My girlfriend's bitchin' 'cause I always sleep in

She's always screamin' when she's callin' her friend

She's kinda hot though

✰

When Arlo agreed to get dragged across the street to Calum's house to watch the boys form a band, she was completely unaware of the fact that she would become the unofficial manager.

They didn't exactly give her a choice, despite the number of times she warned them that she had no idea what being the manager of a band entails. They didn't really care about her inexperience and she wasn't one to argue, so that was that.

Calum's basement had been transformed into a makeshift practice area. Arlo had never been down there before today, but she knew it was without a doubt off-limits during parties. Calum's parent's bedroom wasn't even spared from the wrath of his parties, but the basement was.

The basement was complete with several instruments, a mini-fridge, a speaker system, a few couches, and even a makeshift stage. The "stage" was really a couple of large pieces of wood on top of cinder blocks, but it worked.

It was pretty safe as long as no one stepped within a foot of the edge of the stage. Then, you might risk upsetting one of the wooden boards that failed to be attached to the supporting cinder blocks in any way.

As badly as Calum wanted to jump into things, Ashton and Michael seemed more interested in the technical side of things. So, after a good twenty minutes of debating in which Arlo sat quietly on the couch and read the book Luke gave her- they decided to lay down the foundation of their new band.

The boys found an old table in Calum's garage along with a few chairs and drug them downstairs, setting up a makeshift meeting place.

Ashton sits at the head of the table, his arms crossed across his chest as he furrows his brows in thought. Michael spins a penny on the table as he too seems to be thinking way too hard about what Arlo considered to be trivial matters. Calum, on the other hand, claimed he couldn't think while sitting down and paces the room.

As for Arlo, they'd slapped a notepad down in front of her and shoved a pen in her hand, trusting her to jot down any good ideas that resulted from their spitballing.

"Three-person bands are awkward." Calum whines, already fed up. The boy was not used to things not going his way and he was easily frustrated. "Sure, we have a drummer, I'm on bass, and Mike is on guitar but we need a frontman."

"Do you know any frontmen?" Michael asks Arlo with a wince, to which she shakes her head no. He then redirects his attention to Ashton, who also has nothing.

Arlo frowns, not liking the boys getting frustrated at something she was pretty sure was supposed to be fun. "Why don't we talk about things you guys can decide on right now? Like practice times or the songs you're gonna sing?" She suggests gently.

The boys all nod in agreement, mentally switching gears.

"We are not going to be a cover band." Ashton declares, his lips curling up in disgust.

Michael sighs, running his hand through his bright red hair in frustration. "Well, do you guys know how to write a song? Because I sure don't and trust me- I've tried."

"We haven't tried together." Calum points out, stopping his pacing momentarily to shoot Arlo a glance. "Write that down."

Write songs.

Arlo jots it down quickly, doing her best to be supportive of her newfound friends' passions when in reality, all she really wants to do is finish the last fifty or so pages of the book Luke gave her. Then, she'd have an excuse to go buy another one from his store.

"Don't we need a name first?" Michael asks, his eyes narrowing on his friends. In his humble opinion, they were beginning to get way too ahead of themselves and it was making his head spin.

Calum waves him off as he finally sits down at the table. "That'll come later, Mikey. Probably like in a dream or something."

"Okay, let's think." Ashton says, his fingertips pressing to either side of his temple. "What do we want to write about?"

Calum hums in thought, beginning to look around the room like the blank walls and empty beer cans might inspire something. Michael on the other hand, is mentally scrolling through all of his favorite playlists trying to decide exactly what he would want to listen to.

"Well, we want to get attention right?" Michael begins, twisting his lips to the side in thought. "Let's try to think about what would get the attention of the masses. What would draw us an audience?"

Arlo raises her brows in surprise. Michael had a point- and a good one too.

"Girls." Calum declares instantly. "And weed... maybe like love or some shit too." He nods, as he lists each subject off, clearly proud of his answers.

Ashton's lips part at Calum's answer and he shakes his head at his new friend- children, they had no idea that those things had no substance. "I think we should write about something meaningful. Like the struggles of working nine to five and chasing your dreams or just wanting to get out of town."

"Good idea, Ash." Michael nods in agreement before sheepishly flashing his green eyes over to Calum. "But, I also like the girls, weed, and love idea."

Calum folds his arms across his chest, forcing his brain to work much harder than it had in a long time. This wasn't like school where he could just shake off the problems that stumped him- this was something he cared about and he wanted this band to work more than anything.

"Okay, I've got an idea." Calum declares, holding his hands up to get the attention of the room.

"This should be good." Michael whispers under his breath, one of his eyes dropping into a wink as he sees the grin that forms on Arlo's face. The girl had clearly heard and was trying desperately not to let a giggle slip from her lips.

"How about we start with writing about the girls and shit- you know the type of songs that will get us attention and then once we have a fanbase we can write about the sappy, motivational shit so it's actually doing something." Calum leans back in his chair once he's done with his spiel, awaiting what he's almost positive will be a chorus of agreements.

