Edited - 7/31/19
Calum
More than a month has passed since our tour began. Every concert has been amazing, every opportunity we get to be closer to our fans makes me realize how lucky I truly am.
We're back in Sydney for a few days before going to Brisbane. We had to stay at a hotel nearer the arena, plus it was just more convenient for our tour staff. Currently, we were sat in a restaurant, eating lunch before we had to do soundcheck.
Ashton nudged my side to get my attention, wiping his face with a napkin. "Will Luke be at the concert tonight?"
It wasn't a secret to the two of them that one of the reasons I was happy to be back in Australia was because it meant I could be with Luke in person. Their teasing was relentless on the way here.
"I don't know," I replied.
Michael stopped eating his fried chicken, looking at me weirdly. "You don't know? You haven't talked to him?"
I took my time chewing my food before answering. "Well, he texted me this morning, but I didn't get up until eleven." All three of us slept for nearly thirteen hours. Jet-lag really was the enemy.
I looked up from my rice bowl when I felt Ashton and Michael still staring with concern in their eyes. "Guys, he's busy. He told me himself when he called yesterday. He's working on a new movie."
"Oh, good," Michael breathed out. "I thought you'd start panicking like when he was ignoring you."
"I wasn't panicking," I denied, taking a sip from my lemonade. Ashton gave me a look but didn't say anything.
"Will he be at the concert though?" Michael asked again.
"I really don't know. Maybe. I mean, Patricia's been talking about her plans for us. Apparently everyone has been waiting for the two of us to be seen together again." I added a bit of drama to the way I said my words, impersonating Patricia's overly enthusiastic voice over the phone.
We managed to make it a few minutes of eating in silence before Michael was waving a hand in front of my face. "Hey, I have a question. What do you and Luke talk about whenever you call each other?"
"Whenever we do call each other, it's only for a few minutes. Most of the time, it's how are you's and telling each other about work. We're basically just keeping each other updated and whatnot. Like friends."
Ashton raised his eyebrow, probably at my last statement. Again, he held his tongue. Michael, however, didn't. "I thought you guys were having phone sex at this point. You always look so damn happy whenever he calls."
I nearly choked on my food.
Ashton snorted, nudging Michael who was grinning at me. "What? You can't blame me for wondering!"
"Still haven't told him how you felt?"
"Nope," I answered, avoiding Ashton's gaze.
"Are you ever planning on telling him?" Ashton pressed on.
I sighed exasperatedly, already losing my appetite. "Can we please change the subject?"
They allowed the change of topic, talking about anything from new music from our favorite artists to tv shows Michael recommended we start watching. We paid for our food, waiting for Jensen to pick us up.
We passed by the fans lining-up outside the arena, our car going unnoticed. I smiled, feeling grateful for all of them. Even just waiting they already looked excited. We made our way to the back entrance and Jensen found a place to park. We all immediately spotted a man with a professional camera just a few feet away.
"How the hell did he get in?" I heard Jensen mumble, all of us heading through the back door. None of us approached the guy, but the paparazzo had been taking pictures as soon as he saw us.
Then he was following us. Jensen stayed a few feet behind getting closer to the man and letting us go ahead as a precaution.
"Calum!" The man called out. I turned and waved but continued to walk. "Calum!" He called again, followed by the clicking and flashes of his camera. "Calum, how does it feel to come out?"
"Fantastic," I said over my shoulder. Ashton sent me a smile but was looking skeptically at the guy.
"You know some people stopped being fans because you're bisexual," The paparazzo suddenly blurted out. I had memorized what he looked by now: lanky, brunette, brown eyes. His ears were sticking out and he didn't look sorry about what he was saying. "They're disappointed that you're into men. You're probably just confused."
"Sir, I'll have to ask you to kindly leave the premises," Jensen blocked the man's path before I could fully process what the man said. He ignored Jensen and continued to take pictures.
"Some people are saying that you shouldn't have come out, you know."
I stopped in my tracks. All of us did. Again, before I could comprehend what was happening, Michael had turned around and was stomping his way towards the man.
Fortunately, Ashton was fast enough to grab onto Michael's shoulder, stopping him before he could do anything. "What the fuck are you going on about?!" Michael snapped.
"Michael-" I tried to say, but Michael was already shouting at the paparazzo again. "Do you realize how stupid you sound?! For God's sake, just leave!"
Ashton kept mumbling for Michael to calm down and Jensen was now pushing the paparazzo away. He made the right choice to just leave, glancing at me once before jogging away.
Ashton and Michael were exchanging a few words before Michael turned around to look at me. "Are you okay?" He breathed out, still calming himself down.
