Eighteen // 5SOS

Chapter 1

It was June 2rd 2014, and 5 Seconds of Summer had just landed in Edinburgh before their show the following evening. Exhausted from their flight, they wandered dazed through the airport, while their few security guards stood impatiently waiting for the taxi. Luke Hemmings rubbed his eyes lazily as he stood next to Calum Hood, who was resting his chin on the taller boy's shoulder. Michael Clifford and Ashton Irwin were standing with their arms folded nearby; it had been a long day for them all.

"You okay?" Luke turned and nudged his forehead against Calum's, who's eyes were fluttering as he fought to keep them open.

"Mhmm..." Calum muttered in a response. Luke turned to Steve, their manager. who looked flustered and annoyed.

"How long do you think the taxi could take? Is it worth getting a Starbucks or something?" Luke called over to him. On his shoulder Luke felt Calum's head get heavier.

Steve sighed. "I really don't know, I'm just off the phone and they say it could take up to an hour," he looked at the three boys standing before him, and then Calum drooped over Luke. "Maybe go a walk, I doubt any coffee places are open at this time."

Luke nodded, and patted Calum's cheek playfully, causing his eyes to flutter and his head to lift. "C'mon guys, we'll go a walk. Wake up a bit."

And so the four boys walked down the near-deserted terminal in the direction of the nearest Starbucks, but Michael stopped just as they passed a sign for the toilets.

"Uhh... Guys?" he voiced, "Can we make a quick stop here?"

Calum sighed. "Michael, we're literally just off of a plane. Why didn't you go then?"

Michael, disgusted, shook his head at him. "Calum it's a plane, there is EVERY REASON why I didn't go there."

"Name one."

"Well... Where does it go? What if the toilet exploded or something, everyone uses it. I saved you from a pretty horrible experience there. Now if you don't mind..." And with that Michael strolled into the toilet, whistling as he went.

Calum frowned, and rubbed his eyes. "I'm so tired guys," he said, and Ashton hung an arm around his shoulder.

"We'll be in the hotel soon bro, don't worry," he said reassuringly. "We're all tired."

And there they stood for a few moments, until Michael too wandered out of the toilets, standing for a moment to stretch dramatically. "Arghhhh... Onwards!" he shouted, pointing down the corridor in front of them.

Ashton giggled. "Michael you're not a mid-evil knight!"

Michael smirked. "YOU HAVE NO PROOF ASHTON." he shouted jokingly. Luke shoved him foward on the back before they continued down the corridor of the terminal.

"Do we have any idea where we're going?" Luke said aloud. They had passed numerous signs for other terminals, yet could see no sign of a Starbucks. "I thought airports had loads of coffee places."

"Maybe at night they go to sleep like normal people," Calum said, and paused before adding, "Sorry guys."

The other boys nodded sympathetically at him. They walked on a little further before stopping again, and looking around.

"Okay, I'm pretty sure we're lost." Ashton said, scratching his head.

"How do we get lost in an airport, it's literally MADE for people!" Michael said, waving his arms around. While it was late for the other boys, it was at this time of the night when Michael was in his element. He was accustomed to staying up late, though on the other hand had probably not experienced the morning before 10am in several years.

"Because it's US... Wait, did anyone else hear that?" Ashton rotated to view the area around him, which looked fairly deserted and silent. Luke and Michael exchanged glances.

"Uhhh, I didn't hear anything." Luke said. "Maybe you're just tired, we're all pretty ti-" and just as Luke was finishing speaking, sure enough, there was a faint rustling that could be heard from behind him.

The boys turned slowly at once to face where the noise came from, before a girl with dark hair emerged from around the corner.

"Hi, I'm Kara," she said, waving quickly. "I'm driving your tour bus to the hotel you'll be staying at tonight."

The boys looked quizzically at each other before Calum said, "But I thought we were waiting on a taxi?"

Luke nodded, "And how did you find us? I thought we were horrifically lost for a moment."

Michael smirked and stepped forward, his hand outstretched. "Hi I'm Michael Clifford. Nice to meet you Kara." The other boys facepalmed in synchronisation as Michael shook hands with the girl.

Kara returned a smile to Michael. "Call me Kakkii, everyone else does," she said, before they dropped hands and she looked past him to the other boys. "Your taxi was late, so we brought the tour bus down, I came trying to find you."

Michael however, was still smirking. "I'm glad you did..." he said, biting his lip, "... Kakkii" he held her gaze for a moment.

"... When you're done flirting can we go?" Calum said, already walking closer to the corner where Kakkii had emerged out of. She nodded, grinning, and lead the way round the corner, down some stairs, and finally out of the terminal, where situated outside the door was a dark bus. Kakkii stood to the side of the door as the boys boarded without hesitation: first Calum, then Michael, Ashton, and finally Luke, before Kakkii herself got on after them.

Upon boarding the bus, the first noticable peculiarality was that there was only one long room, lined with a long couch around the sides, with a pole situated right in the middle. They also were not alone, as sat on the couches were a group of about eight girls. As the door shut and locked behind the boys, the inside of the vehicle shut and Kakkii could be heard starting the engine in the front.

The boys looked hesitantly at each other before Ashton spoke. "Uh... Are you guys sure this is our bus?"

Luke leaned closer to the windows of the bus, noticing banners spread across them. Squinting in the darkness to read them, he was sure they said "Happy Birthday Luke"... But they couldn't, his birthday wasn't for over a month. And how would they have known?

It was the shortest of the dark haired girls that replied to Ashton. "Oh we're sure. This is all planned. Wecome," she said, "To the party bus."