Want You Back

20.

Super Bowlllllll let's go Ramssss

"You can't be serious, mate."

"I know it's pushing our launch date, but I really think this track will wrap up our record and complete everything. Put everything together." Luke explained.

Ashton rubbed his forehead. "But a new track? This close to the launch of the record? That's just not realistic, mate."

Luke looked between his bandmates and best friends almost desperately. "Guys, this song could change our entire sound! Isn't that a risk worth taking?"

"Maybe we don't want to change our sound though, man," Michael interjected, sounding frustrated. "We've worked so hard on the current tracks, what's the point in adding one more song that could put the entire record off-balance?"

"Calum?" Luke asked.

The dark-haired boy sighed. "Look, I think the concept is good and the lyrics you've written down have potential, but I don't know if it's realistic at this point. Maybe for the next album..."

"No." Luke said, "it has to be this one."

Michael exploded.

"Why? Why does it have to be this album? Why now when we've all worked our asses off for this record, are you insisting on changing everything we've worked for? Goddamn, Luke, you're such a bastard sometimes."

Luke stood up and began pacing the room, muttering to himself.

"Luke?" Ashton said hesitantly. "What's going on, bud?"

"The song is about Jasmine." Luke blurted out suddenly. "I had this fucked up dream and she was in it and she asked about what I want from her at that fucking movie premiere."

"What do you want from her, mate?" Calum asked quietly.

"I don't know," Luke confessed. "But I think this song can help me figure it out. C'mon guys, I promise this track will make the album."

Calum and Ashton shared a look while Michael jumped to his feet.

"You guys cannot be seriously considering this! The record launch is in a month. And this is Jasmine we're talking about, Jasmine! Our Jasmine."

Luke laughed suddenly, a humourless laugh that caught Michael's attention. "Something funny?" He asked, sending his friend a glare.

"It's always been about Jasmine for you, hasn't it Mikey?" Luke asked, smiling bitterly.

"What's that supposed to mean? I'm defending my friend. The girl you broke."

"Just your friend right? But you wanted more than that, didn't you, Michael?" Luke said, rising to his feet and approaching the guitarist. "You always wanted what I had."

"What the fuck are you talking about?" Michael scoffed, getting heated. "This is about Jasmine and you. How you've always treated her and how you keep treating her. Like jack shit. Leave her the fuck alone."

"Don't you think I get that? That I've destroyed her, that I've ruined her? It's been all I can think about since the movie premiere! And, and I keep thinking of ways of making it up to her. But I can't do that when I don't even know why I'm such a dick to her."

By that point Luke had been leaning against the door and was now seated on the ground, knees bent and wrists hanging over them. He was lost in thought as he spoke, eyes trained firmly on the old, beige carpeted floor. His dream was stuck in his head, consuming all of his thoughts. What he had with Jasmine, what he'd lost... it was starting to make sense to him.