Luke
"That didn't go very well," Ashton muttered. He was sitting on the lounge next to Calum at Luke's parents house, his elbows resting on his knees.
"I told you it was a bad idea," Calum hissed, looking at Luke. His angry eyes seemed even darker than usual while he glared at Luke, as if all of this was Luke's fault. It wasn't. "Now he's pissed off and who know where he's gone or what he's doing."
"He doesn't have a licence anymore. He can't have gone too far," Luke said diplomatically.
"Maybe we're over-reacting," Ashton said, and Calum nodded. Luke rolled his eyes, of course neither of them wanted to take responsibility over the situation.
That was always Luke's job. Luke always had to handle everything which was ironic to him given that he was the youngest in the band. On top of that, he was annoyed that they'd been escorted out of the airport by security before he had a chance to ask Ivy for her number.
"Are you kidding me?" Luke stood up from his seat opposite Calum and Ashton. "Over-reacting? Are you forgetting that Michael almost killed himself when he flipped his car? Are you forgetting that he wasn't even supposed to be driving, after losing his license from so many DUI charges?"
He was now yelling at his bandmates and was thankful his parents weren't home to hear him. He hadn't even told his parents about Michael's addiction, much less the fact that the three of them had decided to bombard Michael with an intervention the moment they got back to Australia.
"But he didn't kill himself, did he?" Calum also stood up. "We managed to keep this quiet in LA, I say we just keep it quiet here. Imagine if we had have got him to rehab today? It would take minutes to be spread on social media. Think of the bands reputation, man."
Back on the lounge, Ashton was nodding silently. The band meant a lot to them all, but probably the most to Ashton. Music was Ashton's lifeblood and they wouldn't be as successful as they were if he hadn't joined the band.
Luke couldn't care less about the band right now. Or the band's reputation. He cared about his friend Michael. He shook his head at Calum, "What the hell is wrong with you?" he muttered.
"Look, we went along with your stupid intervention plan and it failed. He's not going to go to rehab, Luke. Now we need to focus on what's important here, we need to start writing new music before the tour starts in March."
"I don't care about writing. I don't even care about the tour! I care about my friend. Our friend, if you remember what it's like to be a friend." Luke looked at Calum in disgust. "I don't know what's happened to you but I don't like it."
Ashton stayed silent which made Luke's blood boil more furiously. He could mope about Callie on his own time, right now he needed to step up and be a real friend.
"Where are you going?" Calum shouted down the hall, realising Luke was at the front door.
"I'm going to find Michael," Luke said, slamming the door behind him.
Now, he thought as he started his Mum's old car, if I was a drug-paranoid nineteen year old boy with no car but a shitload of money, where would I be?
Luke covered the obvious places first, just to be sure; Michael's house, the local pub in their suburb, Ashton's house (Luke had always suspected Michael had a thing for Mrs Irwin) but they all came up empty.
He parked in a side street and took out his phone, sending Michael a message. It was a long shot but just maybe he would reply. Just maybe Michael would remember how close he and Luke were and realise that Luke was just worried about him.
The radio hummed quietly, cracking and losing signal every now and then. It was kind of relaxing just hiding away from the world in the familiar car. It still smelled like crayons. He liked that it hadn't changed. God knows almost every other aspect of his life had changed and he was going to keep a firm grip on every tiny piece of his old life. Including his mum's old crayon-scented Toyota.
It took them a while to notice that Michael had a problem. People from the outside couldn't possibly understand what it was like; the four boys were literally just kids from a small suburb in Sydney and even when they started attracting local attention, they couldn't have imagined how big they would come internationally.
They somehow found themselves overseas writing with these hugely famous musicians. Musicians that they grew up listening to and idolising. And with those new connections came parties. Luke remembered the first LA party so clearly; two famous dudes from a band he used to love started doing cocaine on the table. Right there in the club, out in the open.
Michael had seemed more shocked than the rest of them. It was staggering to the four boys that no one seemed to care. Just as no one cared that none of their band was over 21. They'd entered into an entirely different world.
Michael was the first one to try a line of coke. It wasn't a big deal, everyone did it at least once: that's what Calum said when Ashton began getting worried.
It was hard to know what was going on in Ashton's head at the time and even Luke thought initially that Ash was just trying to take some of the heat off of himself.
It got worse though. Not just the drugs, but the drinking. Michael started showing up everywhere with bloodshot eyes and reeking of alcohol. It became harder and harder to hide. From the media, and from the fans.
Luke appreciated that their fans knew they weren't perfect; there had been enough leaked nudes and stories about groupies for them to know that. But that was just them being young and a little stupid.
This was different.
After Michael's accident, Luke realised his problems were so much more than youth and stupity. Michael was a drug addict; there was no other way to put it.
Luke's phone beeped with a new text message and he hoped it would be Michael. He swiped open the screen and saw Ashton's name: Michael's back at your house. You better get here quick.
for the record, i don't think that michael clifford is a drug addict and their lifestyle portrayed in this book is entirely fictional
