Arabella || Luke Hemmings

Two Days Later

Ian and Mason set up the first official hang out between Kosmic and 5 Seconds of Summer.

It was only 10 in the morning and the Kosmic household was already eccentrically hyped up for no reason at all. Anyone who would walk in the apartment would be terrified to say the least.

Ricky had Spanish music blaring throughout the walls that had Loch and Haze dancing around. Jax was cooking something, no one knew what. Arabella sat happily in a swivel bar stool, spinning herself around even though she was on the verge of falling off because she was so dizzy and she wanted to puke.

The music was muted suddenly, commanding each individual to stop what they were doing.

Luke, Calum, Ashton, and Michael stood behind Ian and waved.

"Have fun." Ian waved them off and left.

"We should really consider taking his key away." Jax turned back his food. He was sober for the first morning in a few months, shocking everyone.

Ian had a habit of showing up unannounced. He walked in on a naked Ricky a handful of times but that was Ian's own fault. For some reason Ian was keen on the idea of having a key to keep them in check.

Luke sat at the dining table, eating away the brunch Jax had whipped up for them and listening to the conversations around himself.

Loch had left a few minutes after the guys arrived. He said he had errands to run. Luke couldn't help but feel like he hated them. Loch's errands were really just sitting at a cafe until someone texted him that the other guys were gone.

Luke noticed himself watching Arabella. She was the same Arabella he had met two days ago, quiet and closed off. Occasionally, she'd let an accidental smile slip when she found something funny. She'd try to hide the smile by bringing a Mexican Coke up to her lips and taking a swig. Her lips would briefly part as she was attempting to say something in response to the chatter happening, but she'd decide her words weren't relevant enough to add to the conversation.

Since the party the only thing keeping Luke from sleeping were the words Haze shared with him the night of her birthday party.

"Eventually the trial ends and you're enveloped in her character that's so full of personality and wit and everything beautiful you'd want in a human being."

"She just might tap into your mind and soul but you won't be sure."

And what he had learned from Haze so far was that she annoyingly talked in these confusing metaphorical ways that mind fucked him beyond belief. No one had ever left him questioning himself even more after he thought he had the answers he needed.

Songwriters were always the hardest people to understand. Haze was no exception. She wrote 3 of 10 songs on Kosmic's album and Luke barely understood any of her writing.

He made a last minute determination that he needed to crack Haze in order to crack Arabella.

And he'd start now.

"Haze, can you elaborate the songs you wrote?" Luke picked at the food on his plate with the fork he held. His question ceased conversation and all eyes were darting back and forth between Haze and Luke. Kosmic eyes were shocked he'd ask such a question because no one dared ask Haze to elaborate on things she wrote or said. They were well aware that they were supposed to take what Haze said and leave that open for their own interpretation.

"Um." It looked as if she was nervously gathering all her thoughts.

She could bullshit interviewers, but it was harder to bullshit people she was going to be working with.

"Old Friends," She sighed as she thought of the meaning behind the lyrics. "That one is me finally coming to terms with my erm-depression." She cleared her throat. "And having to be open about my struggles with my old friends: the band."

It was weird for Haze to be admitting these things to people who weren't Arabella, Jax, Loch, or Ricky. For a fact, the only one that knew the true meaning of that song was Arabella. She figured it out on her own and sent her best friend flowers and some cookies in hopes to make her feel better after reading the lyrics Haze had handed over for her to read.

"27- the opening line 'if home is where the heart is, then we're all just fucked' is self-explanatory, I think. I'm not sure who I've left my heart with. Maybe my family back home or someone I loved back there." Haze shrugged. "I think all the lyrics explain themselves in that song."

Oddly, everyone was still attentive. She didn't know why there was a sudden fascination with her mind, she didn't think it was anything special.

"Can't Stop Lovin' You."

"Oh! That is my favorite." Ashton complimented. "Is it about a real person?"

Haze nodded, thanking him, "Parker is his name, yes. I wrote it while I was with him. I was on this high of love and life, but that didn't last long. I fucked up with him."

"Actually, she didn't fuck up with Parker. He was all at fault." Ricky said with a hint of fury.

"But, uh," She tried to dismiss Ricky's comments. "If you keep listening to the songs you'll eventually figure out what point I'm trying to put across. But honestly, I like for listeners to come up with meanings of their own." That was the beautiful thing about songwriting.

-

I know what you're trying to do." Jax sat next to Luke on the couch. "We've all seen it done before. You aren't the first."

"Wh-what are you talking about?"

Jax had to laugh at the deer in headlights expression that masked Luke's face.

"You're trying to crack Haze's codes so you can get close to Arabella." Jax placed his bottle of beer in between his thighs, finally deciding it was the right time for him to start drinking. "Don't think we haven't noticed."

They had seen this happen many times before. Guys become interested in the mystery known as Arabella and try to get stuff out of Haze in hopes to win Arabella over. It worked in the early stages of this trend but after awhile Haze began to use incomprehensible metaphors that left most guys dumbfounded. She would get annoyed at how often that would happen and decided to mess with anyone that wanted to mess with Arabella.

No one had been able to crack Haze, since Andy. Andy was Arabella's boyfriend of three years. Luke's naïve little heart would be shattered if he was made aware of Andy. Management made her keep quiet about Andy, so he wouldn't serve as a distraction to the real stars.

"You're crazy! Arabella isn't even my type..."

"Arabella's everyone's type." Jax assured Luke.

Little did Luke know that his eyes gave away everything.

"I'm sure you're the center of all her and Andy's jokes." Jax stood up.

"Wh-who's Andy?" Luke's hands were perspiring like a Saint Bernard's flood of drool.

"Her boyfriend." Jax took a swallow of his beer as he internally smiled at the drop of Luke's expression. "Good luck cracking Haze."

He would need all the luck he could get his hands on.