"Sex and drugs and rock and roll, is all my brain and body need..."

__

Royce sits next to Kennedy in Calc the next day because neither Calum nor Luke shows up to class.

"Yay," Kennedy exclaims as Royce takes Luke's seat. "Let's make this a thing, yeah?"

Royce laughs, discreetly looking towards the door, waiting to see if anyone else is coming in.

"Yeah."

And all throughout class, what the girls don't know is that the boys are actually at school...they're just passed out, asleep in Ashton's car.

All four of them, Michael included.

It doesn't matter, though, because Royce wasn't going to sit next to Calum had he shown up to classes today, anyway.

Ha.

Maybe.

But then, Calum doesn't show up for Calc the next day, or the next day, and on Friday, Royce almost forgets that he's in class with her because when she sees him stroll into first period, taking his seat beside her, wordlessly, and lifts his hood over his head and places his head in his arms on his desk, it takes Royce a moment to even process what's happening.

She excuses herself from the seat she'd been populating of Luke's, walking towards the back of the classroom and sitting her tote in her old seat.

His shoulders rise and fall slowly, like he doesn't even recognize anyone's there, standing above him, watching him.

"Forgot you were in this class," she says.

Calum sits up.

"Huh?" He rubs his eyes with a fist. "What?"

Royce slips into her seat. "Shit," she exclaims, taking in the deep bags beneath his eyes. "You look a fucking mess."

"Fuck off, Royce," Calum mutters, laying his head down upon the table, again. He's staring at her, though, fighting to keep his eyes open.

"But, actually," she continues, playfulness gone from her voice, "Are you okay?"

Calum chuckles humorlessly, turning away from her, now. "Fine," he sighs, voice muffled as he lays his head back in his arms.

He's not fine.

And Royce can tell he isn't.

But, that much is obvious. He hadn't gotten sleep all week. 

Actually.

Honestly, the only reason Calum showed up to class today, was because of Father Aquinas. He'd stopped him in the hallways after school and had put his large, priestly hand upon Calum's shoulder and had spoke with his priestly voice, "You, son, have some explaining to do."

Because, what Calum didn't exactly factor into this whole, "let's-sleep-all-day-in-Ash's-car-thing," was that at his very elitist private school, whether or not his teachers actually gave a fuck, they still took attendance.

And Cal attempted to look as innocent as possible as he stared up at his councilor and replied, "About what, Sir?" Except, his eyes were red and deep and sleepless and he'd spoken mid-yawn and had he been able to grown facial hair like the rest of the boys his age, he'd have the start of a 5 o'clock shadow.

The hand upon Calum's shoulder flew to Father Aquinas' heart. "Dear Lord, Mr. Hood! You look ill! What, pray tell, is the matter?"

And what Calum would have liked to have said, was that a drug dealer had him out at ungodly hours each night because that drug dealer's daughter liked that he and his friends were kind of a band. Calum wished to tell his councilor, or anyone for that matter, that he'd been out late strumming his bass and playing songs he'd written with his best friends out at a sketch-ass nightclub on the outskirts of downtown. He wanted to explain that this nightclub was the sketchiest of sketch - the lowest of low, complete with dark lights and peeling paint and cheap strippers and a lot of illegal substance abuse that he had to witness for at least three hours each night, starting, when their shift began, at 1 AM.

Calum needed the school's councilor to pray a little extra for Jesus to return and save him from Snake, because this "favor" that Michael owed really didn't have to do anything with him, and Calum was beyond exhausted and beyond worn out and beyond annoyed because Michael was an idiot and it had only been the first week.

Calum was ready to quit, but he did not know how.

Who the hell could get a drug dealer off their backs?

Calum seriously did not know.

And so, he sits in class beside Royce in a bit of a haze. He's half - scratch that, he's mostly - asleep, and he just wants to go to bed and doesn't know how he's gonna make it through the rest of the day. He doesn't know how to keep Father Aquinas off his ass about his tardies and he doesn't know why the hell he sees Royce and always wants to push her against the wall and make-out with her.

Especially when she isn't trying to be seen with him.

Fuck that.

Calum yawns again. "S'it Friday, yet?" He slurs, eyes blinking slowly.

And Royce notes how an equally tired-looking Luke slides into the seat she'd been preoccupying of his next to Kennedy. 

Dammit, she grunts as Royce now, moves her bag and slips beside Calum at their desk in the back.

She sighs. "Un-fucking-fortunately."

"Y'know," Calum smirks, "most normal girls would be happy that it's Friday, Princess."

