Lost in Stereo

It all started the day that he went into his favourite coffee shop.

Contrary to what he liked to believe, Luke Hemmings was in no way punk rock. He would've liked to believe that as a frontman of a band, with a lip-piercing and all, he was maybe just a little punk rock. He wasn't. Even the fans knew that. In fact, they were entirely convinced that he was actually a white girl trapped in the body of a six-foot-two, blonde, blue-eyed, "looks like he can surf but he cannot," male teenager.

He liked a little bit of Starbucks from time to time when they were in other countries because that was the only thing, apart from cans of Red Bull, that would make sure he had enough energy to play the shows at night to an arena full of excited teenagers, instead of playing a half-assed show because of the jet lag he was suffering. But no Starbucks coffee could compare to the quaint coffee shop in which he liked to frequent on the weekends whenever he was back in Sydney. It was only on the weekends, though.

Luke told himself that the only reason why he came into the coffee shop every Saturday and Sunday was because of how good the coffee was – and not because of anything else. And while that was partly true, a rather large part of him knew that it was because of the barista that had started working there probably after Luke and the other three boys had left for the Take Me Home tour with One Direction.

The barista he found to be drop-dead gorgeous. The barista who would spend her time, if there wasn't anyone wanting to order a drink, on her laptop – putting together a mixtape. (He knew because he'd overheard a co-worker mocking her how she was "constantly making mix tapes because no one would make one for [her], so [she] made them for [herself].") The barista he desperately wanted to talk to, but every time he thought he'd plucked up enough courage to do so – lost it all the moment she smiled at him, merely asking for what he'd like to drink.

Luke walked into the coffee shop, taking in a deep breath and appreciating the smell of freshly brewed coffee before letting his eyes land on the girl that he'd been pining after despite not even knowing her name – or anything at all, really – about her. She was in a black, three-quarter length t-shirt, since Luke had noticed that that was probably their uniform requirement. She had her hair up in a ponytail, and her hair was dyed at the bottom, so it went from a shade of brown to blonde towards the bottom. She was on her MacBook again, an earbud put in one side of her ear while she mindlessly bobbed her head to the music that she was listening to as she did whatever she was doing on the MacBook.

Luke walked up to the counter, clearing his throat lightly and giving her a nervous half-smile as she looked up. My god, she's gorgeous. Luke darted his tongue out to run along his top and bottom lip. He was gonna do it today. He was going to ask her out.

She stood up then, after pulling out the earbud, smiling at him. "Hey," she greeted, and just like that – Luke lost all courage again.

She turned then, not asking for what he wanted. Instead, she just took a paper cup, sliding on the brown sleeve, and then pouring in the liquid that was already sat waiting in a coffee pot. She put the lid on the top and then turned back around to face him, giving him a grin. "And here's your coffee." She said, pushing it gently over to him as he looked at it with wide-eyes, blinking and then glancing back at her. She shrugged nonchalantly. "You've become a usual."

"Uh..." He stuttered, blinking repeatedly, before he ended up just shaking his head, pulling out the exact change he already had in his front pocket and then giving it to her. "Thanks," Luke squeaked out before he turned on his heel and speed-walked out of the coffee shop, as though he had somewhere better to be when all that was on his agenda for the day was probably to go meet an old friend from school for a movie or a little catch up session at dinner time.

He chanced a glance back, over his shoulder, only to see her glance up back at him – offering him an adorable grin. He tried for a smile back, but he reckoned it didn't work out, so while mumbling insults to himself under his breath about how much of an idiot he'd just made himself out to be, Luke was, once again, scurrying away.



"Feels good to be playing a show after that break," Ashton Irwin, the drummer, sighed in content as he leaned back so that was was completely relaxed on the lounge in the dressing room.

"I'm actually proper nervous," Michael Clifford, the guitarist, admitted as he wrung his hands together as he leaned his elbows on his knees. "I'm kinda scared I forgot how to play the guitar." He laughed, as did the other two members of 5 Seconds of Summer.

"Me too, mate." Calum Hood, the bassist, nodded along, breathing in deeply – as though that would help him calm down. "Hey," he nudged the youngest member's knee with his own. "You okay?"

Luke snapped out of his thoughts, blinking repeatedly so that his vision would go back into focus. "Huh? What?"

Calum chuckled. "I asked you if you were okay."

"Yeah, I'm fine," he shook his head before shooting his friend a reassuring smile. "Just... Nervous, I guess. And excited, but more nervous than excited. I mean, we sold out the show – and we're not even supporting 1D. This is just... us. And people actually want to watch us."

As Luke finished his semi-bullshit explanation about why he was spacing out, his mates all nodded, murmuring agreements that seconded his statement. While it was true that he was still thinking that their little band was actually playing a legitimate show that sold out by themselves, another lingering thought in his mind was the girl he'd officially dubbed 'coffee shop girl.'

He had gone to the shop earlier and she had, again, slid over the pre-prepared coffee over to him and accepting the money, smiling at him before she turned her attention back to her MacBook. Luke wanted so badly to just ask for a name – he didn't even need to ask her out on a date. That part could come later. Just a name. He'd be content with a name. But he chickened out – again. It was so bizarre to him, how he was spending so much time daydreaming about a girl whose name he didn't know.

A part of him wished that he was as confident during normal activities – like buying coffee, or chatting up strangers he had a physical attraction to – as he was while on stage. Luke Hemmings on stage and off stage were almost like two different people. While the former was usually almost always shy and awkward, the latter was confident and could own a stage, even if he was playing in front of tens of thousands of people – curtesy of the 1D shows.

