As The Memories Fade // c.h.

Prologue

"Please tell me he's not bringing that big-ass tube in the car with us." Rose groaned, watching as Luke tried to shove a tube-wielding Calum out of the house. Ashton chuckled from his position next to the short, blond-haired girl.

"If he does, you won't have to deal with it, so don't even complain, Rose." He quipped. She scoffed and gave him a playful shove, but she knew he was right. She'd be in the front passenger seat because her boyfriend would be driving. It was a lovely privilege she got. Being the girlfriend of the only one in the group with a working car meant never being forced to squish into the backseat with two other boys. Of course, it wasn't always like that. She'd had he fair share of back-seat trauma. That, however, all stopped when Ashton's car decided to call it quits.

With a shout of victory, Luke successfully shoved Calum out the door. The dark-haired boy yelped as he tumbled sideways, off the porch and into the bushes.

"Oi! Don't you dare ruin your mum's landscaping!" Rose called out, placing her hands on her hips as Calum stood back up again. He took one look at his girlfriend and burst into laughter. No matter how hard she tried, Rose could never make her petite, five-foot-four frame look any more intimidating than a baby seal (or so the boys told her). She watched, unamused, as Calum approached her, the tube now tucked under one arm instead of around his body.

"Aw, babe, don't give me that look." He whined, leaning down to kiss her. At the last second, Rose turned her head to the side so Calum ended up kissing her cheek instead of her lips. A peal of laughter erupted from behind him as Luke came forward.

"Denied!" He cried out, still chuckling. Calum sent him a quick glare before turning back to pout at his girlfriend.

"Why don't you love me?" He whimpered. Rose scoffed, but couldn't keep the small smile from tugging at her lips as she gently shoved him away from her and opened the door to the car.

"I do love you, but Liz will kill all of us if we don't get to the interview on time." She said, gesturing that Luke and Ashton should get into the car. They did as told, climbing into the car. Rose narrowed her eyes as she counted. Three boys. One was missing. "Michael Clifford!" She shouted suddenly, causing Calum to flinch and groan out a protest. The boy in question appeared in the doorway suddenly, his eyes wide.

"I'm coming, Rose!" He assured, hastily shoving his feet into his shoes. She smiled with satisfaction before turning towards a still-complaining Calum.

"Told you I'm intimidating." She said simply before sliding into the car herself. It took another ten minutes before the car actually began moving. Calum insisted that they bring the tube with them, despite the protests of everyone else in the car. Ashton didn't want to deal with the fluorescent pool toy while Rose complained it was a safety hazard. However, everyone relented in the end.

"Fucking hell, Michael! Stop messing with the tube!" Ashton growled for around the sixth time since they began driving only ten minutes ago. The interview wasn't far-only around twenty minutes away from Calum's house-but apparently that was too long to stay still. Calum let out another groan of frustration, turning the radio up louder to block out the sounds of bickering in the back seat. Rose yelped when her seat bounced forward, having been kicked by the person behind her. That was the last straw. She whipped around to face the three boys in the back, her eyes narrowed.

"Could you guys fucking cool it? For God's sake, we're almost there!" She snapped. Luke, who was sitting behind her, shrunk back slightly as her gaze landed on him. "And please, please try to refrain from kicking my seat again, unless you fancy being shorter than I am." With a huff, she turned back around to face forward. Calum was smirking slightly as the only sound left in the car was the sound of the music blasting from the radio.

Of course, the calm wasn't destined to last very long. Not two minutes after Rose's outburst, another argument began in the back.

"No, you did it. You apologize." Michael's voice sounded slightly exasperated as he spoke to, presumably, Luke.

"Ow! Stop being a dick!" Ashton's cry was followed by the rustling of moving bodies in the back seat. Yet again, Rose was knocked forward.

"Damn it!" Calum snapped as his seat was kicked as well. He turned to face the back briefly. "I'm trying to fucking drive!" He roared. Rose glanced out her window and her eyes widened in shock.

"Calum!" She shrieked, but it was too late. Their car was merely feet away from the intersection. Calum slammed on the breaks anyways, and the tires screeched in protest as they were suddenly stopped from turning. The truck coming from the left slammed on its breaks as well, but that did nothing to prevent it from slamming into the side of Calum's car.

Rose's screams cut out immediately as the impact caused her head to come in contact with the window, shattering it. As soon as the cars stopped moving, Rose's screams were replaced by Calum's.

"Rose? Rose!" He shrieked, trying to pry the seatbelt from his body. Ashton's shouts joined Calum's as he tended to the people in the back seat. Soon, there were sirens and people everywhere. Ashton managed to get out of the car and help both Michael and Luke from their seats. Calum, however, refused to move, tears rushing down his face as he screamed at his unconscious girlfriend to wake up. Finally, Calum was forcefully removed from the car so medics could get in and determine the status of Rose.

"She's alive!" One called. And so the task of safely removing the bloodied, severely injured girl from the mangled car began. Calum and his bandmates were checked over by EMTs. Luke had a sprained wrist and a cut on his left leg that required stitches. Michael had a few pieces of glass stuck in his arm and a badly bruised shoulder. Ashton's face and arms had minor scrapes, but he was mostly uninjured. Calum was equally uninjured, his girlfriend having taken on most of the impact. However, he was covered in the most blood. His hands were smeared with it from his attempts to wipe away the blood from Rose's face.

"Oh my God, that's 5 Seconds of Summer!" A very concerned voice called out from the growing crowd of onlookers. Calum looked over just in time to see her camera flash.