She turns to him. "Normal girls don't have to worry about shitty family dinners," she narrows her eyes, because Dina's supposed to come over tonight and that shit had her stressed, "Einstein."

And Calum actually laughs. A little chuckle finds its way from his lips and Royce's eyebrows go up.

"Are you laughing?" She asks, as Sister Mary Magdalene enters the classroom. "Are you actually laughing at me right now?"

Calum only stares at her. He's fighting to keep his eyes open as he shakes his head against the desk and class begins before them.

"What?" He shrugs, burying his head in his arms. "Fuck you," and his voice is muffled as he adds, "You're funny."

Royce kind of smiles to herself, forcing herself to pay attention to the class beginning and not the boy at her side.
__

"Ready, Royce?"

Royce lets out a sigh as she trails behind Paige and Tobe towards Paige's car.

"As I'll ever be, I guess," she replies.

"Don't be dramatic, Pops," Paige says, with an eye-roll. "This is needed, okay? Dina just misses you, is all."

"Says you," Royce grits, because she's trying not to snap. It is the end of the day and all she has to do now, is make it through the night. "It's been twelve years and now she misses me? Get the fuck outta here with that, Paige!"

"Cal."

"Uh...?"

"Cal. Calum? Calpernia. California. Caldoni-?"

"Huh?" Calum asks, turning his head abruptly from Royce and her siblings as they head towards that white Audi. "What the hell, Ash?"

Ashton looks smug, arms folded across his chest as he sits behind his steering wheel. His mate had been staring out the window, brow furrowed as his eyes trailed after Royce as they crossed the lot of the school.

Ashton lifts his brows. "Royce Greene, huh?" He chuckles. "Knew it."

"What about her?" Calum snaps, attention now on Ashton when before, it was on Royce. She looked upset, that's why he was staring, sheesh.

Ashton is still smiling that smug smile of his.

He shrugs, "Oh, nothing."

"Ashton," Calum clenches his teeth, "fucking say it."

"What's there to say?" Ashton giggles. "What's there to say, Cal Pal?"

"Shut the fuck up, Ashton! What about Royce, huh?"

"Oh!" He bats his lashes and places a hand on his chest. "Oh, so you're on a first-name basis, too?" He giggles again, nodding. "I wonder who'll hit first...you and Royce or Luke and Kennedy..."

And Calum turns his gaze back out the window as his frown deepens. He watches Paige pull the car from the lot and he thinks it can't be that obvious. He and Royce cannot be that fucking obvious.

"Fuck you. There's nothing going on."

"What?" Ashton exclaims "I'm proud of ya, y'know. She's like, a real quality girl, isn't she? You like her," he pauses, "don't you?"

And before Calum can answer, Ashton nods approvingly. "I'm surprised, really...I mean, it never takes Luke this long to fuck. I mean, we're nearly a month into school and he still hasn't hooked up with Kenn? And you? I've never seen you hang around a girl longer than it takes to get off," Ashton wipes away a fake tear as Calum scowls. "My boys're growin' up so fast..."

Calum deadpans. "We're in calc, together, Ash. That's it."

"But," he grins, "but, is it, though?"

"Yeah," he replies. "It is. So to answer your question, Luke'll be the one to hit first 'cause Royce and I don't have anything going on," he says, shooting his friend a tired glare. "Now, shut the fuck up."

"Have, or had?" Ash asks. "There's a difference."

And for a moment, Calum falters, the question tripping him up.

Ashton giggles louder.

"Fuck you, Ash," he scowls. "There's nothing going on."

"Hey," Ashton lifts his hands in surrender, as both Michael and Luke approach the car. "It's whatever you say, mate," he grins. "Whatever you say..."
__

"Vodka and Redbull," Ashton exclaims over the loud music in the speakers, thumping throughout Snake's nightclub. One thing Calum had to say, the man definitely had multiple streams of income. "And just keep pouring the Redbull," he says, motioning as if he's upturning a bottle. "Yep," he winks, as the girl over the counter fixes his drink. "Just keep it coming...Keep it coming or else I'll pass out onstage and you'll have to give me mouth to mouth, or something."

"Don't think I'd mind that," says the girl, as she slides him his drink.

"Oh, yeah?" Ashton asks, leaning further on the counter.

"Yeah," she grins, wiping the bar and turning to the next customer. "It's on the house, by the way. Snake says you guys get your drinks free," she winks. "So, don't be a stranger."

