"And I want to tell you everything

The words I never got to say the first time around

If the whole world was watching I'd still dance with you

Drive highways and byways to be there with you

Over and over the only truth

Everything comes back to you"

✰

"Holy balls."

"You can say that again." Michael gapes, staring wide-eyed at the sight before them.

"Holy balls." Calum repeats instantly, his jaw wide open.

The group of five stands at the top of the hill overlooking the park. They'd just parked Calum's mustang, all of them spilling out to find the sight of an enormous crowd. There had to be thousands of people- crammed in front of the stage, wandering around the more open areas of the park, getting food from nearby food trucks.

It looked like the entire fucking town had decided to make it out to the Battle of the Bands competition.

"Suddenly, I am nervous for tomorrow." Ashton gulps, looking around nervously. "Maybe this was a bad idea."

"No way!" Calum protests, throwing a pair of sunglasses on over his eyes to combat the sun that had just begun to set, painting the town golden. "We need to scope out our competition and tomorrow we'll be too busy getting ready to watch anyone else." The boy points out.

What was originally a one-day event became two due to the large number of bands who entered the competition in order to allow enough time for every band to play their entire set of three songs. Tonight- Friday- is day one of the competition and Saturday night is when the boys are slotted to perform.

Although more bands mean more competition, this gave them one more day to prepare than they originally had- not that they were really using it wisely.

Considering no one in the group had better plans for their weekend and all five of them enjoyed live music- Calum declared a mandatory band outing.

As the group begins walking down the hill towards the park, Luke and Arlo trail behind. The blond had been practically dying to talk to the girl again from the moment he walked away from her house a few days ago.

In fact, they'd planned to meet at the bookstore the day afterward, but that night Michael had a dream that they lost the competition and forced the rest of the boys to squeeze in an extra practice. Although Arlo was there, sitting on the couch as they practiced, Luke didn't have enough of a break or privacy to talk to her the way he wanted.

"Are you nervous for tomorrow now?" Arlo asks, glancing up at Luke. She'd been in the passenger seat as Calum drove to the park, but that didn't stop her from sneaking glances at the boy in the back seat from the rearview mirror.

Luke has on a red and black plaid flannel to combat the slightly cool night air, a few buttons undone to tease the smooth skin of his chest. It certainly doesn't help that a silver chain hangs from his neck, drawing Arlo's eyes right to the exposed skin.

The boy notices her eyes on his chest and has to resist the urge to groan. Her eyes really gave everything she was thinking away and it was the best thing possible for him to see. "I'm never nervous."

Arlo does her best to seem unaffected but Luke's hand periodically brushes her side as they walk. The contact is simple but he just looks so good and things already felt different between them after what happened on her porch.

"I would be nervous." Arlo thinks aloud before her face falls, realizing what she may have done. "I'm not saying you should be nervous!" The girl defends quickly. "I think you guys will be fine I'm just saying if it was me, which is why it's a good thing I'm not in the band... just the manager. You guys are gonna do great-"

"Relax, Arlo." Luke allows a smirk to cross his face at the girl's rambling. He loved when she did that, for she would spill everything she had on her mind without him even having to ask. "I know what you mean."

Another group of people approaches, going the opposite way of them. The girl sucks in a breath as Luke's hand finds the bottom of her spine, gently guiding her to the far side of the sidewalk in order to give the other group room to pass.

Although, his hand lingers even after they're gone.

Luke had really only placed his hand at the bottom of her spine to gently guide her, but as soon as he rested his hand there he couldn't help that it fit perfectly. It felt right to have his fingertips brushing the subtle curve of her back.

As they reach the bottom of the hill, Calum turns on his heel to face the rest of the group. "Alright let's try to stay together." He suggests, his eyes lingering on the positioning of Luke's hand that he thought he was hiding. Even if Calum couldn't see where Luke's hand was, he could definitely see the flush of Arlo's cheeks.

"That's going to be impossible." Ashton points out. "There's gotta be a couple of thousand people here and from what I saw things looked pretty rowdy up near the stage."

Michael frowns, crossing his arms over his chest. "I thought we came to mosh?"

