i can't deny

Michael nodded in understanding, a part of him wondering how hard it must have been on Arianna when she was younger. "I'm glad your boss lets you crash here, then," he told her with a smile, "Especially if it's not as lonely. Is it less lonely here, then?" He arched a brow, truly curious, wanting to learn her inner thoughts, wanting to understand her more. But, then, he grinned. "Yeah? Anything specific you want to hear? Since you don't know us, it definitely doesn't have to be one of our songs."

Cecilia blinked, quickly leaning to get a look at the picture of Petunia. "Aww!" she breathed out, adoring the picture of the dog for a long moment. "That's totally not fair. How can such a cute guy have a dog that's just as cute! It's a complete taunt from the universe." She pouted but blinked, looking up at him. "We are." She smiled slightly. "Her name's Brooke, she's sixteen. She was way cuter when she was seven, though." She grinned jokingly.

"It's only fun when Cecilia's around." Arianna admitted. "If not, I just chill out, listen to music, speak to anyone who wants to talk." Her cheeks reddened at that. "I'd love some more company though." She admitted with a shrug. "You familiar with Oasis?" She smiled. "Wonderwall, I think, would sound amazing coming from you, even if you might be the worst singer I've ever heard." She teased.

Luke smiled at Cecilia's reaction to Petunia, laughing. "I got super lucky with her." Luke smiled, showing his soft side and his love for animals. "Brooke, hm?" He smiled. "It's nice that you're close to your sister." He spoke softly, finishing his coffee and putting the cup to the side, although he'd do anything to stay in that moment for the rest of time, not wanting to leave to even play the show, knowing he'd have to leave soon after.

Michael nodded as he listened to her. "What kind of music do you listen to?" he asked with curiosity, though he grinned slightly. "Well, I don't mind giving you company." He winked teasingly, though he was being honest. For the time that he was there, he wanted to spend as much time with her as possible. Hearing her request, he nodded, pulling out his phone to find a karaoke version of it for the music, not wanting to leave her to go to the bus to get his guitar, just wanting to stay near her. "Alright, I can do that." He grinned, playing the song on his phone before he began singing along, not taking his eyes off her.

"Of course you did, not many people can say they lucked out with such cute dogs," Cecilia said with a broad grin, though she nodded. "Yeah. She's a good person, smart. She'd probably try to steal your dog, though. I mean, I would, too, but at least I'd feel bad about it." She grinned. "Brooke wouldn't. She'd say it was the best thing she ever did and she had zero regrets." She shook her head, amused, surprised with how easy it was to talk about her family in general. She didn't normally open up like that about her personal life.

Arianna listened to Michael contently, smiling as she heard his voice, pleasantly surprised at how good he was. Smiling as he finished singing, she grinned. "Alright, you know what, you can keep me company if you promise to sing to me, seriously, what a voice!" She laughed, wanting to be supportive. "I listen to bands like All Time Low, Blink 182, some old stuff, like Bon Jovi." She grinned, shrugging. "Anything catchy."

Luke laughed, shaking his head. "I'm sure Piggy won't mind a bit." He promised. "She hogs all the attention, she's basically the star of the show." He joked. "So, what about your Mom, are you close to her?" He asked with a smile, enjoying the fact the she trusted him enough to open up to. "I like that you have a good relationship with your sister though, she's got a great role model." Luke smiled.

Michael grinned slightly, happy to receive the praise from her. While he had so many fans around the world, knowing that this one girl thought that highly of him meant more to him than anything. "I'm glad you like it," he told her, but his grin broadened and he nodded. "And you have nice taste in music."

"Don't ever let Brooke hear that," Cecilia joked, though she knew that would never happen anyways. Shaking the thought from her head, she smiled. "Yeah, I am. She taught me everything I know and, with it just being her who raised us, I know she'd do anything for us, because she has."

Arianna smiled at Michael. "I'm glad you think so." She leaned over to carefully place her empty coffee mug on the table provided, readjusting her feet on Michael's lap. "The offer is still there, though. Some company would be nice."

