More Than a Moment

Twelve

She's been in the studio with the boys five of the seven days this week, and it's been great. She never thought she'd enjoy herself as much as she is. There's just something about creating that Magnolia has always loved and appreciated, but there's something more when you're creating with other people. It's a bond is being formed, and the evidence is in the creation.

On top of all of that, there's Luke. Tall, blonde, and charismatic Luke. Luke, who literally broke up with his girlfriend because of his feelings for Magnolia. As much as Magnolia likes Luke back, she's been struggling with what her coming into Luke's life meant for Ali. And just because Luke said things ended well doesn't mean she's not hurting. Magnolia would reach out to her, but that would probably just make things messy and potentially open a healing wound.

"What are you doing today?" Magnolia texted Michael.

"Calum and I are chilling at my place," he responded quickly. He and the guys have only known Magnolia for a short time, but they've spent a lot of time with her (and even more time hearing about her).

"Wanna hang out?" She asked, unsure of whether their relationship is at that point.

The text took Michael a little by surprise, but the small notion made him smile. "Magnolia just asked if we wanna hang out," he told Calum.

Calum's face lifted slightly, and he shrugged. "Okay."

"Sure! What were you thinking?" Michael smiled to himself. There's just something about Magnolia that's so cute to Michael-- not in an attraction kind of way, but just like a cute person kind of way.

"Super annoying, but I don't know. I've literally just been sitting on my bed listening to music for the past two hours." She sent. It's funny how quickly people can go from being your whole world to just being in part of your world. Magnolia sat in her room, or rather the room in which she was staying, listening to a band she had recently found.

Michael chuckled when he read her message. "We're actually doing the exact same thing. Want to come over and do it together?"

"Sounds lovely." Magnolia responded and promptly put on some real pants and a bra.

The drive to Michael (and Luke's) wasn't horrible, and Magnolia knocked on the door.

"Welcome to my humble abode," Michael said, gesturing like a butler for her to enter.

"Why, thank you," Magnolia giggled, walking in to find Calum on the couch, his hair extra fluffy today.

"Hey, Magnolia," Calum greeted casually, flashing a lippy smile.

He blends the sounds of her name so differently. Magnolia wishes everyone would say her name the way Calum does.

"Hey," she smiled back.

Michael re-entered the room with a bottle of water for Magnolia. "Have a seat," he said, waving his arm across the furniture.

Magnolia sat down on a chair. "Sorry if I've impeded on your space."

"It's cool. I thought it was funny," Michael shrugged, smiling widely. Calum remained engrossed in his phone.

"Well, I was a little unsure, cus I didn't know if we were these kind of friends yet, but all my friends from school are either from the Bay Area or a different state, and my roommate is out for the day," Magnolia explained, taking a sip of water.

"Oh, I see, so we were just your back-ups," Calum teased, looking up from his screen with a cheeky smile.

"Oh, one hundred percent," Magnolia retorted dryly.

Calum's smile persisted as he shook his head lightly, looking back down.

"Excuse Calum. He's just reading mean comments about us on Twitter," Michael explained, rolling his eyes and pursing his lips.

"Any good ones?" Magnolia asked. She's always been intrigued by Calum and his thoughts. It has been such a pleasure getting a glimpse into his interesting, little world.

Calum eyed Magnolia suspiciously with a slight smile and scrolled back up a bit. "Thought this one was pretty funny...tell a 13 year old girl a joke about four pencils with ridiculous hair that sing and suddenly 5 seconds of summer are a thing and famous," he laughs.

"Not bad," Magnolia chuckled. That's actually pretty funny. "So is this something you frequently do?" She squinted, trying to read Calum.

He shrugged. "Sometimes. I think it just makes it easier to shake it off if I expose myself to it more often, like numbing myself to it. And I can get a good laugh most of the time."

"That makes sense," Magnolia nodded.

Michael, who was sitting next to Calum, was shaking his head and silently mouthing 'no' to Magnolia while flipping his hand in front of his throat, but she didn't notice. Calum does this at least once a week, and, sure it's helped a little bit, but he gets really negative and critical for a few hours every time.

Michael smiled to himself mischievously before changing the subject. "So how are things with Luke?"

Magnolia smiled insincerely and rolled her eyes. "There's not much to report on," she answered honestly. Aside from the beginning of the week, the only time Magnolia has spent with Luke has been in the studio, and most of the time the rest of the band has been around too. They've been texting pretty steadily, but that's really about it.

"Can I ask you a maybe uncomfortable question?" Calum asked, switching his attention to something a little more interesting.

Magnolia nodded. "Yeah."

"And you'll answer truthfully?" Calum clarified.

"Mhm," Magnolia answered, a little nervous due to Calum's seriousness.

"Is it weird to you that Luke broke up with this girlfriend of like six months or something to essentially be with you even though you barely know each other in that way?" Calum has been thinking about that ever since it happened (and since he was out twenty bucks because of the bet).

Magnolia was surprised by the question, but she surprised her self even more with her immediate answer. "Yeah," she said simply, but neither boy said anything so she elaborated. "We had been having a tough time gelling in the studio so John sent us out to talk because Luke was being dumb, and that's when he told me he likes me-- I feel like a 7th grader when I say that--, and at the end of that conversation he was just like 'I need to break up with my girlfriend'. It made me feel sick because, sure I like Luke too, and I get that it's not fair to the person you're dating if you keep dating them when you have feelings for someone else, but Luke's feelings for me are super new, and his relationship wasn't. I just felt uneasy, but maybe they've been having problems, and I was his excuse for an out." It felt good voicing her concerns, and the boys were hanging on her every word.

She had just said a lot of things really fast, but Michael followed every point, and quickly studied them. "That is super observant of you," he began, truly impressed. "I think that Luke's feelings for you are genuine, but I guess I underestimated the level of those feelings because I seriously did not think he would break up with Ali over you, even though I'd say they were definitely having some problems."

Calum had been back and forth over how he felt about Magnolia recently, but he's just now decided that he does, in fact, like her. She just seems super genuine and down-to-earth, but she's also super sarcastic. "I agree with Michael, although I did think they would eventually break up. But I was just wondering if you, being on the receiving end of his affections, might see things differently than we do."

Magnolia shrugged again, "I guess I just don't want this to be a rash decision he ends up regretting because I can't promise him anything."