"Stuck In The Friend-Zone Again and Again"

"Drive This Car"

The whole rehearsal went really well, though there were missed notes and forgotten words, which I easily filled in.

Afterwards, when we were sitting around sipping water, Ashton laughed.
"You know the songs better than we do!"
"If you think about it that's kind of sad," Michael said.
"Sad that I know the words better than you even though I'm just a fan or sad because I'm so obsessed I know all of the words better than you?" I countered.
"Both," Calum said.
"But you're not just a fan," Luke told me.
"You're our friend," Ashton said.
"You're our family," Michael corrected.
I smiled I bit, blushing at my hands. "Really?"
They all nodded.
"Our little sister," Calum reiterated.
"And our protégé," Ashton added.
I laughed. "Does that mean I'm in the tribe? Cause I wANNA BE IN THE TRIBE!"
"WELCOME TO THE TRIBE!" They all laughed.
"I got into the tribe but Niall didn't muahahaha," I joked with a fake evil laugh.
"Yeah he's a big fan," Michael chuckled.
"King and Queen of the 5sos Fam," I giggled.
"Oh my god tweet that," Calum laughed.
I pulled out my phone:

musiquedeparis: @NiallOfficial wanna be the king of the 5sos fam? Spot for queen is taken👑

We laughed, and a few minutes later Niall tweeted me back.

NiallOfficial: @musiquedeparis for sure! They couldn't ask for a better royal pair😉

I showed the boys, who laughed but agreed with Niall.
"This is gonna be all over the tabloids," I chuckled, putting my phone away again.
"And all the fans will be photoshopping crowns on your guys' heads," Ashton predicted.
"That will happen," I said. "I'm positive. I know tumblr."
"You're on it enough," Michael sniggered.
"Hey I wouldn't be talking Mr. I Play Video Games Night and Day," I fired back.
"Oooooo burn!" The rest of the boys back.
"Touché," Michael relented, holding up his hands in defeat.

•••

Since rehearsal was done, we took the car back to the hotel.
"Are you sure you don't want to sight see?" Luke asked me.
"I just want to hang out at the hotel," I answered. "Maybe tomorrow before the show."
"Tired?" Calum asked.
"Yeah," I answered.
"You probably slept the longest out of us," Ashton pointed out.
"Tired, not sleepy," I said. "Tired is like exhausted. Sleepy is like yawny."
"Why are you exhausted?" Luke asked.
I shrugged. "I don't really know. Sometimes I just get really tired for no reason."
"Girls are weird," Michael crinkled his nose.
"So are boys," I said, crinkling my nose in return.
"Alright kids let's not take a trip back to second grade," Ashton said.
"A kid named Wesley smeared bright blue paint through my hair in second grade," I said nonchalantly, studying my pristine black nails.
"How... Charming..." Calum said before laughing.
"He likes to think so," I chuckled back. "Biggest playboy in the school."
"Sounds like a grade A dick," Michael commented.
"Mmmm, I'd put him at a grade B or even C," I contemplated. "He's not that bad. He's not that horrible and it's not like he rapes the girls or anything."
I shivered slightly, remembering my own experience, and none of the boys noticed except for Luke, who squeezed my hand comfortingly.

I had been getting nightmares sporadically since the incident, waking up in a cold sweat shaking with fear.
Last night was no exception, but thankfully I didn't wake Luke when I awoke at 3am crying and shaking like a leaf.
It took me over an hour to get back to sleep, which was probably the real reason I was so tired, but I didn't want to tell the boys that.

Luckily, the boys were tired too, so they didn't mind just hanging around the hotel for the night.

When we got back to the hotel, we slumped up to our rooms and all huddled on the couch and floor together, a colossal mess of bodies, limbs, and heads askew.
I turned on the TV, which was cable, and all we could find to watch was Elmo's world.
"I can't believe they changed Cookie Monster to make him healthy," I said with a frown after a few moments.
"I know, childhood ruined, much?" Luke agreed.
"Awwww, our two little babies talking about Elmo," Michael fawned teasingly.
"Hey you were singing along right with us," Luke reminded him, his eyes not deferring from the small screen of the television.
Michael's face flushed scarlet as we all laughed.
"It's okay Mikey, everyone has their guilty pleasures," I consoled him.
His ears perked up at the opportunity to change the topic.
"Oh really?" He smirked. "What's yours?"
I went bright red. "After."
"After what?" Ashton asked.
I shook my head. "No, it's a book. I've read it a hundred times. It's on WattPad. Well there's a real version that's been published and professionally edited and stuff... But the original is...."
I trailed off. "Guilty pleasure," I reiterated.
They guys all exchanged looks.
"Okay somebody else go I don't just have to do it," I said quickly.
"My guilty pleasure would have to be reading fanfiction about us," Luke said. "Some of it is just amazing writing."
"Like 'Fall'," I said. "By a girl named fivesaucewhoop, or Paige. I loved it!" ( fivesaucewhoop )
"I read that!" Luke exclaimed. "It was amazing!"
"I know, right?" I said.
"I would have to say that mine is watching Dancing With The Stars," Ashton confessed.
I laughed. "Seriously?"
"Hey, it's a good show!" Ashton said defensively.
"I know it is!" I chuckled. "I'm just surprised."
"Mine is probably Barbie movies," Michael said, blushing. "Not Elmo."
The boys sniggered, and Michael blushed deeper.
I kissed the top of Michael's head.
"It's okay Mikey," I said. "I like Barbie movies too."
"Yeah but you're a 16 year old girl," Luke said between laughs.
"Oh shut up Luke," I rolled my eyes. "We've watched Barbie movies together before and you were singing right along next to me."
Luke stopped laughing, and the boys stopped dead and turned to stare.
"OOOOOOOOOOH!" Michael shouted.
"LUKE WATCHES BARBIE MOVIES! LUKE WATCHES BARBIE MOVIES!" Ashton chanted.
"Want me to buy you the complete collection for Christmas Lukey-Pookey?" Calum sarcastically simpered, reaching over to pinch Luke's cheek.
He turned to me and sighed. "You know they're never gonna let this go, right?"
"Well you shouldn't have picked on Mikey," I huffed, running a hand through Michael's soft green locks affectionately.
Michael beamed. "Does that mean I'm the new favourite?"
"I'm not switching lanes, Mikey," I told him. "I just love you and I'm gonna protect you."
"What about me?" Luke pouted.
"Aw I'm still a Luke girl, Lukey," I said pecking his cheek. "But you deserved that."
Luke's face had heated up as soon as I kissed his cheek, which I found strange because I used to do that all the time after we became so close.
I put a hand to his forehead. "Are you okay?" I asked.
"I'm fine," Luke said, almost too quickly. "But hungry. Who wants dinner?"

A/N: oh my god I haven't updated in almost 10 days I'm a monster.
I'm really sorry guys, it's just I've been having a bit of a rough time lately and I just couldn't figure out what to write and I just really don't know. I'm really sorry.