Luke grinned and nodded. "You three sound close." He smiled at Cecilia. "My Mom was basically the same, supportive, would do anything for the ones she loved." He studied Cecilia. "I, uh, I know this is a long shot, but we've got a show tomorrow evening if you ladies wanna be our plus ones." He smiled, rather bashfully.

"Oh, I am definitely taking you up on that offer," Michael declared easily, grinning broadly, because he'd take any chance he could to spend more time with Arianna. Hearing Luke tell the ladies about the show and invite them along, he looked to Arianna, both nervous and hopeful about how she would react. "So, what do you say to that idea?" he asked her, offering a smile.

"We are," Cecilia confirmed with a smile, though she listened to him, nodding slowly to his words. "You must really love her." She grinned slightly, both surprised and happy that he'd talked about his own family a bit with her, so it wasn't just her rambling on about hers. She blinked, though, and watched him, surprised. "Are you sure that'd be okay?"

Luke smiled. "Of course it'd be okay." He looked to Michael. "Right?" He looked back to Cecilia. "We'd love to have you there, and then you can see more music except Bon Jovi." He shot her a teasing wink, being cheeky, but feeling so incredibly himself around Cecilia that he just couldn't resist. "And, you can watch from side stage, best seats in the house." He smiled.

Arianna thought for a moment. "It sounds fun, I'm in." She smiled, her smile broadening when Michael would take her up on her offer to keep her company in the hotel. "I'm on the fifth floor, Room 247." She informed him. "If you wanna come up later." She smiled at him.

Cecilia gave a mock-gasp, placing her hand over her lips. "Are you perchance jealous of my love for Bon Jovi, Luke?" she asked, staring at him with wide eyes, though she grinned teasingly and dropped the act, laughing. "Okay, okay, you drive a hard bargain, I'll give you that. I'll take you up on that offer."

Michael looked to Luke but smiled and nodded. "Right," he confirmed before he refocused his attention solely back on Arianna, just enjoying talking to her, enjoying how easy and fun it was to talk to her. "That's great! I'm sure you'll enjoy it. And, if you don't, I'll make it up to you." He grinned teasingly. "Or, even if you do, I'll still do something nice." He shrugged gently, but grinned and nodded. "247, got it. I'll make sure to pop in."

Luke laughed, his head falling back slightly as he did, genuinely amused. "I'm a little jealous." He admitted with a warm smile. "Awesome." He grinned. "You'll have a great time." He promised, taking her hand, gently squeezing. "You been to a concert before?" He asked, genuinely curious as he watched her carefully.

Arianna laughed and rolled her eyes at Michael. "You're so cute, Michael." She told him with amusement. "But I wanna know how you'll make it up to me?" She raised her eyebrows, curious. She smiled as he said he'd pop in to see her. "You better." She offered him her pinky to make the promise.

Cecilia grinned broadly with the mention of it. "Poor thing," she teased lightly, but blinked with the feeling over his hand, her expression softening as she offered a small smile and returned the squeeze. "Uh, no, actually, I haven't," she told him, shaking her head, "Busy work life and everything."

Michael grinned as he watched her, arching a brow. "Yeah? You're pretty cute yourself," he teased her lightly, though he thought about it for a moment. "Well, I'm sure I'll come up with some way if that happens. I have time to think of something." He grinned slightly, but he smiled and nodded. "I will," he assured, wrapping his pinky around hers.

“It’s amazing.” Luke told her, gently staring at her with an expression of love he didn’t even know was possible. Although he didn’t know that yet. “They’re fun, and it’s always a great atmosphere.”

Arianna raised an eyebrow. “Oh?” She laughed. “I think you’re holding back on me, Mikey, think you’ve got a whole plan in there.” She teased, squeezing their pinkies gently.

