I sit in the back of the van with Mason and the guys. I look at each of them in turn, and the guys patiently wait for me to talk. "Like I told you guys, I owe you an explanation about what happened back there. There's quite a bit about myself that I haven't told you, and just bare with me because this is a long, rollercoaster story." Ashton, Michael, Calum, and Luke all nod giving me a few curious looks. "So, as I'm sure you found out from my blow up back there--John is my dad, but we don't really get along. I'll get into that story in a moment, though." I sigh, explaining to them about how Mason is my twin, but I asked him not to say anything because I didn't want them to know about John.
"We figured you and Mason were more than just friends." Calum says from beside me with a chuckle. "Anyway, why don't you and John get along?"
"That's where things get complicated." I sigh, shrinking back in my seat as I relay the entire story to them, not leaving out a single, painful detail. "So, a couple days before school ended, he called my mom. He told her as part of the 'deal' I had to come out and work for Capitol Records over summer, which is why I'm even here in the first place. Honestly, if you guys hadn't nearly burned down your house, I don't think I would have made it through these last few weeks, and I'm sure that's what John intended when he had me start working with you guys. Anyway, there's a reason I finally lost it and blew up at him this morning."
"I was meaning to ask you about that? Did it have anything to do with him calling you into his office?" Mason asks looking back at me from the rearview mirror.
"Yeah, it had to do with that radio interview from yesterday." I call up to him, and the guys all look around confused about what the interview could have to do with me blowing up at my dad. "Let's just say he crossed a major line this morning." I take a deep breath, as I think about how to word this best. "He wanted me to date one of you guys to boost publicity for the upcoming single release and album. The worst part is he didn't care if it was real or not. He kept questioning if I liked one of you guys and told me how convenient it would be if I started to date one of you guys. Don't get me wrong, you guys are great, but I could never do that to anyone. I could never be in a relationship for the sole purpose of gaining publicity."
"Are you serious? He asked you to do that?" Mason practically shouts from the front seat, his knuckles turning white as he tightly grips the steering wheel. "That is wrong on so many levels."
"Yeah. When I told him 'no', he started waving the deal in my face. He kept telling me if I wanted a future in the industry, I would do it." I pause looking at the guys, making eye contact with Luke for a second longer than the others. "I could never do that to anyone--much less you guys. I would never forgive myself if I crossed someone like that."
"So, you put all of that on the line for us?" Ashton asks, his face scrunched in confusion. "Why would you do that?"
"I didn't think of it as putting everything on the line. In my mind, it's was a chance to stand up to him, prove I don't need him to succeed, and stand up for my friends. The choice was easy." I tell them with a casual shrug. "I just don't know if I'll be able to stay here until the end of summer after all that."
"It's your choice, but if you stay, you won't be alone." Luke tells me with a smile, and I start to feel like maybe I should stay.
The car ride goes by in mostly silence, all of us too angry, tired, or submerged in our thoughts to speak. I eventually plug in my headphones and drift off to sleep without realizing it. It feels like hours pass by when I feel someone sit down next to me, but my eyelids are too heavy to see who it is. "Do you think she'll be okay?" Someone--Michael, I think--asks, and I can feel the person beside me shifting around.
Mason's voice echoes back, "I think so. She just needs some time, which is why I suggested we get out of town before she decides whether or not to leave." There's a pause before he continues. "She's been holding all of this in for a long time, and these past weeks haven't been easy for her. Hopefully, this trip will help things."
"I hope so too." Luke says from beside me, and I hear someone in front of us clear their throat.
"I need to ask you guys something, and be honest." Mason says from the front, the guys all chorus back 'okay's. "I'm not trying to justify anything, but I doubt my dad would have asked her about that if he didn't see something. So, do any of you like my sister?"
I don't hear anything, but I can tell Luke is shifting around in his seat. An uncomfortable silence settles over the group for a few minutes before Mason says. "Okay. That's all I needed to know. Thank you." My drowsy mind can't quite process what just happened, but I have a feeling I'll find out before too long.
"Andy, wake up." Someone says gently nudging my shoulder. I open my eyes to see Luke looking down on me. "We're here." He whispers as he climbs out of the van, and I follow after him. My feet hit the ground, but my legs nearly buckle underneath me from staying in the car for so long. Luke just chuckles as saves me from falling and offers me a hand to help me keep my balance.
