Status: i update when i feel like it

Even If You Don't

Dreaming of the Times I Know I Can't Get Back

Calum’s POV; The next morning

I woke up to the sound of a camera shutter, bringing an arm up to rub my eyes. I opened them to find Vanessa kneeling on the floor by the coffee table across from the couch, her eyes widening at her phone screen when she realized someone was awake.

“Hello,” she smiled innocently, “Sleep well?”

“Ness, what are you doing?” I couldn’t help but chuckle.

“Nothing that Instagram isn’t about to see,” she snickered. I rolled my eyes as she went on. “You might wanna wake her up,” she motioned to the girl on top of me, “I’m pretty sure Michael is awake and will be up here any minute.” She then walked out of the room, leaving me sighing.

Michael was never a morning person but when he did wake up before other people, he wasn’t exactly quiet. Mari hated being woken up by loud noises, so we always just made sure one of us was the one who woke her up.

“Mari,” I murmured, slipping my hands under her shirt to rub her back. She started grumbling softly, letting me know that she wasn’t fully awake but that she could hear me. “Gotta wake up now, princess,” I told her, kissing the side of her head. She responded by burying her face in my neck, making me smile. “Michael’s awake,” I informed her, “And you know how much you hate when Michael is the one who wakes you up.” She still refused to budge. “Maybe if we get up before Michael, we can sneak out and get breakfast – just the two of us,” I offered.

“Stop bribing me, Hood,” Mari finally spoke, making me chuckle again.

“Would you rather go to breakfast with everyone?” I countered. I felt her let out a deep sigh before her forearm was lifting her up so she could look at me.

“Hate you,” she mumbled, rubbing her eyes with her other hand. I simply grinned, leaning up until my lips met hers.

“Hate you too, baby girl,” I whispered into her mouth, causing her to giggle softly before she pulled away and climbed off of me so we could quickly get dressed and out of the house before Michael came upstairs.

~

Later that day

We’d been at the venue we were playing that night for almost two hours now, and I finally got a chance to go outside and meet some fans who were already in line. Kenzie and Vanessa came along while the other boys were with Mari soundchecking Waste The Night for the show later – but more importantly, they were giving the girls and I cover.

“Alright, guys,” I said as Kenzie and Vanessa helped pass out papers and Sharpies, “I need you all to listen so you can tell everyone else that arrives after we have to go back inside, okay?” The small group nodded furiously, excited to know what they were about to be a part of. “You know how this is Mari’s hometown show, right? Well, she’s planning on singing lead on Fight Song tonight and I had this idea that maybe, people who were fans of the girls’ band could hold up signs after the bridge about how they’ve helped you guys or lyrics from the song that mean a lot to you.”

“I wish my boyfriend was that sweet,” one of the girls mumbled, making everyone around her laugh.

“Yeah, Cal, we can do that! But what’s in it for us?” another grinned, obviously joking.

“I won’t have you thrown out of the show if word about this gets back to Mari?” I replied, trying not to smile but I knew I wasn’t doing a very good job. The girls simply snickered while the same fan laughed.

“I was kind of hoping for selfies and autographs, but I would very much appreciate not being thrown out a lot more,” she told me. I simply chuckled again, happily signing everything they asked me to as well taking multiple photos with all of them, before Kenzie, Vanessa, and I headed back inside.

~

Mari’s POV

“This song is drilled into my brain already, Luke!” I groaned, throwing my head back, “We don’t need to rehearse it anymore! Come on! I’m hungry!”

“It needs to be perfect, Mari!” he exclaimed, “We wouldn’t need to rehearse for so long if you’d just cooperate!”

“I am cooperating!” I shouted defensively, “You’re the one insisting that I’m doing something wrong even though you know I’m not!”

“Yes, you are! I keep telling you to wait four extra measures to come in, but you keep coming in too early!”

“I don’t know where you learned to read music, Hemmings, but I am waiting four measures from the point where the chorus ends,” I spat back, “If you want me to wait longer than four, then you need to tack on a couple extra measures instead of acting like I can read your fucking mind.”

“Guys,” Ashton finally intervened, “There’s no need for arguing.”

“Ash is right,” Michael nodded, “Let’s just take a break and cool off, okay?”

“I don’t need to cool off,” Luke grumbled, not taking his narrowed eyes off of me, “Mari’s the one who needs to stop screwing up.”

