twelve seconds of christmas

v. four calling birds

Mornings in the 5SOS and Co. household were nothing if not eventful.

Before 9 A.M., at least nine alarms went off with annoyed groans to go with them.

Before 10 A.M., at least four arguments ensued over the use of the solitary shower in the apartment.

This morning, at precisely 8:57 A.M., Luke Hemmings found his way into the shower before the rest of us even considered rising, but made sure we all knew about it.

"And baby, YOUR SOUL WILL NEVER GROW OLD," he sang, his melody piercing through the watery distortion of the shower and the muffling of the many layers of glass, tile, and god knows what else between him and the rest of us, and we surely heard him.

"SHUT UP, LUKE," groaned Mikey, voicing the rest of our thoughts.

By 11 A.M., we found ourselves sufficiently annoyed and drowsy.

"I'm not making a fancy breakfast," Dori proclaimed, rubbing her eyes as she poured herself a bowl of Lucky Charms. "We're sticking to overly cheery children's breakfast cereals today."

Mikey, with his head in the microwave, had other ideas. "Does anyone want a pizza bagel?"

Ashton's head lifted off the table. "Pizza bagel? You went out and got bagels?"

Luke grabbed the box of now cold bagels out of Mikey's hands. "That one's mine. Cat got them." Mikey pouted and proceeded to take a bite out of the bagel in Luke's hand.

As if summoned, Cat walked into the room, perfectly made up and ready for the day. "Good morning. You called?"

"I cannot believe you woke up and got bagels. How are you all ready? How did you get the time?" I inquired, my face stuffed with a handful of cereal.

"Did you even sleep?" Calum chimed, his hair sticking up in every direction. I tried my hardest not to stare.

"I did, as a matter of fact," she said brightly, plucking a blueberry bagel out of the box and deftly taking a bite. "I lived with Luke for a number of years, I'm immune."

"So have we, but he still keeps us all up," Mikey rolled his eyes.

Ignoring him, Cat sat on the table and looked at us all expectantly. "So?"

"So what?" I asked drowsily, fiddling with the drawstring of my sweatshirt.

"So what are we doing today?" she asked exasperatedly.

We all shrugged in unison.

Cat seemed to be fighting the urge to roll her eyes. "There's a n animal shelter down the street..." she coaxed, her hands on Ashton's shoulders, attempting to prop him up from his sleepy slouch on the table.

"Yeah, let's go down there," Calum responded huskily."What on earth could a few popstars and their friends with literally no time for a pet do in an animal shelter?"

"We can play with puppies for a little bit," Dori replied, not looking up from her phone. "There's a promotional "Play With Your Pup" event happening, and it's from three to five, so we should probably get there early before any fan mobbing occurs, which I'm sure will, considering your social status." She picked up her bowl and dropped it into the sink, before looking pointedly at the rest of us. "Well?"

We all shrugged in unison.

Cat rolled her eyes.

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Approximately three hours later, decked in black skinny jeans and big sweaters, we walked into the New York Animal Shelter, which was depressingly small and dark, matching the weather. Nonetheless, we brought in our own Christmas cheer to the space, and brightened the face of the bored looking clerk at the front desk.