talking about the two women in the feed.

"If they bought one of our posters, they're likely fans of ours." I pointed out. "They'll probably come to a concert someday and we'll get to meet them." "You're right." Calum sighed, setting the guitar in its case. "Don't forget to sleep, Cal." I told him as I walked out of his room, closing the door behind me. He chuckled, and I smiled as I shut my own door behind me.

As I lay in bed, I couldn't help wondering about the two women, who they were, what they were like, where they lived. I wanted to get to know them, and I know Calum did too. My last thought as I drifted off to sleep was how blessed the blonde one was to be so loved and cared for by the brunette.

~Fern's POV~

I came aware by degrees, first of Tillie snuggled against my side, then of the weight of the covers, the early morning light streaming through the slightly parted curtains. I opened my eyes, in no hurry to move since it was a Saturday. I just laid in bed, looking at the Polaroids stuck to the ceiling. 

There was one of Tillie and I in bathing suits, diving into a swimming pool; it had been taken by a friend of ours, back in middle school. Another was of us dancing in the light of fireworks, at my uncle's 4th of July party, in highschool. There were dozens more, of us at parks, on camping trips, at parties, our first roller coaster ride, making s'mores, laughing together, dancing together, a few even of us sleeping peacefully in her bed at her parents' house before we outgrew it and had to sleep on the floor.

It was our history, all of these photos, taken over the many years we'd been friends. I smiled at the memories and yawned, then rolled out of bed (literally) onto some pillows we had piled there for this very purpose. Once there, I sat up and stretched, yawning widely. I stood up, popping my back and rolling my neck as I made my way to my CD player, which I'd decorated with pink swirls forever ago, and turned on the radio.

A song from the '90s came on, and I grinned. It was one of my favorites, and I started singing, not caring how scratchy my morning voice was. Tillie groaned from the bed when I started belting out the chorus, but I just grinned and sang louder. "Get up, sleepy-head! Don't waste the day!" "I'm not wasting it," She mumbled, pulling the covers over her head. "I am simply enjoying the fact that it's Saturday."

"And Saturday means waffles!" I said in a singsong voice, dancing over to the bed to pull the covers off her. She groaned again but sat up, rubbing her eyes and yawning widely. Another song had come on by this time: Dancing In the Dark. I gasped and pulled Tillie to her feet. "Remember this song? We used to dance to it all the time." "Of course I remember it." She grumbled, yawning again.

I held onto her hands, swishing my hips and singing along. 

 Underdogs dance in the middle of the night
Can see the night skies in the mirror of your eyes
If you gonna dance, make sure you got the rhythm
Make sure that your heartbeat beats with the rhythm  

Tillie went to sit on the bed, and I let her go, satisfied she wouldn't go back to sleep. I danced with abandon, remembering all the good memories associated with this song. I sang loud, sometimes with my eyes closed, feeling the beat in my bones. Soon the song ended, and I opened my eyes, flushed from the energetic start to the morning. Tillie asked, "Did you mention waffles?"

I laughed and grabbed her hand, dragging her to the kitchen. "Set the table!" I ordered playfully as I got out the box mix for waffles.

It never entered my mind, as I mixed the ingredients and poured some batter into the waffle iron, that everything I had just done had been watched by the members of one of my favorite bands.