One more long night

"There's nothing like California in the morning," Jesse smiled as she glanced back at her best friend, a soft laugh escaping as she tipped her head back in her direction, "innit?" A smile had curled up the edges of her lips as she lingered along the balcony, overlooking Los Angeles; light eyes fixated on the golden hues slowly rising behind the city's skyline, erasing all traces of the night before. She and Aurora had finally arrived from their 9 hour flight and had officially settled in to their rooms for the summer. "But honestly, I'd rather be asleep right now," she shrugged, pushing off the glass to start her reluctant movements toward her room. "I think... I think I'll just take a... little nap, before Aunt Lynn gets home," she nodded, agreeing with her own statements as she ambled around the corner.

It was only nine o'clock by the time the thin brunette curled up under the blankets, tired features burying lethargically in to the soft fabric of her pillow. Before her eyes fluttered closed, she setting an alarm for several hours later, she hoped she was able to muster the will-power to keep from pressing snooze. Of course, there wasn't a moment her fingers skipped a beat while reaching for her phone. One, turned to two, two to three... by that time, her phone had already stopped trying, it's snooze eventually ceasing, followed by the alarm itself. The only thing that managed to get her out of bed was the sound of a rhythmic knock on the door followed by the cheery sound of a doorbell echoing through the house. She only assumed that Aurora had retired to her room for a nap as well, so she all but gracefully threw on a pair of sweat pants to great whomever rang the doorbell. Eyes half closed, straining to find her way through the house with only a single stubbed toe and a pounding headache, nimble fingers wrapped around the knob of the door, foolishly assuming it was her Aunt Lynn. "Sorry," she mumbled quietly, her Bostonian accent a near parallel to her believed Aunt, "I was... I was sleeping." She yawned softly, running her fingers through her hair before glancing up at the stranger with adjusted eyes.

"Holy shite, you're not Lynn," she yelped, eyes blowing wide as she wrapped her arms around herself. "Wh-what do you want?" the brunette managed as she peered around him to examine the three other teenagers standing with suitcases in hand. "I-" Jesse stuttered as she peered up at the sandy-haired boy with an inquisitive look, "I'm not so... Wait, are you here to record?" Brilliant deducing, of course they were.

▶

There was no containing the pure excitement that raced through Luke's veins as he sat alongside his three best mates in the world as they travelled to the record studio--where they would be staying for the next month to write and record with their greatest influences.

"Dude," he piped up, ripping out an earbud as he reached out to grab on to Ashton's shoulder, "I don't think we're ready for how fuckin' amazing this month is going to be! We've got the whole house to ourselves with a full recording studio in Los Angeles." Luke had been working his whole life for a chance like this to come along and now that he had the other lads to share it with, there was nothing he'd rather be doing. "We're going to be recording!" That in and of itself was enough to set Luke off. A full-length album, something that they could spread across the world. Something more. There were a whole-lot of things coming up for the band, a second leg in Australia with One Direction, meeting-up with musicians to write for the new album, recording in a beautiful studio, and living in L.A. for the month, they were all things Luke looked so avidly forward to. But now, as they pulled up to the gates of the studio, there was no time to look to the future.

Luke was sure that if his heart could have beat any faster it would have leapt right out of his chest--here it is, the start to the rest of your career as a band with a testament to your hard work. He scrambled to grab his bags as the SUV pulled through and around a bend to the driveway where they parked and scattered out of the car. "Wait! Did any of you call Lynn?" the youngest questioned, a light brow cocking as he peered around at the others. Calum looked mystified, still half asleep and surely unaware of where he was. Michael was scrambling for his phone to seek out Ms. Banner's number. Luke cast a glance over at Ashton as he shook his head, "We can't just show up here..." Michael seemed to say otherwise, his hand shooting up to silence Luke from furthering his sentence.

"She said to just knock on the door... There's someone home?" he shrugged, shoving his phone back in to his pocket as he moved towards the door where Luke and Ashton already stood, holding up a tired Calum. He allowed Ashton to beat on the door with a grin as the younger held his friend up, slapping him playfully to ease the weight off his frame. "C'mon, Cal, you doofus, we're almost there," he shoved the boy with a laugh as Cal only moved to rest against a pillar. Luke had almost missed the greeting from inside as he lifted his head to watch a unfamiliar brunette strain to question their arrival. He allowed a small, sympathetic laugh to escape as he watched her tired eyes scan over each of them as if to weigh their threat level. "Sorry if we woke you up, ma'am... Ms. Banner said we should just, well, knock," he almost felt bad, knowing that they had woken her up, but then again... he didn't. It was a little guilt provoking that she was forced awake by their own needs, but... those needs were pretty dire. This was their first album and nothing was stopping him from starting as soon as possible.