And he's right.

Ashton takes a moment to glance around the table, seeing no signs of protest from anyone. So, figuring he had nothing to lose- and well, Calum's idea did kind of make sense- he turns towards Arlo.

"Write that down."

✰

Arlo Abbott really regretted never getting into the workout scene.

Maybe if she spent hours in the gym lifting weights- or whatever you do in there- instead of barricaded in her room reading books, she wouldn't be so out of breath right now.

In hindsight, walking several miles in the summer heat probably was not the best decision. But, she couldn't ask Ashton to drop her off at the bookstore without a million questions. Plus, he would insist on walking her inside too.

She would have asked Calum, but Luke didn't seem to like it when he dropped her off the one other time. As for Michael, he couldn't drive either and Arlo didn't think riding on the back of his bike would be very safe for either of them.

By the time Arlo is standing in front of Hemmings Bookstore, her face is flushed from the summer heat and a newly developing sunburn, and her chest heaves with ragged breaths. She takes a moment to catch her breath and fish the book Luke had given her out of her backpack.

Once she's sure that she's worked up the courage to see him again, Arlo inhales shakily before pushing open the door of the bookstore. The bell above the door of the shop jingles at her arrival and she immediately finds Luke sitting behind the counter, hunched over as he seemed to be writing in something.

Unlike last time, the bell caught Luke's attention immediately. Arlo was the only person who ever came into the store beside his parents and he'd be lying if he said he wasn't anticipating her arrival.

Luke was too prideful to admit it, but from the moment she walked out of the store after their little talk, he'd been waiting for her to come back. It had been a week and if he was being honest with himself, he'd begun to think he'd somehow fucked something up already.

Luke knew he was harsh and unabashed in his words and actions, but he was trying not to be that way with her. He was still defensive, for the way she made him feel kind of made him sick and that freaked him the fuck out.

He wasn't willing to let his guard down just yet, but he had no problem seeing her every now and then. Okay, maybe a little more often than every now and then.

"Hi." Arlo grins shyly, sounding slightly out of breath.

Luke took notice of how her cheeks seemed to be kissed by the sun, her hair looking to be windswept. Then, as his eyes traveled down her body he becomes aware of the slight shake in her legs and the way her chest seems to be rising and falling faster than normal.

"Arlo, please tell me you didn't fucking walk all the way here." Luke groans, shoving his notebook safely under the counter as he pushes himself off of the stool he was sitting on and strides towards her.

Her face drops. He notices.

"Well, I did but I just wanted to-" She begins, her eyes falling downcast. Arlo wasn't really sure how to explain that she just really wanted to see him, even if she didn't understand exactly why. She didn't mind the walk no matter how much her legs protested.

"C'mon." Luke instructs her sternly, though he tries to keep the edge from his tone. He wasn't mad at her, more so concerned that she walked through town alone on a hot day when anything could have happened to her along the way.

It made him feel sick thinking about her doing something like that for him. But, it also made his stomach flip and his cheeks heat and that seemed even scarier.

"Where are we going?" Arlo asks, confused as to why Luke's so desperate to take her to the back when she just got here.

"You are going to sit down and drink some water or some shit." Luke says, his voice leaving no room for argument as he ghosts a hand at the bottom of her spine. He doesn't allow his fingertips to do more than brush the fabric of her t-shirt but Arlo swears she can feel his skin making burning contact with her own.

Luke felt it too- the unspoken electricity between them. Once again, he wasn't willing to acknowledge the presence of the undeniable tension between them in fear it would steal his breath, suffocating him. He didn't know where the feeling came from and he was pretty fucking sure he didn't want the feeling to stop. No matter how much it terrified him.

"I'm okay, Luke." Arlo winces, hating that she'd caused him to leave the front of the store when he looked to have been busy. "Really, it wasn't that far."

"Sit down." He says, disregarding her. Luke guides her body in front of the very same beanbags they'd sat on only a week before. He doesn't take his eyes off of her until she's seated, to which he nods in approval before turning on his heel and disappearing around the corner.

Arlo's left stunned, having no idea where he went or if he'd be back soon and she sure as hell didn't know if he was mad at her or not. It seemed that way and she felt guilty for it.

Luke returns shortly with two bottles of water in his hands, causing her lips to part in surprise. He hands one to her before taking a seat on the beanbag across from her, not giving her time to thank him.

"You wanna tell me why you walked like ten fucking miles in the middle of summer to come here?" He raises a brow, twisting the cap off of his own water and taking a swig.

Arlo fights the urge to roll her eyes. The walk was nowhere near ten miles.

"Well-" She begins.

"Drink."

"What?"

"Take a drink and then you can tell me." Luke says simply, blue eyes burning into her own. He had a certain intensity to him that practically challenged anyone to argue with him- not that she would.

