The Reckless and the Brave

“Are you ready?” Spencer asked, looking over at Emery and Ash. Together, the girls nodded in response. This was their first late night talk show guest apparence. It was the first time that they would be performing since Reckless Little Hearts had went under some major changes. Tonight, with the stars brightly shining and the LA December air chilling, the girls were actually going to talk about what had happened two months prior. The girls were making a public appearance after such a private dispute.
“I think we’re ready,” Ash answered for herself and Emery.
The now aqua-haired girl just smiled. Emery had been like that for a month or so. Things were just…well things were different. It wasn’t long after that, that some stage hand walked back to the back and told the girls to take their marks. They were Jimmy’s first guest of the night, and actually the musical guest as well. It was an honor, considering that they would watch Jimmy Kimmel Live a lot on the road. This was huge for them, honestly it was. He was their favorite, as a group.
Ash walked onto the stage first as Jimmy introduced them as Reckless Little Hearts, followed by Spencer and then Emery. The girls greeted Jimmy, and after sitting down he began to speak to them.
“So a lot has happened to your ladies over the course of your career. Like there has been bar fights, more than one…”
Spencer shrugged, and Emery tossed her hair.
“Oops?” Ash tried to smiled.
“Yeah, oops! There’s only one of you old enough to drink. So how does one get into a bar fight if you’re not of age. Cause I hear in America that it’s not common for teenagers to drink illegally,”
The audience and the girls laughed
“Well….we’re in a band,” Ash began to speak.
“Uh huh,”
“And we’re kind of famous,”
“I’d say that you’re a little more than ‘kind of famous’ there is a massive crowd waiting for you girls at our stage. You know that right? The line for tonights show was crazy…but anyway,”
“Well when you’re in a famous band, and you go to bars, you tend not to have to pay for drinks or we don’t get carded.”
“It helps that we’re not ugly.” Emery playfully stated.
“I’m sure it does,” Jimmy laughed, before pulling up the record. “So, tell us a little bit more about Poisoned Hearts,”
“The album is essentially a timeline of our lives within the last year and a half. It’s been a really stupid, crazy, wild ride with our band. Right after we signed with Simon Cowell’s record company we just blew up. It happened faster than any of us really expected. So our first record was a lot about our family situations, which really sucked. Emery was seventeen, the first of us were fourteen, fifteen years old at the time that we were mixed up in some really shitty things.” Spencer started speaking. “This album is everything that has happened after that. Our songs are all connected and definitely speak to the places that we’ve been together and separately. It’s our journey from like crazy, reckless teens, to slightly reckless adults.”
“I was about to say, there are some tear-jerkers on this album,” Jimmy stated. “There’s one about your parents, I think it was Spencer, called Under The Water, tell us a little about that,”
“Under The Water was a song that I wrote with John O’Callaghan from The Maine, who is just an awesome, talent lyricist as well human being. Um…the song is just….I forced the last bit of pain I really had toward my parents out in the song.”
“It sounds like it hurts. I’ve read the lyrics, and they’re very mature for girls your age. Most girls your age are listening to Taylor Swift,”
Ash barked out a laugh, and Emery rolled her eyes.
“Yeah…well….we’re a whole lot more honest than she is,” Spencer smirked. “I mean….we’re musicians, not just performers.”
Jimmy laughed.
“So….One Direction,” The girls all groaned and the audience cat-called. “You seem to have gotten quite cozy with the members. I think we’ve got some pictures- ahh, there they are. Here’s one of Spencer and Liam getting rather….well you’re eating each other’s face off!”
“We were on vacation!” Spencer nearly shouted. “Gees! I wasn’t expecting anyone to know where we were just yet.”
“This looks like the start to a porno,” He laughed “Does Daddy Direction always put his hands up your skirt?”
“When I wear one,” She winked. “Oh come on! We’re engaged!”
“That’s right, you are. How is that coming?”
“He’s a Bridezilla. Always worrying about details. I’m just like “okay what next?” and he focuses on everything,”
“And here we’ve got Louis and Ash….please explain what it is you’re doing here?”
“I am…leaving his and Harry’s apartment….wearing his clothes.”
“What did you do in said apartment?”
“We played Twister. A lot, a lot, of Twister. It was…sweaty and fun,”
“I’m sure you played Twister. Is that what the kids are calling it these days?”