"I thought that your aunt was awesome before, but this takes the fucking cake, Jess!" Rory exclaimed, looking away from the Los Angeles skyline for a moment to grin over at her friend. She really couldn't think of any other way that she would rather be spending her summer. Really, this was just absolutely amazing. Their flight had only come in maybe a half an hour or so before and already Rory could just tell that this was going to be one hell of a summer. "I'm right with you there." She said, stifling a yawn as she followed Jesse back inside and headed down the hall to her room. She'd tried to get some sleep on the plane but to no avail. Instead, she'd ended up watching some episodes of Supernatural to pass the time. Not that she was really complaining. She just wished that she could have at least gotten an hour or so of sleep.

Rory didn't realize how tired she was until she actually reached her room. Honestly too lazy to look through her suitcase for something to wear, she collapsed onto the bed in the clothes that she'd already been wearing. It didn't take her very long to fall asleep, but just before she did, she told herself that it would be a quick nap, only a couple of hours and then she'd go and wake Jesse up and they'd go explore LA. Of course, things didn't quite work out how she wanted them to, and she only woke up when she heard the ringing of the doorbell.

In a sleep induced haze, she stumbled out of her room and down the hall, doing so only somewhat more gracefully than Jesse had. "I always get woken up in the middle of really great dreams. I was going to comic con and Oli Sykes was with me and---" She paused, only then noticing the group of guys standing just outside the doorway. "Who are you?"

---

To say that Ashton was excited would be an understatement. He was absolutely fucking ecstatic. How could he not be though? It wasn't every day that you got to go to Los Angeles to do some recording and that you got this huge house to yourself for an entire month. In all honestly, it kind of all almost felt like a dream. Everything was just going so perfectly. It was almost hard to believe.

But, he knew that this wasn't a dream. It was reality and reality was fucking amazing right now. He knew that this next month and the months that would follow it would be amazing. Right now, he couldn't think of a single thing that could go wrong.

"I know, mate. I was kind of there when they told us about all of this." He said, letting out a soft chuckle in response to Luke's words. He really couldn't blame him for being so excited. He was just as excited as he was. It was really kind of just unbelievable how quickly things had happened and changed for them. It felt like yesterday when they had been asked to open for One Direction, and now, here they were, about to record their own album in Los Angeles. Ashton really couldn't think of a single thing that he wasn't looking forward to or that he hadn't ended up enjoying over the course of the last couple of months. He was living the dream and he wouldn't change a single thing.

"You're sure that Ms.Banner said to just knock?" He glanced over to Michael as he led the others from the driveway and up to the front door. They'd only really spoken with the woman on a couple of occasions, none of them had met her face to face just yet, but she'd seemed like a pretty chill lady. "Yeah, I guess someone's home." Shrugging his shoulders, Ashton didn't need to be told twice before he rapped his knuckles against the door twice, ringing the doorbell soon after.

When the door opened, he took a step back, eyebrows raising when he took in the appearance of the brunette girl who had opened the door. It was fairly obvious that she'd just woken up. "And you're not Lynn either." He smirked slightly, honestly finding the situation to be rather amusing.

They had both spoke at the same time, eliciting a slight cringe as both drastically contrasting accents meshed. Jesse blinked and drew a small breath as she adjusted the beanie at the back of her head before peering over at Rory with an inquisitive look. With a soft sigh she peered back at the boy, whom was now smirking despite that obvious discomfort amongst the two girls inside. "Right, no," Jess spoke as she pulled the door open further, allowing them to let themselves in, "she's out of town right now. She mentioned something about people coming to record, but... didn't know you'd be coming this early." Her thick accent, originating from the little Merseyside borough of Liverpool, echoed through her own ears as almost comical in comparison to the boys' Australian inflictions. She felt as though she sounded like a near uneducated brute, Scottish pronunciations meddling with her words. But, that seemed to be besides the point, now as she glanced down at their heavy suitcases. "There's, uh, a couple rooms upstairs and two more right down the hall, if that's where you guys want to take up," her words were a little monotone at first, trying to pick up the motivation to follow them in to the dining room.

She didn't particularly care that Aunt Lynn hadn't informed her of the time a group of teenage boys would show up at her door, really. Okay, maybe she did, but it was mostly just the jet lag speaking, nothing that wouldn't change with some aspirin and water. The brunette stepped aside, turning only slightly towards the kitchen as if to make her way in there. "I'm Jess, well, Jesse," she offered a small smile in their direction, lethargic eyes taking in their grinning features. "I'm sorry that Lynn isn't here, really, but," she motioned towards the dining room as the foyer opened up, "su casa es tu casa." She took a step towards the kitchen before turning her head back to the group, "We can show you around, in a second though. I, uh, need to talk to Aurora in the kitchen for a-... just one second."

