"What did Nathan do?" Jess said as I collapsed on my bed in our dorm.

"Nothing, much. He was just making a big deal out of me not telling him I was working with 5 Seconds of Summer," I explained, leaning up on one elbow.

"Oh. You didn't tell him?" she said in slight confusion.

"Nope. He met Luke who kept calling him Norman just to annoy me–" Jess snorted and I shot her a look.

"What? It's funny," she said innocently and I rolled my eyes.

"Well, Nathan shouldn't have been so mad that I didn't tell him. Then he started going on about how I never tell him anything and that he's never seen me sing and...ugh," I huffed.

"You really don't sing that much," Jess pointed out. "In front of your friends, at least. Has the band heard you sing?"

"Just Luke. But he wasn't supposed to," I said, sighing.

"You should not be so secretive about your singing," Jess commented, pointing at me. I just shrugged.

"Where's George? I'm surprised he's not here," I remarked, changing the subject. "He basically lives here."

"With Ross," Jess said distractedly as she tapped away on her phone. "They're doing pretty well together."

"Good for George. He hasn't had a proper boyfriend since Jacob."

Jess nodded, still looking at her phone, smirking every now and then. I observed her for a moment.

"What is so interesting on your phone?" I questioned, and she looked up at me, blushing slightly. "Please don't tell me you and Tristan are sexting."

Her blush deepened.

I sat up and put my head in my hands. "Oh my god. Seriously? You know what, I'm going to go somewhere. I'll leave you to your sexting." Before she could say anything I left the dorm and made my way outside.

I'd kind of used that as an excuse to get outside. Really, I couldn't stop thinking about certain things, and I just needed to clear my head. It was actually really nice out here even if it was a bit cold since it was growing late, but it was refreshing. The open space calmed me.

I paused in my walking as I had a thought. Suddenly I really wanted to go back to the studio so I could have a play around on the guitar, and since I had a key, I supposed I could. So without thinking about it more, I went to my car and drove back on the road I'd just returned on.

When I entered the building I held my head high and walked confidently to the elevators before stopping in front of them, hesitating, then taking the stairs. I made my way to the studio and halted when I heard soft music coming through the door. When I listened more closely, I grinned to myself. That was definitely Luke's voice. Now it was my turn to spy on him while he sang.

I peeped through the window and sure enough, he was sitting there with his guitar, singing a song, which sounded a lot like one of their old ones – if I remembered correctly, 'Beside You'.

"When we both wake up, underneath the same sun, time stops, I wish that I could rewind, so close but so far away..." He carried on and I quietly opened the door in order to hear better, and luckily he didn't notice since he was facing away. I waited for him to finish and when he did, I applauded. Luke turned around and I met his gaze with a grin.

"That was nice," I commented, going to sit opposite him.

"Yeah, well, it's one of my favorite songs on our old album," he told me, putting the guitar down next to him.

"Have you been here the whole time?" I asked. He nodded.

"Yeah. After I annoyed your boyfriend by calling him Norman I came back up here. He seemed pretty mad at you, by the way," Luke mentioned with a smirk.

"He seems to think I keep a load of stuff from him, which is ridiculous," I stated. "Then we got into an argument, and... you don't want to hear about my boyfriend troubles."

"Another argument, huh? You sure you want to stay with Norman?" Luke asked, raising his eyebrows.

"You are not allowed to say stuff like that," I accused. "It's my relationship and yes I am sure I want to stay with him. Would you drop the 'Norman' and call him by his actual name?"

Luke observed me for a moment. "No. I like winding you up."

I rolled my eyes.

"What are you doing back here, anyway?" he questioned, leaning back on the couch and putting his arms behind his head.

"I uh... I kind of wanted to play the guitar a bit," I admitted, glancing at the one next to him.

"It's all yours," he said, handing it to me. I shot him a look.

"Alone," I emphasized. "I was hoping no one would be here."

"Well, I'm not leaving. Just pretend I'm not here," Luke suggested, and I was about to refuse, then decided against it since he'd already heard me sing.

"What the hell." I thought for a moment about what to sing then looked at Luke again to see him pretending not to pay attention. So I began.

"I got misled, mistook, discard, anything that I said, see I'm not the type to call you up drunk, I got some lies to tell." I glanced at Luke who was looking at me now with a small smile on his face.

"Keep going," he said quickly, so I did. I relaxed more as I sang and forgot about the gorgeous, world-famous boy watching me. When I finished the song, Luke was regarding me.

"Why don't you want to play in front of other people?" he asked softly, leaning forward.

I shrugged. "I'm not confident enough."

"Well, I feel... privileged to be someone you are willing to sing in front of," Luke teased slightly. I blushed. "Play something else."

"What? No. That was the extent of my singing for today," I stated, handing the guitar back to him. "You play something."

"You hear me sing, like, every day. I would've thought you'd get bored of my voice," he presumed.

"Nope. Stop trying to come up with excuses."

"Fine. Neither of us has to play. Have you been in the booths before?"

I shook my head. "No, what's special about them?"

"Not much. I think you should just have a look around them."

"Am I allowed?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

"You're already in here," he pointed out. I considered this and shrugged.

"Why not?"

We both went into the vocal booth and just stood in the middle. I looked around me and said sarcastically, "Well this just feels amazing."

"Don't be so sarcastic," Luke said, rolling his eyes. "Who knows, maybe you'll be in here recording someday."

I snorted. "Yeah, no. Think I missed my chance there."

