Warning! This chapter contains some mild sexual content in the end.
We had an amazing weekend together, messing around and, to be honest, we acted childishly but none of us cared.
On the surface, it looked like nothing had changed but, if you looked closely at all of us, you'd catch a glimpse of a smirk or a secret handhold, all of them subtle, blink and you'd miss them moments. I'm not even sure if I noticed them all!
Unfortunately, 5SOS had to go back on tour and we had to go back to school/university. It was a teary farewell, made even worse by the fact that now we had an even stronger emotional connection to them all. Even Anna was teary-eyed, a rare sight that surprised all of us because she hid all of her emotions deep down.
When they'd left, we were forced to go back to our mundane lives, plod along as if nothing amazing had happened.
Even though we face-timed them every day, I still missed Mickey terribly. Although I got to see his beautiful face and listen to the guys demo their newest songs, which are amazing by the way. It was never enough, you can't kiss a picture, you can't bury your head into the chest of a couple of pixels.
None of our relationships has been made public at this point, but the fans had started to guess, because of 5SOS's positive mood and their manager, John, kept mentioning us while they were live streaming.
By June, I'd had enough and I wasn't the only one. The girls were struggling with their first real relationship being a long-distance one and also not being able to run into the street, proclaiming their love to the rooftops. For Ellie, it was either that or become a full-on groupie stalker.
We needed to see them, BADLY. If we didn't, I think someone would have exploded. Thankfully, our saviour came in the form of John. After a lot of parent persuasion and a little preparation on both ends, we arranged to join the lads for ten days while they toured Europe. We'd live with them on 'Gus', spend whatever free time they had with them and have front row seats to any of the shows they do while we're there.
It was the opportunity we were waiting for.
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We left WAY too early in the morning for a normal person to join the boys in Italy. It was like a special brand of torture, forcing us to wake up and forcing me to corral three very tired teenagers and their luggage into my car. Us being there was a surprise present for the boys and we wanted it kept that way.
When we were picked up at the airport by John, we were told that the boys would be in the studio all morning, so we could sneak in and hide around a house they were staying in instead of the bus. John is an absolute legend! He came up with this great idea. "We'll leave a note saying there's a present for each of them hidden around the house and they're pretty obvious. If you find someone else's present, you can't tell them where it is. The first one to find their present and bring it to me gets a bonus prize, and the second and third place get a little prize as well."
We all loved it and hid in really obscure places around the house. I don't know where everyone else hid, but I hid behind some towels in a little storage cupboard on the top floor, next to the washing machine.
It'd been a cramped hour and, just when I was about to get out and stretch, I heard them downstairs, shouting, laughing and a thud as someone fell on their face (probably Ashton), which was an impressive achievement because this house we were going to be staying in was 4 storeys high. "What's this? -arranged a game! On your marks, ..." The shouts and pounding footsteps that followed made me want to laugh hysterically, but I had to keep hidden.
After half an hour of holding my breath whenever anyone came near and eagerly listening out for the sound of Doc Martins on stone, my cupboard door burst open and Luke peered inside. Our eyes locked and we shared a wide smile. Luke waved at me like a camp person, wiggling each finger separately, then slowly closed the cupboard door behind him. I settled down and tried to get comfortable, but was shut up by Luke yelling, "Mikey! Check upstairs!"
"Which upstairs? There's, like, four?!"
"NOT SAYING!"
JESUS CHRIST, THE MOTHERFUCKER! Not sure whether to love Luke or curse his competitiveness... what am I saying? I WANT TO BE THE LAST GIRL STANDING!
There was frantic searching for another half an hour before I heard on a megaphone, "LUKE'S FOUND HIS PRESENT! IT'S A BATTLE FOR SECOND AND THIRD PLACE!"
"SERIOUSLY?! WHAT ARE THESE FUCKING PRESENTS?"
That's our boyfriend... don't you just love him? Isn't he charming?
After a while, I fell asleep but was woken up by Mike and Cal talking just outside my door. "What are the presents?"