▶

Luke stood on his heels, nervously rocking back and forth as he watched Ashton and the girl who opened the door stare each other down in the silence following her words--Ashton clearly found it amusing and was surely holding back to poke fun at the stranger and the brunette seemed to not be having any of it. "Look, we're... really, really sorry," Luke piped up, his head tilting to the side as he watched another step up behind the elder, "we had no intentions of waking you up. We're 5 Seconds of Summer, m'Luke, that right there is Ashton, Calum, and Michael, but we like to call him Casper because of the hair." The youngest had no problem speaking up for the rest of the band, then, pointing out each of the boys as he introduced them. Several months ago, that would have been one of the hardest things for the youngest to do, but now, as the One Direction U.S. tour came to an end, there was something more confident about him. Maybe it was because things had started to shape up and turn into exactly everything he'd dreamed of, or maybe it was the friendships he'd built along the thousands of mile long journey, from Australia to England and all across America.

"We'll, uh-... Try to stay quiet, if you want to head back to bed? We're," Luke had no idea what he could have told her to make her feel better about letting four teenagers waltz in to the house, "well, we're responsible." Maybe that wasn't true, well, about the rest of the boys; Luke would try to put on his best behavior... for the time being to assure her this wasn't a bad idea from the start. He offered a smile to the two girls, eyes lingering over the girl he hadn't quite seen before. "Promise," he smiled, reaching a hand out to the other, whom had not introduced herself. "Luke, I play the guitar and do some of that singing stuff," he chuckled, a warm grin tugging at the edges of his lips, "I mean, if you didn't hear before." There was no doubt that this next month would prove to be extraordinary.

Rory was very confused. It probably had something to do with the fact that she was still half-asleep, but that was besides the point. Of course it had just been her luck having four attractive guys there without her knowing and here she was, rambling on about her fantasies about the frontman of Bring Me The Horizon. It wasn't her fault that she thought Oli Sykes was hot. He shouldn't be so attractive. That's what she told herself anyway. Either way, this whole situation was at least a tad bit embarrassing for her to say the least.

Realizing that she was still standing in the doorway, she tended to zone out on occasion, and that Jesse had taken a step back to the kitchen, she glanced back over to the group of guys just in time to realize that one of them was introducing himself to her. Damn, they were Australian too. Attractive and they had accents. Okay, maybe the fact that Lynn had slipped up and not told her or Jesse that these guys were staying at the house could be forgiven. She honestly could say that she wouldn't mind it at all. "Aurora, but you can call me Rory." She offered up a small smile, taking his outstretched hand and shaking it. Wow, he had big hands...and they were warm too.

Moments after she introduced herself, she heard Jesse say something about needing to talk to her in the kitchen. "Well, I guess that's my cue. Come in! We'll only be a few minutes." She motioned for them to come inside and off the front porch before she turned and followed her friend into the kitchen.

---

It was quite obvious that neither of the girls had been informed that they would be staying at the house for the next month. Ms.Banner hadn't exactly told them that they would have company though either. Ashton honestly didn't mind though. The house seemed to be a fairly decent size, and well, he couldn't help noticing that both girls were nice on the eyes, so the more the merrier! "She forgot to mention that we wouldn't be alone here." He told her. It seemed as though Ms.Banner had slipped up and forgotten to mention a few minor details. "It's not a problem though. I don't mind and I'm sure the guys don't either." He sent a small grin her way, allowing his eyes to slip over her slim figure. Yeah, this was definitely going to be a month to remember.

"Like Luke said, we didn't mean to wake either of you." He added soon after, shrugging his shoulders. It wasn't like he was lying or anything. None of them had known that they would have company at the house for the next month that they were there, so it wasn't like they could have known that they'd be waking anyone up either. He watched as the first girl, Jesse as he'd just learned, took a step back towards another room. He assumed that the room was the kitchen, based on what she had just said, and nodded. "Take your time. We're in no rush, right guys?' He glanced over to the others, raising an eyebrow when he saw Luke personally introduce himself to the other girl, Aurora, or well, Rory rather. He was definitely going to bring that fact up later on...

Jesse offered a grin to the curly-haired boy and nodded as she took up her friend's hand to gently tug her in to the kitchen, eyes blown wide in a panic as they laid on Aurora. "What in the fuck are we going to do with four, extremely attractive, Australian boys in our house? How am I supposed to walk around in my underwear?" she yelped, taking ahold of the younger's shoulders and shaking her as if to punctuate her point. Jesse was nineteen, but sometimes it seemed as if she was really was hardly pushing fourteen. She got nervous easily and panicked when things didn't go exactly the way she had thought them to, but now wasn't the time. She knew that, so she quickly let go of Rory with a soft sigh, "I mean, I'm..." she moved to peer around the corner, making sure they hadn't moved within earshot, "I'm not complaining at all... but how am I supposed to stuff my face and watch Star Trek until I fall asleep?" the brunette whirled around and started towards the cabinet, rummaging around for the ibuprofen, the throbbing at the base of her skull making it hard to focus on one thing at a time. But eventually, she'd put her finger on the bottle and paired the blue tablets with a glass of water.

