Fix You

IV.

Alex's POV

School dragged on more so than ever today. Maybe it was because I watched carefully as the seconds ticked on the clock. Either way I feel completely exhausted and I'm hoping a shower will revive me. As the hot water hits my skin, I manage to get wrapped up in my own thoughts again. In just an hour, the past ten months will all feel worth it. And that is enough to break my nerves.

I let my hair air dry into it's natural light waves, applied a bit of makeup, and dressed myself in a black bandeau, a KISS tank that I snagged from Mikey's closet, and denim shorts. My dad was busy setting up the firewood when I got downstairs.

"You guys are all set honey. You excited for tonight?" I nodded, returning a sweet smile. "You've done a good job at hanging in there, kiddo. I know this has been hard for you." He sincerely stated, hugging me close. I try not to think too much about my father's words. I know him and my mom worry about me but I'm okay.

I patiently waited by my phone for a text from any one of the boys. Nothing came. Before I could let my pessimism get the best of me, I hear a car door slam in my front yard and the doorbell rings.

Michael's POV

"LAAAAADS!"

The minute we stepped into Alex's house, after we greeted her parents, this beautiful girl with long brown hair and the biggest smile on her face jumped into my arms. I almost didn't want to give her a chance to hug the other boys. She stood back and looked at all four of us with a bright light in her eyes. "I'm so happy you guys are finally here! You all look so good, oh my god." She hasn't stopped smiling at us. And I can't stop smiling. The lads and I have gotten a bit taller, sure, but she looks so different. But in such a good way. Her skin is glowing, her smile is so much brighter, and I can't help but notice how her boobs got bigger. Holy shit is that my shirt? Okay, I'm definitely staring. Stop staring, Michael.

"Are you guys hungry?" Her mom breaks my trance and I'm brought back to Earth. The rest of the lads are telling stories from the road and I feel overwhelmed. Don't get me wrong, I love Calum, Ashton, and Luke like brothers and it's been wicked touring the world with them but I don't wanna talk about tour. I want to hear about how things have been here. I want to hear how Alex has been. "Is everything okay?" She asks noticing my weird daze and leans in to hug me again. "Yeah, everything's perfect."

Her dad called in for a pizza and we all sit around the bonfire in her backyard.

"So, how's uni been, babe?" Luke asked Alex, grabbing another slice of pizza. Luke can eat for days and not gain a thing. It pisses me off sometimes. Alex is sat on my lap with a cup of water in hand as she replies. "Stressful, as always." I hold onto her waist tighter and she doesn't acknowledge my gesture. "You always stress yourself out though, so that's no surprise." Calum chimes in with a laugh. She doesn't say much about school or anything really. She's just mostly listening to Ashton and the other guys talk more about life on the road.

"Hey, we should take a dip." I interrupt, pointing towards the pool. Alex jumps off my lap. "Great idea, I'll go change."

Calum grabs four more beers from the cooler Alex's dad has up against the house, handing us all one. "You okay, Mikey? You haven't been saying much." Cal asks, handing me the beer. "What? Yeah, I'm good, mate. Just tired." I lie and Calum can sense it. My chest hurts and my head is spinning. The porch door slams shut and out comes Alex, wearing a small black two piece grabbing the attention of all of our teenage boy eyes.

"Damn Alex, why are you so tan? You look like the female version of Ashton." Luke says looking down at his lanky body in shame. "No way, she has way better boobs than I do." Ashton chimes in. Everyone giggles. "Well, thank you." She smiles adjusting her top. Luke is right, though. She looks so fit and I'm trying so hard not to stare. I'm also trying not to acknowledge the fact that I have the worst body out of everyone standing by the pool right now. This beer is helping take the edge off a bit. I strip down to my boxers, yank her by the waist, and throw her into the pool.

Ashton puts on some music and it's starting to get dark out. Alex comes up from the water and jumps on my back. "Mikey, don't ever do that! You could of hurt me!" I feel her legs wrap around my waist and I grab ahold of her arms on my shoulders, walking around the pool with her on my back. Ashton decided to perform AC/DC's 'Highway to Hell' with a styrofoam pool noodle which had all of us cracking up. Alex beat me in a chicken fight all thanks to fucking Luke and together, Alex and I beat the rest of the boys asses in volleyball. Six or seven beers later, everyone is buzzed except Alex. She hasn't taken a sip of alcohol tonight which is unlike her. We used to get wasted all the time together. "Looks like I'm the designated driver tonight." She giggles admiring all of us slumped in our drunken glory. She grabs her shorts from the side of the pool slipping them over her hips. Luke stumbled by and accidentally kicked her, well, my KISS shirt into the pool.

"Mate, my shirt!" Alex fussed grabbing it from the pool and ringing it out on the side. Luke laughed not even completely aware of what he had done. "You're just going for a drive, just wear your bathing suit. I don't mind." He cheekily added that last part and earned a smack on the arm from Alex. I start to towel dry my fringe and catch her staring. Probably because I look like such an idiot. I hope she isn't mad about us all being drunk or the fact that she has to be our chauffeur.  I hope she doesn't think we're some egotistical dudes in a rock band who use her for a party with free alcohol. Maybe it's just the alcohol talking. She grabs Ash's keys from him and drives us all back to our band house.