Wasted Time

Chapter 1

If any of you haven't read Wasted Opportunities, I suggest you read that before starting this, as this is a sequel to it :)

Recommended song to listen to with this chapter - Wherever You Are (5sos)

Emily's POV

"Don't leave," I pleaded, wrapping my arms tightly around the waist of my beautiful boyfriend, Luke. "I'm gonna miss you too much." I rested my head on his chest, feeling his heartbeat through his shirt.

"Don't stay," he countered. "I'll miss you too much."

"I have to," I sighed. "My parents won't let me come with you, I have to stay in school."

"And we have to do a tour. Then we have to stay in America writing for a bit, then we're going home. We've had this discussion a million times, I need to go and you need to stay." I looked up into his pale blue eyes and pouted.

It was a couple of weeks since the last show of the tour, and Maddy, Flavia, Jojo and I had come to the airport to see the boys off on their flight. It had been decided, against most of our wishes, that the only option was for the boys to continue the US section of the tour without us. Maddy and I had missed a lot of schoolwork during the tour, and my parents wouldn't let me spend any longer away from school, despite my protests. So, they were going away for 6 months, first to America, and then to Australia. We were standing in a car park, underneath a grey, drizzling sky, rather than saying goodbye to them inside the airport, because we knew that there would be lots of fans inside, and it would be impossible to talk to them properly.

"I'm going to say goodbye to the others, okay?" said Luke, breaking my train of thought as he removed his arms from around my shoulders. I nodded silently, and hung back as I watched him join Calum in giving Flavia and Jojo a group hug. I leaned against the side of the van, where Maddy and Ashton were still sitting to get away from the rain.

"We'll make it work, Maddy, I swear," said Ashton. "No matter how far apart we are, you'll always be the first thing I think about when I wake up and the last thing I think about when I go to sleep. Long-distance relationships can work, as long as we put in the effort." Maddy said nothing, just buried her face into his shoulder.

I had been thinking about the long-distance thing a lot myself. I knew that the boys always said they didn't have time for girlfriends, that they never stayed in one place for long enough, and I couldn't help feeling that this was how it would turn out for us. We had been so lucky to be able to spend the tour with them, but we had always sort of known that the future wasn't going to be easy. I just wasn't sure I was ready to face up to it yet.

"It's going to be okay, you know," said a quiet voice next to my ear. I turned round to see Michael standing beside me. "Luke really likes you, I've never seen him like this about a girl before. He would never let anything come between you two."

"I guess," I said, chewing my lip. "I just thought - I mean I don't want to hold him back. Maybe it would be best for both of us if I let him go."

"You really think that would be best for him? Emily, he'd be heartbroken. I'm not touring with a heartbroken Luke. I've done it before, and it is NOT fun. Please, don't do that. Not just for you, and for Luke, but for me as well."

"Alright," I said, shivering as the wind whipped my hair around my face. The blue was fading as quickly as the summer, and I was going to have to leave it naturally brown for a bit, while I continued with school.

"Emily, I haven't said bye to you yet!" shouted Calum, throwing his arms around me.

"Shut up, you idiot, everyone will hear you!" hissed Michael.

"Bye, Cal," I said sadly. "I'm going to miss you loads, good luck with the tour!"

"Thanks," he smiled. "Look after Flavia for me, won't you?"

"Of course, as long as you look after Luke," I replied.

"I'll do my best," he said, ruffling Luke's hair.

"Goodbye, Emily," said Ash, giving me a hug. "Please remind Maddy that I love her often," he whispered in my ear. "I'll remind her every day, but I don't know if that's going to be enough." He glanced back at her, sitting alone in the car.

"Of course I will," I said seriously. I knew how important they were to each other. "Good luck with everything." Ashton nodded, and moved over with Calum and Luke to try and cheer Maddy up.

"It's weird, isn't it," said Michael. "We've spent every minute of every day of the last six months with you guys, and suddenly we have six months without seeing you at all? It's going to be so different..."

"Don't, you're going to make me cry," I said, fighting to hold back the tears.

"Aw, I'm sorry," he said, hugging me tightly. "I am really going to miss you, though." I breathed in, inhaling his comforting scent that I had grown so used to. I was still finding it difficult to suppress my feelings for Michael. I knew that I would have to if I wanted Luke and I to be happy, but it had only been a few weeks, and it was the kind of thing that would take time.

"I'm going to miss you too," I sighed. "Look after yourself, won't you?"

"I'll try," he smiled. "Hey, it's barely any time at all till we see you again, six months will fly by. And you can Facetime me as much as you want, even if it's the middle of the night... I'll always be there."

"Thanks," I said, grateful for how much he cared. "Same goes for me."

He gave me one last hug, squeezing tight, before I reluctantly let him go to fetch his bag from the van.

I felt a pair of strong arms grab me from behind, and a chin resting on my shoulder.

"I don't want to say goodbye," said Luke. "But I think I'll feel worse later if I don't, so I'm going to anyway."

"Listen," I said, turning to face him. "I've been thinking. Long-distance relationships are so hard, and maybe it would be easier for you if we just -"

"No," he said, placing a finger against my lips. "I know what you're going to say, and I'm not going to let you. No, it would not be easier. Six months isn't as long as you think, and then we'll plan from there, okay?"

I tried to speak again, but he pressed his lips to mine to stop me.

"We don't have time to discuss this now, it'll take us a while to get through to our flight. I'll call you later, okay, and we can talk about it then if you want. Or we could just agree, now, that we both want this relationship enough to get over this. Think about everything we went through to get here. All that pain we both suffered - we can't let all that be for nothing."

"You always know the right thing to say," I mumbled, persuaded by his words as usual. "I'm going to miss that."

"You don't get away that easily, I am still going to talk to you..." he joked.

"Bye," I said, throwing my arms around his shoulders. "Have a good journey, I'll talk to you later."

"Bye," he said, blowing me a kiss as he picked up his bag from the ground.

I went to stand with Maddy, Flavia and Jojo by the van, and we watched as our favourite people in the world left us, for what felt like forever.

A/N

Hi guys! Thank you so much for reading this! Massive thank you to @annabubble14 for helping me come up with the idea for this chapter and suggesting the song to go with it! Please vote if you liked it and comment telling me what you thought!