By that time, she was finished complaining to her younger friend and had decided to take on the embarrassing beast that would be entertaining these boys for the next few days--just until Aunt Lynn came home and then their summer would start off the way they had planned. "I'm sorry about that," Jesse spoke up in response to his previous statement, "she's a bit forgetful sometimes, but... I'm sure we can make this work! I have full faith in us." She was smiling again, genuinely, as her eyes scanned over the group, eventually settling on the boy who greeted her at the door, Ashton.

"So," she cleared her throat, adverting her obvious gaze from the boy to no place in particular, "you're more than welcome to wrestle over the rooms, but the last two rooms, down the hall and to the right, are ours--I'm willing to take down anyone who tries to take the deck door from me." She laughed softly and wrapped a single finger around a few strands of light brown locks as she adjusted her beanie with the opposite hand.

▶

Luke watched as Calum didn't skip a beat as he waved kindly to the two girls and offered a jumble of syllables, that he surely believed to be English, and made his way upstairs and in to the nearest vacant room. The soft thud of his suitcase could be heard from the bottom of the stairs, causing a ring of laughter from the boys. "Well, it looks like Cal found his room," he chuckled, brows furrowing together as he weighed the possible pros and cons of each unknown room. Shrugging, he moved forward, only to be overtaken by an excited Michael who beamed up the stairs and in to the room beside the surely snoozing New Zealander. "So, I guess... that leaves the bottom floor," his cheeks flushed a light pink as he peered down the hallway, seeing exactly what he feared--the doors were parallel to each of the girls'. With his luck, in the middle of the night, he'd end up on the floor of one of the poor brunette's rooms. But, that wasn't something he wanted to particularly think about, especially as he peered over at the girl with a gentle smile.

"That's a nice name, by the way. It's kind of like the Aurora Borealis," Luke laughed anxiously, his hands slipping in to his back pockets as he let his suitcase set on the ground. There was a moment of silence before he nodded again and turned on his heels, cautiously moving towards the hallway. 'Way to make yourself look like an awkward mess, Hemmings,' he mentally scolded himself as he offered a friendly wave in their direction as he disappeared in to his room for a moment to set his things down. Surely, he thought, the girls would have dispersed by now and went off to do their own thing... whatever it was that girls did. He shook his head and wheeled around the corner, hoping to find his way in to the recording studio. See, Luke wasn't a master at finding his way around unfamiliar places, which usually lead him to getting utterly turned around. Today wasn't an exception. "Er, hello?" he called out softly, embarrassed that he'd managed to get himself lost in the mid-sized home, somewhat hoping that no one would find him. He'd figure it out eventually, hopefully.

[LUKE YOU CUTE, AWKWARD LITTLE SHIT YOU. ]

Rory's eyes widened slightly when her friend gripped her shoulders and shook her almost immediately after they'd entered the kitchen. "First, you're going to stop attempting to give me whiplash," She started, reaching up and prying her friend's fingers from her shoulders. "And second, why does it matter what we're going to do with them here, Jess? Yes, they're attractive and yes, they're Australian, but why should that change anything? Yes, maybe we won't be spending or time exactly how we would have liked to, but I really don't mind at all." She shrugged her shoulders. Rory was the more level-headed and easy-going one of the two. She wasn't one to get overly-excited or worried if things didn't go exactly how she hoped that they would. That was just how she'd always been though.

"You can still stuff your face and watch Star Trek. I'm still going to eat loads of leftover Chinese food and rewatch episodes of Supernatural on Netflix. Don't let the fact that we have a group of attractive guys here now stop you." She didn't say much of anything else on the issue after that and instead just followed the older of the two out into the foyer once more where now only two of the four guys remained.

Offering up a small smile, her eyes fell to the boy she had been talking to a few minutes before. Luke. To say that he was cute would be an understatement. Hell, it might even be in the running for understatement of the year. She opened her mouth to thank him for the compliment about her name, her eyebrows knitting in confusion though when he turned on his heels and headed down the hall directly after. Well, that was strange...

---

"Well, guys, I don't think this month is going to be anything like any of us expected it to be." Ashton said once the girls were out of the foyer and in the kitchen. A soft chuckle followed soon after. It really didn't matter all that much to him that things weren't going to be exactly as they had hoped they would be. In all honesty, he kind of felt like things would be even better now that they had these girls here too. If anything, it would surely prove to make things all the more interesting. That's how he saw it anyway.

Before he knew it, Calum and Michael were upstairs in their rooms, leaving him and Luke standing there in the foyer alone. "Looks like it." He nodded, his eyes flicking down the hall to what he assumed were the two extra rooms. It seemed as though they'd be directly across from the two girls' rooms. Not that he was complaining about that fact. No. He kind of liked how strategically things seemed to be mapped out in this house. Either that or rather how fate seemed to work in the most wonderful of ways at times.

