January 20th
*Laurel's P.O.V*

"Meg!" I smile when I spot her. She drops her suitcases and opens her arms so she can hug me. "I missed you!"

"I missed you too, darling" She kisses my cheek.

I've always looked at her as a crazy older sister.

"How was your flight?"

"Considering it was Delta... not that bad" She chuckles. Megan absolutely hates Delta Airlines.

"Hi Megan" Riley beams, taking one of her bags. "I hope you feel comfortable at our apartment"

"Don't worry, Riley, it's all good. I can't believe I finally graduated!"

"And we are most definitely going out to celebrate that" I nudge her. "I'm really close as well, I think six more months."

Riley and I bought ourselves a Toyota for Christmas. It's honestly so good not having to take tram, cab or bus to go wherever we want to. We tug Megan's bags into the trunk and I drive us back to Diamond Heights. During the journey Megan won't shut up about applying for job offers in California, specially in Los Angeles.

"You know that living there has always been my dream, Laurel" She turns to me and I nod, smiling. "I'm so excited! Of course, I would love to have a job here in San Fran as well, but LA is my priority"

When we get home I take Megan to my room, which now we both are going to share for the month she's staying with us. She goes take a shower while Riley and I cook something for lunch.

I truly suck at cooking, to be honest, but Riley has a true talent. Actually now I kind of remember someone just like her on Junior Masterchef.

We are on the table eating in silence when Megan speaks out.

"Laurel, I completely forgot to tell you! Guess who played in Charlotte last month?"

"I'm sure it wasn't Acadaca" I reply, giggling at the sound of the word I learned in Australia.

"That's a very funny way to say it, but no. I've heard ACDC won't perform anymore, but that's another tale. Anyway, it was 5sos"

"Oh" I raise my eyebrows, uncomfortable. "Cool. Did you, did you attend to the concert?"

"Nah, I couldn't. Finals week. But I've heard everything about it. There was this guy in college who did and he said they played the songs of the new album and others from previous ones. He also mentioned that they made a cover of Beautiful Goodbye by Maroon 5."

I choke. Beautiful Goodbye? It reminds me so many things.

"Cool" I respond again, taking a sip from my water.

Megan glances at Riley and she clears her throat.

"Since we're talking about them, I've heard that they also covered in New York. A song called Hey There Delilah"

I stare suspiciously at them and they are looking back at me in expectation.

"I'm sorry, am I missing something in here?"

"Are you?" Megan shrugs. "The guy who went to their show in Charlotte also mentioned that Luke said something about good memories he's got from the last time the boys performed there"

"You guys can't be serious right now" I massage my temples. "It's been half a year since Luke and I broke up, I've been moving on"

"Did you at least consider trying to solve this with him? Because I think he wants to talk with you" comments Riley.

"Yeah, I did. And he changed his number, which means he probably doesn't want me to reach him."

"Maybe it wasn't because of you, sweetie" Megan rubs my hand on top of the table. "I feel terrible for what happened between you guys, specially because I was a part of it."

"You're not gonna blame yourself for the H thing again, are you? Gosh, Megan we already discussed this. It wasn't your fault, it was Austin's. And we are not even talking, so it's all good."

"Regardless of what you may say I still think it was. And I want to make it up to you."

"So many feelings" Riley chuckles. "I'm glad we are already eating, otherwise I'd have to make me popcorn to watch all this drama"

I roll my eyes and Megan sighs. The room falls into a deadly silence until Riley breaks the ice again.

"Alright, Laurel, I love you but I'm with Megan at this. I get the feeling that you're running away from the problem?, and this ain't you; you're one of the most determined and ambitious people I know. Why did you give up?"

"Sometimes in life we have to give up on things" I shrug. "And it's long gone, girls, I think we both moved on. He's always seen with Amanda, anyway"

Megan smirks at me.

"What?"

"You just proved me that you haven't moved on. Why do you keep on getting news from his life?"

"In case you don't recall it, Luke is a celebrity and his face is all over the magazines. I guess it's pretty easy to find out who he's screwing" I smile ironically at her.

Riley beams.

"Okay, I guess Megan and I are thinking the same thing. Listen up, 5sos is playing here on February 5th. It's my birthday, in case you don't remember. So, as a birthday gift you could give me I want you and Megan to attend the concert with me."

I groan.

"Really? What if I don't want to?"

"It's your call, I guess, but think carefully before you drop the deal" answers Megan. "Why don't you search for videos from the show in Charlotte? See with your own eyes what I was talking about, and if you think it's worth it you accept Riley's offer. However, if you want to lose the opportunity to do things right, be my guest. Just don't come to me crying because you regret not doing anything about it."

I glare at both my friends.

"This is called emotional blackmail, and I'm pretty sure it's a crime"

"Not exactly, lawyer speaking." Megan smiles triumphant. "Go look for the videos already and stop being stubborn!"

I sigh, standing up to wash my plate. After I'm done Riley and Megan decide they are going to watch a movie as I think about my options. I lay myself in bed, facing the ceiling. My feelings for Luke have most definitely changed, this I know. But what kind of change was that? Am I less in love or did I simply learn to bury everything in order to remain living without him?

Curious, I unlock my phone and open YouTube. I search for 5sos' concert in Charlotte, and I end up on a channel in which the person recorded the entire show and divided it in 6 videos.

After watching 5, the part I've been waiting for only shows up on the 6th. Luke clears his throat and says something I'm not very sure about, making everyone scream. After that, he turns to the boys and I can see Calum nodding at him.

"We've got so many good memories from Charlotte, you guys are an awesome crowd, and we could never thank you enough for that. We'd like to cover a song that means a lot to me, specially when I think of this city"

And there it is, Beautiful Goodbye. My heart is beating like crazy and my breathing is getting unsteady. Not satisfied I look for New York's concert and there they go, singing Hey There Delilah. Boston, This Is Gospel. Trenton, One Call Away.

"It can't be just a coincidence" I whisper to myself, continuing my research.

By the end of it I throw my phone away, hiding my face in my hands.

"Why the hell did he change his number then?" I whine, trying to think. Before I take drastic measures such as calling the boys, I go on his Twitter - which in now unblocked, by the way - to look for something. Gladly he's not much of a tweeting guy so it's easy for me to scroll through his page for several months. I let out a relieved sigh when I read his post about losing his phone. So he didn't change his number because of me, after all.

Still, if he wanted me to know he would have texted or even called.

Checking on Luke's account made me realize something: even though it's been a very long time since we last chatted, I feel like we never stopped talking. I catch myself laughing at his posts and literally imagining him saying all those things to me.

God, I miss the dude. And if I have only one chance to speak to him face to face, I'm gonna grab it and don't let go.

I rush out of my room and stop between my friends and the tv.

"Laurel, you're very pretty but I still like Ryan Reynolds best" says Megan. "Move."

"I've made up my mind." I smile, confident. "We're going to that concert."

Riley and Megan look at each other, so Riley stands up and heads towards her room. I frown as Megan remains silent, trying to hold back laughter.

A couple minutes later she's back, her hands behind her back. So she chuckles, showing me three tickets for the concert. My jaw drops.

"You little bitch!" I gasp. She laughs.

"What? Better safe than sorry. Now, shall we go shopping for clothes?"

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Tbh I'm so glad Laurel took her head off her ass and decided to grow up and face the problem. What do you think? Vote! Comment! Excited for the next update.

Stay beautiful 💗 xo