(Edited)

"If you could choose one superpower, what would it be?" Jason asked, taking a fry covered in tomato sauce and eating it.

Ashton smiled like a pervert. "X-ray vision! So, I could look at all the girls naked." He said winking at a girl that walked past our table.

"X-ray shows you their insides, not their boobs, dumb ass!" Mason groaned hitting Ashton on the shoulder.

Ashton glared. "Like you could do any better?" he challenged.

Mason scoffed. "Magnetism! A magnetic force that will pull any and every hot girl towards you." He stated proudly. He looked around the table, waiting for the boys to think it through.

"That is better!" Ashton said giving Mason a high five.

"If I didnt love Kate, I would get some of that!" Jason smiled happily.

Michael smirked. "I already have that look at how fast I got Autumn." He winked at me, a cocky smile on his face.

I rolled my eyes. "You have nada," I said cheekily, moving away from him.

Before Michael could protest, Jason spoke up. "I think I would love the power to get free food! You think about it, and it appears on your lap."

Ashton looked at a blonde standing by the counter. "I would love for her to appear on my lap." His eyes moved all over her body. The boys chuckled, some agreeing with him.

"Youre such a sleaze!" I glared unamused.

He winked at me, taking a sip from his drink. "Dont hate the player, hate the game."

"Well since Jason took my superpower, Im picking" Michael bit his lip thoughtfully, awakening butterflies in my stomach. "Super speed!" He turned to look at me and smiled, showing his dimples. "So, I can run fast enough to catch you every time you fall for me."

Even though my heart sped up and I really wanted to lean forward and kiss him for being so cute, I played it off.

"Smooth!": I rolled my eyes and shook my head at him, my ponytail swaying gently.

"How about you shorty?" Jason asked with a smile on his face, trying to play it cool because I saw him give Michael a thumbs up for his comment.

I stopped for a moment and really thought about it. What I wanted most was to travel, to get to know the world but life was short, and it made it impossible. "Immortality. So, I can travel and get to experience everything life has to offer." I smiled, blushing slightly.

"Damn! Thanks for making ours so uncool and stupid," Ashton said with a pout.

I shrugged shyly and played with the bracelet that Michael gave me. I felt Michaels calculating gaze on me and blushed because he saw me reaching for the bracelet.

We decided to spend the day together, the five of us alone, something we have not done since they all started dating people, leaving Michael and I both single. We currently sat at Around The Corner, in a cute, family-friendly diner. We occupied a booth in the centre of the room. I sat at the end with Michael on my right and Jason next to him. Mason sat across from Michael with Ashton next to him. Our table was full of random snacks like chips, onion rings, milkshakes and muffins. I leaned forward and grabbed a chocolate muffin, the glare the waitress gave us for our weird order, played over in my mind making me chuckle.

"Okay guys, this is an important question!" Ashton said, popping a few onion rings into his mouth. "Favorite ice cream?" he asked with his mouth still full, raising his eyebrows. The boys ignored his gross behaviour and thought pensively.

I gasped. "You cant ask me that. Its like asking a mother who her favourite child is!" I exclaimed shocked.

Michael chuckled, shaking his head at me. "Thats ridiculous princess every mother has a favourite child." He smiled. "She might not admit it, but she has one!"

I pouted and crossed my arms, placing them on the table. "Unbelievable."

Jason shook his head, agreeing with Michael. "Its true. Im our parents favourite."

Mason scoffed, shocked. "Oh please, thats garbage. Im their favourite." They both started arguing, drawing the attention of the people around us. They saw that they were causing a scene but continued without a care in the world.

"Will you both shut the hell up and stop being so dense." Michael scolded and then smirked, leaning back into his seat. Im your parents favourite!

Jason and Mason stopped arguing and turned to Michael, glaring. Ashton laughed so hard at Michaels statement that he had to hold his stomach. He spoke up in between laughs.

"Its so true, his even my parents favourite, and Im their only child." He wiped the tears he got from laughing so hard. I looked over at Michael, who sat with his signature smirk.

"Im assuming you won them over with your bad boy charms and stupid smirk?"