"Like I said before, it's totally fine." He assured, offering up a grin when the brunette apologized for what seemed to be the umpteenth time in the last fifteen minutes or so. "I don't think any of us really have a problem with this arrangement, so it's all good." He shrugged his shoulders.

He glanced over to Luke for a moment, eyebrows raising at the comment he sent the other girl's way just before heading down the hall. "Don't mind Luke. He tends to be socially awkward at times." He chuckled softly before following suit and heading down the hall towards the other vacant room.

"But I don't get to watch Star Trek, or Supernatural, in my underwear anymore," Jesse muttered softly as she leaned closer to her friend, pouting slightly as she peered over at her, "you can't tell me you're not bummed." She tapped her shoulder and laughed softly before glancing from each of the remaining boys to the next. Slowly, she stepped forward, keen to hide in her room for a bit, sure that if she stayed around any of the boys, she'd end up embarrassing herself. That was the thing about Jesse, she was fine until there were boys involved. They made her freeze up and question each of her movements, making living in general all the much harder with their presence. But, she would buck it up and stick it out. Well, she sort of had to, or it was home again, home again for the pair. And, there was nothing wrong with sharing a house with four teenage boys, especially when they were tall, attractive, and freaking Australian. Internally, Jess had to calm herself down, to push away the nerves slowly seeping in to her thoughts. She'd gotten half way down the hallway, just in front of the boy named Luke, before deciding to turn on her heels and veer back.

"Right, then, never mind continuing the rest of my nap," she harked as she ambled down the hallway, past Ashton and Aurora. She took in the pair before casting a gaze down the hallway, a flush-faced Luke disappearing in to his room for a moment. "I don't really blame him," she laughed softly, her eyes settling on the tall boy before offering a small shrug, "I mean, it's practically like the Real World up in here... We don't know each other and now we have to live together," a nervous laugh escaped once more, long fingers tugging at the pockets of her sweatpants as she carefully pulled them up. As Ashton brushed past her to find his own room, Jesse's mouth dropped open as she looked up at Aurora. 'You've got to be kidding me,' she mouthed, fanning herself as she moved forward. "He's practically flawless," she whispered as she skittered past the younger and in to the living room where she all but gracefully threw herself on to the oversized couch. Adjusting her beanie at the back of her head, she grabbed for the remote and laid back with a satisfied sigh. Maybe things wouldn't be as different; maybe these boys would be less trouble than she thought. She only hoped.

▶

"I heard that, asshole," Luke called out playfully to Ashton, his head turning back just enough to cast a glare in his direction, only to follow up with a small laugh. He didn't mean to act like such an idiot all the time, but strangers tended to do that to him--especially when that stranger was a beautiful brunette. Without another word, he'd disappeared in to his room, waiting for the small group to disperse and leave the foyer. After no signs of any further movement, he decided it was clear to exit his room without the fear of tripping, or running in to anything. Time to find that damn studio.

It was like he'd stepped through some sort of black hole in to another entire dimension, somehow landing himself back in the foyer. Light eyes darted around, trying to deduce a direction he hadn't already tried, but to no avail, he gave up. After giving up on trying to find the studio, he made his way towards the back porch where it opened up in to a huge deck, a jacuzzi and pool nestled in the corner, Luke moved to settle himself on one of the chairs overlooking the bright LA skyline. By now, the sun had settled and the moon shone bright in the sky, casting a bright light along the pool. He smiled and released a soft sigh, finally able to relax. It had been weeks, no, months, since he'd finally been able to take a legitimate breath. It was always go, go, go when on tour with One Direction, without anything to compare it to, Luke knew things were about to get a whole lot tougher. Sure, it was rewarding--being able to stay in this beautiful house for the next month, meeting the dedicated fans, doing the one thing he loved every night--but it was a long and tiring process to finally feel that sense of satisfaction.

It had taken months for Luke to finally see it, to finally realize that he was doing something with his music. It was taking him places, it was touching the fans in ways he thought never possible. With a smile on his face, he turned his head back just enough to peer in the sliding glass doors, watching as Aurora walked by with a content smile on her face. He offered a small wave and a nervous laugh as her eyes scanned the porch, somewhat hoping she'd come out to join him. Maybe he could apologize for looking like an absolute douche in the foyer earlier. Yeah, maybe he should. She was gorgeous, well, that was the only word that he could think of that touched her beauty, but he'd keep that to himself. Rory didn't necessarily need to know that, especially since they'd only met about 15 minutes ago.

Rory let out a quiet laugh, shaking her head in response to her friend's words. "Alright, maybe I'm a little bit bummed." She admitted, shrugging her shoulders. "But it's not like they'll be hanging around here 24/7. What we do while their gone is our business." She grinned over to the older of the two before following her lead. Really, she didn't mind that there would be four teenage boys staying with them. In her opinion, it would only prove to make things all the more interesting for her and Jesse. They had hoped to have an amazing summer here in Los Angeles, and well, maybe it would be even better than either of them had actually expected. She hoped that that would be the case.

