Starstruck | C.H

22. The fourth of July bash

We finally reached a door which had a loud murmur of noises coming from the other side. The woman opened the door.

"Sophia!" 

Oh great, they're here. "Oh hey guys, what are you doing here?" I laughed slightly. 

"We're friends of the band obviously." Michael rolled his eyes and laughed.

I scanned the room quickly. It was a large lounge area. There was couches dotted about, a buffet and a bar. There were a handful of people here and I honestly wasn't expecting to see anyone I knew here. But of course 5sos were here. Now don't get me wrong, of course I love them it's just for once I wanted to do something that didn't involve them. My life was already centred around theirs enough as it is. I want some freedom.

"No Calum?" I asked.

Ashton stood up from the seat he was in and wandered over to us. "Nope, he's joining us at the after party though."

"After party?" Hattie piped up. Wow one mention of a party and she's all ears. This was such a Hattie move. She lived for parties and alcohol. I on the other hand, don't mind going to the odd few, with a few friends, with people I know. And I know I went to Jack's last time, but I'd rather not have a repeat of last time.

I gave Hattie a stern look. 

"And who's this?" Luke said wandering over, hands in pockets as his eyes went to Hattie.

"Er, yeah sorry, Luke, Ashton, Michael, this is Hattie. Hattie, 5sos." I gestured sarcastically. 

"Uh duh, I know who they are. But it's so cool to meet you guys...what were you saying about an after party again?"

I dug my elbow in to her side, "Hattie!" 

"Ow!" She moaned.

Luke chuckled, "It's cool, Sophia, you know you're always invited, and Hattie, you're more than welcome to come." He said.

Hattie's smile widened as Luke spoke. Wow somebody was crushing hard.

***

"So, what happened after I left?" I asked Ashton. We had found a quieter part of the room to talk. 

"I think things got worse. He's been out a lot. He's been drinking and he hasn't drunk ever since, you know..."

A huge lump formed in my throat. "Oh no, this is all my fault." I put my hand to my mouth to hold back the sob that would escape my lips any second.

"No it's not. It's nothing to do with you. It's us, we've been shit friends for him. We could have been there for him the past few days, but instead we just left him to it. We thought that was what he needed...space. Turns out it was the opposite, he really needed his friends...his brothers." Ashton looked down sadly.

I placed my hand on his knee in comfort. "We're gonna help him. Together. I promise." I smiled softly, pushing my tears away. I needed to go about this a different way. We needed to stop feeling sorry for him and ourselves and just sitting back and letting things naturally happen. We need to take control of the situation and do something to help or else he'll never get better.

"I hope so." Ash said. "I know he said he wasn't gonna drink today because he was seeing you." 

I frowned, "really? He said that? I thought I was the reason he was drinking?" This made no sense.

Ash shook his head. "No, I think he misses you. He hasn't admitted it, but I know that he's so grateful for you spending the night with him. He really needed you." 

I let Ashton's words sink in. So, all this time, Calum has missed me. That's why he's been drinking again? To forget that void. Why didn't he just call me? Or come see me. Why would he do this to himself. If it's been so long since he last had a drink, who knows what he was like under the influence. I seriously hope I never have to witness it.

***

"Oh my god I can't believe I'm going to an after party with Luke Hemmings." Hattie squealed as we drove to Jack's house. Luckily I still remembered the address and she had it on the sat nav on her phone. 

"You mean you're going to an after party with your best friend who is going with Luke Hemmings." I said playfully. She was starting to annoy me now, all she had done since the concert and this car journey was talk about Luke.

"Well yeah." She giggled.

"I didn't think you were a fan of 5sos?" I queried.

"I wasn't! I'm not a fangirl. I'm just excited that I'm hanging out with celebs. Honestly, I'd be acting the same if Justin Bieber was Luke. I didn't know anything about him until tonight, we talked for ages." She beamed.

I let her carry on rambling on about Luke, stuff I already knew anyway. The concert was amazing. It was such a different experience seeing All Time Low perform from the VIP area. We were closer and it was such a chill experience. They're set was incredible and they delivered an exceptional performance as always. I couldn't wait to meet the other members of the band. However, I could wait to see Calum.

But I spoke too soon as I saw a familiar red Ferrari pull up to Jack's house in front of us.

an

Hey, hope you enjoyed this part. I'm so excited for what's coming for this story and I figured out today what I'm gonna be calling the sequel.

It's called Strangers. So it's up to you how you read that'd interpret it.

Anyway, question of the day is: What films are you looking forward to seeing next year?

- Liv x