"I'm fine." But, truth be told, the man's words were replaying in my head and I felt sick. "Let's just go inside."
"I would've loved to crack his nose." Ashton said through gritted teeth.
"Why'd you stop me then? I was about to do just that!" Michael scoffed. He lightly placed a hand on my shoulder.
I kept quiet.
"Hurting the man would've caused more trouble," Jensen said as he ushered us inside. "He was an asshole, but I'm just saying that not engaging in conflict was the mature thing to do. Don't mind people like that, Calum. They just want to get a reaction from you."
I nodded. "Thanks, Jensen."
"We should report him to the company he works for," Ashton said. "I'll tell Andrew about it."
The walk inside was silent after that. We met up with our tour manager, Andrew, who was on the stage talking with a bunch if the crew. Ashton explained the whole thing. Jensen was sent to orient the other security guards to not let any other paparazzi in.
I looked around the still empty arena, trying to just focus on the fact that thousands of our incredible fans will be occupying the seats in just a few hours instead of focusing on the man's words.
I've gotten hate before, and I'm still getting hate. Even before I came out there were people who were not afraid to express what they disliked about me or the band or our music. In the beginning it was difficult to just pretend that I wasn't affected by what others said. Through the years, I grew a thicker skin. All three of us did. We got used to the fact that not everyone liked us or liked what we did. We ignored the negativity, because we we're doing what made us happy.
But what just happened with that man.. that was different.
I decided to sit on one of the chairs in the audience and found myself taking a deep breath. Ashton and Michael were still speaking with Andrew, the crew members moved around them to get microphones, sound systems and instruments ready and working.
I heard my phone's ringtone from the pocket of my jeans.
"Calum!" Luke's voice rang through the phone once I answered.
"Luke!" A chuckle passed my lips. It was weird how effortlessly calming it was to hear Luke's voice.
"I saw that you landed last night," I heard some shuffling in the background. "Jet-lag must be killing you, huh?"
"Nah, not really."
Luke snorted at the obvious lie before he spoke again. "You at the arena now?"
"Yeah, just got here. Speaking of which, I haven't talked to Patricia yet but I was wondering if you were going to the concert tonight?"
"I would love to, Calum, really. Patricia's telling me to go and even before she told me to, I was planning on going anyway. The thing is—"
"You're busy?" I finished for him, wincing when I heard the much disappointed tone of my voice.
"Yeah," Luke sounded disappointed too. "I'm so sorry. I wish I could see you perform. I want to see you perform. There's just this thing that I couldn't get out off. I'll see you tomorrow, though! And it's not just because Patricia and Dave want us to meet, I promise." Luke reassured.
It was a shame that tomorrow seemed so far away.
I swallowed and nodded. "Of course. I'll see you tomorrow."
"I really am sorry, Cal." Luke sounded sincere, which made me feel guilty for being so disappointed. He had his own career, his own plans, and I'm sure he tried to get out of whatever he has scheduled but couldn't.
"It's okay, really. Take care, okay?" I told him.
"Good luck!" Luke suddenly said. "I know you'll be amazing."
"Thank you, Luke. See you tomorrow?"
"See you!" He hung up after that.
I frowned. It was quite embarrassing how much I wanted to see Luke today. I tried not to think about how he didn't seem as excited as I was. "God, Calum," I mumbled to myself, running a hand down my face. "Pull yourself together."
---
"5SOS, 5SOS, 5SOS!" We could hear the chanting of the crowd from backstage. Ashton was jumping along with the chants, Michael was checking the tuning of his guitar. I was stretching my arms, already feeling the anxious excitement that I've grown accustomed to.
We heard the countdown, and the chanting was getting louder. The three of us came into a huddle; our routine before performing.
"Let's kick some ass, shall we?" Michael grinned.
Ashton was a ball of energy, still bouncing on the balls of his feet. "Yes. We. Shall!"
"There are thousands of people out there," I said. "Let's make sure they all have the best time."
We broke from the huddle and Ashton was the first to step on stage. The screams were ear-piercing, I let them fuel me. I placed on my ear-piece and we waited for Ashton to start drumming as our cue.
I was taking deep breaths Michael nudged me. "Hey, you okay?" He had to sort of shout to get me to hear him over all the noise.
I nodded, smiling at him. Michael placed his hand on my shoulder, a comforting gesture. "Don't think about it, okay? Just enjoy!"
I didn't know wether he was telling me not to think about what the paparazzo said or the fact that Luke wasn't going to be here.
Michael stuck out his tongue and then he was jogging onto the stage.
All three of us were already starting to play the chords of our opening song the moment I stepped on stage.