She watched with raised eyebrows as her friend was practically fawning over the tall boy as he walked past. "Try to contain yourself, yeah?" She teased before starting down the hallway towards her own room. Once inside, she flopped down onto her bed, yes very graceful, and let out a soft sigh After staring up at the ceiling for a few minutes, she sat up, deciding that maybe she'd go and have a look around the house herself. She'd only been over Lynn's house once before, and that had been years ago. She was sure that some things had been changed around a bit, and if not, well it still gave her something to do, right?

After walking through the upper and lower level of the house, and finding that a few of the rooms had been changed around, she find herself in the foyer once more. Starting back down the hall, she paused near the sliding glass doors. A small smile graced her lips when she looked out and saw Luke sitting outside on the deck. Offering a slight wave, she debated for a few moments before deciding to just go for it and walk out. "Mind if I sit here?" She asked, motioning to one of the other chairs overlooking the city.

---

Ashton chuckled softly, a grin on his face when Luke shouted back to him from down the hall. "That was the point, mate!" He called back down the hall to the youngest of the group. He'd only been joking and he was sure that Luke knew that too. He was a lot more comfortable around people than he had been before; much more talkative. At least, that's what Ashton had noticed since the first leg of the One Direction tour.

Brushing past the two girls, he headed down the hall to the last of the vacant rooms. After setting down his suitcase at the foot of the bed and having a quick look around the room, he decided to head out and have a look around the house. Even though it wasn't huge, it was still unfamiliar to him, and well, he kind of wanted to find the studio; just as Luke had been trying to do moments before him.

When he walked out of his room, he looked around, actually just realizing that he had absolutely no idea as to where he was going. So, he headed back down the hall towards the foyer, figuring that he'd just start from square one. Even so, he wasn't really sure of which direction to go in and so he kind of just walked through one of the entryways, soon realizing that that probably wasn't the way to go when he spotted Jesse sitting on a couch in what he assumed was the living room. "Any idea where the studio is?" He asked her curiously, sending a small smile her way.

The sandy-haired boy smiled gently up at Aurora as she took a seat in the chair beside him, legs kicked up comfortably, "It's all yours." Thankful he didn't have to quickly muster the courage to ask her to stay, Luke adjusted himself in the chair as he glanced over at her. "So," he started with a half-hearted chuckle, "sorry about earlier. I'm, well, not too good with words and," he paused for a second, not sure if he should go on, but he would, "I didn't want to make a total ass of myself." He'd already made a fool of himself by trying to avoid doing so, but it was too late to change that.

"I mean, I already have, but, I'd like to apologize if my lack of intelligence offended you," his face scrunched together as if to cringe at how painful it was to listen to the dribble that seemed to effortlessly pour from his mouth. He could feel the heat rushing from just below his collarbones, spreading shamelessly up his neck, only to spread along pale cheeks. He was thankful it was night by now and that he was almost sure that she couldn't see the colour that tainted the apples of his cheeks. "And, also, for any of the offensive things you may see while we're here. They're- uh," he laughed softly as he searched for a word to epitomize the '5SOS' experience, "interesting." He smiled and laughed as he reached up to run a few fingers through his fringe.

"So," he tried, breaking the silence, "where are you from? I mean, if you're not from here?" You're doing it again, Luke. Take a deep breath, she'll like you. Maybe.

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Just as she had spoken with Aurora moments ago, Jesse had aligned herself in the most advantageous spot on the couch, kitten socked feet curled comfortably under her, to begin her annual Star Trek: The Original Series marathon, only to end, rightfully, with the Original Series movies--her personal favourite would always be Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. Okay, maybe she was a little nerdy and, also just as likely, she didn't particularly care. Movies and television were a sort of passion, something to look forward to, and that was more than okay. But Star Trek, in particular, seemed to be her guilty pleasure. Or maybe it was Leonard Nimoy, but that was besides the point. She reached for the PlayStation remote, finding her disk with a satisfied smile. 'And so begins Summer of '13,' she thought as the opening theme started. Jess wiggled in her seat as she sat up, almost instinctively, to simultaneously recite the most famous words.

"Space: the final frontier. These are the voyages of the starship Enterprise. It's five-year journey: to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life, and new civilizations," she paused for a second, just as Shatner did, before continuing again, "to boldly go where no man has gone before." A quiet laugh elicited as she sat back against the couch, smiling as the episode started. It was only a few minutes in--Kirk had already had his shirt ripped off and Spock had already expressed great dissatisfaction with the Captain's logic about 15 times, before Ashton came ambling down the hall, an inquisitive look staining his features. "You," she quirked a brow, "look incredibly lost. In fact, you're on the wrong floor, love," she laughed softly, reaching out to pause the show.

