Imagine A World (Luke Hemmings a.u.) [in editing]

8 Battle

(All Luke's POV for a special treat 😊)

Luke's POV

Madeline seems a bit nervous through the rest of the day. I want to punch Calum a little. He shouldn't have forced her to accept. What if she's scared to sing? She shouldn't be, but I remember in the DM she said we helped her break out of her shell a little. That doesn't mean she's out completely.

Luckily, Ashton and Michael help out after dinner, which consists of random takeout from Panda Express. Calum, Mad, and I are sitting on one of the couches, watching soccer, when I hear a whoosh, and something bounces off the back of my head.

"Ow!" I look around at what hit me. A suction cup nerf dart sticks to my forehead. Ashton smiles slyly from around the corner. "ASHTON!"

There's another cry of surprise, and I glance out of the corner of my eye to see Calum glaring at something on the other side of the room. Then a dart hits Madeline right on her temple, and darts start coming rapid fire.

"Take cover!" I exclaim, grabbing Mad's collar and pulling her down so he head is below the back of the couch, shielding her. Calum bends low, too.

"Wait!" Michael says from the direction where Calum had been glaring. The sound of firing nerf guns stops. "This needs to be somewhat fair. You three have 2 minutes to gather your weapons. Then Ash and I are coming for you."

Calum, Madeline, and I scramble up, but not before I grab several spare darts that surround us and stuff them in my pockets. Cal and Mad copy me. Then I rush to a bedroom, mine and Michael's, and I open the closet door. Madeline's eyes widen.

Our stash of nerf guns is hidden away in the very back, and they're big. Machine guns, pistols, the lot. I grab a machine gun and toss a couple of guns to the other two. They catch them and we quickly load up, with putting any extras in our pockets.

"Alright, 30 seconds to go over the rules!" I call out the door to the other two. I feel as though we're a little outmatched. Michael's a gamer, so he has tactics, and Ashton randomly shoots me and the either boys a lot. I have no clue how experienced Madeline is with a nerf gun.

"Alright. You get shot three times, you're out. No helping your team once you're out. It's a free-for-all, but we'll keep loose teams just for fun. You three against me and Michael. When you're out, you lie on the floor and pretend to be dead. Oh, and your home base is the couch you were sitting on. Ours," Ashton's voice sounds too close, "is right across the hall from where you're standing right now."

"Ten seconds to run," Michael's voice echoes through the hall. "Go."

I grab Madeline's wrist, and we hurry with Calum to reach the couch in time.

We aren't quite fast enough.

"Ah!"

Calum stumbles for a second just as we get to the couch.

"Two more, then you're out, CalPal!" Ashton calls.

I fire blindly over my shoulder, and grin when I hear a light thump.

"You stink, Luke!"

"Two more, then you're out, Smash!" I call in return, smirking.

Another barrage of darts comes, and the three of us dive behind the couch.

"I'll go around the left side. Mad, you go around the right. Cal, you're going to have to shoot over the couch," I advise, and the two of them nod.

Madeline goes right into action. She peeks around the edge of the couch, then pokes her gun out as well. There's a click as she places the first dart, then everything comes in a flash. Darts fly everywhere, and I hear a thump as someone falls to the floor. After I shake off the awe, I join in, as does Calum.

Calum falls after a couple minutes, but Mad and I are still going strong. Ashton has fallen, but we're still fighting Michael.

"It's two to one!" Madeline yells. "Just give up!"

"NEVER!!" he replies.

As it's just then that I realize I'm out of darts.

"Mad," I whisper, "I'm out."

"I've got one more," she answers softly. "Michael's been hit twice. I just need a direct hit. I need you to cover me."

I bite my lip. I've been hit once. He gets me twice, I'm gone. Madeline will be on her own.

"I'll do it," I say. "Aim straight. Don't waste it."

She nods, and I move around Calum, who's struggling not to laugh as he pretends to be dead. I kick him a little, making him shut up.

"Alright...SUICIDE!!" I shout, diving in front of Madeline as she loads up.

The two darts hit me squarely in the chest, and I fall to the ground just as she shoots the final dart.

I open my eyes ever-so-slightly to see Michael sway and land, face down, on the ground.

"WE WON! WE WON! TAKE THAT!" Madeline starts celebrating with a little dance. The boys and I sit up, and Ashton and Michael groan as Calum and I cheer with her.

*******

That night, as I finally settle into my bed at about 2am, Michael turns over across the room in his own bed. His bright green hair shines through the darkness, illuminated even more by the fact that he's on his phone.

"What are you doing?" I ask quietly. He looks up tiredly at me.

"Looking at what I posted on the band account on Instagram earlier. Check it out, if you want."

I pick my phone up off the ground beside my bed and switch it on, opening it up to Instagram. I'm logged into the band account already, so I tap on the latest post, a video.

I have my sound turned off, but I see Ash and Michael talking to the camera, probably telling everyone how they're going to win. Then it cuts to a couple seconds of Ashton filming from the floor as darts fly around him.

The caption reads, "Nerf battle: Mashton versus Cake plus @maddie_singer. Bets?"

The comments are flooded even more than usual.

"WHO'S THIS MADDIE GIRL?? IS SHE DATING ONE OF THEM OR SOMETHING?? Also, Mashton FTW."

"WHERE DID SHE COME FROM?"

"She's such a good singer, I just followed her, is she going to be singing with you guys?? O_o"

I sigh a little. I don't quite know what to think. Should I be happy that people know about her now? Or should I be scared that she's going to get mobbed now?

"Hey, Luke," Michael whispers across the room, startling me out of my thoughts. "What do you think of Madeline?"

"What do you mean?"

He sighs, impatience evident. "I mean, do you like her? Or do you like her like her?"

"Stop acting like a 6-year-old, Michael," I grumble, not wanting to answer.

"Aw, come on, don't skid around the question! How do you feel about her?"

I hesitate, then say, "I...I don't know. I like her, I guess. She's nice."

"But do you like her?"

"Michael, shut up, you're being a little kid!" I raise my voice unintentionally.

"Answer my question, and I'll try to grow up again."

I play with my lip ring for a second before answering, "I honestly don't know, Michael. I mean, she's beautiful, she loves music, she sings, she's just...amazing. I feel like no other word can describe her. I'm scared of disappointing the fans if I go out into the open about how I feel about her. How would they react?"

"So, in other words, you're scared to tell her how you really feel. And how you really feel is....that you love her." His voice has gone a little softer, like he's trying to comfort me in a way.

"Yeah," I smile. "I guess so."