Dirty Blurbs and Naughty Bits

Watching Me Walking Away M.C.

CW: angst, mentions of cheating, rough-ish sex

Michael kicked back in the booth, enjoying the taste of a pint of Sharp's. He'd always loved British beer, and he was already on round four. Or was it five? It had rained since they touched down in London, and Calum was spending the day with his sister before their show tomorrow. Luke had a cold so it was just Ashton with him in the pub tonight. It was next door to the hotel they always stayed at and had great food. They'd started the night washing down greasy sausages and chips with a couple of pints of ale. Ashton, always chatty but worse when he was drinking, was sharing tour horror stories with another drummer in town for the festival they were also playing. Michael laughed at how Ashton always drew a crowd wherever he went. He was about to chime in with some details Ashton forgot when his voice died in his throat. 

The way she moved was so familiar but hard to place from across the room with alcohol clouding his brain. Until she laughed, and Michael was suddenly transported back to when he was 17 and she was his whole world. 

"What's wrong? You look like you've seen a ghost," Ashton nudged his arm, and Michael, at a loss for words, could only nod towards the table across the room in response. 

Ashton followed his eyes, "holy shit is that Lux?" 

Michael shivered at the nickname he'd given her.  He cursed Ashton silently for being so loud as she looked up at the sound of her name, lighting up in a smile as she saw the drummer. She leaped up and met Ashton halfway as he wrapped her up in a giant hug. Michael watched them chatting unable to hear anything except his pulse pounding in his ears. 

He'd met Lauryn when they were both skinny 14-year-olds obsessed with guitars and punk rock. He'd taught her chords, and she'd taught him how to french kiss. They'd written songs together, and promised they'd always be friends. Hazy memories that now competed with the present of how good she looked tonight. Her hair was longer, and the skirt she had on teased a tattoo on her thigh he was instantly curious to see. Lux was laughing with Ashton when her eyes met Michael's. Her eyes went wide and she grinned at him causing his heart, at least he thought it was his heart, to start doing flips. She rushed over to him and he quickly stood up to greet her. They stumbled into a hug, electricity dancing across his skin as they touched.

"Wow it's been years, you still look decent though. How's everything with the guys?" Lux asked smirking when Michael just stared and couldn't answer right away. 

"You look beautiful, but you always have," he stammered out. Oh yeah real smooth Clifford, he thought. 

"So you gonna buy me a drink or not?" Lux teased and he nodded, signaling the waitress. 

"How's things with your band?" Michael asked trying to keep the conversation neutral. 

"Everything is good. We're doing two nights here in London before doing a quick tour of the UK and then it's off to Europe for a couple months. We switched record labels last year, and they're more supportive. They're allowing us more freedom to try new things instead of wanting to remake that first album again and again." Lux eyes flickered away and he saw the pain that still lingered. 

Her first album, Sinking Ships, had gone #1 in several countries and even cracked the top 10 in the US. The first two singles, Bruise Me and You, had been fairly successful. She'd followed that with Return To Me, a haunting ballad about a cheating lover, went #1 across the world. The entire album was about their breakup, and Michael still felt gut-punched anytime he heard those songs. 

"Yeah record labels can be difficult, we just signed a new deal ourselves," he finished his beer in two gulps. He noticed her glass was almost empty as well.