It's not a long trip to Birmingham. Only a mere two hours away from central London. The car was large, easily seating all of us. The midday sun was up and streaming through the tinted windows. Therefore not only should it be short ride, but fairly pleasant one too.
However, we must (unfortunately) acknowledge the following components:
1. I'm traveling with four men sized toddlers that are incapable of doing anything requiring common sense off stage or outside a music studio.
2. Unbeknownst to Calum, Ash or Michael, Luke still thinks I'm a gold digger- Calum being my current prey.
The conversation (if you could call it one) didn't exactly end very well. In fact, it didn't necessarily end. Though heated in the moment, I wasn't prepared to let anything out. Yet somehow, I managed to make it worse.
"What's yours?" he had asked. It wasn't even a question- it was a demand. I can even remember the way he said it... Gruff... Suspicious.
Angry.
The word 'squirming' doesn't do my reaction justice. I could almost feel my legs buckling beneath me. Luckily enough, Ashton had walked in before I could let anything slip. If anything was going to save me from blowing my cover to Luke, the last person I'd expect it to be would be Ashton Irwin. Especially since the only reason for his entrance was to ask if Luke had any clean underwear he could borrow. Never- the- less, I got lucky. Extremely lucky. And striking lucky isn't exactly a regular occurrence for me.
Huh. Maybe fate is finally starting to like me.
Suddenly, a long arm found it's way along my shoulders, pressing me against someones warm, jacket clad torso.
Calum. His earphones, like the other guys', were occupying his hearing. He held his phone in his right hand, casually scrolling through twitter, whilst his right was placed on my shoulder- as if this position was the total norm. I looked him up and down. Michael caught my eye and lifted his eyebrow, giving me 'the look' before turning his head back around, watching the passing scenery out the car window.
That's right. The look. The look.
I shuddered in Calum's hold, I can only imagine what Michael was thinking right now. Dumbfounded, I opened my mouth, ready to question his un- ordinary (and frankly odd) gesture.
"Um, excuse me?"
Calum removed one of his earphones, "What?"
I looked directly at him, then at his arm, then back.
"Can you not?" I said, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. I felt his chest rise and fall a few times before he pulled me in closer, his hand now on the stroking the side of my face.
Well. This is unusual.
His muffled voice whispered into my ear, "We're dating, remember?" I could detect a hint of humour in his voice as he played with the hair falling beside my face. To anyone watching we would look like an actual couple, Calum just being in one of his romantic moods. Though me, who could read Cal like a book, could see past the whole act.
Our foreheads touched and, letting go of his phone, he brushed my left cheek. A sweet gesture, I suppose. He looked deep into my eyes. But I delved deeper into his. I knew how he was actually feeling. He wasn't feeling romantic.
He was about to burst out laughing.
The pair of us were.
Which brings me to my last point:
3. I'm still Calum's 'girlfriend'.
I understand many girls would kill to be in this position. But this was weird. Too weird. Plus, my leg was going numb.
"Aren't you two just the cutest." Ashton looked at us through the mirror as he drove, flicking his hand in mockery. Calum flicked up his middle in return, in a kind of protective way. Which is cute, if you forget the fact that he was being protective over me. That just brings us back to Weirdville. Population: moi.
Calum loosened his grip, though he tugged me down, resulting in my head nuzzling on top of his shoulder.
"Awh, kids..." I heard Ashton joke from the front. Yeah, because with a two year age gap he's basically my grandfather.
My phone bleeped and I fished into my pocket before pulling it out and reading the received text. It was under 'unknown' but there was a single previous message above the latest one.
' Blue. Nine. Joy Hood. Just to spare you any further embarrassment.'
It didn't take long to realize who the sender of the message was. I was just about quick enough to catch Luke stealing a glance at me, in order to check whether I had seen the message, before looking away as if he hadn't moved.
I couldn't help but want to punch myself in the face slightly. I stared at the answers in the text message, like they transported me back into the state of utter embarrassment when I was being questioned by him on the first day of meeting.
'How do you even have my number?' I typed, my finger hovering over the enter button, deciding whether I should even bother. I sent the text, immediately regretting as soon as I did so. In the corner of my eye, I spotted him message back.
'Calum gave it to all of us in case of emergency. Don't flatter yourself.' was his reply. Talk about blunt, much? Does this guy even know how to use an emoji? I rolled my eyes and locked my phone, not bothering to reply. I knew full well Luke was waiting for my reaction, but I didn't give him the satisfaction.
You know what. Whatever.
I don't know how the next couple of weeks are going to unfold, but I'm doing this for Cal's sake not mine. Plus, after this who know when the next time I'll see Calum will be- so I might as well enjoy it.
And I'm not letting anyone, especially Luke Hemmings, change that. I sighed, tucking my phone back into my pocket.
This was going to be a long ride.
***
"£5.75 for that?" Michael said, clearly unimpressed with the glossy magazine in my hands. I nodded at him, clutching the issue over my chest.
"Just that?" he repeated.
"There's little freebies and stuff."
"Can you eat it?"
"Well...no."
He spun around dramatically and shoved his hand in my direction, "Not worth it."
I felt the mini glass bottle containing the bright pink liquid. "I could paint your nails for you." I suggested. Michael scanned the drinks isle, obviously finding the hunt for the perfect beverage needing his maximum attention.
"How about..." he pulled down a bottle from the shelf, "...No." he concluded, grinning at me. "You can call me Mikey, by the way."
"Woah, nickname trust? I'm touched." I chuckled as I grabbed a chocolate bar from the shelf. The shop wasn't the biggest and only a handful of people were present at the store. An elderly couple by the newspaper section, a mother and a small child who was desperately trying to remove a bag of sweets from the toddlers grasp and a worker at the counter.
