*Luke's P.O.V*

I love being on the road with the guys, my funniest moments are when I'm around them; also, the crew is truly amazing and does an amazing job as taking care of what we cannot. But really I don't know what I would do without Ashton, Calum and Michael.

"If there's something I truly love, it's spaghetti." Ashton sighs while we're on the plane flying to Italy. "Mamma mia! I'm gonna eat so much not even a plane will be able to carry me anymore."

"How will you manage to play the drums? You won't be able to raise your arms." Michael raises his eyebrow.

"Don't underestimate the things that I will do." Ashton sings Adele's lyrics.

I check my phone to see if there's any messages from Laurel. She was just telling me about a new project in college but the wifi on the plane stopped working for a moment. I waited about 10 minutes and looked at it again. Wifi signal: checked; Text: not available.

"Luke?!" I hear Calum calling me, a little annoyed.

"What is it?" I roll my eyes.

"Stop using your fucking phone, for the Lord's sake!" He slaps his own face, roughly pulling down his cheeks, making his eyes goggle.

"Am I disturbing you?!" I spit.

"For the record, yes you are."

"What's so interesting about your phone anyways that you never seem to put it away?" Michael wants to know.

"Nothing, I was just talking to Laurel and wanted to know if she replied my last text. Jeez, stop being such a pain in the ass!" I lock my phone and put it inside my pocket, turning to face the window.

"Chill, man" Ashton laughs. "We just wanted to know. Oh, by the way, we never really had the chance to talk about her and her friend, had we?"

"Talk about what?" I narrow my eyes at him.

"I don't know, about you not telling us you gave her two tickets and backstage, for example." Calum shrugs.

"Or the fact you didn't mention the fan you were talking about that day is so enchanting" Michael adds with a smirk.

"You guys would find out on your own. And besides, what was there to tell? She helped me out, I wanted to return the favor so I did what I could. Don't tell me you didn't like her."

"We never said that." Calum chuckles. "She's great, we do like her."

"Yeah, we had a fun time around her and... What was her name again?" Ashton asks us.

"Megan?"

"Exactly! We had a very fun time."

"Then I don't know what all this is about." I shrug.

"Don't you think you're trusting her way too much?" Calum asks me.

"Yeah like, I know I told you to give her a shot, but isn't this more than that?" Ashton agrees.

"She's my friend." I reply, naturally.

"She's friends with a famous musician. Don't you think she could take some advantage on that?"

"She could've done it already. She didn't. No strange numbers appeared on my phone, no weird friend requests on my Facebook, no articles on magazines. It's totally under control."

"You added her on Facebook?" Michael questions in disbelief. "I thought that account was just for the closest people."

"And it is! Man, I talk to her all the fucking time, she's a great friend to me. I like her. But of course I'm not letting her sneak in every single detail about my life."

"Don't get us wrong, Luke" Ashton twists his nose. "It's just that we're worried this might have happened way too fast."

"You guys should give a break." Calum tells me, serious.

"What are you guys talking about? Give a break from what exactly? She's a friend, it's not like we're making out anytime soon" I mock.

"Does it mean you don't feel attracted to her? At all?" Michael smirks raising one of his eyebrows.

I remain silent for a moment, choosing the words.

"No, I uh... I mean yeah, she's hot and stuff" I stutter. "But it's not like I would do something. I remember what happened last time I got involved in a relationship. Lesson learned!"

"Great, because I would easily hook up with her if I got the chance."

I glare at him, biting the inner part of my cheeks. I remembered the day I met her, when I assumed her favorite band member was Michael. What the fuck, dude?!

"Okay. Enough of that. I'm gonna prove you guys everything's fine." I grab my phone and turn it off completely, handing it to Calum before raising my hands in the air. "See? Peace offer. Now if flight attendants offer food get a Coke for me and whatever you get for yourselves. I'm taking a nap."

"All right, man" Ashton tells me, and so I turn my back to them and face the window, waiting for my eyes to slowly close.

Italy is great. It's my third time here and it always seems like the first; the fans are this welcoming every time. They sing along to every lyric of every song, even the old ones. I'm glad to realize we've grown up with our supporters, I can see teenagers on the crowd but also girls at our age, and as artists it's an amazing accomplishment.

After performing in Rome we head to our dressing room to have dinner. The guys won't shut up about this girl they saw in the audience, but I don't feel like joining the conversation. Something is bugging me.

I can't help but think about what they told me about Laurel. True, I trust her a lot, but it's not like I'm crossing the line... Or is it? Maybe because she treats me like a normal person I end up feeling like one, and it makes me forget who I am in the music industry, it makes me forget what my job is about. I can't just walk around giving away my number to every fan I get to meet that touches my heart, that would be totally irresponsible, it could turn into a mess I wouldn't be able to fix later. Why, in God's name, did I ask for Laurel's number if I knew it was wrong? And why do I get the feeling I should keep on talking to her? What's so different about her anyway? She's nothing new, just another fan who thinks she knows me and understands me. Or does she really understand m--

"Luke?" I hear Calum's voice, bringing me back to reality. "Hey, bro, you're awake!"

