When we entered the lobby, Michael, Ashton, and I stumbled upon a tense situation. Sammi and Sarah were standing above a nervous Luke who sat in a chair in the corner, and it seemed like they were yelling at him.

"What's going on?" Ashton asked, letting go of my hand and walking over to do damage control.

"Yeah, who's yelling at my best friend? Only I can do that." Michael stated. "He's stupid, but only I can say it." Michael said to me. 

"Thanks, Mike. That means a lot." Luke said dryly.

Calum sniffled.

"I...I thought I was your best friend, Mikey."

Michael puffed out his bottom lip.

"Of course you are. Cali. I was just defending Luke. Someone needs to make him feel good about himself."

Calum didn't look convinced, but when Michael turned to hug him, Calum grinned smugly over Michael's shoulder at the rest of the group, very pleased with himself.

I sighed.

"Great, now that we've solved that issue, why were you two yelling at Luke?"

"Have you seen what he's wearing?"

I took a second to really look at Luke.

He was wearing a band tee and black jacket with black jeans, but also had a fanny pack around his waist.

"Okay, so he's wearing a fanny pack. He'll stick out like a tourist, but it's not the end of the world."

"No no, not that." Sammi pulled a protesting Luke up from the chair he'd been sitting in and lifted his shirt up while he still tried to squirm away.

Under his clothes, his stomach was wrapped in plastic wrap and his wallet and phone were stuck to his body.

"What the fuck, Luke?" Ashton laughed at him and Luke scowled, pushing Sammi's hand off his shirt and covering himself up. "You look like a proper idiot."

Calum whispered something to Michael who immediately burst out laughing.

"Luke, that's not really necessary, I promise New York isn't really that dangerous. And boys, I don't know what you said, but you be nice too." They hung their heads in shame.

"Sorry, Vi." They trilled. I ignored them.

"We'll be fine if we stick with each other and stay away from unpopulated back alleys." I assured him.

He nodded.

"Okay, I guess."

"I'm confused, what was in the fanny pack then if all your important stuff is...on your person...?" Ashton questioned. I shot him a warning look, and he ignored me.

"It was a decoy. People would think to take the pack, but I'd still have all my important stuff. Read it off a website." Luke tapped his head, like he was acknowledging he was smart for that idea.

"That's fucking mental." Calum whispers but thankfully Luke didn't hear.

"Why don't you and I go back to your room and...unwrap you, and then we can be on our way." I suggested. Everyone nodded and Luke and I went back upstairs.

"Where's your room key?" I asked when we ended up in front of the door. He pointed to his covered stomach.

I tried to suppress a laugh, but a little giggle slipped out.

"Sure, laugh at me all you want. I just wanted to be safe."

"Oh, Luke, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you upset. It was a good idea, and lots of people do it, but trust me, it's not necessary. All it'll do is make you sweaty and uncomfortable."

He shrugged, then lifted his shirt and started to peel up a layer of plastic wrap. Once he got the key card out, he left the plastic hanging from under his shirt as he tried to slide the key into the slot, but his hands were shaking too bad to do it.

"Can I help you?" I asked, not sure what was going on, but starting to grow concerned for my friend.

He nodded and handed the card over, running his fingers through his curls. I swiped the card through the slot and opened the door, letting Luke walk in first. He didn't look too good. His face was super pale and he'd started sweating.

"Hey are you sure you're all right?"

He shook his head and slid to the floor, leaning against the wall behind the door.

"Luke, hey, look at me." I sat next to him as close as I could without touching him. I wasn't sure what was going on yet but I didn't want to overwhelm him.

"Can I hold your hand or will that not help?" He nodded and held his hands out to me. I slipped my hands in his and scooted close so the sides of our bodies were touching. He leaned into me, struggling to take a full breath.

"Take a deep breath, hold it, 1, 2, 3, 4 let it out, 1, 2, 3, 4." We repeated that breathing exercise until he was calm enough to open his eyes.

