all mine | ft. michael clifford

four;

note: i've uploaded a pic of the outfit i imagined for charlotte in this scene x

STEP THREE: MAKE SOME FRIENDS.

I'd only brought one other semi-decent wool sweater with me. Only one. And unfortunately, it wasn't very thick. It was predominantly grey and loose knit with patches of distressed stitching towards the hem. The style I was going for was baggy and trendy. In order to achieve this look however, I had to be prepared to freeze. So I was forced to shiver my way along Pepper Street, face numb against the cold and bitter afternoon air. The sun had disappeared behind the buildings, leaving a gorgeous yellow glow to the sky above me. It was beautiful and its glory wasn't wasted on me. I made sure to appreciate it rather than pity myself for being an ice block.

The sweater did nothing to stop the goosebumps from covering my arms but the black skinny jeans I wore and my snug burgundy brown leather boots paired with warm grey socks kept my legs and feet toasty. As soon as I walked inside Marcy's I began to defrost. As I was closing the door, an elderly woman was leaving. She smiled at me.

"Mali, baby," Liv bubbled as though she'd known me for years. "Ready to get your job hunt on?"

Her excitement made me feel a little bad that that wasn't what we were probably going to do.

"Good news and bad news," I told her, leaning forward on the counter. "Which do you want first?"

Melissa appeared from one of the back rooms. She had her keys in hand and a black bag slung over her shoulder. Both girls had put on sweaters – Liv's was white and Melissa's was black.

"Give us the bad news first," Mel chimed in, walking towards me.

I nodded. "Bad news, I think I've already found a job and don't need to go hunting."

Olivia pouted then smiled. "That's good news though, doll. Where?"

I told her, grinned and Melissa congratulated me.

"And the other news now?" Liv encouraged.

"I was thinking we could go for an early dinner or something?" I countered, feeling slightly nervous. What if they didn't actually want to hang out with me and were only being polite about helping me find a job?

"I mean, you don't have to, I just don't know the area and thought it might be fun or-"

"The party's here!" A voice declared loudly from behind me as the door opened, letting a whoosh of cold air in. Australian voice.

"Just in time, boys," Mel said with a grin. "Mali's just invited us to dinner."

I turned to see the two guys I'd met earlier at the door. With them were two new faces that I didn't recognise. All were smiling. All were saying hi to Melissa and Olivia.

"Dinner?" The guy with black hair from this morning gasped. "Babe, we just met, let's take things slow."

He was teasing me. His hands were stuffed into the pockets of black skinny jeans. He wore a maroon sweater to match. I wondered if he felt the cold much. Michael.

I grinned and shook my head. "Dinner with you sounds fun but I'd probably prefer pouring lemon juice into my eyes."

I was playing. I hoped he knew I was playing. It was the first real thing I'd said to him.

After a second or two of just staring at me, he broke out laughing and I felt my smile grow. My parents never used to laugh at me. We didn't share the same sense of humour. I missed them.

The others were all talking until Michael started making a lot of noise, then they turned to me.

"I'm Calum," one of the unfamiliar guys introduced, holding a hand out for me to shake. He was the most tanned out of all of them with dark brown eyes that were deep enough to swim in. A nice smile was on his lips.