Ray ||l.h.||

1.9

For two whole weeks Ray has been surrounded by her friends, boyfriend, and many new experiences.

They'd taken Ray to see four movies.

"Okay, wait, who picked this movie?" Ray looks up at the large screen above their heads as the five of them walked under it, trying to get another peek at the film they'd bought tickets for. It seemed to be chock-full of cheesy sci-fi nonsense, and while Ray wasn't too against the idea of an unlikely natural disaster, they could have asked for her input when choosing the movie this time.

Instead of answering, Michael stares at Ray and wiggles his eyebrows. Ray laughs, because, of course it was Michael. The other boys laugh along, turning into their theater.

Ray nearly misses the doorway, but doesn't walk past it thanks to Luke's hands grabbing her waist. "Hey, babe, I thought I was done guiding you places." Luke teases, wrapping his arms around her middle and walking her into the dark room.

Rolling her eyes with a smile as she feels Luke scatter a few kisses across her shoulder, Ray glances around the seats for her friends. "If you're done, I'm ready to watch," Ray pauses, looking at her ticket stub. "Sharknado." Ray furrows her eyebrows at the title, bringing a chuckle from Luke.

"If you guys don't hurry up and get over here, I'm gonna eat all the popcorn." Michael warns the two of them at a respectful volume, that somehow still induces a wave of shushes. The pale boy rolls his eyes at the fellow movie-goers, waving Luke and Ray over.

Both Luke and Ray titter, more mindful of how sensitive this crowd is to noise. Leaving one last kiss to Ray's shoulder, Luke removes himself from her backside and laces their fingers together while they make their way to their group.

"Alright, let's see some flying fish."

They flipped through countless photo albums.

With another large, soft, pink book in hand, Calum plops down in his place between Luke and Michael on the floor.

"I found it." He smirks, brandishing the album, then sets it in the middle of the circle.

Ray spins it on the carpet to face her and cringes, pushing it away. "Oh gosh, freshman memories."

She isn't sure which pictures are in there, but she remembers quite a few times when her mom or dad asked her to pose for a snap, and she remembers feeling embarrassed each time.

"Aw, wait, let me see." Luke reaches for the book, chuckling when Ray latches onto his arm.

"No, it's all probably ugly," She whines, snatching up the album before anyone could get their hands on it and putting it behind her. "Let it die."

Luke muffles his laughter by pressing his lips to her temple.

"Speaking of ugly things that need to die," Michael starts, taking a photo out of its plastic pocket and holding it up for them to see. "Ashton, this shirt was the worst."

Ashton giggles, taking the picture and staring at his younger self. Ray was next to him in the photo, one of her small hands on his arm.

"It was alright back then." Ashton defends the purple tee, tilting his head.

Calum plucks the picture from Ashton's fingers, a saucy smile on his face. "Yeah, mate, that was back then."