"Right from the start I knew

You'd set a fire in me

And I'd rather be sad with you

Than anywhere away from you"

✰

A couple of weeks ago, if you told Arlo Abbott that she'd be spending most of her time in Calum Hood's dimly lit basement rather than curled up in her room with a book, she probably would have called you crazy.

But, for the fourth time this week, Arlo lays sprawled out on Calum's couch. Her head hangs off of the end of the couch, long dark hair brushing the floor as her blood rushes to her head. Her feet hand over the back of the couch where Michael sits in a rolling chair, tieing and untying her shoelaces to entertain himself.

They'd brainstormed for what had to be hours without a break and now after a brief intermission where the four of them snacked on chips and dip and pizza rolls, they were getting back to business.

Ashton paces in front of the stand-up whiteboard he'd snuck out of his mother's classroom. He claimed it was summer and she didn't need it but Arlo had a feeling his mother wasn't even aware that he'd paid a visit to her classroom.

With a dry erase marker twirling between his fingers, Ashton furrows his brows in thought. "Guys, I know we don't want to be a cover band, but we have to start somewhere."

"But, I don't wanna." Calum groans from his place on the floor, his hands running down his face in stress. "If we want to stand out we're going to have to write our own songs."

"I think we might need a band name first." Michael butts in, no longer focused on Arlo's shoelaces.

The girl readjusts herself on the couch as she becomes dizzy from being upside down. While the boys continue to bicker on, she ties the shoelaces that Michael had abandoned.

What had been a fun little summer project was now turning serious as Calum insisted that the group enroll in the town's annual Battle of the Bands contest. Calum had apparently been going to watch for years and had always wanted to join, and this had to be the year it happened.

"Any ideas, then?" Calum looks around the room, his brow raised.

The room is dead silent besides the low hum of the air conditioner and the sound of Ashton rhythmically tapping the dry-erase marker against his hand.

"Well." Calum huffs, leaning back on his palms. "What great pals you are."

Arlo winces, feeling bad. She really didn't know how this band thing worked but she felt guilty for being silent. "We need a lead singer too." She points out, wracking her brain for some helpful advice. "Why don't you put out an ad and hold auditions? It might help to get a new mind in the mix."

All of the boys are silent as they think it over. If they had one thing in common it's that they were incredibly impatient. Once they had their minds set to something they wanted it done there and now. But, they were quickly realizing with every meeting in Calum's basement they had just begun to run in circles.

"I'm pretty good at graphic design." Michael speaks finally. "I can make a poster and we can all put it on our socials. See if anyone is interested."

Calum shrugs, his eyes already on the video game console in front of the couch. If things with the band would be put on hold until they found a lead singer, he was going to do the one other thing that made him happy- well besides partying.

At the thought, the curly-haired boy perks up. "Hey! Mikey, add something to the poster about doing a gig at my next party." Calum says excitedly. "We'll have a couple of hundred people here, why not test things out before we have to play the Battle of the Bands gig?"

"And if it's shit everyone will be too drunk to notice." Ashton points out, abandoning the whiteboard in favor of plopping down on the couch beside Arlo. She's smiling down at her phone, her cheeks flushed.

He pokes her jean-clad thigh with his pointer finger, catching the girls attention. "What are you smiling at, Arlo?" Ashton asks, quirking up his brow.

"Oh, uh- nothing." Arlo stutters, quickly shoving her phone in the pocket of her hoodie. Or rather, Calum's hoodie that she'd stolen the other day when that moment with Luke had happened in the closet.

She mentally curses herself. It wasn't a moment, Luke was simply in a bad position and he needed her help. Arlo was positive his heart wasn't racing like hers was and he definitely didn't even think twice about how close they were in proximity.

It had taken her a while to admit to herself, but those few minutes in the closet affected her.

Last night as she lay in her bed coaxing herself to sleep, all she could think about was the silhouette of his jaw and perfect nose in the dim lighting, the way his fingertip had pressed gently against her lips, the curve of his own lips only inches apart from her own.

The way he smelled. God, it sounded creepy to admit but Arlo was obsessed with his cologne. His cologne had clung to her skin all the way until she took a shower later that night and it was safe to say she missed it.

She stands up quickly from the couch, catching the attention of the three boys. "I'm going home to read." Arlo declares, slight guilt blooming in her chest for the little white lie. "My mom just texted me and told me my package with my new book was delivered."

"See you later, Arlo." Michael waves with a smile, thinking nothing of the girl's excuse. The few times he'd seen her through her window as he left one of Calum's parties, she was curled up in the window with a book in her hand.

Calum frowns. "Did you not like that bookstore I showed you? Hemmings Bookstore?"

Arlo begins to panic. She really was shit at lying. "No, I liked it." She clears her throat. "But, I don't drive so I haven't really been able to go back." That was a lie. She'd walked there just fine.

"Oh." Calum nods, turning back to his video game. "Well, when you finish that book let me know and I'll drive you to get another." As much as Calum really did want to help his new friend Arlo out, he was also pretty sure that the small girl might be the only customer Hemmings has had in a while.

"Sounds good." Arlo smiles genuinely.

Suddenly, a gasp leaves Michael's lips. "That could be our band name!" He exclaims. "Get it? because our music will sound good-"

"And feel good!" Ashton jumps in. "Sounds Good Feels Good. That's the perfect band name."

Arlo nods her head in agreement, willing to voice her agreement until she sees the way Calum's nose is scrunched up. "I dunno guys. I don't think that's it, but we should write it down." He admits, not wanting to upset his friends. But, this band had been all he's thought about for years. It had to sound perfect.