His smirked even more. "Im irresistible, even to parents." He shot me a wink, and my heart melted. How could one guy be so cocky, yet annoyingly attractive?

I rolled my eyes and focused back to Mason. "I dont believe it. Its incredibly mean." I would never choose a favourite child.

"Ill prove it," Mason said, looking around the shop. I moved forward to stop whatever it was that he was planning, but Michael pulled me back. Mason turned to a woman that was just about to walk past our table.

"Mam!" Mason called to get her attention. She stopped and smiled at him. Poor lady didnt know what she was getting herself into. "Whos your favourite child?"

She gasped, pretending to be shocked. "I dont have a favourite!" She turned to her two little kids smiling with guilt. "Mommy doesnt have a favourite. She loves you both equally." She grabbed the boys hand and ushered the little girl forward, shooting us all a well-deserved glare. We chuckled at how flustered the woman looked.

"Besides making them doubt their mother's love, what was that supposed to accomplish?" I asked Mason.

"Well, obviously the little boy is her favourite."

I scrunched up my nose with confusion. "I dont see it."

Michael turned to look at me, surprise evident on his face. "For someone who is very observant, you can be dense sometimes." He pointed out.

I shot him a glare. "So now Im dense because I dont see how hes her favourite?" I moved away from him. "Jerk!"

He rolled his eyes and sighed. "Okay Princess, Ill explain. Clearly, you cant see it because you would never pick a favourite."

"Because Im a decent human being!"

He ignored my comment and continued. "We can both agree on the fact that the boy is older right?" I nodded, taking a sip of my drink. Our conversation drew in the rest of the group. "Why would the mother hold the older childs hand if not him being her favourite." He asked rhetorically with a smug tone in his voice.

I scoffed, hating the fact that he was right. "Thats bloody stupid." Michael chuckled, loving the fact that he was right, and flicked my forehead.

After hanging out for a while, we decided to leave. I was walking backwards, facing the boys. They were laughing at my silliness, and it made me happy. They kept saying that I was going to fall and made fun of me. Suddenly their demeanours changed, they stopped before I could decipher the look on their faces. I felt it, then I heard it, and my blood ran cold.

"Hey, baby girl!" The voice of a man I detested, whispered into my ear.

I jumped forward, away from him so quickly that I could have been the Flash. In my last attempt trying to get away from Ryan, I didnt realize that Michael and the boys were standing very close, I bumped into Michaels chest. Michael stopped me from tumbling down to the floor and held me by the hips securely. In front of us stood Ryan and The Flames looking very threatening. The dirty smirk on Ryans face made me shiver in fear. It wasnt going to end well. I started seeing black spots all around me, my lungs felt as dry as the Sahara Desert, and I began to feel a bit lightheaded.

'Now is not the time for a panic attack, dang it Autumn,' Lilly yelled inside my head.

I couldnt pull myself together; if it wasnt for Michaels secure hold on me, I would have been lying on the floor. I couldnt breathe; it felt like something was suffocating me. In my panic state, I caught James looking at me, his lips moving, but I couldnt make out the words. I couldnt focus. I was struggling.

Ryan was standing in front of me. The whole reason I had to stay away from the boys was so that he would not catch on to us, but here we were; my two worlds colliding. I was not ready. I looked at James again, my vision zooming in and out, I barely caught the word that he kept repeating. Breath. Then it clicked, I needed oxygen in my lungs.

I tried focusing on the things I could see, words I could say and stuff I could feel; a trick James had taught me when I was younger to keep me grounded. I could see James, Dustin and Shawn. I could feel Michael's arms around me, the wind in my hair and my dry mouth. The words that left my mouth were hands, shoes and arm. Slowly I started feeling better, I was breathing more, and my vision was clearing up. I was pulling myself together, but the tension in our situation only grew.

"Well, this is disappointing." Ryan huffed, casually looking around us.

I could see the calculating look in his eyes; he was up to something. He crossed his arms and smiled menacingly, addressing me. "I kind of thought you were smarter than this. You left us, and instead of getting an upgrade, you joined this." Ryan pointed at Michael, laughed as if what he had said was funny.