“She does mean sex,” Emery cut in, making Spencer, Ash, Jimmy, and the audience laugh. “I mean…they’ve always been that way though.
“Always? How long has this been going on?”
“Hmmm….nearly eight months now,” Ash replied. “Louis great, and well I’m in love so….”
“Emery, what is this we hear of a ‘Zemery’ break up?”
Emery looked down at her hands, thinking of Zayn. That’s what the girl usually did these days. She was so sure that he was the one, and Zayn was gone for her. But things were just getting awkward. The girl was suffering through some depression issues that she couldn’t really give the love that Zayn deserved. The girls’ heart broke when he called it off. No matter how much Emery understood, she still loved Zayn with all of her heart. He was the person that she knew that she needed to be with for the rest of her life. He knew that she was the one as well.
The couple tried to mend things. They were trying to work through the rough patch that they had unintentionally gotten themselves into. They just wanted to be back together, happy, and healthy. It was definitely something that they were having to work at, and it hasn’t been easy for them, but they were on their way.
“We broke up last month due to a lot of conflicts within our relationships. We really hit a brick wall so to speak, but we’re working through it. He’s still one of my best friends, and I’m just as in love with him as I was the day that we started dating. Just…life happens and things take time. We’re working through them, and we speak on the phone all of the time, so he definitely hasn’t left my life.
“Does that stuff have to do with the missing members?”
“A bit, yeah,”
“For audience members who don’t know of Reckless Little Hearts, they are usually a all-girl, five piece band. What exactly happened with that?”
“Our rhythm guitarist, Liz Lake, had decided that um…music isn’t exactly where she needs to be right now. Liz and Niall from One Direction are actually together, and she moved into London. What was originally going to be her taking off a year, actually turned into she’s taking a indefinite hiatus. Like Spencer said earily, our band blew up so fast that we really didn’t stop to think about what we wanted long run. So Liz won’t be back for a while,” Ash revealed.
“Does that mean that RLH is getting a new member,”
“Not at all,” The girls responded at the same time.
“Spencer’s taking all of Liz’s parts as the new rhythm guitarist. Right now we’re still working out the kinks of the band,”
“You’re missing the drummer as well, correct. There has been a lot of speculation revolving around what happened with your drummer. Her name is Roxanne, correct?”
“Everyone calls her Roxie, but yeah that’s her. Um…we didn’t really know it at the time, but Roxie was battling with a drug addiction the past six months of our lives. It started with her just sneaking off to her just being straight up strange. She wouldn’t spend any time with us at all, or she would be out of her mind when she was. All we really got to see of her was before the show and during. Our last show on Halloween, she walked off of the stage and just collapsed.”
“It was the scariest experience ever just seeing her lifeless. We all rushed around her and we got her to the hospital not knowing if she was going to live or not. Um…she had to get her stomach pumped, and by the time she woke up, we had decided for her that she needed rehab. We all discussed it and we sent her to one of the world’s best rehabilitation centers. She’s going to be out of the band for almost a year, but we can still call her. It’s not easy without her. Right now we’re just using another drummer from our new label,”
“So what was it like telling Simon Cowell that you wanted off of his label?”
“He was strangely accepting of it. I think that he realized from the start that we were a huge experiment of sorts, but he helped us get our feet wet. We’re currently on Hopeless Records, but we’re in talks of switching labels again once Roxie joins us back on the road.”
“Well I wish you girls the best of luck! This is Emery, Spencer, and Ash. They are Reckless Little Hearts and they will be back in a bit to play us off the air.”
The girls stood up, shook Jimmy’s hand before ushering back stage to get to their stage outfits. The girls pushed into their green room, and changed as fast as they could. Once they were done, they started some more vocal exercises and other types of weird warm ups. The girls came together and gave each other a little pep talk before they were ready to take the stage. They got to the stage, taking their places as Jimmy looked at them, and laughed.
“And here to play their new single The Harold Song, is the incredibly fast changers for women, Reckless Little Hearts!”

