The ride home was silent. Kassi kept repeatedly glancing over at Alyssa while she drove, noticing the way she had her head leaned up against the car window, saying nothing. Alyssa had already told Kassi everything before they left, but Kassi wanted to know exactly how she felt.
"Listen, sunshine," Kassi found herself saying. "I know you're probably in an uncomfortable position right now, but just know that I'm here for you. Just because they're the famous Aussie band we devoted so much of our time to doesn't mean you can't be mad."
Kassi heard her sigh. "I'll be alright, Kas," Alyssa assured her as she sat up properly. "I'm sorry, I feel like I overreacted."
"What?" Kassi exclaimed, her eyes nearly popping out of her skull. "Are you seriously going to excuse what he tried to do to you? You are in no position to feel sorry at all. Stop it right now, I won't have it."
"But..."
"No," Kassi snapped as they reached a stop light. "Just don't."
"But I know how much you like Luke," Alyssa opposed, guilt dripping in her tone. "And I feel like I ruined that for you."
"Oh please, he'll just be like every other boy that happens to come into my life. Sisters over misters, right?" Kassi claimed with a wink, making Alyssa smile.
"Absolutely," Alyssa confirmed before relaxing into her seat.
. . .
The next few days went by rather normally. Both girls continued on with their lives, but found it extremely hard whenever they were out in the city. They found out that the boys were taking some time off, which made it more difficult to avoid them. The streets seemed busier than usual and Kassi's shifts at the diner doubled.
In that time, Luke was persistent on getting Kassi to talk to him, but she wasn't having any of it and proceeded to ignore his texts and phone calls. Calum on the other hand was too shaken up with his situation with Alyssa that he refused to talk about it at all, and it was beginning to worry his band mates.
They weren't used to him showing any signs of remorse when it came to girls, but they didn't want to push him, so they let him be. However, they weren't sure for how long considering his sulking was way out of character.
"I'm fucking starving," Michael groaned in despair before plopping onto one of the beds in their hotel room.
Ashton strolled in after him. "Fucking same, man. What's a guy gotta do to get some grub around here?"
"Anything but Panda Express, please," Luke strained while seating himself on the desk chair.
"There's this diner we could try," Calum suggested casually before joining Michael on the bed. "John tried it the other day and said they had a good ass burger."
"I could go for a burger," Michael insisted.
"Same," said both Ashton and Luke.
"It's settled then, let's go," Calum concluded before fixing his hair in the mirror and making his way out of door; the rest of the boys following him.
. . .
"Lys, it's free milkshake Monday, get your ass down here before I bring you myself," Kassi demanded on the phone.
"What does that have to do with me? You know I'm lactose intolerant," Alyssa grumbled on the other line.
"Shut up, no you aren't," Kassi sassed before handing a menu to a customer. "You've been cooped up in the house for the past three days. Your skin needs some vitamin d!"
"I've been doing class work, leave me alone," Alyssa argued, rolling her eyes.
"You work yourself too hard," Kassi chastised with a shake of her head. "You and I both know the real reason as to why you've been hiding."
"I'm not hiding!" Alyssa raised her voice defensively.
"Uh huh, yeah sure. How many times do I have to tell you that Calum Hood is a jerk and only thinks with his penis -- you don't need him!"
Kassi said the last part much louder than necessary and ended up getting the attention of a couple customers nearby. When she noticed this, she smiled sheepishly before taking the phone into the kitchen.
"I don't care about him," Alyssa stated confidently.
"Then come see me at the diner," Kassi challenged.
The line was quiet for a few seconds until Alyssa halfheartedly replied with a monotoned fine before the line went dead. The door to the diner rung in Kassi's ears as she ended the call, a satisfied sigh escaping her lips. Peering over the counter, Kassi gasped out loud when she saw the very familiar faces of the boys.
"Oh shit," she whispered, instantly panic-driven.
She contemplated calling Alyssa back and telling her to just stay home, but she didn't want these boys to have control over them. She wasn't going to let them affect how she or Alyssa felt by hiding away for the rest of their lives. With her head held high, Kassi strutted out of the kitchen before approaching a customer seated at the counter.
The sudden commotion drew the band's attention and when Luke caught sight of Kassi just a few feet away, his eyes widened to the size of saucers.
"Kassi?" Ashton questioned out loud to the boys before they all turned to look at her.
"What a coincidence," Michael exclaimed, glancing over at Luke with a smirk.
Without taking his eyes off of her, Luke knew that he needed to talk to her and that he needed to do it now. And only a few minutes away, Alyssa had just exited her apartment, wondering to herself why the hell she was out in the first place.
She tugged at her ponytail, feeling even worse about herself as she remembered she was clad in an old pair of sweats and her uni-sweater. She hadn't showered since yesterday and she rubbed irritably at the eye boogers that had wedged themselves in the corner of her eyes from her nap a while ago.
Finally arriving at the diner, Alyssa subconsciously pushed the glasses on her nose a little higher and took a deep breath before pushing the door open.