"Fuck no." Luke scowls instantly. "If you want to do that buddy up with Ashton or Cal." Luke never was one to prefer the wild side of concerts, but even if he did, he'd never take Arlo in the middle of a mosh pit.

The girl was small, she'd probably get thrown around like a rag doll. No matter how close he held her, there was no guarantee she wouldn't get pushed away from him. Not to mention, people are packed so close that anything could happen and you'd never even know who did it. Especially considering the light green floral dress bushing the tops of her thighs and thin cardigan Arlo wears isn't mosh pit attire in the slightest.

Michael merely shrugs, not put off by Luke in the slightest. "Alright, so who's pushing up to the barricade with me? I need to look our enemies in the eye."

Calum and Ashton's hands shoot up eagerly at the same time.

"Well, that's settled." Calum determines, resisting the urge to grin at the unintentional circumstances that would most definitely work in favor of his grand scheme to get Arlo and Luke together. "The three of us will go scope out the competition from the front row and you two will stay back here or whatever you want to do."

Arlo shrugs, completely missing the underlying mischievous tone in Calum's voice "That's fine with me. Do you want me to grab you guys anything from the food trucks?"

Ashton smiles, waving the girl off. "Nah, we're good. Don't worry about us."

Calum salutes as the next band is introduced, the speakers crackling. "We'll be off then. Meet back here in an hour or two?" He asks, earning a nod in agreement from everyone in the group. "Let's go, gentlemen" He ushers the other two boys away, sending a smirk to Luke before heading off towards the stage.

"Are you sure you don't want to go with them?" Arlo asks hesitantly. She really, really wanted to stay with Luke but she felt guilty that he was away from the rest of the band.

"Why would I want to go with them?" Luke scrunches his nose, the idea of choosing a sweaty mosh pit over spending time alone with his girl being ridiculous to him.

Arlo fiddles with the sleeve of her cardigan as the sun finally disappears behind the trees, causing the streetlights of the park and stage lights to slowly come on. "I dunno." She says, suddenly nervous under Luke's intent gaze. "Don't you want to learn about the other bands before tomorrow?"

"I'm not worried about it." Luke says simply, his hand that rests on her back unconsciously beginning to draw smooth circles over the fabric of her dress. "I'd rather be with you." The boy says boldly.

He didn't want to risk scaring her off by speaking his mind, but he couldn't help himself. The stage lights are reflecting off of her eyes and the way her body begins naturally drifting closer to his own is enough for him to throw all caution to the wind.

Luke decided he just wanted to do what felt good. Fuck whatever he was supposed to do.

As Arlo gazes up at him, his blue eyes still somehow shining in the low lighting, she decides the same. Even if Luke did shatter her in the end, the way he made her feel was enough to make the heartbreak worth it.

The band on stage begins their first song, catching both of their attention. The band consists of two boys and a girl, the girl being on drums and the boys singing and playing guitar. It only takes a few moments of listening to their first song for Luke to decide they aren't worth worrying about.

The girl drummer was good, way out of the league of the rest of her band, but the lead singer was trying too hard to outshine the rest of the band by straining his voice and the guitar player next to him had missed a few chords already.

"They're... good." Arlo winces, sending a skeptical glance to Luke.

Luke allows a genuine laugh to escape his lips, his head tilting back to expose the sharp angle of his jawline to the girl beside him. "You're too nice for your own good, you know that?"

Arlo's cheeks flush as she rolls her eyes, doing her best to act nonchalant under Luke's gaze. "Whatever." She says teasingly. "The boys look to be enjoying themselves." she points out, pushing herself up onto her tiptoes.

They stand only halfway down the hill, allowing them to overlook the stage. Due to this angle, Luke is really able to see the three idiots he called his best friends and bandmates pressed against the barricade. They're going absolutely ballistic, seeming to have the time of their lives.

"And to think they wanted to pre-game." Luke scoffs, his hand lingering on Arlo's back applying slight pressure to encourage her to begin walking again. "I can't watch this any longer. Is there anything else you want to do?"

