lol let's just pretend like this update didn't take like a million years and focus on the fact that its a double update ok

vote before you rEAD it's the least you can do! no i'm kidding, enjoy x

36 |  "your band sucks" (con.)

With a loud groan, Ashton throws himself back against his chair. A hand goes to his hair and with a slight frown, he mumbles, "I refuse to give Michael the satisfaction of coming up with the bands name."

We had all moved into the kitchen on account of Chelsea wanting ice cream and from where I was sitting besides Luke at the table, I leaned forward; resting my chin into the palm of hand. "I seriously don't see what the big deal is. He says he has something great and this could all be over in like two seconds if you would just ask him to tell you."

The chestnut haired boy sighs, shakes his head, and reaches forward across the table to dive his hand into the bowl of popcorn I'm eating. Some spills over the sides, and one by one I pop them into my mouth while I wait for him to finish chewing. I have half the mind to lean over and push one between Luke's smooth lips but then I realize that not only would that be inappropriate, but it would be extremely weird, so I settle for feeding myself.

Ashton swallows, dives for more and then says, "It's a huge deal, Annie."

"Guys are so complicated," Turning my head to the side to look at Michael, I rise a questioning eyebrow at him in attempt to get him to at least tell me. Taylor's sitting up on top of the the counter, eating cherries straight from the plastic container and he's positioned between her long legs. 

"Michael?" I sing, smiling.

"Not uh, I'm not saying anything." Leaning his head back against her chest, he lets her drop a single cherry into his mouth before straightening back up and smirking his red stained lips at me.

Taylor laughs, "I  was the first one to hear the name he came up with. He texted me it while I was in in the shower yesterday. I didn't see it for like a few hours, but still, I was the first one. Isn't that right, Michael? Hm, isn't it?"

Michael nods with a half shrug, and besides me Luke huffs, whispering, "All she needs to do is dangle a doggy treat in front of him and you'd think he was her bitch."

Holding back a laugh, I lean over and nudge him. Lightly pinching his wrist underneath the table, I look back up; preparing to talk again. Only, when he grabs my hand hastily intertwining our fingers I get distracted and Chelsea beats me to it, practically taking the words right out my mouth, "But why? Why is it such a huge deal?"

Her blonde hair is still damp from the rain, limply hanging over her shoulders and she flicks her head to the side, swinging the curly strands away from her blue eyed gaze, before spooning another large helping of chocolate ice cream into her mouth.

She doesn't wait to finish swallowing it before talking through a mouthful, "What if it's like really good?"

Ashton deadpans, "That's exactly what I'm afraid of! Don't you see what kind of person he is?" Hazel eyes glance over at his friend, and he frowns, "He will brag about this for as long as this band exists!"

"That is true." Michael admits, nodding smugly.

I shake my head, pretty much done with the whole thing, and I toss another handful of popcorn into my mouth, "Well, you really have three weeks. In a week, that's when the dinner takes place, and then the actual wedding two weeks after that. So if you want people to know who you are, then two weeks."

Ashton sighs and then after another minute, he looks up at me with a slight smile, tilting his head, "And then you're gonna have a brother, right?"

He knows how much I can't stand that and yet, he keeps it up. I pointedly push another piece of popcorn past my lips, and I roll my eyes, feigning annoyance, "Shut up, Ashton."

He grins, "Why?"

"Because you're annoying me," I toss a piece of popcorn at him, and I watch in amusement as he opens his mouth attempting to catch it. It hits him in his eye and he laughs, adorably, before letting it fall off onto the floor.

Luke huffs, "Make sure you pick that up, man."

Ashton looks over at him, "Sir, yes sir!" Then he leans over, disappearing out of our view for a quick second before leaning back up. He plucks it at me and it hits me in the throat, dropping down my shirt.

I laugh, "Ashton, come on!" Because of my sling, I have to loosen my fingers from Luke's grip to grab it from my bra and I throw it in the direction of the garbage can. It barely makes it, falling on the floor, and I look at Luke, "I'll get it later."

Blue eyes stare placidly at me, and I smile softly before bringing my hand back down underneath the table to grab at his hand again. Sliding my fingers through his, I gently squeeze it.

Just as I'm about to say something, Taylor cuts in, excitedly, "Wait, your mom's pregnant? Ooh, Annie you're so lucky! I love babies!"

My smile slowly fades and everyone turns to look at her. She blinks, "What?"

