Reality || L.H.

Chapter 7

"No, Michael, how many times have we told you that a slip and slide off of a roof is a bad idea?" I shade my eyes with my hand as I look up at Mikey where he's perched on the edge of Calum's roof, rubbing dish soap all over his body.

"Shh, don't stop him, I wanna see how this plays out," Luke murmurs with a crooked grin.

I turn and slap his arm. "He's gonna get himself hurt!"

"I think you've finally replaced Luke as the mother of the friend group," Calum mutters. He crosses his arms over his chest as he looks up at Michael again. Raising his voice to be heard by his friend, he calls, "If you're really going to go down the slip and slide into the pool, do a flip."

Now I slapped Calum. "Don't encourage him!"

Ashton drags the above ground pool closer toward the house, nervously glancing up at the roof. When he catches me looking at him, he shrugs and walks over to join the rest of us. "You shouldn't be doing this, Michael," he says anxiously.

"Thank you, finally someone agrees with me." I throw sharp looks at Luke and Calum, earning a cheeky grin and an eye roll. "If he breaks something, you're in charge of making sure he gets to the hospital."

"You won't help him?" Luke asks in surprise.

"I'll be too busy saying I told you so."

My boyfriend tries to hide his smile as he rolls his eyes toward the sky.

"I'm going to jump!!!" Michael yells. I brace myself as he takes a running start and slides down the plastic slip and slide I can't believe he managed to bring up to the roof. He lands in the pool with a loud splash and I shriek as some of the water droplets land on me.

"That... was... awesome!" Michael shouts as he comes up, laughing maniacally.

I scowl as I shake the water off of me, grinning when I see that Luke's completely drenched. He makes a face at me when he sees my smile. A devilish grin crossing his face, he pulls his soaked shirt up over his head, tossing it into the grass. My laughter dies and I swallow hard, trying to avert my eyes from his muscular torso.

"What's wrong, Kat?" Luke teases, nudging my shoulder.

I scowl at him as I cross my arms tightly. A slow smile spreading across my face, I take off my own shirt. Luke blinks at me in surprise and shuts up immediately.

"What's wrong, Luke?" I say, mimicking his tone.

Michael jumps out of the pool, smiling when he sees us. "Are we getting naked?" He moves to take off his swim trunks.

"NO!!!" we all scream in unison.

Mikey laughs as he straightens back up. "I'm just messing with you, calm down, geez."

*

I squeeze out the little bits of water that landed in my hair as I adjust the shirt that Mali gave me, plopping down on the couch. Ashton and Calum are playing a video game on the TV while Michael showers down the hall, Luke changing into dry clothes in Cal's bedroom.

"I was thinking we could go to the new club downtown later?" Calum proposes as he shoots a zombie coming for him. "We could go to the drive in movie theater by there and eat dinner and then hit the club."

"A club? I'm so down," Michael says as walks into the room, rubbing a towel on his wet hair.

"Okay, Michael's in." Calum glances over at Ashton. "Ash, you in?"

Ashton shrugs. "I don't know. Sure, I guess."

"Clubs are kind of pointless when you have a girlfriend," Luke says as he flops down next to me on the couch. When I shoot him a little glare, he adds, "No offense, babe, you know I love you. It's just that the point of clubs is to drink a lot, which I'm trying to stop, and to hook up with random girls, which is also very frowned upon when you have a girlfriend." His hair's still kinda wet and he runs a hand through it absentmindedly.

Calum frowns disappointedly. "So no club?"

I sigh as I feel the gazes of the four boys turn to me. "Fine, we can go to the club." Turning my attention to Luke, I add, "But you better behave."

He grins as he shifts closer to me, sliding an arm around my waist. "I guess you're going to have to watch me all night then. If you're my parole officer, I don't mind, bring on the handcuffs."

"Between this and the sex we overheard at your apartment, I feel like I'm going to have to go to church for the next ten years to cleanse my soul," Ashton interrupts. "Good lord, I'm so glad that you two live alone so we don't have to be present for most of this."

"You can be present if you want to," Luke says slyly with a wink.

Calum pauses the video game and gets to his feet, heading towards the kitchen. "I'm out guys, I gotta go get some holy water."

"I don't need any, I like the dirty things." Michael smirks at us, laughing at the expression on Ashton's face.

Luke ignores his friends, scooping me up and pulling me onto his lap like a baby. I curl up against him, resting my head on his chest. I could go to sleep right now. I press soft, lazy kisses to his neck, trailing all over his skin. He shudders and clutches me closer.

"Alright, let's get a move on, otherwise this is going to end like the other night when they're straight up left us so they could go have sex." Calum picks up Ashton's car keys and tosses them to the other boy, who catches them deftly. Striding over to me and Luke, he slowly peels us apart. "C'mon, lovebirds, it's time to go. I guess you can make out in the car as long as you keep it PG. No sex in Ashton's Jeep."

"Unless the rest of us are a part of it too," Michael interjects.

"Eww, gross, no," Ash complains, looking at Mike with a mix of disgust and horror. "No one is having sex in my car, period. I'm not afraid to kick you out and make you walk."

"There you have it, kids," Calum says as he walks in between me and Luke, his arms around each of our necks. Luke reaches around the other boy and grabs my hand, smiling softly. "There is no sex on this trip until we get to the club. And absolutely no sex in the Jeep. You can wait until you get back to your apartment to do the dirty, especially because you'll need protection."

"No glove, no love!" Michael shouts helpfully from where he pops open the passenger side door.

"Oh, I always carry protection with me," Luke says with a crooked smirk. "You know, just in case Kat wants to do it anytime."

I reach around Calum and smack my boyfriend upside the head. "You're so nasty today, Jesus fucking Christ." Adding with a wink, I say, "Save it all for later, Hemmings."

"My ears!" Ashton complains loudly, clapping his hands over his ears.

I laugh as I get in the car, pulling out of the Hoods' driveway. Calum insists on sitting in the middle between me and Luke. I make a pouty face and he caves, switching seats with me so I can sit next to Luke. I smile as I rest my head on his shoulder, twining my fingers with his as I look out the window. I see a boy walking down the street and, for a split second, think it's Blake. When it's just some random dude, I have to swallow and calm myself back down. God, why can't things ever be simple in my life?