𝙏𝙀𝙈𝙋𝙏𝘼𝙏𝙄𝙊𝙉 • 𝙇𝙍𝙃

16. no one likes you when you're 22

luke, ashton, michael and calum had been planning a surprise party for the girls—a party for both of them but a surprise party for emma considering it was maya's birthday and she had already been suspecting some type of party. they were currently on their way home from a double date, while the other two boys stayed behind to decorate the apartment with balloons, streamers and confetti.

two cakes sat side by side on the kitchen counter—the one luke and emma had made along with a store bought cake that ashton had picked up, just in case.

luke had his fingers digging into maya's hips from behind, while ashton had his hands pressed firmly over emma's eyes to keep her from peeking. the moment luke opened the door, the song '22' by taylor swift was blaring throughout the apartment.

apparently, no one likes you when you're 22. but this would turn out to be the best—and worst—year of emma's life. this would be the year emma fell in love with herself. ironically, this was also the year emma would fall in love with him.

emma turned to ashton with the biggest smile painted on her face. "did you know about this?" she asked him, leaning into his side. "sure did, baby" he smiled and kissed her temple, ushering her inside so Michael and calum could tackle her into a hug.

'happy birthday' banners were hung across the room, and party hats were thrown onto everyone's head.

luke and maya said quick hello's before sneaking off to her room—they had been very physical with one another as of late, and emma was only slightly annoyed by their pda. could they really not wait until the party was over?

after twenty minutes of light conversation, maya and luke joined everyone in the living room—luke's hair was going every which way while maya's lipstick was lightly smudged. they had obviously been making out for god knows how long.

"now that the lovebirds have decided to join us" michael shot luke and maya a suggestive glance "can we cut the cake now?"

Michael was happy that everything had returned to normal. as far as he knew, emma and luke hadn't been hanging out, and each of them had been with their respected partners. everything was right in the world again.

michael was the first person luke told about the mystery girl he had slept with from the bar. over time, ashton and calum found out, too. a small part of luke wanted to keep emma a secret, but couldn't resist bragging to his friends about the 'hot girl who was amazing in bed'

but michael was the only person to know that emma had skipped out on luke before he could wake up. one night stands were a typical thing for luke, but he was always the one kicking the girl out the next morning. emma leaving on her own free will threw luke off, and he was determined to meet her again.

luke wouldn't admit to this, but emma walking out on him made him understand how shitty the girls he kicked out must have felt. she was what it took for luke to get his act together and treat girls like they were more than just an object he kept around for pure amusement.

"were we not supposed to eat any? I already had like two slices" calum smiled shyly while licking the remaining icing off of his fingers, causing everyone in the room to laugh.

emma was bursting at the seams with happiness. she wasn't the type of girl to have a consistent friend group. she typically had one, maybe two friends at most—but never a solid group of people she loved to be around. yet here she was, surrounded by the craziest mix of people she could possibly image, and she loved all of them so much.

"just a fair warning, emma and I made the cake for maya and we may have forgotten some ingredients" luke bit the inside of his cheek, knowing the ingredients they needed had gone on each other versus in the cake mix.