Troubled Souls // 5SOS

∞ Epilogue ∞

• Beth •

We've finally reached the middle of junior year. The homework load has gotten bigger, the classes are more demanding, and, just as Jade had imagined, we've been getting a lot of questions about what we're going to do with our lives after high school is over. But, other than that, things have been pretty good.

After managing to stay awake through the entire biology period, the bell rings and I bolt to my locker. As usual, Michael is leaning up against it with his books in his arms. I don't know how he does it, but he always manages to beat me here at the end of the day.

"Hey," he says as soon as I'm close enough, wrapping an arm around my shoulders and pulling me into a quick hug. "How was class?"

"Shitty," I reply, twisting the lock and putting in my combination. "But I didn't expect anything else."

He chuckles, a smile spreading across his lips. "You're not much of a science person, are you?"

"Nope," I reply. "English I can do, but science? That's never been my strong suit."

"I think my best class is lunch," he mutters to himself, earning a laugh from me.

"Nah, you're good in band," I disagree. "Nobody plays guitar quite like you, Mikey."

He gives me shrug. "So, it's Friday."

"I'm aware, Michael."

"Are you busy tonight?"

"Not yet, but I imagine I will be pretty quickly here."

He laughs, shaking his head. "I thought we could get the whole group together and just hang out, you know?"

I shut my locker and lean against the door, allowing him to stand over me while the cool metal presses against my back.

"Or we could just hang out by ourselves," I suggest, my voice low. He raises an eyebrow at me before leaning in for a quick kiss.

"'Scuse me, no PDA in the hallway, please," a familiar voice chastises from down the hall.

Michael pulls away swiftly and rolls his eyes. "Aw, don't be a buzzkill, Ash."

Ashton lets out a giggle as he approaches my locker, with Jade at his side, of course. He's still been wearing his beanies around school, but I can see little blonde curls peeking out from underneath the gray fabric.

"So what's the plan, guys?" Jade asks, pulling away from Ashton and leaning against the locker next to me.

"Plan for what, exactly?" I ask in reply.

Jade rolls her eyes at me teasingly. "It's Friday night! We have to do something fun, go see a movie or whatever," she replies. "What else am I gonna do? Sleep?"

"Ha ha ha, Jade," I tease. "I don't know, we could go see a movie or something. We'll have to ask Luke — "

"Ask me what?"

Luke has approached now, carrying twice the normal amount of books than I would expect. He looks a little weighed down, but he doesn't seem to mind.

I can't even begin to explain how much Luke has improved. The difference is insane. He's been smiling and laughing so much more recently. I mean, he has his days, of course. Sometimes he'll go for long stretches of time only talking to select people or not talking to anyone at all, but that's normal and understandable. Overall, he's improved significantly, which makes me happy.

Little Melody comes up behind him, taking her place at his side. "I can take those now, Luke," she says, pointing to the books in his arms. "Thank you."

He nods sheepishly and hands her half of his stack of books, keeping the half that actually belongs to him. He does sweet little things like that for Melody all the time, which makes sense, since he's absolutely head-over-heels for her. 

"We just wanted to know if you guys were busy tonight," Jade answers for me. "We might go see a movie or something like that."

Melody gives Luke a questioning glance, to which he replies with a shrug. "I don't think we have any plans," she answers. "What movie were you guys thinking?"

"Not sure yet," I reply. "We'll have to see what's out right now. Has anyone seen Calum?"

"We just had history together, but he had to stay behind to talk to the teacher," Ashton replies. "He should show up any minute."

As if on cue, Calum turns the corner and his face lights up when he sees us. "There you are, you dork!" I exclaim when he gets close enough. "We're going to go to a movie tonight, can you come?"

"Sorry, mates," Calum replies jokingly. "I have plans tonight."

"You've got to be kidding," Michael says with a skeptical look, but Calum shakes his head with a grin.

"I am most certainly not kidding, Michael," he replies confidently.

"What, are you hanging out with Lillian tonight?" I ask teasingly, but Calum looks down at the floor with a smile and starts to blush. "Oh my gosh, you are, aren't you?"

"Yeah," he replies sheepishly.

"Jesus, Calum, when are you going to get the nerve to ask her out?" Jade asks with a laugh.

"If you must know, Jade, that's what I'm planning on doing tonight," Calum replies, sticking out his chest a little. "Don't be rude."

"Good luck with that," Jade replies sarcastically. Calum stares daggers at her, but she just laughs.

"I gotta go so I can get over to her house," Calum says, readjusting his backpack on his shoulder. "I'll talk to you guys later, okay?"

There's a chorus of "Okay" and "Bye, Cal" and the like as he walks away towards the front doors. Luke pulls out his phone and his eyes go wide when he sees the time.

"I gotta go, too," he informs us. "I'll text you guys later and we'll figure out the plan, alright?"

"Sounds good," I reply.

Luke pulls Melody close to his side and kisses her on the cheek before he heads off after Calum.

Our therapy group ended soon after school started again, but obviously we've still stayed together. Those of us who still need help with our various issues — me, Calum, Luke, and Jade — still take one-on-one therapy with Sophie, but it's not quite the same. I'll always miss our group conversations and going out to get lunch afterwards, but I'm glad we've at least kept the group together.

At the beginning of the summer, I hadn't even known these people, but now my life wouldn't be the same without them.

...

(A/N)

I cannot believe that this is the end. It feels like it was just yesterday when the idea for this book popped into my head. I'd like to say another big thank you to everybody who's been reading and voting for this book; like I've said before, you guys are the reason I keep doing this!

I'm working on a few other little projects at the moment, but I have no idea when I'll be publishing anything again so stay tuned! Thanks so much!!

«Claire»

Song of the Chapter - Alone Together by Fall Out Boy