It's quiet for another minute, everyone silently staring at her and I shake my head before breaking the silence by pitying her and saying, "My mom isn't pregnant." Nodding my head in Luke's directions, I say, "Luke is my mom's fiancés' son. When they get married, he'll be my uh, m--"

"Brother," Ashton smiles, staring straight at me, "He'll be her brother."

After everything Luke and I have done, the thought of him ever being my brother makes me want to flush in embarrassment. Only I know it'll be too obvious if I do, so with every inch of strength in my body I fight to contain it. I mean, how weird would it be if I kissed my own brother? That's like incest, which is definitely not the case here. I shake the thought from my head and I nonchalantly lean back in my seat.

Michael laughs, bringing me out of my thoughts, "Why else would he be here? It's not like we're friends with him."

"Well, it's not like I make it my business to watch every episode of Keeping Up With The --," she stops, screwing her face up in thought and she glances at me, "-- what's your last name?"

I deadpan, "Georges. Not that you would have known that."

"Obviously," she mutters. Then she looks at him and back at me, "Plus, it's not like I was ever properly introduced to the guy!"

Besides me Luke announces, "Blondes like you are the reason these stereotypes exist." Then his chair scrapes against the floor as he pushes it back and stands up, walking over the refrigerator. "Since I want you all out of my house as soon as possible, I have a suggestion."

I knit my eyebrows together and look up at him in confusion, "You do?"

Skeptical, Ashton laughs, repeating me, "You do?"

Surprisingly, he nods and we all watch as he shoves his finger in his jean pocket, before pulling them out and waving what I'm guessing is supposed to be an invisible piece of paper around in front of his face. He smirks at us, dramatically unfolds it and skims his blue-green eyes over it.

"Mm," He hums to himself, slowly shaking his head. He looks up at us for a mere second, down at the imaginary paper and then back up again before dryly announcing, "It says 'your band sucks'. There's your suggestion, now please leave."

"Luke," I scold, "Seriously?"

"What?" He laughs, continuing his act. He balls up the fake paper and tosses it, almost as if he's shooting a basketball before dropping his arms back down at his sides, "Come on, Annie. I just said what everyone else was thinking."

I shake my head and look over at Ashton, sending him a silent apology. He shrugs, "Haters gon' hate."

"I'm not a hater," Luke sighs, "It's just that some  people are just uninteresting and they bore the hell out of me."

From the bar stool, Chelsea hums in amusement, her spoon in her mouth. Pulling it out, she licks her lips and points the utensil in his direction, "Drop dead, fighter, and  a sense of humor?" Chelsea looks at him to me and then she smirks, "Seems like a keeper to me. All in favor of swapping Abby for her brother?"

I don't bite my tongue, completely comfortable with her wit at this point. Nodding my head towards the direction of the door, I say, "You can leave."

With a roll of her eyes, she scoops more ice cream into her mouth and mutters under her breath, "Yeah because, I'm just dying  to be here, anyway."

Before I can say anything else to her, Luke cuts in again, "Please tell me you four are not who this dreaded band consists of. Because it's already bad enough that you have the main ringleader Ashley here, not to mention Goth kid."

He turns his back to us, yanking open the fridge door and I watch as leans over before taking out a bottle of water. The hem of his shirt rises, revealing a small strip of his pale skin and I look away, just as he straightens up, "I feel bad for any and everyone who'd have to sit through a whole set list watching you all shit talk your way though it."

Michael laughs and looks at me, "You know, for the most part I attempted to be chill, but now I have to ask," Leaning up, he tilts his head to side, biting his bottom lip quickly before slowly saying, "When you said," he pauses, making air quotations with his fingers, "'no drama', uh what exactly did you mean by that?"

I shake my head, already getting what he's implying, "Uh uh, none of that."

"If you must know Green Giant," Chelsea interferes, licking the back of her spoon. She stops for a second, laughs at her own joke and waves it around, "Neither one us of us girls are in this band."

"Bummer," Luke comments, amused, "At least then the presence of girls on stage would've made it somewhat more interesting. Not much, considering it'd be ... you two ... but I mean, just a little bit."

Chelsea smiles sarcastically, "Well gee, thanks. That's just real nice of you, Lance."

I can't help but laugh at her sudden change in name for him, and I shake my head.

Taylor stuffs a cherry in her mouth, and then slightly sits up, "Well, now that you've said that, I actually wouldn't mind being in th--"

Ashton scrunches his face up in disgust and looks at her, cutting her off, "Yeah no. You're definitely not gonna be in the band. I'm just gonna stop you right there, before it gets serious."