I miss your soft lips, I miss your white sheets
I miss the scratch of your unshaved face on my cheek
And this is so hard 'cause I didn't see
That you were the love of my life and it kills me

I see your face in strangers on the street
I still say your name when I'm talking in my sleep
And in the limelight, I play it off fine
But I can't handle it when I turn off my night light

But I can't handle it when I turn off my night light

They say that true love hurts, well this could almost kill me
Young love murder, that is what this must be
I would give it all to not be sleeping alone
Alone

The life is fading from me while you watch my heart bleed
Young love murder, that is what this must be
I would give it all to not be sleeping alone
Alone

Remember the time we jumped the fence when
The Stones were playing and we were too broke to get in
You held my hand and they made me cry while
I swore to God it was the best night of my life

Or when you took me across the world
We promised that this would last forever but now I see
It was my past life, a beautiful time
Drunk off of nothing but each other 'til the sunrise

Drunk off of nothing but each other 'til the sunrise

They say that true love hurts, well this could almost kill me
Young love murder, that is what this must be
I would give it all to not be sleeping alone
Alone

The life is fading from me while you watch my heart bleed
Young love murder, that is what this must be
I would give it all to not be sleeping alone
Alone

It was a past life, a beautiful time
Drunk off of nothing but each other 'til the sunrise

They say that true love hurts, well this could almost kill me
Young love murder, that is what this must be
I would give it all to not be sleeping alone
Alone

The life is fading from me while you watch my heart bleed
Young love murder, that is what this must be
I would give it all to not be sleeping alone
Alone



Roxie Lancaster has had better days. Her life was something that was not her own anymore. She supposed that was mostly her fault. She had done this to herself, and the downfall started when brown eyes met sincere green ones. She was doomed from the very beginning, and she didn’t even know it yet. She didn’t know what big of an impact one Harry Styles would have on her life.
Harry, there are many ways to describe the devil, had been perfect. He was the single, most-perfect person that Roxie had even met. He was quirky, but in a good way. He wasn’t all that confident or sexy by meaning to. He was stupidly endearing, and that’s something that she loved about him. He was the person that she had been searching for, she realized. Harry was the one guy that she knew that she could keep forever and never become bored or indifferent to. Harry Styles had that effect on people.
Harry was there when she woke up. Simply put, he was asleep in the side chair in the chalk white room of the hospital. Roxie knew that something bad had happened. Somehow she knew that today her life was going to change for forever, but she didn’t know exactly how. Once she woke Harry up, a ripple effect happened and suddenly her head was swimming with new information. Roxie was heading to rehab. Her best friends were not joking around this time. She needed professional help with her addiction problems.
Two months, three weeks, two days, and twelve hours. That’s how long Roxie has been holed up in the treatment center. People around her seemed to know who she was, but they didn’t care. Only one brash girl, who reminded her a bit like Ash, named Lexi had caught her eye. She was rude, never shut up, and was honest with everyone. Roxie instantly liked her. Lexi was a fan or Reckless Little Hearts, so they were able to bond quite quickly. Lexi didn’t even recognize her anymore because of her new hair color. As a part of her transformation back into the old Roxie, she blonde girl decided to go back to her natural dark hue while Spencer went for blonde. Frankly Roxie needed the change, and she was learning herself all over again.
She hadn’t really spoken to anyone in her band. They didn’t get visits from the outside world yet. Roxie still had another four months to complete before she could have visitors. For now, she could only receive letters and phone calls. She got plenty of those, but she didn’t want to talk to the girls on the phone just yet. She sent them back letters that all said the same thing; she was fine, the food is good, and people are surprisingly nice. It was like a constant mantra stuck on repeat in her head. The only person she let in was Harry. She spoke to him whenever she could, but after a while she had to break off their budding relationship. She told Harry that it didn’t feel right being with him while she was tucked away from the world and his life was all-over the place. It was the first time that Roxie had actually told Harry the truth about how she was feeling, and he honored that. He would call her every now and then, but she wouldn’t answer. She couldn’t just yet. But when the timing is right, Roxie knows, that she will answer and he will be glad.



“I don’t know what’s wrong with meeeeeeee,” Spencer whined, laying down across Liam’s lap, throwing her legs over Louis’. “I’m just….I’m hungry, and I’m tired, and and and….”
“Shhhh,” Liam tried to sooth, running his hand through her hair. “You’re just exhausted love,”
“No you’re just exhausted. I’m going crazy!”
Louis snickered.
“You’re already there,”
“Hey! Watch it,” Ash warned, walking into their living room. “Spencer, move your legs off of my boyfriend,”
The blonde and pink haired girl lifted up slowly, only to cuddle into Liam’s side.
“I’m miserable. I feel weird.”
“I do too,” Ash sighed. “Maybe we’re sick,”
“If you’re sick then I would’ve caught it by now,” Louis rolled his eyes.
Liam sighed, pressing a kiss to the top of his fiancé’s head.
“We have been planning a wedding, doing some sets, and going to premires. Maybe it’s just getting to you both?”
Spencer played with the hair that was now growing back.
“Don’t think so,”
“Maybe…” Ash sighed before they started the movie. It wasn’t until the first twenty minutes of the movie that Ash’s eyes grew wide, looking over at Spencer. “I uh….I think I may know what’s wrong,”
“Tellll meeeeee,” Spencer stated, looking toward her friend.
“We need to get to Wal-Mart right now,” Ash stated, already moving across Louis’ legs to get to her shoes and coat.
Spencer sighed, moving along with her.
“How long is this going to take? Because I don’t want to miss the movie,”
“Fine, they decide to keep the baby, he’s a deadbeat but they fall in love and have the baby and move. There. Let’s go,” Ash stated, gripping her best friend’s hand and pulling her toward the door before she could even say no.
Liam looked over at Louis with a puzzled expression.
“What’s wrong with our birds?”
“They’re proper mental,” Louis laughed, shaking his head. “Let’s finish the movie, yeah?”
Liam shrugged as Louis pressed play on Knocked Up.