Arlo shrugs as they begin walking down the path of the park, the crowd becoming larger as they get closer to the bottom of the hill where the stage is. She tries desperately to ignore how her skin is burning where Luke's hand rests on her lower back. "This is for you guys to scope out the other bands-"

"I couldn't give a fuck about the other bands." Luke says sincerely, blue eyes shining bright even in the low lighting "I meant it when I said I want to spend more time with you. It's all I've been thinkin' about, Lo. I swear."

Luke meant it when he said he wasn't holding himself back anymore.

The girl's heart jumps straight up to her throat, her head spinning at Luke's words. "Really?" Arlo says, her tone full of pure shock.

Luke hates that. He hates that she seems to doubt herself. As he sees the way her lips part in surprise, the blonde promises himself that he'd do a better job of showing her just how much he cares for her.

"Of course." Luke says, his hand boldly trailing from the bottom of her spine, fingertips skimming down her arm until his hands find her own, intertwining them together. He can practically feel her pulse jumping in her wrist as her hand fits perfectly with his much larger one.

Arlo swallows thickly, her hand subtly tightening its grip on Lukes, just so he would know what her words couldn't quite express. "I want to spend more time with you too."

Luke's heart stutters in his chest, though he does his best to play it off. "Good." He smirks, his usual cocky demeanor favoring him. "Stay close, it's crowded up here." He tells her, referring to the stage they're vastly approaching.

Luke stops them in the very back of the lawn, not far enough away from the stage that they can't clearly see the band, but not too close that other people in the crowd would bump into them or disturb them.

Dusk has officially passed, night air surrounding them where the park lights can't reach. In fact, the stage lights prove to be their only real source of light. Luke can barely make out the features of Arlo's face even though she's right next to him.

The band onstage is well into their second song by the time Arlo speaks again. "Are you really not nervous?" She has to turn her head away from the stage and angle her mouth towards Luke's ear for him to hear her.

Luke notices and figures it must be annoying for her to have to do that just to speak to him. Really, he's just being considerate when he uses his grip on Arlo's hand to guide her to stand in front of him. He releases his hand from her grip and snakes his arms over her shoulders, bringing her back flush to his chest as he connects his own hands and rests them on her chest.

Arlo swallows thickly as Luke's front is pressed fully against her back allowing her to feel everything. With slightly shaky hands, she lays them over his clasped hands that rest on her sternum, using the contact as a way to ground herself.

It's when Luke leans down, his lips brushing her ear as his jaw slots along the curve of her neck that her knees truly feel like they're going to give out. "I can hear you better now, what were you saying sweetheart?"

Luke can't even stop a smirk from tugging at his lips as a shiver travels up the girl's spine at the low tone of his voice, her small body practically trembling in his grasp.

He can feel the way Arlo's chest is rising and falling faster as she collects herself. "Are you really not nervous? For tomorrow, I mean." She clarifies, her voice shaky.

Luke has to suppress a groan as he can clearly see his effect on her. It would be so, so easy to let his lips graze the smooth skin of her neck, to let his tongue trace the dip of her collarbone and leave little marks in their wake.

Get a fucking grip, he scolds himself.

"I'm not really worried about me." Luke says honestly, doing his best to clear his mind of the less than innocent thoughts swirling through his mind about the girl leaning against him. "I'm worried about the boys more than anything- Calum specifically. He's wanted to win this thing for years."

Gradually, Arlo becomes accustomed to the feel of his body connected with her own, allowing her to relax in his grip. She tilts her head away from the stage, just enough to look into Luke's eyes. He's much closer than she had anticipated, his breath fanning against the skin of her cheek.

"I think he's just happy to have a band finally." Arlo admits, her eyes spacey as she begins admiring the little things about Luke now that she's close.

Luke takes his lip ring between his teeth as he watches her eyes travel over his face and down to his lips, then to the sharp curve of his jaw. "I still want him to win. Especially, if there's someone from a recording company coming."

Arlo furrows her brows slightly. From what she'd assumed, Luke was really just tagging along for the ride as a favor. She didn't know that he was willing to follow this dream to the end. "You're going to stay with the band?" She asks, hope brimming her tone. "Even after the competition. Even if you guys get a record deal?"

Luke swallows thickly, his eyes leaving hers for a split second to gaze up at the band ending their set and running off of the stage on a clear adrenaline high. "I've gotta get out of this town somehow, Lo."