"Where are we?" I ask, looking up at the grand hotel in front of us. "Why did Mason even bring us here?"
Luke just shrugs as we walk inside to meet up with everyone else. "I think Mason said we're in San Francisco, and that you both knew someone who worked at this place."
"Really? I don't think I know anyone in San--" I start to say, but quickly notice the guys all giving us a strange look. I follow their gaze to see that I'm still holding Luke's hand. "Oh, I forgot you were holding my hand to keep me from falling." I tell him awkwardly as we both let go. I walk up to the rest of the guys, ignoring their strange looks between Luke and I. "Where's Mason?"
"Right here." Mason calls from behind me, and I turn to see him and an all too familiar face.
"Phil?" I practically yell as I run towards my older brother, who quickly wraps me in a tight hug.
"Hey, Ducky." Phil chuckles as he squeezes me and picks me up off the ground. "How come it takes dad forcing you to Cali and you two getting in a fight for me to see you?" He jokingly scolds me as he sets me down
"Because, I love New York much more than California. Why have you never come visit Mom and I?"
"I'll give you that one, but it's mostly because I live for my work here." He tells me with a shrug.
"Which is what exactly?"
"Event coordinator, publicist, and co-manager." Phil recites with a look of pride. "Now,-" He pauses, throwing an arm around my shoulder as he faces the band. "-which one of you seems to think you're allowed to date my baby sister?"
I feel my cheeks burn as I try to protest, but Phil won't let me say anything, even Mason won't help me out. The guys all look at each other for a moment, clearly confused. "Phil, calm down. I'm not dating any of them."
"You don't have to stand up for your boyfriend, Andy. I'm sure he knew this was bound to happen at some point." Phil tries to be serious as he talks, but fails miserably when he starts laughing. "I'm sorry, I just had to see her face when I did that." Phil jokes and he introduces himself to each of the guys. "I was able to get you the penthouse suite, which is the whole top floor and has three bedrooms, despite the short notice, and the hotel would like to extend to you the use of all our facilities, as an Thank you for staying with us." He says acting professional for a moment.
"You've done more than enough. Thank you." Luke says stepping forward as he shakes Phil's hand.
Phil just laughs, turning to me for a moment to whisper, "I like this one." I just roll my eyes at him as he continues talking to Luke and the others. "It's no big deal. Honestly, management was so excited to have you staying here that they will probably bend over backwards to make you happy."
"Andy, will you come with me while I unload the bags and park the car?" Mason asks, silently telling me we need to talk.
We walk out to the car, and I impatiently wait for Mason to start talking. "What's up?"
"I just want to be sure, you're okay." He pauses as he waits for me to reply, but I can tell there's something else.
"I've been better, but I get the feeling that's not the whole reason you brought me out here."
"Okay, maybe there's something else you should know." He pauses, running a hand through his hair. "I wanted to talk to you about what dad asked you earlier."
"Is this about me and one of the guys? Because I don't think I like any of them in that way."
"Andy, you're my baby sister, so I need you to understand that I say this with all the love in the world." I just nod, unsure of where this is going. "I can't say anything for sure, but I think one of the guys might like you, which is why he asked you to do that."
"I highly doubt that, but where is this going?" I question him, wanting to him to get to the point.
"What I'm trying to say is-I don't want you to not keep yourself open to possibilities, and not do something just to spite dad."
"That's what you wanted to talk to me about?"
"Yes. I know, but I know you. To be honest, I just want to see you happy. So from now on, screw whatever dad says and make sure you're happy. Can you promise me that?"
"Fine, I promise I will do my best." I tell him, and he smiles as he pulls me into a hug. "Now let's get these bags inside."
I can't help but smile and laugh as the guys all run around the suite. "Will you quit jumping on the bed?!" I shout at them in between laughter.
"Never!" Michael shouts as he jumps down and pulls me onto the bed. "Come on, Andy! Join us!"
I try to refuse, but Ashton grabs my hands, forcing me to jump with him. "You're all idiots!" I shout as I start jumping with them.