"We thought you'd gotten yourself into some strange self-coma." Michael laughs.

"What's wrong? You seem out of orbit today." Ashton asks me.

"Oh" I turn my attention to the plate in front of me. "There's nothing wrong, I'm just tired, that's all."

"Are you sure? It's not about what we told you on the plane, is it?"

"What the hell man, no, I'm fine!"

"Okay, if you say so." Ashton shrugs.

"Just a friendly reminder: you don't need to ban social media from your life, Luke." Calum tells me. "You haven't even touched your phone since our conversation about Laurel."

"Maybe because there's nothing to look at on my phone!" I roll my eyes.

"You never know. What if A texted you?" Michael suggests.

"When are we gonna stop with the A thing? It's over, she's moved on and so have I." I reply, finishing my meal.

"I don't really think she moved on, man" Ashton giggles. "She's always trying to reach you when she can."

"Correction: when she feels like it."

"Still she does, Luke. Don't you miss her? Not even a little?"

"The more days go by the less I miss her."

"Well, maybe you can light up the spark again." Calum says. "Why don't you text her? After Italy we're heading back to LA for the break we need so freaking much! You guys could hang out."

"Why are you trying to push me to her? For what I remember you always disapproved our relationship." I raise an eyebrow.

"It's not like we disapproved" Ashton draws quotation marks in the air. "We just thought she was selfish, spoiled, arrogant and a few things more."

"But we never questioned your love for her or her love for you." Calum punches my arm. "Maybe we're feeling a little guilty for your breakup. Why don't you give her another chance?"

"C'mon, Cal. It was not your fault we broke up" I tell him.

"I think we're somehow responsible for that" Michael stands up and grabs my phone, throwing it to me. "So text her. What could possibly go wrong? There's no way she says no to you. I've got the feeling you're in need to get laid."

We all laugh and I look at my phone, thinking for a moment. I had turned it off 1 day ago and resisted the urge to use it this whole time. My sacrifice was useless.

"Fuck it." I groan, causing the boys to scream at me things like outta boy! and don't forget the condom!

When the phone is done loading I unlock it and open my messages. There were one from my mom, one from Jack and three from Laurel.

Shit, I completely forgot there would be texts from her.

I sigh and close my eyes. Gosh, I really do need to reply, it's been more than 24 hours, I left her hanging for enough time.

I go out the dressing room to walk around backstage for a while, so I can read my texts in peace.

"I hope everything's okay, sweetheart! We love you x" my mom says.

"all is fine, thanks mom. love you guys too!" I reply.

"Hey man how's life? Will you come back home for xmas?" my brother asks me.

"tiring af, how's yours? Idk dude, xmas is still 4 months away lol" I reply. Jeez, what question is this right now, Jack?

And then I finally scroll to Laurel's messages.

"It's about finding the mistake on the genome and trying to correct it using some drugs we've got to test in the lab. If it works it can save tons of lives, how cool is this?! 😱😱"
"Also the good news is that there's this professor here coordinating a program about Cancer and he asked me to take on genetic heritage studies!!!!! I've been paid for this shit!!!!! I'm so so so excited u have no idea"
"Omg I'm just talkin bout myself sorry!! I hope ur having a safe trip and that you guys enjoy every single moment on stage. Don't forget that ur amazing and u deserve all of this! 😘"

I laugh at myself. She always sends me this huge texts telling every single detail about every single subject. I feel happy for her, she got something she seemed to want for ages. But the fact she cared about my trip and the show really warms my heart. She is just too cute.

Even so, I can't forget what the boys told me, and I can't let anyone ruin what I built.

"hey im sorry it took so long to answer. been busy. im really happy 4 u laurel, hope everything works out on this new stage of urs ☺️ and yeah everything was just fine thanks"

Just like that, I text her. Maybe I need some time for me, maybe I'm just mesmerized because I had actual conversations with a normal girl for a month and it made me feel like old and unknown Luke who didn't really have to worry about paparazzi and being on the spotlight all the time. But I need to go back to reality now: this is the life I've chosen. I've picked my own way and path. Who's old Luke anyways?

I look up and see a lot of people walking back and forth, turning off the lights, the stereos and curling thick cables. That is all for me, I'm not ordinary.

"hey there. miss u 😘" I type, and then press "send". Hanging out with my ex couldn't be so bad, and after all, who am I trying to fool?

I fucking miss her like hell.

---
And with that I end chapter five. Is it okay? I feel like I messed up a little haha even so that's the best I could think of for now.

Comments, suggestions, let me know what you think pleeease, it helps a lot. Also vote if you like it because it feels like a big bear hug you're giving me!

Peace xx <3