Despite the fact that Arlo really wasn't that thirsty, she twists off the cap of the bottle and takes a drink, doing her best to ignore his eyes on her watching her every move. Once he seems satisfied by the amount of water she'd downed, she deems it safe to talk again.

"Thank you, you know for the water." Arlo says sheepishly.

"Why are you here?" Luke questions, completely ignoring her thanks. He didn't think he deserved it. Really, he was just trying to make sure she didn't fucking pass out or something- that didn't warrant any sort of special kindness from such a sweet girl.

"I finished the book." Arlo says simply, reaching for her bag. She produces the book, thoroughly covered in colored tabs and if Luke flipped through the pages he's sure he'd find all sorts of notes and underlines sentences.

He thought that it was kind of fucking cute. Maybe.

"Did you like it?" Luke didn't really know why he asked this. She had picked out the book, after all, he just so happened to give it to her. It's not like he specifically asked for her opinion, she just wanted to give it to him.

He liked that. It made him feel special in a way.

"Loved it." Arlo grins happily. "I couldn't put it down. I would have finished it earlier too, but I was at Calum's a lot this week trying to help them with the band."

Luke furrowed his brows in confusion. He was over at Calum's practically every day and somehow, he managed to miss her. He knew Calum had finally put some work into starting a band after what felt like years of talking about it, but Luke had no idea Arlo had been roped into it.

Then again, whenever Calum was going to have "band practice" Luke made sure not to show up. After all, he had slept with Michael's girlfriend and he still wasn't sure if the red-haired boy hated him for it. Either way, Luke wasn't willing to eat a punch for something that he did almost a year ago, again.

"What the hell do you have to do with Calum's shitty band?" He asks, readjusting himself on the beanbag. It's kind of hard to look intimidating when you're being swallowed by fabric.

"I'm their manager." Arlo explains simply, before cringing as she realizes how pretentious her words sounded. "Well, I just sit there with a notepad, but they say I'm the manager

Luke clenches his jaw at the mere thought of the idiotic conversations the poor girl must have been put through. He knew Calum and he hoped for his sake that he wasn't using Arlo to do things for him.

"Do you have to get them drinks and shit too?" Luke asks bitterly, though the malice in his attitude is in no way directed at her. He knows she's too nice for her own good.

Arlo doesn't know that though. To her, Luke's annoyance towards Calum feels a lot like annoyance towards her. She sinks her teeth into her lip harshly, eyes darting around the store. "No, I just do other stuff. Like, they couldn't decide what to write songs about so I tried to give them advice. I don't really know much about music or songwriting but I think it helped."

This interested Luke. He was a writer after all- not a songwriter, but poetry wasn't that different in his experience. "You write?"

"No." Arlo shakes her head quickly. She loved to read but writing was a completely different story. "They want to write songs about meaningful topics like working hard to get out of bad situations but they also want to write about teenage boy stuff I guess." She tried her best to explain.

"Why not do both?" Luke shrugs simply. He didn't give a fuck about Calum's band but he did kind of care about what Arlo thought. And well, she looked to be stressed as hell. It made him feel good to help her.

"What do you mean?" She asks, sitting up to face him better. When she began explaining what the boys were stuck on she didn't think Luke would actually be interested.

She was right. He wasn't. But, he was interested in her.

"Their audience is probably a bunch of teenage girls and they won't give a fuck about the boring activist shit." Luke says, completely unaware of the girl wincing at his harsh words. "It would be smarter to write a song disguised to be about the superficial shit when in reality it has meaning."

Arlo's jaw literally drops. He was so, so smart and he didn't even know it. She would have told him that too, if she could manage to work up the courage. That, and this is the most she'd ever heard him speak consecutively.

Luke seemed to be passionate about this subject without even relaxing it. To make matters even better, he was a natural.

"If you have a lyric like 'my girlfriends bitchin' cause I always sleep in' that would catch peoples ears and draw in an audience." Luke rambles, his eyes on his hands as he fiddles with his fingers. Maybe, if he looked up he'd have seen how in awe Arlo was at his words.

"On the surface, you think the song is about some prick and his shitty relationship with his girl, but in reality, you make it about uh-" He rambles on, eyes finding the ceiling as he thinks. "Stereotyping in the industry or I don't fucking know-"

Luke pulls his lip ring between his teeth as he pauses, not even realizing that he'd begun to get carried away in the best way. "You mention the girl in the first line to get everyone's attention and then you don't say shit about her for the rest of the song. Still, all anyone would remember is the bitchin' line. It kind of makes point out of itself."

As if finally realizing that he'd unintentionally begun rambling, Luke snaps his mouth closed, his cheeks heating. Arlo stares at him open-mouthed, her eyes wide and he can't tell if he hates it or fucking loves it.

"Sorry." He clears his throat, beginning to push himself off of the beanbag. "You came to get another book didn't you?"

"Luke..." Arlo finally finds her voice. The pure admiration for his mind is clear in her tone, only working against Luke as he tries to fight the blush from his face. "You're incredible."