Spencer drove to Wal-Mart as fast as she possibly could. It wasn’t easy because Ash was freaking out the entire way there. The girl didn’t answer any of her questions, even as she dragged her from aisle to aisle. It was weird, not knowing where she was going and her mind feeling all fuzzy. It was like she wasn’t the same person that she was before. It was exhausting quite honestly.
“Ash, where in the fuck are we going? Because I’m frankly tired of being pulled around like a rag-doll,”
“Spencer,” Ash sighed, turning toward her best friend. “Please promise not to freak out?”
“I don’t know why you do that to me! I can’t very well promise you that I’m not going to freak out when you say that, knowing that I’m going to freak out!”
Ash rolled her eyes before stopping in front of an aisle.
“Okay, we’re here,”
“No,”
“Spencer….”
“Oh hell no! No, Ash! Absolutely not,” She stated, crossing her arms.
“Spencer…please? I think that it’s the answer,”
“Really? We’re going to base our life changes off of a WalMart test?”
“These are accurate,” Ash sighed.
“How are you so sure?”
“I had a miscarriage didn’t I?”
Spencer rolled her eyes and refused to look at her friend.
“Fine, but I’m getting five just in case.”
“You will only need one,”
“Yeah, well I’m getting five because I want to be sure one isn’t defective.”
“Fine,”
“And you’re buying,”
“Whatever. Let’s just get them and go, okay?”
Spencer rolled her eyes, grabbing the five pregnancy test that Ash had pointed her out to. Ash herself only took one, seemingly sure that the things would work. It was like she was positive that this is what was really wrong with them. For once Spencer just wanted the pink-haired girl to be wrong. Just this once, that’s all that Spencer was asking for.
Turns out Spencer’s not entirely as good at getting what she wants. When the time came, she and Ash turned over the first test, and they were positive. Ash beamed to herself while Spencer froze. This wasn’t a part of her plan. The baby is supposed to come after the wedding, not before. Slowly the girl turned over the other four test, and they were all positive. It’s not likely that they were lying. Before anyone else could get into the restroom, they tossed the sticks away all but two of them. Ash tossed them into their respect bags, making Spencer’s nose scrunch up.
“It’s our pee, get over it,” Ash stated. “Are you okay to drive?”
“But….no,” Spencer shook her head. “No, no, no, no, no!”
Ash sighed, wrapping her arms around her best friend.
“It’s real life, Spencer. It’s happening,”
“Oh God….” She groaned as she allowed her best friend to move her out of the restroom and into public. “Can we at least stop by to get some french-fries? We can worry about this tomorrow.”
“That’s my Spencer, always thinking about food.”
“Shut up,” she mumbled before they got into the car.
When they arrived back to their shared apartment, Louis and Liam were not watching some other movie that was on tv. However, Liam instantly paused it, looking over at the girls as they sat their bags down.
“So…how was your endeavor?”
“Of course you would say endeavor,” Spencer mocked, moving to sit down on his lap. “You’re a good man, Liam Payne,”
“Well thank you,” He laughed. “What’s gotten into you?”
“Your child,”
Liam halted, and looked up at her.
“What?”
“Surprise? We made a baby,” Spencer slightly smiled. “You don’t hate me, do you?”
“Never,” Liam shook his head. “I love you so much. Baby or not,”
“How sweet,” Louis smile sadly.
“Yeah…well…good news is that you’re not going to be alone,” Ash spoke. “Cause Louis’ going to be a dad too,”
Louis’ smile widened as he looked up at his girlfriend.
“You mean it?”
“Yeah,” She nodded.
“Oh God, both of you stop,” Spencer stated. “You’re making me sick,”
Liam, being Liam, just laughed and hugged her tighter because yeah, she’s still all he’s ever wanted in life. And his life was pretty awesome.