"You never know." He observed me for a moment. "You're not a very optimistic person."

"I'm realistic," I corrected him.

"Put the headphones on. See how it feels."

"Why?" I said with a laugh.

"Why not?" Luke challenged.

"Because... what's the point?" I said, raising an eyebrow.

"Not everything needs a point. You know, sometimes – you may find this hard to believe – people do things just for fun," he replied cynically.

"Funny," I stated flatly.

"But seriously. When was the last time you did something just for fun? You know, lived on the edge a little?"

"I party," I defended.

"Wow."

"Shut up."

Luke laughed. I was not going to get over that sound. He suddenly got a twinkle in his eye and he said, "Let's do something. Let's go for a drive."

"What?" I said in surprise.

"It's just getting dark, it'll be nice. We have to use your car though." With that he left the studio and I quickly went after him, locking it behind me.

"Luke, we can't just 'go for a drive'. You're famous," I reminded him.

"So?" Luke questioned, purposely not taking the elevator, which I was grateful for.

"So, we can't go for a drive. You'll be recognized," I said, furrowing my eyebrows and trying to keep up with his fast walking.

"Noelle, I kind of don't care. Living on the edge, remember?" Luke emphasized. "Don't try and make excuses because we're doing this whether you like it or not."

"But I should get back, and my friends won't know where I am..." I protested slightly. "Nathan will get worried­–"

"Do you know what, snowflake? I could not give a shit less about what Norman thinks. He'll survive," Luke said blatantly as we reached the lobby. "You get the car and meet me round the back, okay?" Without waiting for me to reply, he walked off and I was left standing there. Muttering to myself, I couldn't help but oblige. When I drove to the back of the building, Luke was waiting there with a slight smile on his face.

"Did you just call me snowflake?" I asked as he climbed into the car, his height making it seem small. I took a couple of deep breaths.

"I did. Fits, doesn't it?" He shot me a boyish grin and I rolled my eyes as we set off.

"I still think this is a bad idea," I said as we journeyed through LA, a song by The 1975 playing softly on the radio.

"You're probably right, but you need to loosen up a little. Let's go," he pressed.

"Okay, but where are we going?" I asked as I started the car and set off, just driving away from the Capitol building. "You should probably duck down or something."

"I'm not ducking down," Luke said in indignation.

"But if someone looks in and–"

"It's like you almost don't want to be seen with me," he teased. "And besides, unless they're, like, extremely nosey, no one's going to be looking into your car. Take a left here."

I did so but said, "Do you know where we're going?"

"Yes, I do," Luke stated, opening the window.

"Luke, close the window," I said frantically, trying to lean over and close it for him.

"You should probably keep your eyes on the road," he said lazily and I smirked a little.

"I thought we were living life on the edge?"

"There's a difference between living life on the edge and driving safely so you don't crash. And yes, we are, but now you're being hypocritical. And I'm keeping my window open," Luke said firmly.

I sighed a little but smiled. "Fine. You going to tell me where we're going?"

"No. Take a right," he ordered. He glanced out the window at the people walking by. "See, no one's noticing me." Just as Luke was saying this, two girls on the sidewalk shrieked and pointed at Luke who was very visible since I wasn't going that fast. "Hey," he said to them casually and I hit him, quickly speeding up and leaving the screaming girls behind.

"You can't just do that," I said but I was laughing.

"Why not? I probably made their day."

"What if I got stuck in traffic or something and they..." I trailed off when Luke gave me a look. "Living on the edge. Right."

About ten minutes later Luke told me to pull up at the side of the road and I did, looking around myself. When I saw the tattoo parlor, I immediately said, "No. Nope. I'm not getting a tattoo, Luke."

"Just come inside for a bit and talk to the guy, have a look at the designs. You might change your mind," he suggested, getting out of the car with his head down and quickly leading me into the shop. I couldn't help but follow him because even though my first thought was a big fat no, the idea of a tattoo was growing on me.

"Hi. How can I help you today?" A middle-aged man with lots of tattoos immediately greeted us and did a double take when he saw Luke. "Aren't you that ten seconds of summer guy or something?"

Luke just nodded.

"Interested in getting a tattoo?"

"She is," Luke said, pushing me forward.

"Great, I'll show you the designs. My name's Craig, and if you would follow me, your boyfriend can come along too," Craig said, leading me through the shop.

"He's not my boyfriend," I mumbled, glaring at Luke as he followed us.

"Hey, if you really didn't want to do this, you wouldn't have followed me into the shop," he pointed out, walking beside me.

"Whatever," I muttered because I knew he was right. As soon as we pulled up at this place I knew I would give in. Luke just grinned at me.

"Any ideas about what you want to get?" Craig said, showing me the designs.

"Something small," I replied decisively since I'd already decided I was going to get one. I didn't know why I'd suddenly agreed or how Luke had persuaded me but here I was. I flipped through the different tattoos, and then came across something I liked. I shielded the book with my body so Luke wouldn't see. I wanted it to be a surprise. I indicated to Craig the one I wanted, and he nodded.

"Great. Follow me."

"Wait, what are you getting?" Luke asked quickly, and I just smiled at him.

"You'll find out once it's done."

"What? You're not going to tell me?" he complained. I shook my head.

"Nope. But hey, maybe you should get one too," I suggested. He laughed.

"Nah. I mean, maybe one day, but not today. Good luck," Luke said with a smirk, and I gave him a thumbs up as I went with Craig into another room.