And Ashton grins after her. "I won't," he calls, as Luke and Calum all snort and hide laughter over their own drinks.

"Nice one," Calum nods, as Ashton turns to his friends and scowls.

"What?" Ashton exclaims. "What's wrong with her?"

"What's wrong?" Calum laughs.

"She's like, she's too old for you, mate," Luke says.

Ashton shrugs. "She's like, twenty-something tops."

"She's definitely not," Luke laughs.

"Doesn't even matter, 'cause you're a kid, mate."

"I'm a man," Ashton says, because he had to keep reminding everyone that he was eighteen and they could all suck his dick. "I'm a proper adult, so you can all suck my dick."

"Or not," states Emma, shuddering as she and Michael join the boys at the bar. The lights dim as the boys prepare to go onstage, and the waitresses and call-girls mill around taking orders and serving drinks. "We don't know where that's be-"

Ashton's smile immediately falters. "You guys've really got to warn me when the spawn of Satan comes anywhere in the vicinity, okay?" He interrupts, "Thanks, lads."

Michael snorts as Emma glares viciously at Ash.

"C'mon, then," he says, pulling Ashton away from the tiny blonde. "Let's get this show started, yeah?"

"Yeah, so I can go home," says Luke, rubbing his eyes. "And sleep until-"

"Next week when you play again," Emma replies smugly. And she lifts a brow, "Unless you wanna take your hours up with my dad."

Ashton kicks at the wall. "Why can't we play weekends like real bands?"

"Yeah," Calum adds, 'cause this whole, 'stay-out-during-the-week-shit' was getting really old, really fast. They weren't even real adults, no matter what Ash wanted to say. They were only high school students trying to get their lives together and survive junior year. This wasn't fair.

"Because," Emma sticks out her tongue, "real bands perform during the weekend. You guys aren't that good."

"So, I can go home then?" Calum retorts. Sooner or later his mum's not going to believe that he's sleeping over at Michael's every night. Sooner or later, she's going to find out that he's got a job at a place he shouldn't be. "It's Friday night. Technically," he pokes out his lip, "it's the weekend. I oughta just leave then, shouldn't I?"

And before Emma can respond with a smart-ass comment of her own, Michael's dragged Calum by the elbow.

"What?" Calum grits out, because he's over this whole situation. "Thought I was going home."

"Look," Michael begins, "I get you don't wanna be here-"

"Yeah, no shit."

"But, c'mon, mate. It could be so much worse."

"For you, Mikey," he snaps. "I don't buy from Snake, in case you've forgotten. This is your shit that I've gotta fuckin' pay for!"

Michael runs a hand across his face. "We're not doing this just for Snake, Calum!"

Ashton steps in. "Then, what the fuck're we doing it for, Mikey?"

And like that, the conversation is interrupted as the manager motions from behind a heavy curtain for the boys to follow him, "You're up, guys," he says, just like he'd been saying for the last few nights. And now, everyone's on edge and pissed they're even doing this in the first place, as they take up their instruments and make their way onto the stage so they can hurry up and get this show over with and go the fuck to sleep.

__

"I'm outta here," Calum announces as he lifts his bass over his head and shakes his sweaty hair from his eyes. "Don't look for me this weekend, 'cause I'm gonna be sleep."

"Same," agrees Luke, as he follows behind Calum backstage. "I'm literally going to sleep until I just physically cannot."

"And I'm gonna be at the bar," says Ashton, as he peers from backstage out into the crowd. "Y'think my girl's still working? Think my future wife is-"

"Not here," finishes Calum, as Luke snorts.

Ashton hurls his drumsticks their way. "Let me find love, dammit."

"How 'bout you just take us home first?" Luke suggests, yawning with a stretch. "Dunno, just a suggestion."

"What happened to letting me find love?"

"I can't be here, mate."

"Me either," Calum whines. "Let's go."

"Aw, c'mon," Emma grins. "Why not stay awhile?" She turns to Michael. "Don't leave yet."

He shrugs. "Who says we were gonna leave?"

Luke raises his hand above his head. "Me."

"Yeah," Calum nods. "I did, too."

And Calum quickly turns to Ashton. "C'mon, mate," he repeats. "Let's go."

Ashton pouts. "One drink?"

Luke rolls his eyes. "Come on, Ash!"

And Ashton clasps his hands together. "Come on, guys! My future wife's out there!"

Luke grabs at his hair. "You don't even know her fuckin' name, Ash!"

"That's why I've gotta talk to her and ask! Duh."

Calum and Luke both groan again. 

