"Guess what," I said on the phone to Jess as I walked out of the building and to my car.

"They hated you," she said promptly.

"What? No. They loved me. Well, I think they liked me. No, anyways, it just so happens that I'm going to be working with famous people," I said excitedly.

"What? Oh my god! Who?" she squealed.

"5 Seconds of Summer." I held my breath, waiting for the bomb to drop.

"You're messing with me," she said immediately.

"I'm not." I got into the car and put Jess on speaker so I could continue talking to her as I drove.

"Holy shit! 5 Seconds of Summer? Did you meet them just now?"

"I did. I mean, we exchanged like two words, but I was sitting opposite them, and as they were going, Luke Hemmings said to me, 'See you later, Noelle'," I claimed, attempting to do an Australian accent.

"Luke Hemmings. Luke Hemmings spoke to you. This is so unfair," she complained.

I just grinned. "Apparently I'm going to be seeing a lot of them. Do you know how surreal this is?"

"I can imagine. Oh my god, maybe you can become really good friends with them and then I can meet them."

"You know, now I just feel like you're using me," I said in mock offence.

"Of course I'm using you if it means I get to meet 5 Seconds of Summer," Jess declared. "So what were they like in person? Were they just as hot?"

"Hotter. Plus Luke is really tall. Like, really tall, and he has really broad shoulders as well."

"Did you see his lip ring?"

"Uh, I wasn't really looking at his lips, but now that you've said that, I will," I said. "I was sort of too busy taking in the fact that I was maybe two meters away from him."

"What color is Michael's hair at the moment?" Jess asked quickly.

"Uh... purple."

"So cute. Were their accents super sexy?"

"Of course. I mean, I didn't hear them say much but from what I heard..." I sighed dreamily.

There was a muffled sound of other voices, and Jess said, "I have to go, but I'll see you when you get back. Drive safe."

"Bye." I hung up and turned on the radio, singing along as I drove back to campus.

~ ~ ~

Kate texted me to tell me I would start on Monday, so for the rest of the week I relaxed a little more. When I told George about who I was working with, I swear to god he was more excited than Jess.

On Friday night we went to a party one of the upperclassmen that Tristan was friends with threw, and we celebrated. Even Nathan was happy for me, and everyone got pissed. The morning after I had a hell of a hangover but it was worth it.

Monday came around quickly, and all through my morning lecture I was tapping my pencil against my leg repeatedly, feeling the nerves set in again. Once it ended I rushed back to my dorm and started looking for something to wear. I was on the verge of having a breakdown merely because I thought nothing I had was good enough when George marched into my room, bumped me out the way with his hip and pulled out a black pencil skirt, a red peplum top and black heels. He then threw my trusty black bag at me. I didn't even question his choices. Him and Jess were much better at picking out outfits than I was. I gave him a quick kiss on the cheek as I rushed out of my dorm and began my journey to Capitol Records.

When I arrived I walked up to the receptionist but she seemed to recognize me and said, "Go straight up. Third floor."

I smiled and nodded, going over to the elevators and making my way up to the third floor. When I reached it I stepped out and went to the studio, seeing Kate already in there with John, Zakk and Matt; however I couldn't see any boys from the band. I went in and greeted them but felt like maybe I should have been here earlier.

"Noelle. Could you grab two coffees from the cafeteria, please?" she asked me.

"Of course," I said immediately, and went back out of the room only to bump into a very solid and very tall body. I glanced up to see Luke, and my eyes were immediately drawn to his lip ring. I snapped myself out of my small trance, and quickly said, "Sorry."

"Watch where you're going," he muttered, stepping past me without even looking at me. Ouch. Someone seemed grumpy today. The rest of the band who were behind Luke followed suit and practically ignored me. They all seemed grumpy today. It was probably because it was Monday.

I rushed to the cafeteria deciding to just forget that exchange and went to the coffee machine, quickly filling two cups with coffee, thinking to myself that thank god I was a coffee addict and therefore knew how to use a machine.

I made my way back to the studio, coffees in hand; being careful not to spill them because god knows that would be embarrassing. I handed one to Kate and the other to John when he gestured for me to give it to him. Kate noticed me standing around a little awkwardly and said, "The other intern should be here soon. She's actually a little late, but once she arrives you can meet her and get to know her. Then what you should do is probably sit with the band, listen to their ideas and throw in a few of your own if you can." She glanced at her watch. "Lunch is pretty soon. After that I'm going to need you to make some phone calls, do a bit of promotion on social media and all that. If you have time to spare, which you probably will, you're allowed to hang in here and watch the band record their songs."

I smiled. "Awesome." A second later, a blonde-haired and blue-eyed girl came rushing into the room, immediately apologizing profusely.

"I'm so, so sorry I'm late, the car wouldn't start so I had to get the bus which takes forever," she confessed. "It's being looked at as we speak, so it will be fine by tomorrow."

"Francesca, is it?" Kate said.

"Yes, but you can call me Fran."

"Well, Fran, I'm letting you off today but please try and be on time in future. Now, this is Noelle," Kate introduced me, and I smiled at Fran.

"Hi, Noelle, so nice to meet you," she said, beaming back and shaking my hand.

"You too."

We sat down and Fran grinned at the band. "Hi guys, it's so nice to meet you. I'm Fran."

"Yeah, we heard," Luke grumbled. Fran's smile didn't falter at his grouchy tone.