"You're doing it with us! So does that mean you're an idiot too?" Michael questions.
"Yes, it does." I laugh, but we all lose our balance and fall on the bed laughing. "I just realized. There's only 5 rooms. How are we going to split up?"
"Well, I'm sure we can all split up, and you and Mason can figure something out."
I scrunch up my nose, not wanting to share a room with Mason or make him sleep on the couch. "I'll just sleep in the living room."
"So what should we do for the rest of the day?" Ashton asks as we're all still lying on the bed, far too lazy to get up.
"I vote we just chill and have a movie night. We could order pizza."
"Sounds good to me. Let's go get the other guys together. We can order and pick a movie."
"I call to pick the movie!" I call as I run into the living room, but I hear people yell 'no!' from every part of the suite.
"Aw, come on! You know I pick the best movies!" I call as I fall onto the couch next to Luke. "Don't I, Luke?" I ask him with a laugh.
"If you say so, Andy." He tells me with a smile, as he puts an arm over the back of the couch.
"What? Didn't you like the movie I picked last time?"
Luke bites his lip to keep from laughing. "It was-okay." He tells me, and I feign hurt. Luke and I banter back and forth like that, but stop for a moment when Calum walks in looking between us both with a strange look. "What are you looking at, Calum?"
"Nothing. Nothing at all." I give him a withering glare, but he walks out of the room giving Luke a quick wink as he leaves.
"Why did he wink at you?" I ask as I stretch out on the couch. Luke just stutters, and I laugh. "Yeah, he wasn't exactly discreet about it."
"I don't know, I think he has the idea that we like each other or something crazy like that."
My stomach feels strange, and I have to keep a smile from appearing. "That's not crazy. Although, I do wonder where he got that idea." I pause as I notice the tinge of pink in his cheeks and his avoiding eye contact. "Oh, well. What do you want to watch?" I ask him, changing the subject. I look up and notice him staring at me, and for a moment we look at each other in silence.
"Whatever is fine with me." He says after a moment, and I flip onto a random channel. "I wanted to ask you something." He tells me facing me on the couch.
"Shoot."
"So Phil the guy we met earlier is your older brother?" I nod in reply as he continues. "Do you mind if I ask why he called you 'ducky'?"
"Oh, trust me, you don't want to hear that story." I tell him as I try to turn back to the show we were watching, but he insists. I sit up with a sigh. "Fine, but I need you to promise you won't laugh."
"I promise." He tells me leaning forward in anticipation.
"This is so embarrassing." I whine, putting my face over my hands, but Luke pulls them away. "You really want to hear this story don't you?" I question, but he quickly nods his head in excitement. "Okay, so my oldest brother, Phil, had this little stuffed duck that my uncle gave him as a toddler. He was obsessed with it, and when Nico was born, Phil passed it on, and so forth. Over the years, it kind of became a family thing. All of us carried around this stuffed duck around as kids.
"Mason never even had a chance to hold the duck. I ended up with it from day one, and I would not let it go without going completely nuts. Anyway, long story short, 'ducky' was my first word and when Nico jokingly called me that, it just stuck. After that everything from my brothers became duck themed for me. They use it mostly as a joke, but also as a way to cheer me up."
I look at Luke to see him holding back a laugh. "That's not embarrassing, it's adorable. I just have a hard time imagining you carrying around a stuffed duck."
"What about you and your rumored 'penguin' obsession?"
"Penguins can be punk rock!" He shouts back jokingly.
"If penguins can be punk rock, than so can ducks!" I tell him and we both double over in laughter. "So what about you? Any embarrassing childhood stories you can share to even the score?"
"Let me think..." He 'ponders' as he strokes an imaginary beard. "I have one." He pipes up, and we lose track of time as we tell each other stories from our childhood. Eventually the boys, join in and we all laugh at each other, rolling around laughing. I occasionally catch Luke looking at me, and each time I get this strange, goofy feeling. Soon, I start to ask myself, could I be falling for Luke? Or am I just overthinking this feeling?
My thoughts are interrupted by Mason shouting, "Pizza is here!" We all sit around eating dinner, but I keep quiet unable to stop wondering if maybe I'm starting to fall for Luke.