"Stuck In The Friend-Zone Again and Again"

"My Mind Keeps Racing"

{1 WEEK LATER}

It had been a week since our trip to Bondi, and in that time we had visited the Opera House, climbed the Sydney Harbour Bridge, visited the Zoo (Calum: "Luke get away from the Penguins!" Me and Luke: "but I like the Penguins!"), and the aquarium.

The day after next, which was Monday, we were planning on going on a catamaran out to a reef to snorkel.

That day, Saturday, we had all congregated at Michael's house.

We were sprawled around the living room, talking about nonsensical things.

"You haven't said much about Jake," Calum said suddenly, turning to me.
I froze.
"Anything, actually," Ashton agreed. "You haven't said anything about him."
"Guys..." Luke said in a warning voice.
"It's alright, Luke," I pacified him, putting my hand on his arm soothingly.

I took a deep breath and looked at my hands, not wanting to look Calum in the eyes as I finally confessed.

"We- uh- we're no longer a going concern," I said quietly.
"What? Since when?" Ashton exclaimed.
"Day before I flew out," I answered in a hushed tone.
"Are you okay?" Calum asked worriedly.
"I'm fine," I assured them, willing my voice not to shake and the tears not to fall.
"Are you sure? What happened?" Michael pressed, looking at me with eager eyes.
"He-um-" I stuttered. "I don't want to talk about it."
"Come on," Ashton wheedled.
"Seriously guys, stop," Luke said trying to distract them.
"What happened with Jake," Michael pressed, ignoring Luke.
"He cheated, alright?" I burst out.
I looked straight at them with a pained expression, tears running down my face, and in a quiet voice asked: "Are you happy now?"

All of their expressions softened.

"I walked into his room to find him and some other girl asleep naked together," I went on, wiping my tears angrily.
"Well you don't know th-" Ashton started.
"And then he went on to say they had amazing sex and he never loved me, he just wanted to have sex with me," I cut him off. "That might be why I haven't been talking about him."
"Why didn't you say anything?" Calum asked softly.
"I told you," I sniffed with a watery laugh. "I don't like talking about it. It makes me cry."
"Can we beat him up?" Michael asked earnestly.
I wiped my tears, laughing. "Wouldn't that be bad press?"
" 'Band Beats Up Douchebag Ex-Boyfriend'," Ashton said moving his hands as if he could see the headline. "I don't know, it sounds pretty good to me."
"At least let us say something," Calum begged.
"As long as it's not too nasty," I relented.

The three of them made sounds of excitement, pulling out their phones to do God knows what.

When I saw Luke do the same thing, I laughed. "You too Luke?"
"They get to do it," he pouted, typing on his phone.

I simply laughed, leaning into his shoulder until I felt my phone ding several times.

I pulled it out and swiped open Twitter, looking at my new notifications.

"@Michael5SOS: I'm having a strong urge to beat up a particular man, and I'm using the term man loosely. Douche is a better term."
"@Ashton5SOS: Having some powerful feelings of anger towards someone certain who hurt her. You know who you are😒"
"@Calum5SOS: People who hurt wonderful people disgust me. @jakejakejake"

I laughed, seeing that Calum tagged Jake.

Finally I looked at Luke's
"@Luke5SOS: When you hurt her you hurt me. Seeing her hurting makes me want to cry and beat him up at the same time. Not very happy with him right now tbh."

I smiled. "The press are going to be all over this."
"Screw the press," Michael shrugged.
"They had a field day when you carried me around at the beach," I reminded Luke. "Imagine what they'll do about this."
"Probably do some digging and then start saying that you and Luke are dating in secret," Ashton put in.

Luke stiffened beside me.

"Start?" Michael chuckled. "When did they stop?"
I laughed, resting my hand on Luke's tense arm reassuringly. "True."

I was confused at Luke's suddenly tense state; we were used to thinking that we were a couple, weren't we?

I mean, he wasn't the one getting hate over being Luke's "girlfriend".

I was the one that got pages of hate and threats daily.

I always tried to brush it off and make some snarky comment in my head;

"@musiquedeparis your fat and ugly"
"Well honey maybe you should learn some grammar before you send hate."

It still stung, but I stayed strong like always and pushed it down.

I forced myself out of my thoughts before the guys could notice that my mind was elsewhere.

When I turned to observe Luke's expression, I found it to mirror how I was sure my own had looked seconds before, deep in thought.

_---____----____----_____------_____-----_____----_____----_____----_____----____---_

Luke's P.O.V.
(From the point where Ashton brings up Paris and Luke dating)

I tensed as Ashton brought up the subject of Paris and I as a couple.

I didn't like to be reminded that I was stuck in the friendzone, no pun intended, and would likely never get to be with the girl I loved.

Paris laughed at what Michael said, which was something about the press never stopping thinking of us as a couple, and put her hand on my arm as if to reassure me or steady me.

She was so damn sweet that even when she was heartbroken and trying to act okay all the time which was mentally exhausting, and having been talking along the lines of her cheating ex just moments before, she was concerned about me.

I began to think about the two of us together, how wonderful it would be, and all of the things I could do to make her feel loved.

I pictured the two of us married, my hands placed against her belly, swollen with pregnancy, speaking against the skin of her torso carefully, whispering words to our unborn baby.

I imagined her laugh, because "that tickled!", and her perfect hands coming down to cover my own.

I snapped out of my thoughts, not wanting to think about impossible things, and found Paris's concerned and curious gaze trained on me.

The boys hadn't noticed my far away look, as they were wrapped up in their own conversation, but Paris evidently had.

"Something wrong?" She asked with a cocked eyebrow.
"Just thinking," I answered with a faux air of calmness.

She fell for it, most likely not wanting to pry, and nodded, injecting herself into Calum, Michael, and Ashton's conversation.

Internally I sighed with relief, the secret of my unrequited love was safe, for the time being, at least.

A/N: oooooooooooh.