"Actually, I'll show you," she smiled as she slowly rose from the couch, "I did mention we could give you a bit of a tour. The house is actually a lot bigger than you think." Jesse released a small laugh, turning on her heels to start towards a door off to the side of the living room. "No one has any idea where it is the first time they come through. Looks a lot like a damn closet," she smirked as she tugged open the door, leading down a small hallway only before dropping off in to a set of iron steps, curling perfectly down in to a basement-like room. "Just, uh, be careful," she smiled, flipping on the light to illuminate the small room as she started towards the staircase.

Rory let out a soft giggle, unable to help doing so. She wasn't so much laughing at Luke as much as she just found how easily flustered he seemed to get to be amusing. And rather cute. Yep, definitely rather cute. "It's totally fine. Really." She assured him as a sweet smile graced her pale pink lips. "And if it helps any, you didn't make a total ass of yourself. I thought what you said was rather sweet actually." And she really had. She never really ever got told something along those lines in regards to her name. Usually, it was something about the Disney princess which, in all honesty, after hearing it a number of times, got rather old real fast. So, it was refreshing to receive a different sort of a compliment.

"I guess it's a good thing that I don't get offended very easily then, isn't it?" Soft laughter escaped her lips as she looked over to him. She could tell that he was getting flustered again just based on the tone of his voice. She didn't need to actually see the blush on his cheeks to know that there was probably a light, rosy hue across his pale skin. "I'm not really that intimidating, am I?" She raised an eyebrow. "Luke, relax. Your friends aren't going to scare me away and you don't have to worry about making an ass of yourself." She hadn't thought that anything he had done or said to her thus far was offensive or anything along those lines at all. She also didn't think he'd made an ass of himself. His awkwardness was actually kind of quirky in her opinion. She liked it a lot.

"I'm a Jersey girl actually. I moved to Boston when I was nine." She explained as she shifted to pull her legs up underneath her on the chair. She'd always found it more comfortable to sit that way. She wasn't sure why, but she just did.

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Ashton had just walked into the room in time to hear the pretty little brunette reciting lines from Star Trek like it was nothing at all. His eyebrows rose and a slightly amused expression took over his face as he waited for her to answer his question. This girl was definitely different to say the least. She just wasn't like any other girl he had met before, and he'd only just met her roughly an hour or so before, so that was definitely saying something right there. "It figures." He said, letting out a soft chuckle in response to her words.

He was glad that he'd asked her where the studio was because he probably would have walked right on past it. She was right. From the outside, it looked just like a closet. He probably would have walked right on past it at least a thousand times if not more before he actually realized that it was the recording studio. "Well, I'm glad I'm not alone then." He sent a sheepish grin her way as he followed her down the iron steps.

He glanced around, a huge grin forming on his face as he took everything in for a couple of seconds. Actually getting to see the studio made this whole thing all the more real for him. All of this was really happening, and he couldn't have been more excited or amazed. "Thanks, Jesse, and uh, sorry for waking you and Rory earlier."

@ diable
[I was sort of hoping that we could continue this? ]

"S'a damn good thing," Luke laughed, biting down on his lower lip as soon as it had come out. The boy tilted his head to the side, watching as her lips curled in to a graceful smile, her eyes lighting up and seeming to spread to her face — this fantastic glow encompassing her features with each small, upward tick of her lips. Fuck, he thought, glancing over at her with another smile — he couldn't help it. "Th-thanks, though," the boy muttered, cheeks flushing a light pink, if only for a fraction of a second, "I try to be sweet, y'know. I like to make pretty girls feel good about themselves." As soon as the words had slipped passed his lips, he instantly regretted it. "I — fuck, I didn't mean it like it came out. I just — I mean, you're gorgeous and I," he paused for a moment, not sure if he should even bother trying to explain himself, but he'd press on, "I just thought you should be told sweet things like that."

He shook her head and feigned a confident smile, laughing softly after her words, "no, no, you're not intimidating, necessarily. I'm just a little dumb when it comes to pretty girls, that's all." Luke watched as she shifted, effortlessly tucking her thin legs under he petite body. He smiled and nodded along to her words, "Jersey? New Jersey, right? And, er — Boston, that's in Massa — what's it, right?" he laughed, a little embarrassed over his lack of geography skills, but he blamed it on being isolated on that silly continent all the way out in the Pacific.

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"Y'know, I really only guessed that you were looking for the studio," she started, a soft laugh tumbling past her lips as she moved to settle on the couch, "but I'm glad I was right." Thin fingers danced along the plush couch, dark brows furrowing together as she tried to pull out a conversation-starter.

Star Trek? No, he's too cute for that — when was the last time you met a guy this attractive that watched science fiction? Oh, right, never. Jesse bit down on her lower lip, peering around the studio before glancing back over at the boy as he spoke again. A sigh of relief escaped as she parted her lips to speak, "oh, it's - it's quite all right, Ashton." The brunette laughed softly, leaning back against the leather as thin legs kicked up in comfort. "We had to get up anyways, it's not like we can be lazy every day — this house'll turn in to a pigsty if we do that," her nose scrunched up, her tongue sticking out in feigned disgusted.