"Honestly, dude, I have no idea! I've got no clue what I'm looking for and Luke has disappeared with his, so he won't be giving us any clues." Frustrated, Mikey stomped out of the room and down a flight of stairs. I thought I was in the clear, so let out a breath I was holding in, but then Calum opened the door to my cupboard. He didn't see me at first, but his eyes met mine and he beamed.
"So that's what the presents are! No wonder Luke has hidden away. Good spot. You do know Michael's crap at looking for things, so you're gonna be in there for a while?" I shrugged, pretending not to care, then placed a finger on my lips. I got a nod as a reply, then Calum shut the door behind him.
I'd been in this cupboard for what seemed like forever and a day and I was getting super bored. All I could hear was Mikey constantly asking, "What the fuck are these presents? Tell me, or I'm gonna give up"
"Michael, don't give up! It's something you've been hankering for!" I could picture the smirk on Ash's face and hear the wink in his voice.
He's found, someone... Let's play a game! Who is it that Ash's found? I'm guessing...
"Unless you've got Ellie hidden somewhere, covered in melted chocolate that I can lick off, I'M NOT INTERESTED!"
"ASHTON AND CALUM HAVE FOUND THEIR PRESENTS! MICHAEL'S PRESENT CAN MAKE HERSELF KNOWN BECAUSE SHE'S WON!"
We've won?! Brill! Now we can get out of this stupid cupboard. Your legs are starting to cramp and it's not gonna look pretty when you untangle yourself.
"She? Ellie?! ELLIE!" The sounds Michael made as he tore through the house trying to find me was hilarious. I just decided to wait until he'd seemed to calm down before I walked down the stairs. I could see Mikey in the hallway next to the last flight, pulling on his reverse skunk hair in frustration.
"Eleanor Grace, show yourself THIS INSTANCE! I've missed you! All I want is a kiss!"
"Yeah right!" Calum looked over with a full-on smile on his face. When everyone looked at him in confusion, he smirked and nodded upwards in my general direction. "Y'know she heard you say you wanted her smothered in chocolate, right?" At this revelation, Mikey noticeably paled with embarrassment.
I decided to make a grand entrance in front of everyone. "Michael Gordon Clifford, if you want this body, with or without chocolate... you're gonna hafta come and get it!" He whipped round to see me standing at the top of the stairs, posed like a Hollywood film star and the beam on his face made me want to stay there and let him get me, but I had some fun planned. When he took a step towards me, I took a step back. This carried on until he was at the bottom of the stairs and I bolted away.
On my way down, I'd seen a quaint little sign that read 'Mike's Bedroom', so I headed straight for there. Mikey has longer legs than I do, so he was gaining ground fast, but I had the advantage of he didn't know where I'd gone. I took off my trousers and my overshirt, so I was lying on his bed, wearing only my vest tee and underwear. When he finally made it, panting and puffing, he found me laid across the bed smirking. "Hi there. Are you going to paint me like one of your French girls, Jack?"
Slowly, he walked over to me and pulled off his Doc Martins. He placed a gentle kiss on my lips and breathed in deeply through his nose. "I will, Rose. But for me to paint you, you're gonna have to lose some of... this"
He gestured to me, hooking the bottom of my vest with a smirk and a devilish twinkle in his eyes. "Can tell you've missed me!" I rolled over onto my knees so I was looking him in those emerald whirlpools that drew me in whenever I saw them and soothingly ran a hand through his surprisingly soft hair. Mickey wrapped his arms around me and gently lowered me onto the bed. All I had to do was wait for the fun to start.
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I look over to the fluff nut in the bed next to me and I have to smile. I've never been so happy! Everyone keeps telling me how much I mean to him, but we don't have one of those relationships where it's all fluffy and cute, that's Hannah and Luke AKA 'Luannah', or Ash and Ellie AKA 'Allie'.
Me and Mikey AKA 'Mellie' are the best friends that play video games and gamer rage at each other, but we'll have great make-up make-out sessions after. Anna isn't good in relationships, she finds it hard to show affection, so Cal's lucky he gets to hold her hand. By the way, Cal and Annalea's ship name is 'Canalea'.
I put the notebook away and climbed into bed next to my 'Puzzle', and immediately felt an arm wrap tightly around me. It was to this feeling of warmth that I fell asleep to.