Addicted. || l.h au

five

After 4 hours of driving, 67 questions, 7 pee breaks and 2 trips to McDonalds, we finally reach our destination and I am filled with new knowledge of Luke, whether I like it or not.
"So, we are friends now, right?" Luke asks me.
"Sure" I sigh, rolling my eyes and walking to the back of the van to help unload everything. "Please tell me we are sharing a tent" I whisper to Chloe and she gives me an apologetic smile.
"Sorry, but Mike already called dibs. You'll have to bunk with one the boys"
"You're kidding me" I groan.
"Ashton! I'm with you!" Calum calls from the other side of the camp site. What he was doing over there, I had no idea, but I knew it had nothing to do with helping like the rest of us were doing.
"I guess we found your roommate" Chloe whispers, nudging me and nodding at Luke who was pulling a camp chair from the boot next to me.
"Fan-fucking-tastic"
.
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.
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The camp fire crackled in between us, joining the sound of Michael's soft strums along the strings of his acoustic guitar that was sat on his lap.
The flames danced, casting shadows on everyone's faces and warming us up in the cool, Autumn air.
I picked at the log I was sitting on, pulling off bits of wood. We had dragged two large logs over to the campfire, sitting them up opposite each other. I sat with Calum and Ashton on one, in between the two, and Luke, Michael and Chloe were all sat on the other log. Luke sat on the edge, staring into the fire, seemingly deep in thought, while Chloe rested her head on Michael's shoulder, watching his hands as they played different melodies.
"It's too quiet" Calum says, breaking the almost-silence.
"I agree" Ashton says, nodding his head.
"Lets play truth" Michael suggests and the boys nod in consent. I let out a groan but covered it up with a cough, not wanting to be rude despite my distaste for games like this.
I knew for a fact that all the heat would be on Chloe and I, as we were the 'newbies'. The boys already knew basically everything about each other and almost nothing about me so it was just plain logical. All I could do was prepare myself from the imminent bombardment of questions I was about to under go.
Ashton turned to me, proving my analogy. "If you could go anywhere in the world, where would you go?" Ashton asked.
"That's a stupid ass question" Michael snickered.
"Hey! I'm just seeing where the boundaries are, is all" Ashton defends and I laugh quietly.
"Hawaii" I answer his previous question and he nods, processing the new information.
"Why's that?" Luke asked.
"I dunno. It's just really pretty and calm and really far away from here" I say with a shrug.
"Plus, she surfs. She's always wanted to surf in another country" Chloe adds and I smile at her, nodding.
"You surf?"
"Yup" I say.
"Can you teach us?"
"What board have you got?"
"Are you good?"
"Have you ever been mauled by a shark?"
"Michael, you dickhead. Clearly not, she is sitting right in front of you"
"Fuck no, a FireWire, I don't think so and no, you shitbag" I answer all of their questions and then we move on.

After an hour or so of questions, my stomach aches and there are tears in the corners of my eyes from all of the laughing I've done.
"You're kidding" Chloe says, howling with laughter, and Calum shrugs.
"Unfortunately, no. I have Mr. Clifford to thank for single-handedly ruining year 9 for me, and my love life" Calum laughs, his eyes crinkling.
"So, let me get this straight. You were about to ask out this girl and Michael bumped into you, so you put your hands out, grabbed her boobs to steady yourself, and then your pants fell down" I clarify, and I begin wheezing when he nods sheepishly. "That is the greatest thing I've ever heard!" I exclaim.
All 6 of us are laughing, the noise mixing with the crackle of the fire and the chirping of crickets.
"Ok, now Katie. When did you first have sex?" Calum asks me once our laughter dies down a bit. I tense up, and so does Chloe as she gives me a look.
"Calum!" Ashton shrieks, leaning around me to punch Calum's arm.
They push and punch each other around me and I sit there with sweaty palms.
I know I don't have to tell them. I know that. But, something inside of me wants to let it out. I feel the need to tell them. And so I do. And when I speak the words, everything seems to stop. The Calum and Ashton stop pushing each other, Michael stops strumming his guitar, Luke drops his marshmallow into the campfire and they all stare at me. Even the crickets seem to stop as my words cut through the air like knives, stunning everything around me.
"I was 10"
I knew I would be judged by my confession. It's only human for them to judge something so strange. But I can't help the anger that builds up inside of me.
"It's not like I fucking wanted it to happen!" I exclaim, standing to my feet and marching off into the thick bush that surrounds us. I walked and walked, until I found a large tree with lots of thick, twisting branches sticking out from a broad trunk. I had come across the same tree when I went for a wander earlier today, but it wasn't until now, with the moonlight hitting it and forming a large shadow, that I noticed how magnificently eerie the tree really is.
I hauled my way up, from branch to branch, until I was almost 4 metres high, and then I perched myself on a sturdy branch, the thick trunk acting as a support that I leant my left shoulder on, hugging myself to try and gather some kind of warmth.
I wasn't wearing a jumper. I didn't need one when we were sitting around the fire. But now, up high and in the wind, I couldn't help but shiver.
"Am I going to have to climb all that way or are you going to come down to me?" A voice called from the base of the tree, making me jump and almost fall.
"What are y-"
"You didn't answer my question" Luke interrupts.
"I-"
"If you want me to leave, just tell me"
"You can come up here" I sigh and I see a grin on his face when the moonlight hits it through a gap in a branch.
"Well. This will be my yearly exercise" He jokes, ungracefully making his way up the tree with his long limbs flailing.
"Hey" I mumble when he comes to rest next to me.
"You ran off" He states and I roll my eyes.
"What'd you expect me to do?"
"Not run off" He laughs and I let out an unamused huff, rolling my eyes and crossing my arms over my chest. "Sorry. Seriously though, it doesn't matter. They literally don't even care, they have probably forgotten about it by now" Luke tries to assure me but I just silently lean my head against the tree trunk. "We aren't judgemental people. Have you seen how weird we are? I don't think it's even legal for us to judge people" He says and it makes me smile a little, bringing an accomplished grin to his stupid face.
"I don't know. I've seen my fair share of judging faces and they looked pretty similar"
"Well, we were shocked, obviously, but we don't think any less of you. We all still find you incredibly attractive" He chuckles and I roll my eyes at how lame he is. "You said you didn't want it to happen" He reminds me and I sigh, even though I was just waiting for him to bring that up. Me and my bloody big mouth.
"Uh-huh"
"Are you going to elaborate, or..?" He asks slowly.
"No"
"You know you can tell me whatever you want, right? I mean, I'm pretty sure we must be up to, like, stage 2 of the friend sector" He says, as if its a true fact that I should know by now.
"What are you talking about? You big hunk of nerd"
"Well, there are 5 stages in each sector. Stranger, to acquaintance, to friend, to best friend and then lovers" He explains and I shake my head at him.
"You're an idiot"
"Or am I insightful?"
"No, you're just an idiot"