“Well, I’m so sorry for not being a perfect little angel like you, Luke,” I laughed bitterly, “I had no idea I would need to be classically trained in music and a goddamn mind-reader just to avoid listening to you bitch and moan all the time.” I shoved my microphone back into its spot on the stand where Calum would be. “Maybe you should ask Kenzie or Vanessa or Kaylynn to sing the song with you tonight since I’m sure they’re a whole hell of a lot smarter than I am,” I told him, pushing past him and walking off the stage.

“Mari!” I heard Michael call after me, but I didn’t stop – I just kept walking until I was outside.

Michael’s POV

“Really, man?” Ashton rolled his eyes while he and I just stared at Luke in shock. We knew he was having an off day from the moment he woke up, but we didn’t think he’d take it out on anyone – especially not Mari.

“She was messing up,” he mumbled, earning another eye roll from both of us.

“Then you should have told her to wait five measures instead of four!” I exclaimed, throwing my arms up.

“I told her to wait four measures from the point where Ashton stopped playing the chorus; It’s not that difficult to figure out.”

“Maybe not for you,” Ashton reminded him, “But Mari isn’t inside your head – she doesn’t know what you want until you tell her.”

I don’t know what was said after that because I left to go find Mari. I was sure she was upset – not that I’d blame her – and I just had to make sure she was okay. I looked around the entire inside of the venue before asking Bryan to drive me back to Mari’s house, not having found her anywhere and hoping she’d just gone home to calm herself down.

When he dropped me off, I told him I’d call him when I was ready to which he nodded and drove away after I shut the door. I jogged up to the front door and went to grab the knob, surprised to find Lori already pulling the door before I’d even turned it.

“Oh, Michael,” she laughed, placing her free hand over her heart, “You scared me.”

“Sorry,” I smiled apologetically, “Hey, uh… You wouldn’t happen to know if Mari came back here, would you?”

“No, she didn’t,” she shook her head, “I was actually just about to go meet her… Is everything okay? I know she was only texting me, but she seemed really upset about something – said she needed someone to talk to.”

“Would you mind if I was the one who talked to her instead?”

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” I sighed, “She and Luke just got into it a little during soundcheck and I just want to make sure she’s okay.”

“Well, sure,” Lori nodded, “She said she’s at Bru. I’ll just drive you there myself – it’s too far of a walk.”

“Are you sure?” I asked, to which she nodded. “What about Asher?”

“My mom is watching him,” she told me, coming out of the house and leading me to her car, “He’s only taking his nap though, so they’ll be fine.”

Upon arriving to Bru – which was a burger place, I found out – we immediately noticed Mari sitting outside, drinking a milkshake. I smiled sadly at the sight of her frown.

“Thanks for the ride, Lori,” I said.

“No problem, Mike,” she smiled, “Don’t let her buy another milkshake.” I couldn’t help but laugh.

“Will do,” I affirmed before getting out of the car, listening to her drive away as I approached Mari. “Hey, kitten,” I said, making her head snap up, “You okay?”

“M’fine,” she mumbled, looking back down at the drink in front of her.

“That lack of a smile is telling me otherwise,” I sighed dramatically, sitting myself down in the seat across from her. The comment didn’t make her smile though, so I let out a smaller, more defeated sigh instead. “He’s just having a bad day, Mar,” I told her, “He didn’t mean anything.”

“That’s not my problem,” she fired back, “Just because he’s in a shitty mood doesn’t mean he gets to take it out on me.”

“Well, until we go back to the venue, how about we just not think about it and eat some lunch?” I suggested. Mari let out a soft breath, but I knew she was agreeing. “We can stay here and eat if you want,” I told her, “Is the food here any good?”

“Any good?” she scoffed, “These are the best burgers in the world as far as I’m concerned.”

“Well, I’ve been more places around the world than you, so I’ll be the judge of that,” I smirked, getting up from my seat.

Mari grabbed her milkshake so she didn’t have to leave it outside while we waited for our food, coming around the table. I opened the door for her, earning myself a slap to the back of the head as she passed me.

“Mari!” I laughed, following her toward the cash register. She obviously wasn’t facing me, but I could tell she finally smiled.
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Title: "Invisible" by 5 Seconds of Summer

wow what was going on here lmao i don’t even know