---
Luke
"I told you we should've gotten here earlier." I looked around at what seemed like hundreds of parked cars.
"It would've ruined the surprise!" Kate pointed out, turning the wheel to the left as we tried to find an empty parking spot.
"He sounded pretty convinced to me."
Kate nudged me. "Hey, what's with the frown? We're here! You're going to see him!"
I sighed, remembering the phone conversation Calum and I had. "I just felt really bad for lying to him."
"It was for a good cause," Kate said. "He'll love the surprise, promise."
Kate Clarrins and I have been friends for years. Besides Meredith and Jake, she's probably one of the few people I'm closest with. She's been very busy this year since becoming a surgeon. Just yesterday, she had a few hours of free time and asked if we could hang-out.
Similar with Meredith and Jake, I couldn't lie to Kate. I knew Kate would never betray me, either. In all the years we've been friends she's never once done anything that could make me lose trust in her. So, I told her everything. I expected the shock, and the slight sympathy. Then I told her how I really felt about Calum.
It was her idea to surprise Calum.
We miraculously managed to find a parking spot. "Kate, I know we wanted to surprise Calum and all, but is it necessary that I wear this?" I gestured to my top; also her idea.
"Yes!"
It was no use fighting with her since she was already out of the car and gesturing for me to get out as well. I zipped up the denim jacket I was wearing and we made our way to the main entrance.
We saw a man decked out in black gear. It wasn't hard to figure out that he was a guard considering the large security etched onto his vest. He spotted me and greeted us with a warm smile. "Good evening, Mr. Hemmings. My name's Jensen, I'm 5SOS' head of security."
"Patricia told me about you." I smiled politely, shaking his hand. "Please, call me Luke. And this is Kate." Kate waved at Jensen, her pearly white teeth showing.
"Nice to meet both of you." Jensen held out two I.D. laces, similar to the ones he and the other security personnel were wearing. "Please put this on so the other guards will know that you have access to all areas inside the arena." The laces were plain black but they had the words VIP guest on the actual I.D. with our names on it.
"How far along the concert are they?" I couldn't help but ask, hearing the band performing even though we were still outside the arena.
"Not very far. Currently, it's only their third song. You guys came at a right time," Jensen gestured towards the entrance. "It would've been impossible to get you inside earlier without attracting attention or letting Calum know."
"Told you," Kate mumbled beside me.
All lights inside except the ones on stage had been turned off. I heard the crowd singing along loudly, some even jumping from their spot. My heart thumped along with the sound coming from the speakers. Jensen had to lean closer to get us to hear him. "Here's the plan: there are two standing areas on the ground and there's a catwalk in between them. In order for Calum to see you, we're going to put you near his side of the stage. You're essentially going to be in front of the barricades because putting you inside with other fans might get a bit out of control."
I nodded to let him know I understood.
"A little later into the show I'll take you both backstage," Jensen added before ushering us to continue walking. The closer we got to the stage the more nervous I became, my palms sweaty and my knees feeling a little like jelly.
I finally looked towards the stage and was immediately captivated by Calum.
He hasn't seen us yet, nobody was really paying any attention to us, thankfully. If we drew attention to ourselves it'll already ruin the surprise.
Kate squeezed my hand before letting go. "That's your boyfriend," She whispered in my ear. I glared at her as she knew very well that Calum and I were not actually together. She just squeezed my hand again.
Ashton's hair was going all over the place every time he hit his drums and Michael was looking at the people near his side of the stage, jumping along with them.
I tried not to stare too much at Calum's exposed biceps and the tattoo he had on his arm.
They finished playing Heartbreak Girl and the crowd cheered, Kate and I cheering along. Ashton began talking to the crowd and Michael and Calum were chugging down water. "This next song," Ashton said. "I want you guys to sing along, can you do that for me?"
The crowd erupted into cheers. Ashton grinned at that. "Alright, this is called Voodoo Doll."
Once again, the arena was filled with the sounds of 5SOS playing. I knew the song, and Kate did too since she told me she listened to them. Calum began to sing the first verse, looking towards Michael who was trying to make him laugh. Michael made an obscene gesture at Calum, making me laugh as well.
Michael's eyes kind of drifted to where we were stood. Then he did a double-take, his eyes visibly widening.
I didn't know what to do, so I just waved at him. Michael grinned from ear-to-ear and suddenly he was jogging towards Calum.
"Did he see us?" Kate asked me the same time Michael began to whisper into Calum's ear.
"I think so," I replied, biting my lip in anticipation.
Calum didn't stop singing even though he was looking at Michael with a confused expression,
Michael pointed towards where we were.
Then, Calum was looking directly at me.