Everything I Didn't Say

Californiaction

*May 30th, 8:44pm*
-Norah POV-
We arrived at the restaurant and grabbed a drink together. We weren't even ID'ed because the owners of the restaurant knew the boys.
I knew that Luke didn't hold grudges, but we didn't talk as much as we normally did. He seemed to get really angry when it came to his friends and how hurt they got. I wanted to actually talk to Luke about the whole situation, because I had never spoke to any of the boys about it properly, and I realised that they would have just told Michael. He deserved to know the conversation that me and Michael had, and I knew that he never told Luke what happened. I never even told Luke myself, sober, how I felt or what nearly happened in that taxi on Calum's birthday.
"Happy birthday Norah!", they all shouted and clinked glasses.
"Aw cheers everyone! Let's actually go and eat now", I smiled to everyone.
Everyone seemed to be acting really normal to me, even Luke spoke to me a few times during drinks. But in the midst of all the hubbub, I slowly realised, that one of the reasons I liked Matty, was because nothing was happening with Mikey. Of course, I was attracted to him when we first met, but I never even considered anything more until Michael started seeing Naomi. I just sighed thinking about it all, but I shrugged everything off; I actually liked Matty, he was a good guy. Obviously I was going to go with the flow, I liked him, he liked me, nothing was complicated.
Naomi grinned at me from across the table and suddenly turned stern when I smiled back and then at Michael as well.
"Aw come on Naomi, are you serious?", Calum blurted out.
"What?", she attempted to deny what she did.
"She only smiled at the guy! Why did you do that?", he questioned.
The atmosphere turned quite cold and uncomfortable. Calum had stood up for me! It was nice of him, but completely unnecessary while everyone was enjoying themselves. He really had a problem with Naomi, and he was starting to struggle covering it.
Naomi simply rolled her eyes and stood up to go to the toilet. Ashton's jaw literally dropped in shock.
"What the fuck?", he cringed but laughed at the same time.
"I don't know...", I sighed
"Girls are jealous, strange and all have a temper- don't be offended", Charlotte said to me.
"I don't want her to feel uncomfortable, at the end of the day she's Michael's girlfriend and I want her to be a part of this", I said.
"Thanks Norah!", Michael smiled, "but would one of you go and speak to her?"
"Yeah that's fine, I'm going to sort this out", I said.
I was never the type of person who liked confrontation- in fact, I dreaded everything about it. But in this case, it
was needed.

*Luke POV*
I had never told anyone, sober, about how I felt about Norah, because I knew that it would just make things complicated. Even though, I still liked her, I didn't feel the same way about her as I used to, and things had quietened down between us. Still, I shouldn't have snapped at her. But, I was Michael's best friend, and I was completely aware of all the shitty feelings he went through when he liked Norah. But since Naomi, he doesn't come to me with problems, he seemed really happy. I wasn't exactly Naomi's biggest fan (except for Calum), but she made my friend happy so I never even thought about her in a mean way.
I was definitely biased to Michael, in terms of what happened between him and Norah. I felt guilty for being so blunt with her, but she needed to know what Michael went through. Plus, it slipped out because everything I felt for her came back in that one peaceful moment, with us sat in the garden, but she was talking as if no one had ever liked her. Yet clearly, Michael liked her- and she knew that- and Matty, and even me. Sure Michael wasn't clear with her as well, but she didn't even know the extent of how he felt. And she didn't even think of me in that way.
"Luke, what's up?", Michael asked and he looked quite concerned.
"Me? I'm fine mate...", I sighed
"Seriously, what happened with you and Norah earlier?", he whispered to me.
"Not a lot...okay I may have been quite blunt with her about something but we are alright", I admitted.

*Norah POV*
"Naomi, what's up?", I asked her through the toilet door.
"I'm fine, I just needed the toilet", she whimpered.
"I can tell you're upset, it's only me! What's up?", I asserted.
"Norah...", she said as she came out of the cubicle, "sometimes I feel slightly weird around you"
"Why?", I nervously laughed.
"Because from time to time its obvious you and Michael went out an-"
"Whoa!", I interrupted her, "me and Michael didn't go out"
"...what?", she wiped a tear from her eye.
"Yeah, me and Michael were never dating or anything", I repeated.
"...so why are you two so....", she began
"So, what?", I asked
"Why do you two have so much chemistry?", she asked
I scoffed in reply and led her out of the toilets.
"Oh Norah, I feel so much more relaxed you're here now!", she pulled me in for a hug. Then it hit me; Naomi is wasted. I could smell all kinds of alcohol on her breath and she started drinking heavily at lunchtime. That's why her reaction was so sudden and strange. Don't get me wrong, I drink and I enjoy it so much, but if I knew I could become angry around someone, I wouldn't get as hammered.
"Are you ready to go back out?", I reassured her, and she nodded in reply.
We ate our delicious meals, drank wine and beer together, and laughed for the rest of the night, without any weirdness with anyone- even Luke.
"We are going to have to call a taxi about now, because the restaurant is shutting", I giggled. I didn't realise how much I had drank until this point. Everyone was looking quite pissed, so we thought it would be best to end the night at home.

*2 hours later*
We were all sat in the garden, sipping beer again, discussing TV shows. I began my rant about how much I am in love with Aaron Paul from Breaking Bad and they nodded in agreement.
"His voice is gorgeous and he's a good looking guy", Michael slurred and laughed, then suddenly stopped, "...I think I'm ready for bed"
"So is everyone darling", I added and laughed.
"Hope you've had a good day Nor", Luke smiled at me. I threw myself on him and cuddled him. I had never had any sly digs from any of the lads, and for it to be Luke out of all of them, really shocked me.
Luke was a gorgeous boy, and I always struggled to figure out why he was always the guy who was single. But then I realised how sweet and cute he is, and girls tend to look past guys like that; which is a huge shame.
"Sorry Norah, but I felt like I had to say something", he whispered.
"I know, I'm surprised you were so calm! If it was me, I would have really kicked off", I laughed.
"As long as we are alright", he giggled, "go and take Calum and Charlotte to bed- they need some help"
"I will...", I quickly kissed him on the cheek, "good night Luke- good night everyone!"
They all wished me good night, as I pulled Charlotte and Calum up the stairs to their bedroom. They were tumbling about everywhere, giggling to themselves singing Good Charlotte.
"Thanks Norah, you're so considerate", Charlotte giggled to me.
"Night Nor", Calum smiled and pulled the sheets over himself.
"Good night nob heads!", I waved and shut the door. I stumbled into my own bed- on my own- and listened for everyone else to stagger in themselves.
I knew Michael and Luke were inside when I could hear the words 'you're a dick' and 'no we can't spoon tonight'....

I'm glad I was friends with these guys.