And yet, Michael was dressed as if he was an undercover criminal.
He wore the bands signature black skinny jeans that were tighter then mine, a grey shirt and a black hoodie over the top. Like Calum, he wore sunglasses though the lighting was completely artificial inside the store. I guess this was their idea of 'blending in'.
But with his height and pale complexion, Michael looked more like a vampire braving daylight.
"Are these really necessary?" I plucked the sunglasses off of his face before he grabbed them from my hands and placed them back on his face.
"This is my disguise, Sophie." he said, I couldn't tell whether he was joking or just being extremely idiotic.
"Just," I took a breath, "Just go pay." I sighed. Micheal shrugged and nonchalantly strolled over to the counter. I shook my head in disbelief and laughed quietly to myself. How are these guys touring the world without supervision. How.
I turned my attention back to the items, debating to myself whether £5.75 was a little too much for a magazine- free nail polish or not.
And that's when I saw it.
I dropped the chocolate bar I was holding and ran over to it, grabbing two packs along with my drink. Yes, yes, yes, yes! This is it. This is how I'm going to do it.
Baby steps, right?
I ran over to Michael, who was handing money over to the girl at the cash machine. She continued to chew and smack her gum as she spoke and had a silver bar pierced into her right eyebrow.
"You look familiar." she said to Michael, a wad of pink gum clearly on show in her open mouth.
"I'm in a band." Michael said, as if it was no big deal. It was a nice surprise actually. Very humble of him. The girl nodded,
"Are you paying together?"
I looked over at Michael as I placed my things onto the counter,
"Sure." he said, "Just as long as I'm not charged for that." he nodded at my magazine that was being packed into a blue bag by the worker.
"Y'know, if your hair was still pink, we could have matched..." I handed the girl the money and she passed us our items.
"I need to pee." Michael whined.
"Then go..." I replied, slightly weirded out by his statement.
"No! Not by myself."
"What are you, a pre- pubescent girl?"
"No.." he huffed as we left the store. I shouted thankyou to the worker, but she had her phone out, her fingers typing vigorously on the screen.
"I'm going to blooow!" Michael sprinted out of the door as I slumped after him.
"Ew..." I uttered to myself. I stared at the floor outside the men's toilets, walking aimlessly before a familiar pair of black vans came into sight, the owner coming into accidental contact with myself.
"Sorry."
"Sorry."
We said simultaneously as we bumped, the person being more then just owning a familiar pair of shoes.
"Was that..?" Luke trailed off, pointing in the direction Michael just ran, me half expecting there to be a trail on the floor.
"Yup." I nodded, "I thought you were in the car?" I said, digging inside the shopping bag. For once, Luke's face wasn't entirely blank as a rosy colour crept up to his cheeks.
"I needed to, uh," he gestured at the sign 'men's toilets'.
Ah. Okay then.
He flustered a bit after realizing the colour he was turning, attempting to hide it with the sleeve of his clothes. I kept digging through the bag before my fingers finally came into contact of what I was looking for.
"Right..." I declare, pulling out the item. Immediately, Luke's eyes widened and he dropped his hands from his face, reaching out towards my peace offering.
"Are those..?" he beamed, looking like a little kid at Christmas. I grinned widely as I handed it over to him.
"Uh- huh."
Yup. I just handed Luke Hemmings- the lead singer of 5sos, pierced, ripped jean wearing Luke freakin' Hemmings- the greatest gift you could ever give the guy.
A penguin bar.
"Open them!" I said, as if it was a Willy Wonka bar. I couldn't help but laugh as he bit into the chocolate covered biscuit.
I've done it. I've cracked Luke Hemmings.
"So... what do you say?" I joked as he ate, crumbs falling ot of his mouth as he scoffed the lot.
"Thankyou?" he cheered, in between bites.
"No, not that..." I rolled my eyes. I stuck my hand out, biting my lip, genuinely hoping this was enough for a fresh start. "Truce?"
"OVER THERE!" a voice shouted. In sync, both our heads turned to the sound. A camera flash from out of nowhere practically blinded me for a second before another voice shrieked,
"WHERE ARE THE OTHERS?"
I felt a large hand clasp around my forearm. I turn to look at Luke, who resembled a bunny with his cheeks still filled with biscuit. He dragged my towards the exit, narrowly avoiding another group of cameras. We managed to exit, but cameras somehow became camera phones. And both me and Luke knew there were more then just paparazzi.
The fangirls had arrived.
I could hear Luke curse under his breath, his furrowed brows indicated this was still something he wasnt used to.
The girl. The girl from the shop. She'd done something. Tweeted, instagramed- something. Wow, talk about dedication.
Somewhere between the flashes I could here more screaming from the crowd. Between the 'I love you Luke!' and 'Marry me, Luke!" I could make out a few.
"I thought she was Calum's girlfriend?!"
"What's she doing with my husband?"
A few policemen and women came from inside the building, trying to whittle down the hoards of girls. Luke lent down to me,
"Sophie, I need you to listen to me." he said firmly as a garment of clothing was thrown at him.
"Yeah." I stammered as I felt his clutch tighten on my arm. It was hard enough hearing Luke, but these girls were doing anything to get Luke's attention.
"LUKE, FATHER MY BABIES!"
He lent down further until his mouth was near my face and whispered through gritted teeth.
"Run."
***
(A/N) For you guys that dont know, Penguin biscuits are milk chocolate-covered biscuit bars filled with chocolate cream. I was eating one whilst I was planning out this chapter... The idea just sort of came lol
Next update is in a few days, thankyou for reading! X
(Tell me what you think!:P )