Her bottom lip juts out a bit and she wraps her arms around Michael's neck, leaning down and pressing her forehead against his temple, muttering, "Babe?"

He sighs and then gushes out, "I'm with Ash on this one, sorry T."

Before she has a chance to reply, Luke is talking again. He looks so calm and relaxed leaning back against the fridge door, a bottle of water dangling from between his pointer and ring finger. "So, you have a band with literally two people in it?"

Hesitantly, Ashton nods. "Well, for now anyway. I'm on the drums and Michael plays guitar. We really just need a bassist, because Michael also sings."

I look at Michael, surprised, "You do?"

He tilts his hand side to side, "A little."

"He does," Taylor nods enthusiastically, "I was the first one to hear him. Right Micheal? Wasn't I?"

Green eyes briefly close and he shakes his head, "I'm pretty sure my shower head was first. Then maybe that blue hairbrush we have, and possible th--,"

Without thinking I blurt out, "You know, Luke sings and plays the guitar too?"

Chelsea laughs, "Yeah, no one knew that, because no one knows Luke."

"Well he does, right Luke?" When I look over him, blue eyes are staring irritatingly over at me. I raise my eyebrow, "What, you do."

And just as Luke starts to say something, he's cut off. And not by Ashton or any of his plus four. But instead, Andrew. He steps in the kitchen, singing, and then we he notices he has company he trails off. "Oh, hi!"

"Let me guess," Chelsea comments, "You're the fiancé that helped to spawn Green Giant, over here?"

His blue eyes narrow in confusion and then he shrugs, with a half smile, "The only thing I got from that was fiancé, which in this case is correct. Who would you be?"

She drops her spoon in her bowl and holds it out to him, "I would be, finished." Then she jumps down from her stool and heads to the doorway calling out over her shoulder, "Abby, I'm using your laptop."

Andrew looks down at her bowl and then up at Taylor. He looks confused, very. Granted, he still smiles, "You must be Abby, then?"

"Nope. Taylor," she smiles. Pushing Michael forward, she hops off the counter, laces their fingers together and heads to the door, momentarily stopping to grab my bowl of popcorn off the table, "We'll be in the living room."

With just Ashton left, Andrew looks over at him. His face changes into relieved recognition and he holds his hand out, "Ashton, right?"

Ashton grins, dimples forming, and then he jumps up to shake his hand, "Nice to see you again, Andrew. Hope you don't mind, we're just hanging out with Annie."

"Not all at," He shakes his head, heading over to the refrigerator. Luke steps out of the way, and just as I start to suggest an appropriate time for them to go, like I would with my mother, he says, "I hope you all like chicken stir fry because that's what Claire wants for dinner."

Luke huffs, "Dad, they're not staying for d--,"

"Stir fry is perfect, Andrew," I say, cutting him off. "We'll be in the living room if you need help with anything. Just shout." Motioning for Ashton to follow me, I grip Luke's shirt and tug him out of the kitchen.

---

AN - Double update, but before you keep reading, check out these books.

slip ups | c.h. - Calum Hood is by far the most popular kid in school. You either love him or you fear him, there is no real in between. Elizabeth James made sure to steer clear of anything dealing with him. But will one major slip up change her life forever? stories_over_reality

lets pretend that never happened - What happens if you live with four super cute, talented famous guys who watch you like a hawk and treat you like a baby?

malie-eloise

too late // m.g.c -but i'm always too late, i'm always too late, see you but i always hesitate 5sosaf_fangirl

you're so cute // lrh - For the first time in her life she felt wanted, she felt loved and she felt happy vansxbands

night changes - After waiting for over a year, Elizabeth and her sister finally get to go to the concert of their dreams. As the boys take their final bow, the girls prepare themselves for their drive home, completely unaware of the future run-in with their idols that's about to take place. justelizabeth

video games // michael clifford - "it's not an addiction, it's a repetitive hobby."{lowercase intended} lukenirvana

find me // calum hood -  Calum hood is new to this school and is bullied for being POC. One day, during lunch he meets a mysterious girl with a weird diary. He finds markings in the diary that are quite suspicious. A lanky blonde boy follows Calum and this girl around. They don't knowwho he is but they better find out quick because once they do, everything will change. haneenie

stay by my side | l.r.h - "Promise me you won't leave me," I whisper barely audible. "Emeree, I will always stay with you. No matter what happens." He says. crazy_jojogirl

hoodwinked - Trouble. Deceit. Love. Fun. Action. Money. Crime. Hoodwinked. racists