I clenched my fist, the nerve of this guy saying I left them, he forced me. I could feel Michaels grip on me tighten. He was trying extremely hard not to start a fight. I could feel the confused looks my best friends were sharing, directed at Ryan and me. I wanted to stand up for my friends, but my tongue felt tied up into knots, I couldnt form a single word.

Ryans nose flared, an action I used to find cute. "What? Nothing to say?" he asked a bit louder, taking a challenging step forward. He was testing Michael to see how he would react with me.

Michael, not being able to help himself, took the bait. "What do you want?" he seethed, clenching his jaw.

I could feel his hands tightening around my waist, and it was surely going to leave a bruise. I couldnt speak up for my friends, but I could at least try to lesson Michaels anger, so I placed my hands over Michaels and squeezed them. Ryans eyes followed my every move, his smirk widening.

"What?" he asked, feigning innocence. "Im just here to see how my girl is doing. I havent seen her in almost two years." Ryan pouted.

Goodness, this guy was a piece of work. Why did I love him?

Then his words registered, and my eyes widened. He just admitted to Michael and the boys that I knew The Flames; a piece of information that I wasnt ready to share with them yet. I was going to tell them but on my own terms. So much for that!

Ryan gasped, a flabbergasted look on his face. "They dont know?" he mocked, enjoying tormenting me.

"Lets go Ryan." James tried pulling Ryan back so they could leave, but Ryan was adamant as hell to ruin the small crumbs of happiness I had left.

Ryan yanked his arm away from his brother and chuckled, cruelly. "From the look on their faces, Im assuming they dont. Im not surprised, you have always been good at keeping secrets." He shrugged nonchalantly.

I opened my mouth to speak but still nothing. My heartfelt like it was going to beat out of my chest. I couldnt think clearly. The things my friends must have been thinking of was scaring me. What if their minds got clouded and they didnt want to listen to reason? What if I lost them? Why cant I freaking talk? Bags!

Ryan looked at Michael and smiled, but it wasnt heartfelt like Michaels, it was deadly. He looked down at my slightly trembling body- I really hoped Michael couldnt feel it- and raised an eyebrow. "Tell me you at least know about them, right?"

"Piss of Ryan!" Jason spat venomously.

I knew why I had issues with Ryan, but how did they know each other. Maybe there was more to these boys than I initially thought.

Ryan barked out a laugh. "The confused look on your face is priceless. You have no idea who they really are! Why dont we change that?" He looked amused, and this got me curious. Before I could question him, the boys behind me got riled up. Michael dropped his hands from me and took a step back.

"Shut the hell up Ryan!" Ashton exclaimed with anger in his voice I didnt know he possessed. I looked over to Shawn and Dustin, begging them with my eyes to do something. I wanted answers, but Id prefer getting them straight from the horses mouth.

"Come on man let's leave yea?" Shawn asked, slightly pulling Ryan back.

Mason took a threatening step forward. "Listen to your friend and leave. Final warning!" he spat, glaring at Ryan with arms crossed over his chest. He looked scary, where had my cuddly Mason gone?

Know I was confident they were hiding something from me. My friends didnt want Ryan to expose them, but from what?

Ryan raised his hands in mock surrender and took a step back. "Fine, Ill leave." He looked back at me his following words knocking my breath away. "Your loss baby girl. What am I going to tell our son now?" He smirked and winked, leaving me alone with Michael and the boys.

I froze, afraid to turn around. Max was now out in the open and what Ryan had said couldn't be unheard. The air around us was silent until it finally clicked with them.

"A freaking son?" They all yelled, simultaneously, an angry tone in each of their voices.

They started questioning me, left and right, but I couldnt focus. There was no going back after this; my friends were going to hate me.

"Autumn!" Michael yelled, his face red with anger. I felt a sob form in my throat, my eyes turning blurry.

"I-Im sorry!" I stuttered, turning around, running away. I kept running, running away from them, from my problems. The only sound buzzing in my ears was their distant cries of my name and their plead for my return. The sound that overshadowed all the others was the sound of my heartbreaking, of my soul, crying out in pain.

I didnt want to lose them, I couldnt.

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