"Just one drink," Ashton says.

Calum lifts a brow. "You promise?"

"Scout's honor," He raises his hand. "You have my word."

Ashton orders one drink.

And then proceeds to flirt for the next hour and a half. 

"God, can we fucking go?" Calum groans, rising with a stretch. Luke is half-asleep - or maybe fully asleep, he's snoring - at his side, as the two boys lounge tiredly upon the cheap cushioned chairs running around bar. "Luke," he says, nudging him. "Luke."

He jerks forward. "Huh..?"

"Get up, mate. Let's get outta here."

Luke sits up. "Ash's done?" 

"No, but-"

"Fuck!" Luke exclaims, falling back against the seat. "That's it; I'm calling Kenn."

"No," exclaim both Calum and Michael, who has rejoined the boys at their table, Emma at his side. 

"Oh, fuck no, Lucas," Michael states. "You're not calling Kennedy."

"I hate to agree with anything Mikey says," Calum adds, "but getting Kennedy involved in this, is just  not a good idea."

Luke stares at Calum, face frozen in shock. "Really, Cal? All I want's a ride home."

"Yeah, but-"

"But?" Luke retorts. 

"But-"

"But, what, Calum?" Luke challenges.

"But..."

But, what if she tells Royce?

And Calum shouldn't give a fuck about Royce or what she thinks about him being here, in a sketchy place like this, but he does and he can't quite understand why he does. It shouldn't matter what she thinks about him but this is Royce Greene, and she's like, so much better than this. She's so far above the people in here and a place like this that he doesn't want her to think that he's in any way affiliated with these people and this place. 

Luke scowls. "Fuck off, both of you. You don't have to come, but I'm leaving," and he grabs for his guitar and his phone and shrugs on his jacket and Calum thinks maybe, maybe he'll take Luke up on his offer and let Kennedy drop him off at home. 

Luke's thumbs move furiously across his keyboard. 

"Don't tell her about this, Luke," Michael grits. 

Luke nearly laughs. "Tell her what, Mike? That I play guitar before a strip show? Or that I've been drinking all night?" He demands. "Which one?"

And before anyone can say anything, Luke pauses in front of Calum. "She's on her way. Y'sure you don't wanna come?"

"I-"

"He's sure," Emma says at once, pushing Calum back down onto one of the sticky seats.

Calum pulls a face as Luke laughs. "I'll be outside if you change your mind," he yawns. "She'll be here in fifteen."

And Calum struggles to get up because he'd rather go home than stay here, no matter what Royce might think. "Gross, Emma!"

"Relax, Calum," she says with rolled eyes. "You're thinking too much. Calm the fuck down, already."

And Calum is just so exhausted, he watches through lidded eyes as Luke picks his way out of the club. 

Emma lights a cigarette. "Sucks that Luke's leaving," she says, "'cause you know what'd be fun right now?" She smirks, her face illuminated ominously beneath the darkness. "Drugs," she says, adding, "and a whole lotta sex."

Calum rises, "Whoa, whoa, whoa," he says at once, as a waitress makes her way towards them. "Who said I wanted to have se-"

"Shut the fuck up, Calum," Emma groans, pushing him back down upon the sticky plastic loveseat. "Thought I told you already, this is how things work here."

And Emma grabs the girl's wrist. "Pia," she says, "this is Calum. He needs a drink," she says, as the scantily clad blonde grins, heading towards the bar. "'Cause he needs to fuckin' relax."

"Emma," he grunts, "I'm going home."

"With Ashton," she finishes. "When he's ready, so chill," and Emma motions towards the bar, where Ash is still talking to that chick. "And he's not ready, so have another drink."

"Emma-"

"Chill the fuck out, Calum," Emma exclaims, as the waitress from before brings over a tray full of shots. "Seriously," she says, "a drink won't kill you."

And as the girl places the tray upon the table before them, and Michael and Emma both reach for shots, waiting for him, he thinks that maybe, maybe he'll take Emma up on her shit.

"After this," he says, as a glass is placed into his hand, "I'm leaving."

And Emma only rolls her eyes as the boys flanking her raise their glasses to their lips. 

She tilts her own, laughing to herself. 

"Sure."

__

ashton knows...or does he? heheehheheheheeh.

can't royce and calum just live their lives like, god.

sorry this took so long for me to write. i'll make it up to you (or i'll try hehe) with the next chapter coming hopefully not to long from now...

comment and vote y'all.

sex and drugs and rock and roll || the blockheads