He subtly took a deep breath to calm himself – from his nerves for playing the show in front of his family and friends and in their hometown, and from thoughts of the coffee shop girl. Then he turned his attention back to the conversation his mates were having about something that had happened earlier that day. For now, thoughts of the coffee shop girl were wiped from his mind. Tonight, it was just him and his boys – taking on the world, one city at a time.



Luke didn't even know how he spotted her.

There were so many people, and the lights kept going into his eyes, making him temporarily blind as he kept on singing and playing his guitar. But in the midst of all that – he still saw her.

She was there. She was at their show.

And she looked breathtaking gorgeous.

She had her up in a ponytail – just like it usually was when she was at work on the weekends, making her mix tapes of (what he assumed were) her favourite bands. She was in a tank top and for the first time, Luke saw the ink on her left bicep, roses splayed on her shoulder and almost to her collarbone and chest. And she was dancing. God, she was dancing so much; it was adorable.

She had her eyes shut in content, a brilliant smile on her lips as she jumped around – eyes opening every now and then to make sure that she hadn't hit anyone while dancing around to her heart's content.

They were only a song and a half in, and afterwards they would stop for a little breather – two members would be talking to the crowd while the other two would be getting a quick drink of water, and then they'd switch. As Luke sang the words to their song, his eyes kept flickering from the fret board of his guitar, to the coffee shop girl. He tried so hard to pry his gaze away from her but no matter what, he'd just end up subconsciously staring at her again as she danced to their music – alone.

The boys took a quick breather, interacting with the crowd, quenching their parched throats, before they were singing again. And once more, even as Luke walked the length of the stage to go to Michael's side, or maybe Calum's side, his eyes always drifted to the girl clearly having the time of her life as she danced around and got lost in the music that echoed around the arena.

It was their last song for the night, and Luke couldn't keep the stupid grin off of his lips. Maybe tonight he'd be able to finally ask her out – after he got her name, of course. He took a breath, going up to his microphone as a massive grin lit up his handsome face – blue eyes twinkling.

"Alright, so," he spoke, in between deep breaths. "– this is our last song for the night."

"Sydney, you've been amazing!" Michael exclaimed into the phone, playing a guitar riff as the crowd erupted into ear-piercing squeals.

"Thank you so much for having us tonight, – " Calum spoke next, adjusting his in-ear monitors as the crowd just screamed some more.

"I love you guys!" Ashton practically yelled into his microphone so that he would be heard over he massive cheers, also interrupting whatever Calum might've wanted to say. The younger boy turned to shoot a mock annoyed look at the older, but the older simply giggled. "Sorry, did you have something else to say?"

"Well, I did," Calum huffed, his head still angled so that he was looking at Ashton. "– But I've forgotten what I wanted to say, because of you. So thank you, Ashton." He drawled out sarcastically, making the other three boys chuckle.

Ashton merely shrugged his shoulders slightly, giggling more. "Sorry."

"Anyway!" Luke spoke again, laughing lightly. "This has been an awesome show, you've all been awesome, and we'll come back to play another show for you guys soon. We have been 5 Seconds of Summer, thank you so much for having us!" He stepped away from the microphone, turning so that his back was to the crowd and he was facing Ashton now.

As they all started their final song for the night, they turned back to face the crowd while giving it all they had. The last song was usually the one that people would go absolutely mental over, jumping around and singing at the top of their lungs to because the night was coming to an end. And though practically everyone would want concerts to never end, they still had to end – so they would let themselves get completely lost in the music and dance around to the last song of the night because it had been a damn good night, and it had been a bloody amazing show put on by the four boys that were from Sydney.

Luke's eyes was stilt transfixed onto the coffee shop girl, and though he could tear his eyes away from her to glance around at other people, he still found himself gazing right back at her – just watching her as she danced around. It was clear she came alone, because while he could spot some other people going to someone else's ear to tell them something during the concert, she never did do that at all. She came alone but she was out of control, though not in a bad way, at all. She was so beautiful.

She looked up right at him then, and his eyes widened a fraction before he allowed himself to smirk as he maintained eye contact with her whilst singing. She pulled the corner of her bottom lip in her mouth, smiling, before winking at him cheekily, and he breathed a laugh through his nose, stepping away from the microphone to let Calum sing and to shake his head in amusement slightly. She noticed him.

And then she was back to dancing alone, hands up in the air as she bobbed her head to the music.

Luke went up to the microphone then, singing the last bit of the song as he let his guitar hang loose around his shoulders, swinging idly. He made sure he was looking right at her, and he felt himself grin shyly when he saw that she was looking right back at him. The song ended with him screwing his eyes shut as he sang the last long notes of the song, strumming on his guitar in tune with Michael's.

When he opened his eyes again, the cheers were still loud. Luke looked for the girl, and she was there – smiling at him. He smiled at her, biting on his bottom lip, before he did what he didn't think he'd ever have the guts to do – he winked at her.

She chuckled, shaking her head in amusement.

And I'm just like cellophane
'Cause she sees right through me
I know she's glitter and gold
And that's just the price I pay

Then the lights went out, that being the cue for the boys to exit the stage. The boys pounced onto each other the moment they were sort of backstage, all still sweaty and excited from the show that they'd just played. Luke shared their excitement, before he quickly excused himself, not even bothering to tell the boys where he was going and why as he peered around the curtain that had dropped so that their equipment was no longer in the crowd's view. People were starting to make their way out, but he expected her to still be there. Maybe she'd stayed and he could get her to come backstage to have a proper conversation with her.

But the coffee shop girl wasn't there anymore. She'd left. He lost his chance and his moment of courage, again.

When I don't even know her name
She's slipping away

He could only hope that he would find that small bit of courage again, and soon.