Catch 22

31

I've spent the last week trying to keep my head down and avoid causing issues.

With Mark and Caleb gone, and with me forcing myself to refrain from social media, I seem to have curbed my involvement in problems. I have been doing my best to stay under the radar so I can stay on the tour.

Tonight is Halloween and Calum and the boys have decided to dress as each other for the show.

"You look ridiculous." I laugh as Calum approaches me in his all black outfit that obviously came from Michael's wardrobe case and a fucking blonde wig.

"Nah, babe. I pull it off." He says standing for a moment in a superman style pose with his hands on his hips before bursting into a fit of laughter.

"Where are the others?" I ask.

"Micheal was having a hard time getting in to Luke's pants." He chuckles.

"Was that a fat joke?" Michael yells as he enters the green room and I double over from laughter when I spot him in Luke's shiny leather pants and a bright red shirt.

"Nothing else from you!" He says playfully to me, my friendship with all of Cal's band mates has grown exponentially in the past week as well as with Michael's fiance Crystal.

Their dog, South, squirms in her arms while their other dog, Moose, pulls at her leash." She sets South down and allows both dogs to investigate both Cal and Michael.

"I swear to God I will disown you both if you pick Cal over me." Michael says as they sniff at the boys trying to identify their father. It takes them a moment but they finally do sit at his feet and look up at him expectantly.

"Who are you with tonight?" Cal asks and I smile at him.

"Ugh it's gonna be a rough night they gave me the fucking bassist." I whine and wait for him to comprehend what I've said.

"Oi! You love me!" He laughs pulling me against him and squeezing my forearm a few times.

"I do." I tell him leaning up for a kiss.

"Gross! PDA!" Ashton yells entering the room.

"Wait, I thought you were supposed to be Cal!" I exclaim with a confused stare.

"Nah, fuck that."

"Wow, I'm touched." Cal jokes, clutching his chest. "Love you too, mate."

"I just don't feel like dressing up this year." He adds a bit more somberly and Cal nods. In the past week Cal had filled me in on Ashton's current relationship issues and I felt bad for him. His girlfriend or ex or whatever she is at the moment lives here in Texas and was supposed to come tonight and they had a couple's costume planned.

I get it.

I let the conversation drop and everyone turns their attention to their own chats with their significant other.

"Luke's girlfriend is here." I say to Cal and he nods.

"Oh, yeah. I forget you didn't get to meet her." He grabs my hand and pulls me towards the couple.

"Hey Cal!" the small but gorgeous girl greets him, standing on her tip toes to hug Calum.

"Hi, Si. I have someone I want you to meet, this is my girlfriend Sage." He smiles over to me and she quickly greets me with a hug.

"Sorry, I'm a hugger." She laughs and pulls away.

"No worries. Cal told me that you're in the industry too. You won a talent competition?"

"Yeah, something like that. It feels like a lifetime ago." She says quickly changing topics. "Lu says that Cal has been really happy since you guys got together. I'm glad. He's like a brother to me at this point and he's been through so much. He deserves to be happy." She says quietly as Cal and Luke dissolve into their own conversation a few feet away.

"Yeah, he does." I say looking over to him, he looks up and meets my eyes and I smile.

Fuck I'm lucky.

"How long have you and Luke been together?" I ask her.

"Um, God we were friends first so it feels like forever but I guess just under two years now." She shrugs and I nod.

"You guys are cute."

"Thanks." She says with a smile and pulling her bottom lip between her teeth. "I'm not saying dating one of them is easy, because it isn't. But if Cal is the one for you, I promise all this crap, all this complete mess that I know you've been dealing with, it'll all be worth it." She finishes as Calum approaches us.

"Anthony is calling for the crew, love." He tells me and I nod, saying my goodbyes as I head for the stage and to actually fulfill my duties.

It's nice having a capable and caring stage manager who's not seemingly out to destroy me. I finish set up and step to side stage just as Cal comes up for sound check, having abandoned his costume until it's closer to show time.

"All good?" He asks with a kiss.

"Better than ever." I tell him honestly before allowing him to pass and get to work.

The show goes off without a hitch, the best one we've had all tour. By the time the boys get offstage and cleaned up, changing into actual costumes for a night out, I have a surprise for Cal.

I stand against the wall, my arms crossed as I wait for him to appear.

Michael exits first.

"Pfttt.... Cal you have got to get out here and see your girl." He laughs, he's dressed as some anime character I can't identify.

"Oh God, what's she done now?" Cal asks, following only a moment behind in a similar costume.

"Surprise?" I say with a laugh myself.

"ASHTON!" He yells and the black haired boy appears a moment later bursting into a fit of giggles. "At least someone was willing to dress like me." Calum says pointedly to Ash with a chuckle as he holds me at arms length.

"You're way too hot to be dressed as a bum like me." He says when the others have moved on and left us alone.

"You don't think I can pull this off?" I ask as I tug at the bucket hat covering my head and look down at his nine inch nails t-shirt I'm wearing as a dress with my black Dr. Martens.

"No, no not at all, you look a million times better than I do. You need one last thing though." He says, reaching up and undoing his thick metal chain. I brush my hair to the side and allow him to lock it around my own neck before turning back to him.

"This is ridiculously cute, ya know." He says, his smile wide showing off his chubby cheeks and a deep dimple on the left side of his face.

"You're ridiculously cute. Come on or everyone's gonna leave us behind!" I call, grabbing his hand tugging him behind us as we head outside.

Most of the others are only a few feet ahead of us but I notice Ash is off to the side of the room talking in hushed tones with a dark haired girl I don't recognize.

"Who's Ash talking to?" I ask looking over to Cal.

"Huh?" His eyes follow my line of sight and he frowns. "Fuck."

AN: Cute little Halloween chapter

Guess who Ash is talking to

How is there Halloween night out gonna go?

Anyone think they have what's gonna happen figured out yet?

Not sure how much more of this story there will be but probably somewhere around 45 chapters!

Tell me your thoughts!

ILY

Sav🖤