"Anyways," Jess smiled, "recording artist, eh?"

"I'm gorgeous, huh?" Rory asked, her tone light and teasing. The amusement was evident in her voice and she wore an expression to match. She didn't know how she couldn't find any of this even slightly amusing. And again, it wasn't so much Luke she was laughing at as it was how flustered he seemed to be getting. Really, she found it to be rather cute. The way he was stumbling over his words and all that. She let out a soft laugh before speaking once more. "Well, thank you." She offered a small smile. And she really meant what she said. She had thought what he said was sweet. It just wasn't something she'd ever really heard before. She hadn't thought that he'd made a complete ass out of himself at all. Really, everything he'd said was really sweet. And, God, was he cute. Like really cute.

"Alright, I just wanted to make sure. Jesse's told me I can be intimidating sometimes. Apparently I come off a bit strong or something like that." She gave her shoulders a slight shrug. Really it was just that she was passionate about things that she enjoyed and loved. And maybe she was a bit loud and crazy when she was out in public, but that was just her personality. Another laugh escaped her lips and she nodded. "Yes, New Jersey, and Massachusetts. No need to be embarrassed. Some places here have weird-ass names. There's a town in New York called Patchogue. What even is a Patchogue?"

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"Well, you guessed right." Ashton said, chuckling softly. After having a look around the room, his gaze shifted back over to the pretty brunette seated on the couch. She was gorgeous. There was no denying that fact. And her friend wasn't hard on the eyes either. He could tell that the next couple of weeks were going to be a lot more interesting and eventful than he and the guys had ever anticipated. He sure as hell wasn't complaining. Here he was, about to record in Los Angeles of all places. He was getting to live his dream. And now there were two gorgeous girls added into the mix. What more could he possibly ask for?

"And we wouldn't want that now, would we?" He asked, laughing once more when he noticed the way that she scrunched her nose up and pulled a feigned expression of disgust. Okay, now that was cute. Really, he hadn't seen anything about this girl yet that wasn't cute. And he wasn't sure that he ever would. He was surprised that he hadn't said something stupid and made an idiot out of himself yet. He had a bit more confidence when it came to talking to girls than Luke did, but he still normally got kind of nervous around them. Especially when they were as beautiful as Jesse was. When she mentioned him being a recording artist, a huge smile lit up his face. It was the same expression that he wore whenever he and the guys got to talk about the band and their music and it was also the same expression that he wore before and after a show. "Yeah." He nodded. "It's honestly a bit weird saying that. It's almost like it hasn't completely set in yet, ya know?"

[ sorry for not replying sooner! ]

"Uh- well, uh. Yea. And you're- you're welcome." Luke told her rubbing his neck and feeling himself flush all over again. Why he had to be total shit at actually talking to pretty girls he'd never understand. Really how he had made it this far as a member of a band growing more popular by the second, that was mostly followed by girls he'd also never understand. "Oh well I uh, I don't think you're intimidating." He added not sure how anyone could think she was intimidating. Well, at least not in the manner of being scary anyways. He was a little intimated by how pretty she was. But then again Luke was often intimated by pretty girls like that, because often they were so damn pretty he didn't know how to talk to them.

He laughed a little when she mentioned the town with a weird name in New York though, "really? That's the town's name?" He said not sure he knew what Patchogue or whatever was either. Of course, he supposed it probably wasn't anything besides a name for a town. "America has very strange names for cities and towns and states even. I mean can anyone else even actually say that one. The Mass-a whatever it's called?" He asked wondering if everyone said it the same as her or differently or if there were people like him who couldn't even actually say it at all. Honestly, it just led to him wondering why it had been named that in the first place since it seemed so hard to pronounce.

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"We really wouldn't," Jess said shaking her head and smiling his way, she turned into a bit of a crazed neat freak when it came to cleaning up huge messes. "Well I don't actually know, but I can imagine." She said biting her lip, she wasn't an artist finally making her dreams come true by her music finally being recognized worldwide. But she could imagine how amazing it must've felt for him for this to be coming true like it was. After all, they had gone on tour with One Direction who just happened to be the biggest band in the world. Which was a huge deal. Even if Jess didn't keep up with either band like a lot of people did she still knew a thing or two.

"Is this what you always wanted?" She asked him deciding to ask him more about his life while they were already talking, to keep the conversation going, of course. "I mean have you always wanted to be in a world famous band?" She asked just curious to see if he had any other dreams besides the band. After all, even though they had made it big surely he'd have some kind of a backup plan for just in case the band didn't work out just for safety precautions and all. Or maybe it was something he'd thought he'd wanted before the band.

[ I really hope this was a good enough reply! ]