"Stuck In The Friend-Zone Again and Again"

"I'm On My Own"

We did, in fact, have cake, and it was delicious.

The party continued into the early hours of the morning, and Jake ended up staying the the tour bus with us, the two of us tangled up on the couch together.

The next morning, or technically late morning, around 10:30, I awoke to the sound of Jake's beating heart.

I was actually on top of Jake, my head on his chest, and my arms around his neck.
His arms were around my waist, and our feet were tangled together.
All in all, it was a very comfortable sleeping arrangement.

I yawned, and Jake's eyes opened slowly.
"Morning, gorgeous," he smiled groggily.
I giggled sleepily, pecking his nose. "Morning, handsome."
He grinned. "What a lovely way to wake up."
He pulled me up so my face was right next to his, and he turned so our noses bumped.
He kissed my forehead.
"Did you have a good birthday?" He asked.
"The best," I answered with a smile.

A flash went off behind us as he kissed me lightly.
We looked up to see Ashton with a cheeky grin on his face, holding his phone out.
He started typing, then with a final hit of his screen, put his phone away.

"Sorry," he said, not sounding very sorry at all. "Too cute to resist."

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The picture of course went on Twitter, but I was past being annoyed with Ashton for taking photos of me without me knowing.

Once everyone was up, we went in and ate breakfast, which consisted of bacon and eggs, and toast with peanut butter and jam.

Then I had a shower and got dressed in my room, putting some of my new merch to use, while Jake put on some clothes he kept at my house for situations such as this (also because I wore them all the time, but that wasn't the point).

The boys got ready in the bus where all of their stuff was, and when Jake and I were ready we went out and joined them.

We decided to watch Criminal Minds, which had blessedly been put on Netflix (I wish), because it was creepy and awesome and incredibly interesting.

We watched a load of episodes, before going in for lunch, then returning to the bus to watch some more Criminal Minds.

The boys seemed to really like Jake, which was a relief, because they were some of my best friends, and I wanted them to get along well.

Around 5, Jake had to leave, so it was left to me and the boys to watch Criminal Minds by ourselves.

In the absence of Jake, who's lap I had been sitting on, I was cuddled up against Luke for warmth.

At a particularly bloody and gory part, Luke flinched and hid his face in my hair.
"How do you love this show so much? It's disturbing," he cringed.
"Supernatural's a lot worse, ask Cal," I whispered back. "I just like gross and disturbing stuff, I guess."
"So you read smut," Luke joked quietly.
I blushed. "Uhhhhh, nooooo."
"You actually do?!" Luke laughed.
"Shhhhh!" I blushed, speaking in an urgent whisper. "Don't tell anyone, especially not the boys!"
He quieted down. "Paris, Paris, you naughty girl, I won't tell anyone. Wouldn't want to ruin your good girl image."
"You said it yourself," I spoke softly "good girls are bad girls that haven't been caught."
Luke rolled his eyes playfully, and returned his focus to the show.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

We went in for pizza after that episode, and then went back out to continue the marathon that would go on until 2 AM the next morning.

I was once again sharing a bunk with Luke, and us being us, we both woke up around 8.

I groaned when I woke up, wiggling further back into Luke's chest.
"I don't want you guys to leave today," I frowned.
"I don't want to leave you either, but you'll be with us for a long while in a little more than a month," Luke said into my hair.
"Oh right," I smiled sleepily.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

When the boys had all awoken and eaten, they had to pack up their things, and I had to pack up mine.

They were flying back home, where they hadn't been in about a month, since they had chose to spent the last week with me rather than return home.

When it came time to say goodbye, I was sad, but I knew I would be spending months with them soon, so I tried not to be too upset.

I hugged each of them goodbye, and waved as they got on the bus.
"I'll see you soon!" I called as the bus started to pull away, Ashton driving so they could get to the company where the real driver was, knowing they could hear me through the open windows.
"See you soon!" Calum, Michael, and Luke called back, their heads sticking out into the open air.

I waved until the bus was out of sight, feeling very much like Ginny at the start of the Philosopher's Stone when she waves her brothers off on the school train.