Luke
"It is your fault," Ashton protested against Luke. "You stormed out of the interview like that."
"Because you three couldn't get through one interview without screwing up," Luke gritted his straight teeth.
"Fuck, Luke! You're not our dad, you're our band mate," Calum snapped before mumbling, "You used to be my best friend."
It hurt Luke to hear Calum say that. He was probably the most sensitive of the band, along with Ashton. And he and Calum had been best friends. Actually, they were more like brothers.
Underneath all of the arguments and fights, Luke still thought of Calum, Ashton and Michael as his brothers. That's why it all hurt so much.
"We need to stop arguing and look for him," Luke sighed, deciding to take the high road. You'll catch more flies with honey than vinegar, his mum used to tell him. Or something like that.
He wasn't even that angry with Ashton and Calum. He was angry at the radio host and he was angry that Michael stormed off, but mostly he was worried.
Michael had asked the boys to back off and let him take control of his problem, and he had. He'd been on his best behaviour. He hadn't snorted or swallowed a single substance. Just as he promised.
What if he came undone now?
And if he does, am I to blame? Luke wondered. He had lost his cool in that interview, falling straight into the hands of the media. He was angry with himself too, he realised. He should have known better.
In his pocket, Luke's phone kept buzzing and beeping with notifications. Who knew what the fans were saying about them on Twitter after that interview.
If there was one thing Luke had learned early on in this band, it's how fast news travels. Good news: like a new album, or an award they'd won. And bad news: rumours about groupies, bad fan experiences, reports of their distaste towards each other.
Sometimes Luke felt so trapped in himself. Even when he was alone, there were Twitter alerts going off and online magazines publishing unconfirmed stories. Usually, he liked coming home because it was the one place he could manage to block all of that noise out.
Not this time.
"We should split up," Ashton said, the first good idea he'd had for a long time.
"Good idea," Calum agreed. "We'll be less noticeable that way too."
Finally, there was something that they all agreed on. Ashton went into the city, Calum was going to drive around their old neighbourhood and Luke was going to check Michael's house again.
When Michael's house showed up empty, Luke went along to Ashton's and then Calum's. Figuring he might as well make one last time, Luke went to his own house even though he predicted Michael wasn't there.
There was someone there, though. Sort of.
Across the road, Sophie Green was walking down to her letterbox. She gave him a small smile and despite the fact that Luke had avoided Sophie since the time they kissed, he crossed the road towards her.
Luke waited for Sophie to look up the stack of mail in her hand and acknowledge him.
She didn't.
She flicked through the pile of envelopes not making it clear if she was ignoring Luke or if she just hadn't realised he was standing in her front yard.
"Hey Sophie."
Now that Luke was up close, he could see that she still had the same freckles dancing across her cheeks.