Before she leaves, Arlo scrawls out "Sounds Good Feels Good??" onto the whiteboard. After saying her goodbyes to the boys with promises that she'll help look for a lead singer, she bounds up the stairs.

Her heart is practically beating out of her chest as she ducks out of Calum's front door. Luke is standing right on Calum's doorstep, one of his hands shoved into the pocket of his skinny jeans and the other scrolling through his phone.

She takes the moment where he doesn't see her to take him in. He's wearing a navy blue shirt with some fire department logo on it and tight black skinny jeans. He'd paired his outfit with tattered black converse that she quite liked on him. His blonde hair falls messily on his forehead, slightly windblown from the walk here and his blue eyes seem even brighter in the sunlight.

Once Luke catches sight of her, he quickly pockets his phone. "Hi." His throat feels tight all of a sudden and he's not too sure why.

Maybe, it's the sight of her sneaking out of Calum's house wearing Calum's hoodie that does it. He knew she was going to be here, they'd discussed that after Luke promised to meet her there so she wouldn't have to walk to the bookstore alone.

"Hi, Luke." Arlo grins shyly in return, trying her hardest to will away the slight shakiness in her knees at the sight of him.

Luke looks nervous suddenly, his hands flexing by his sides. "We can still go to the bookstore, but I was wondering if you wanted to go somewhere else first?" He asks, his voice apprehensive.

What Luke didn't know is he had absolutely no reason to be nervous, for Arlo would probably go anywhere if he asked.

"Yeah." Arlo grins. It kind of sounds like he wants to spend more time with her, but she might just be a little apprehensive. "Where did you have in mind?"

Luke allows a smirk to cross his lips, finally back in his element as he sees the nerves surrounding her too. It was obvious that he made her nervous and that kind of made his head spin. "You'll see."

She'd only met Luke a few weeks ago, but she doesn't think twice as she follows him down the sidewalk. Their hands brush as they hurry away from Calum's house, neither of them wanting to explain what was going on between the two when they didn't even know themselves.

It's times like this where Luke wished he had a car. He felt kind of shitty that they had to walk a while to get to the ice cream shop in town, but at least she wasn't walking alone. Arlo would never walk to the bookstore again if he had it his way.

Soon enough, the ice cream shop comes into view, and Arlo perks up. She loved ice cream but her mother was always doing these diets that absolutely did not permit ice cream by any means, so there was never any of it in her house growing up.

"Ice cream?" The girl grins, biting down on her bottom lip to conceal the wide smile that threatens to escape.

Luke shrugs, trying to play off the fact that her excited expression made his stomach feel all warm- he had made her feel that way. He had made her smile. He had done something good for once. "If that's alright with you."

Arlo rolls her eyes, though she's not annoyed in the slightest. "Of course it is." She says as if it were obvious. "You could have taken me to an empty parking lot and I would have been happy."

Luke is nearly knocked off his feet by the two emotions that swirl in his stomach at her words.

First, his cheeks flush as she admits that she wants to spend time with him, even if it were somewhere completely boring. Then, he clenches his jaw as he thinks about the insinuation behind her words that she didn't even realize.

The things Luke had done in an empty parking lot were nowhere near innocent and while Arlo hadn't meant it that way, Luke's brain took her words entirely differently.

Luke holds the door open for her as she ducks inside. "Go ahead and grab a table." He knew she would want to pay if she came to the counter with him and well, money was a sensitive subject for Luke and he didn't want to risk accidentally lashing out at her again.

Arlo furrows her brows in confusion. "But... won't you need help carrying it back to the table?" She asks, feeling guilty for letting him do everything.

"I have two hands." Luke responds cooly.

"But what about your phone?" Arlo responds stubbornly, eyeing the device in his hand. Her eyes linger on his hands for a little longer than she's willing to admit. He would certainly be able to carry both of their orders by himself, but he shouldn't have to.

"Take it to the table for me." Luke says simply, placing the device in her hand. His eyes are stern, as is his tone, leaving no room for argument.

"I- I guess I can do that." Arlo exhales, accepting defeat as she turns on her heel.

"Lo?"

There it is, that nickname again. For the entirety of her life, Arlo had always just been called Arlo. Not even Ashton really had a nickname for her but she had a feeling that even if he did, it wouldn't cause butterflies in her stomach like the name does when it falls from Luke's lips.

She swallows thickly, willing the butterflies swirling around in her stomach to calm themselves. "Yeah?"

"Put your number in my phone for me, yeah? Add your contact to my favorites." Luke asks nonchalantly, his eyes trailing over her face just long enough to watch her cheeks flush before he heads for the counter to place their orders.

Arlo's frozen in her place for a moment, Luke's words having rendered her speechless. Most of all, she kind of feels like she can't breathe in his presence, though in the most intoxicating way possible.

After a few seconds of standing gaping in the middle of the ice cream shop, Arlo snaps herself out of it and makes her way to a booth in the back with pink cushioned seats. As she slides into the booth, her eyes find Luke's tall, very muscular stature as he stands at the counter, talking to the worker behind the register.

She swallows thickly at the muscles of his back straining against his t-shirt and the way he'd crossed one of his converse-clad feet over the over as he stands as if it were a nervous habit. Most of all, she can't stop thinking about how lovely his face looks from the side.

Arlo exhales shakily, forcing her eyes away from Luke before he can catch her staring. It had only been a few weeks and she had a feeling that she was absolutely and undeniably done for.

i love them so much