"Ignore Luke. I'm Ashton, this is Calum and Michael." Ashton smiled at her, making me frown a bit. He had not been that friendly towards me. I caught Luke looking at me, smirking a little at my expression. I glanced away quickly. For some reason I could never seem to hold his gaze – maybe it was because of his ridiculously blue eyes.

After a moment the boys started talking about songs. Luke even picked up a guitar and started trying out riffs. I watched his face closely as he did so, noticing the sullen expression fade away to be replaced with an admittedly adorable frown of concentration. Stop staring. I chose to look at the others instead who seemed to be getting on well with Fran. As Luke continued playing the guitar, though, I found myself nodding along slightly and watching his fingers move.

"You're staring." Luke's smooth, low voice interrupted my rapture, and I looked up at him to see him observing me.

"I was just, uh–"

"You play?" he interrupted.

"Not really," I lied.

"Why are you so interested then?" Luke raised an eyebrow.

"I'm pretty sure I'm allowed to be interested without playing the guitar," I said dryly, and then shut up as I remembered whom I was talking to. "Uh, anyway, is there anything you need doing, or getting?"

Luke gave me a calculating look then put his guitar to the side. "No, but it's lunch time."

Hearing this, Kate clapped her hands. "Luke's right, you now all have forty-five minutes for lunch. Don't be late back."

Everyone got up and Fran walked with me as we made our way to the cafeteria.

"So what's up with Luke?" she said quietly with a grin. I shrugged.

"He did seem pretty... grumpy, didn't he," I agreed. "So, uh, do you study music at college?"

"Yeah. I go to UCLA."

"Oh, same. I study philosophy, though," I confessed.

"How come you wanted an internship in the music industry, then?" Fran asked – not in an accusatory voice, she merely sounded curious.

"I've always wanted to go into the music industry, but I've never liked any of the theory stuff, and I don't know much about it. But, here I am." I smiled.

"Well, it seems pretty cool so far. And I have to admit, when I saw 5 Seconds of Summer, I kind of started to freak out," she admitted.

"Me too. They weren't particularly friendly towards me, though," I said with a shrug.

"Oh well. They'll probably warm up to us once they get to know us."

Once we got to the cafeteria, we bought our food and Fran and I were about to sit on another table when Michael said, "Come and join us. And just ignore Luke."

"That's the second time that's been said," I observed but smiled at Michael.

"Yeah, well, he can be kind of grumpy." When I still hesitated, Michael said, "Oh, come on. Don't let Luke put you off us."

"Okay," I relented, and Fran and I followed him to the table.

"I got them to join us despite Luke being grouchy," Michael announced as we all sat down. Luke rolled his eyes.

"I'm not being grouchy. It's Monday. What do you expect?"

"Anyway," Ashton cut in. "Fran. Noelle. Do you guys sing?"

I shook my head but Fran answered, "Yes, I'm in one of these club things at college."

"Awesome. Favorite band?"

"Apart from us, obviously," Calum said, grinning.

"I'm sorry but I'd have to say One Direction. Harry styles is sexy as hell," Fran asserted, and we all laughed.

"Yeah, they're good guys," Ashton agreed.

"What about you?" Luke said, and it took me a moment to realize he was talking to me. He wasn't smiling at me or anything – I had yet to see him smile – but he was still looking at me.

"Oh, uh... I guess I like Catfish and the Bottlemen. I like The 1975 as well." For some reason when they all nodded approvingly it made me feel... happy. Well, when a world-famous band approves of your music taste, it's kind of hard not to. I couldn't help the small smile that came into my face as I glanced down at my hands. When I glanced up I saw Luke looking at me strangely, and I blushed slightly, immediately turning away.

After lunch we went back to work. Fran and I took over the Capitol Records social media accounts, promoting the band, and Kate got me to phone up a radio station and arrange an interview. Fran went did the coffee run and after some pleading from me she agreed to get me one too. We'd become friends quickly and I decided I really liked her.

The band were trying out different words to Luke's strumming, and I had nothing to do at the moment so I was just enjoying listening to them figure out different lyrics to the songs. I even got my own notepad out and wrote down some ideas, none of which I was confident enough to say out loud.

Luke was frowning as he played the guitar, singing some rough words. "I don't wanna say goodbye to another night, and watch you walk away. I don't wanna... ugh." He ran a hand through his hair in frustration.

I don't wanna say goodbye to another night, and watch you walk away. Those lyrics stuck in my mind and I suddenly had an idea and noted it down.

"You got something for me?" Luke questioned, glancing down at my notepad.

I quickly shook my head. "Nothing good."

"Tell me anyway," he prompted, and I looked at him in surprise.

"Uh... I don't know, I think you could think of something way better," I commented, making sure my ideas were hidden.

"Just say it, Noelle. This is part of the reason you're here." He then watched and waited for me to say my suggestion. I couldn't help but like the way he said my name.

"Fine," I gave in. "Just maybe... I don't wanna let it burn in the city lights, and, uh... make the same mistakes." I winced as I said it and at Luke's sudden quiet I knew my idea was crap. Oh god, I shouldn't have said it.

Luke regarded me thoughtfully before adding those exact words to the song and when he sang them they actually sounded good. And then he smiled. This in turn made me grin because I had gotten Luke Hemmings to smile, and damn that felt good.