"I'm s-sorry, Vi."

"What? Why are you sorry? For having a panic attack? That's not your fault, bud. Please never feel like you need to apologize for being human. It can be a lot, being here."

Luke nodded, breathing in shakily.

"I-I made the mistake of looking online at a Reddit thread about things that have gone wrong in New York and I got really in my head about it. I know what you said on the plane about how it's really not unsafe, but I was..."

"Go on, you can tell me anything." I rubbed little circles on the back of his hand and he nodded.

"I wanted to be able to protect Sammi if anything happened, but I'm really not prepared to do something like that."

I tried not to smile like a fool at that, that's just so adorable. He continued. 

"I have bad anxiety, Vi. I regularly get panic attacks. I can't take care of myself, let alone the girl I want to impress."

I shook my head.

"You don't always have to have it all together. That's why you have friends. We can help you and take care of you when the world gets too much for you to handle. You can trust us." I was aware I wouldn't take that advice, but that's what I wished my father would have told me growing up.

He finally opened his eyes and looked at me. He brushed tears out of his eyes and seemed a bit calmer now.

"Thanks, Vi, you're right." He paused. "You really are as incredible as Ashton tells everyone you are." I blushed.

"It's no big deal, I-"

"It is to me. Without you, this might have happened someplace where there were a lot of people around and it could have been really fucking bad." He squeezed my hand and sat up. "I really appreciate all that you do for everyone."

"I care about all of you. I'd do anything to help."

He smiled.

"We all know that. You're the best."

"Why don't you take off that plastic wrap and then we can get going, is that okay? Do you need more time?"

"No, I'm good, thanks." I pushed myself off the floor and helped him stand. He walked slowly to the bathroom, pulling his jacket and shirt off on his way there. I leaned against the wall outside the bathroom so I didn't have to see him half naked, but could still talk to him.

"So....you and Sammi." He squeaked in surprise at my comment.

"Yeah...I like her."

I grinned.

"Hm,"

"Is that a good 'hm' or a bad 'hm'?" He asked nervously, sticking his head out the door to look at me.

Deciding he'd had enough anxiety today I gave in quickly.

"A very good 'hm'. I think you two would be great for each other." He smiled and ducked back inside the bathroom.

"Except for the fact that I'm a total mess and a giant ball of anxiety." he sighed.

"Everyone has their flaws, dude, and that's not even a flaw. That's just something about you that you might not think is ideal, but if someone cares about you enough, they'll look past it and be there for you when you need it."

Luke came out of the bathroom with a wad of plastic wrap and his clothes back on.

"You think so?"

I nodded.

"I know so. Plus, sometimes, it's nice to take care of your partner, and trust me, Sammi isn't perfect either. No one is, but your partner is there for you to lean on, you two can take care of each other, it's never just one sided. And, I probably shouldn't tell you this, but Sammi talks about you. A lot. So, I think you've got a good shot." I wink at him. He grins and throws the plastic away, putting his personal items in the fanny pack.

"Okay, then let's go back out there and have a great day."

"That's the spirit." I pat his shoulder and we leave the room. "If you do find it's too much at any point today, let me know and me or Ashton come back to the hotel with you. You wouldn't even have to tell him if you didn't want. And it's not a big deal, this place can get overwhelming for anyone."

Luke nodded as we got back in the elevator.

"Okay, thanks. I doubled up on my meds, so hopefully I'll be okay, but I'll let you know."

"Good."

We arrived back in the lobby and everyone watched us as we walked over.

"Luke, why are your eyes all red?" Calum questioned.

He looked at me in shock, not sure what to tell everyone.

"An old lady saw us in the hallway and thought he was a hoodlum and sprayed his face with perfume. It irritated them."

Everyone nodded, not saying anything, and Luke shook his head. He scratched the back of his neck and looked at the floor before admitting, "Actually, I had a mini freak out about being in a big city, and got kinda upset. Vi helped me calm down though."

