Fix You

III.

Michael's POV

"Ah! It feels so fucking good to be home lads!" Calum said jumping onto his twin size mattress across from me. It feels like forever since we've been back in OZ. Back in this house even. Touring the world has been amazing, but I have to agree with Calum. I feel at ease right now. More at ease than I've felt in so long.

The 16 hour flight has drained the life from all of us so the better option would be to stay in bed for the rest of our lives. But all of our families are anxiously waiting to see us so going to sleep isn't that much of an option right now. I grabbed my guitar from it's case and began to mess around. Even after all this time, I just can't seem to put the thing down.

"Okay, so we'll all go see our families and meet at Alex's house around 5 to surprise her. No one be late, please." Ashton in all his curly haired glory giggled putting his phone into his pocket. I jumped off of my bed at the mention of her name.

I can't exactly tell you how long it's been. Almost a year maybe, since I last saw Alex. We had the chance to Skype each other and text here and there but I've just missed her company. I miss giving her piggyback rides everywhere, how she'd always sit with her nose in a book while I played video games, and I definitely miss sitting on her roof at 3 AM listening to music together. Listening to the boys ad lib songs for the past year has been nothing like when Alex does it. She thinks she's so funny and I just never have the heart to tell her she isn't. I miss her laugh the most though. I hope things have been great with her while I was gone.

I didn't want to look eager by forcing all the boys outta the house but the sooner I could see her, the better. I feel a bit anxious to know how she's been. I wonder if she's changed as much as I have. I'm not the same Michael that left here months ago, appearance wise anyway. I've gotten a bit more in shape because jumping around on stage every night will cause you to lose a bit of weight. My hair has been around forty different colors since then but I'm happy with the dark brown I've got now. Well, for now I am.

I've missed my parents a lot as well. And even though, I'm sure they've missed me like hell, I can't wait to get crap from my mum about my new tattoos and the lovely piece of metal in my eyebrow. The stubble on my face shows just how exhausted I really am and I should probably shave. But I'll stick to my true Michael form and not give a fuck. Ah, it sure does feel good to be home.

As I expected, everything is still the same at my parents' house. My mum's eyes were teary eyed the minute she saw me. It feels nice to be greeted with tight hugs from my parents, instead of insults for once. That thought didnt last long.

"What is that on your face, Michael?" My clearly disapproving mother asked admiring my eyebrow piercing. I smirked at just how predictable my mum really is. "It's an eyebrow piercing, mum. Not that big a deal." I headed towards the kitchen taking off my denim jacket and placing my black Chucks by the front door.

"I thought you woulda stopped in to see Alex first. Your mum hasn't got dinner prepared yet." My dad said patting my back as I sat at the kitchen table. "That's okay. We're all going to Alex's later anyway so I'm sure I'll eat there."

Looking around at the house, my face is everywhere. My mum was never into plastering personal photos all over the house before but I guess now that my band has become more well known, it's more her thing. It's a tad overwhelming, I'll admit. I know she misses me so I won't mention anything. But I guess, it's true when they say you don't know what you have until it's gone.

I head up to my old room and everything is so out of place. For starters, it's clean and my bed is made perfectly. My records are organized in alphabetical order and Green Day's 'American Idiot' is missing. Normally, I wouldn't notice but it's my favorite record. My mum stops in the hallway by my room with a laundry basket full of my tour clothes. "Mum, you didn't have to clean my room. You know I like it a mess." She chuckled. "I didn't do this, Alex did."

I don't know why but my stomach ached at the mention of her name again. Maybe it was the idea of her sitting in my room for what was probably hours organizing everything. I don't remember just how bad the mess was but it must've been bad enough to drive her to clean it. I look around and everything is so neat and orderly. I should have suspected that Alex did this. She's such a good girl. Almost too good. Her room is always spotless, she's always afraid to get into the slightest bit of trouble, and her homework is always done the minute she gets home. She almost makes me want to be good. I have a horrible pit in my stomach not knowing what to expect when I get in my car to head to Alex's house.