Cecilia smiled slightly as she watched him, amazed that she could be so affected by the attention of somebody she didn't really know. "Well, I can't wait to see you guys in action, in that case," she told him quietly, examining him for a moment.

"Maybe," Michael said with a small grin as he took her in, tilting his head a bit as he just enjoyed the sound of her laugh and the way it felt for their pinkies to be linked the way they were. "Or maybe I'm holding out because I want it to be a surprise."

Luke grinned with Cecilia’s words, and he felt it had been the most genuine smile he’d done in weeks. “I can’t wait for you to see us in action.” He admitted to her. “Or hear our songs.” He grinned, proud of the songs they’d written and performed.

Arianna nudged Michael playfully. “I hate surprises.” She watched him tilt her head, and she looked away for a brief moment as she bit her lip. “A hint would be really cool.” She told him with mischief in her grin.

"I guess that means I should hold off on Googling and YouTubing you guys and just wait for the show to hear you perform, huh?" Cecilia asked jokingly, grinning with amusement. She was looking forward to it, though, because Luke looked so passionate about it even while just talking about it.

"Oh, ouch," Michael said with amusement, arching a brow as he grinned at her. "I don't know whether you're telling the truth or just trying to get some information out of me." He shifted, though, nudging her in return, and smiled. "If I gave you a hint, you'd know the plan straight away, because there aren't many non-direct hints to give."

Luke laughed. “Please do. I know I’m hard to resist, but,” he winked jokingly. “If you want, after the show, we can grab some food?” He offered with a smile. “Performing always makes me hungry, and it’d be nice to just spend more time with you.” He was honest, because why bother with lying? When it came to Cecilia, Luke was unsure he could lie.

“Well now, you’re just feeding my curiosity.” Arianna smiled sweetly. She had to admit, she found the teasing between them attractive, and Michael, already, even after a few short hours of knowing him, had some sort of effect on her. “Why don’t you just tell me? I promise I’ll act surprised.”

"Oh, so sure of yourself?" Cecilia teased lightly, grinning as she ducked her head a bit, "You really are something, Luke Hemmings." She blinked, though, hearing his offer, and she offered a smile as she chewed on her lip. "I'd really like that, Luke."

"Feeding your curiosity is a really good thing, though. Means I have your attention," Michael teased her with a smile, winking easily, "And I happen to quite enjoy your attention already." He couldn't help it; something about her just made him want to never let her go. "Well, how does dinner and a movie sound? We could do the movie here, if you want, to avoid crowds and such?"

Luke grinned at Cecilia’s acceptance of his offer. “Good, because I just want to be near you just as much as I can.” He admitted, studying Cecilia carefully, taking in her appearance in that moment and how beautiful she was. “What’s the plan for the rest of the day?”

Arianna snorted with laughter. “Michael, you’ve had my attention since you almost knocked me on my ass.” She told him. “The dinner and movie sounds perfect, only if I choose the movie.” She grinned.

Cecilia blinked with surprise, her cheeks warming immediately, and she grinned slightly. "Yeah, well... I feel the same way," she assured him quietly, chewing on her lip as she watched him before she cleared her throat. "Nothing, really, besides work, if we're needed."

Michael stared at her, feeling a sense of pride and joy overwhelming him, and he grinned broadly as he took her in. "You've had my attention since then, too," he admitted with a slight chuckle, "I'm really glad we got the chance to talk more and be around each other more." His grin softened to a smile and he nodded. "Of course. We've each got a running subscription to Netflix, so you're welcome to pick whatever you want to watch."

Luke grinned. “Good,” he bit his lip. “So, chill out?” Luke beamed, loving that he had his excuse to be near to Cecilia, to just relish in the feeling of being around her and having time to enjoy the rush she gave him.

“Corpse Bride.” Arianna grinned without hesitation. “I’m glad too, Michael.” She promised, glancing at the clock and seeing they didn’t have long until their shift ended and the girls could be with the boys a little longer. Looking back to Michael, Arianna studied him, smiling.