"Oh, you poor thing!" Sammi cried, rushing over to him. "Can I be your buddy for the trip?"

"Hm, that might help." Luke agreed, blushing lightly, glancing at me. I just smiled at him.

"Great idea, Sammi, we should all have a buddy." Luke looked back at me and winked, and I nodded. They left the hotel first and Ashton and I followed behind everyone in the back. Sammi fussed over him the whole day, and never left his side. I think that was good for him.

"He's okay?" Ashton asked when we stopped at a crosswalk, waiting for the light to change.

"He'll get there. It's a lot of new things right now, totally overwhelming, especially when there's other layers on top of that. Sammi will help him though. I'm glad he let everyone know so we can call keep an eye on him."

Ashton nodded.

I called out directions to Luke and Sammi who were leading the way to lunch. We stopped at the pizza parlor and Michael and Calum cheered.

"PIZZA!" they yelled, running inside.

Once we were in the restaurant, we walked down the thin hallway, past the counter with pizzas behind a glass cover, sitting under the warmer, to the back where it opened up to a seating area.

The walls were a light yellow tile, and like most pizzerias, there were photos of old people and newspaper clippings hung on the wall.

"I'm going to go order..." I paused to count how many of us there were. "Two pies?" I guessed. There were 7 of us, so we'd definitely need more than one.

Everyone shrugged and Ashton came with me to order the food.

"We'll need drinks too, yeah?" He asked. I nodded and when we ordered the pizza, I also asked for seven cups. Ashton tried to reach for his wallet but I was faster than him. I had my card out and ready before the total was even calculated by the machine. Everyone was going to split food at the end, we were going to keep track of who bought what on an Google Sheets document so we could evenly split it once we got home.

I brought the cups back for everyone and they filled it up from the soda fountain while we waited for the pizza to be cooked.

Once it was ready, a waiter brought it over to us on two metal stands that lifted it off the table so we had room for our plates.

Everyone dug in as I recorded their faces, the first time they ate actual, real New York pizza. It was a moment that should be documented forever.

It took Calum and Michael about 30 seconds to eat, or rather inhale, their first slice, and they went for another before any of the rest of us had eaten half of the first one. Maybe we should have gotten another pie...

Once everyone had eaten as much as they could, there was one slice left. Ashton, Michael, and Calum were all eyeing it like they hadn't just eaten two pieces each.

"Michael wants another slice." Michael chanted. "Michael wants another slice. Pizza! Now!"

"Nooo, I want it, Mikey. You ate all my peanuts earlier."

"I was the one who grabbed them, they were mine. You should be lucky I shared any with you."

"I would have helped you, but I was in the middle seat. I couldn't reach!"

"Oh, how convenient."

By the time Michael and Calum were done bickering, Ashton had already taken three bites of the slice and was watching them with an expressionless face. Sammi ruined it by laughing and drawing attention to him, otherwise he might have been able to eat it without them knowing.

Michael gasped.

"Asher...you betrayed me?" Ashton shrugged, taking another bite of the pepperoni pizza.

"Man's gotta do what a man's gotta do."

Michael looked at Ashton in disgust before eyeing me.

"That's the kind of man you have, Viola. I hope you're happy with him."

I smiled at Ashton and laid my head on his shoulder.

"I'm very happy."

"Ugh, gross. I'm gonna go throw up now." Calum groaned, getting up and walking to the restroom.

Ashton helped me clean up the table before Calum rejoined us and we left.

"Walk down that staircase, it's time for your first ride on the subway!"

***
Poor Lukey 😢 I want to hug him and never let him go. (Tbh if I was going to hug any of the four of them, I think it would be Luke. Idk why it seems like he'd be the best hugger/cuddler. Thoughts?) 

Also, idk how many of you have ever had NY pizza, but it's literally the best thing ever, and whenever I end up going home to see family (my parents live in NY) I always make them have a slice of pizza waiting for me upon my arrival lol

Hope everyones having a good day/night ☺️
~ashtonfortherwin