Vanessa's point of view

"The blood in my veins is made up of mistakes," I sang, trying to imagine standing in front of a full, or nearly full, auditorium as I sang.

"Let's forget who we are and dive into the dark," I continued, closing my eyes as I sang, to get more control over the high note.

"As we burst into color, returning to life," I sang, my eyes squeezing shut to prolong the note and then go octaves down in the end.

How does Calum do this all the time?

I took a seep breath and then grabbed my water bottle, taking a drink from it. "You're doing well." Luke said and I looked at him.

"I'm trying." I said and nodded. "It's kind of hard to keep pulling high notes you know." I told him.

"I know." He said and he laughed. "When is the concert again?"

"Later on next month, towards the end." I said and he nodded. "Turns out we have a dress code that day, black skirts, white button ups with our school logo, and a black bow tie, the girls' uniform that is." I said and he nodded.

"Uniform sucks." He said and I agreed. "Do you think Miranda will find a way to stand out then?"

"Ripped sleeves and maybe a leather skirt." I told him and he nodded. "She's Miranda, she hates looking like everyone else."

"Is she okay? Like, after what happened, you know?" He asked and I nodded.

"Her brother lives on the other side of town and they haven't been around she said. It must be going fine." I told him and he nodded. "How's your studio stuff? Going good too?"

"Almost finished with some new songs, and no you can't get a sneak peek at it." He told me and I laughed. "It's coming soon though, promise."

"I'll probably cry." I said and he laughed. "Are you and Calum cool?" I asked and he shrugged.

"I guess." He said and I nodded. "He's just a little less open to me now, which isn't that nice but I guess I deserve it, I was a dick."

"Can I give you some advice?" I asked and he nodded. "Actions speak louder than words." I told him and he laughed.

"I'll keep that in mind." He told me and I nodded. "Can I ask you a question?"

"Everyone asks me that, just ask the question." I said and laughed as he nodded, apologizing.

"Are you okay with being in a live stream to like tell the world why you're always around us?" He asked me and my grip on the water bottle tightened.

"Like... Like telling them you adopted me?"

"Yeah, exactly." He said and I tapped my fingers against the bottle. "Is that okay? It'd be better than live television, am I right?"

"Yeah..." I said and then sighed. "Yeah, that's fine. I don't mind." I said and he nodded.

"Good because we said we had big news and we didn't want to lie and say Calum finally grew a chest hair." He said and I laughed with him. "I'm not kidding, that was our backup plan."

"No one would believe that, he never has his shirt on and everyone would notice that you all lied." I said and he shrugged.

"So you're okay with that?" He asked and I nodded. "Great, now I have to confront rumors about me and Arzaylea... God they're going to hate me." He told me and rubbed his face.

"No they won't." I said and grabbed his arm. "Fans won't hate you for being happy." I told him and he muttered something. "What?"

"Nothing um, it was nothing. Don't think about it." He told me and I nodded. "You're being too kind to me considering I've been a dick lately."

"Two wrongs don't make a right... realistically speaking." I said and he laughed. "If you're in some alternative universe then maybe, but this is real life. Fire and fire just make more fire."

"Are you Shakespeare or a fifteen year old girl?" He asked and I laughed as I moved my bangs out of my face.

"Both." I said and he rolled his eyes. "I am the reincarnation of Shakespeare." I told him and he nodded.

"Are we cool now?" He asked and I nodded as he put his hands in his pockets.

"Yeah, we're cool." I said and he gave me a hug. I smiled and I hugged him back as he kissed the top of my head.

"Feels good to not feel like you hate my guts." He told me and I laughed.

"I could never hate you Luke. Maybe I'll be mad but like... you don't know it but you've done so much for me, I couldn't possibly hate you." I told and he was silent. "Luke?"

"Trying not to cry." He said and I rolled my eyes as he let me go. "Come on, want to go cook some mac and cheese with me and then watch some tv shows?"

"Depends... what show?"

"Any."

"Stiles, here I come." I said and he laughed as I ran downstairs, leaving him alone.

-

"He's so cute," I said and Luke just shook his head as he laughed. "This isn't funny Luke Robert Hemmings." I said and he rolled his eyes.

"It's very funny Vanessa Lucinda Hemmings." He told me and I scowled slightly at the use of my middle name. "It's weird because your middle name and my first name are kind of similar."

"Makes me want to stick a spork in my eye." I said and he rose an eyebrow at me. "I prefer the bassist."

"My heart." He said and held his chest. "Have him, I already got lots of other girls."

"Sure you do." I told him and spooned some of the cheesy pasta into my mouth. "Everyone is a Calum girl, evdn if you don't like the band you're a Calum girl."

"I guess." He said and shrugged. "I'm a Michael girl obviously, have you seen his hair? Yes God." He said and fanned himself as I laughed.

"How homosexual of you." I told him and he nodded. "I'm sure Michael would love to hear that."

"Probably." He told me and chuckled. "Michael is coming over later since he's alone and needs someone. He says he feels... dependent right now."

"My poor son, is he okay? Does he need hugs? Video games? Pokémon? Rock n roll music?" I asked and Luke shrugged.

"I don't know, he just says he feels dependent and that maybe being alone isn't the best idea for him." He told me and I nodded. "Said we could have gone to the other two, but they're out somewhere right now."

"Calum's out at a club." I said and he asked me how I knew that. "Update accounts on twitter." I lied and he nodded.

He actually told me he was going to a club tonight so...

"Fair enough, they seem to know everything." He told me and I nodded. I set my empty bowl on the table and then grabbed the remote, changing the channel.

"I'm bored. Here you go." I said after I realized nothing good was on. He played some random television show and I stretched a bit, yawning loudly as I closed my eyes.

"If you go to sleep now, you won't be able to sleep later." He told me and I nodded.

"Oh well." I muttered and then adjusted myself so my head on on his lap and my legs were straight across the rest if the couch. "Please don't get up."

"Yeah I'll just piss all over you, fun." He said and I laughed a bit as I shook my head. "Why do girls put their hair in a bun? It looks weird."

"When you don't want it in your face or when you don't want to fix it up all nice, it's really convenient." I mumbled and he chuckled as he nodded, telling me that was reasonable.

-

"I don't know Luke, lately I've been feeling so bad. Like-Like I guess... I guess you can say I've been feeling depressed? I don't know. Nothing interests me anymore Luke, nothing. I-It's scaring me." I heard someone whimper and I stayed still.

"Mikey, maybe you're just homesick. Maybe you should have stayed back home a little longer before you flew out here to start tour. You do have awhile until you guys start." I heard Arzaylea say and Luke sighed.

"No love, he's... it's complicated okay? It's more than just homesickness. Michael, have you been taking your meds?"

"Yes! They aren't working! I can't even enjoy my Playstation 4 without feeling like I'm about to burst into tears! I hate it!" He said and it sounded like he was choking back words.

"I don't know what to do Luke. I-I don't know what's wrong with me. I'm scared." He said and I got up, stretching a bit. "Did I-Did I wake you?"

"We. Did we wake you? This isn't just your fault." Arzaylea said and I shook my head before laying down on Michael's lap.

He rubbed my arm and I closed my eyes, still extremely tired. "Love you Mikey." I mumbled and he chuckled.

"Love you too Nessa." He said and I heard Arzaylea say she was going to get something to drink. Luke asked for a beer and Michael agreed, asking for one aswell.

Michael played with my bun and I hummed. "Mind singing Vanessa? Maybe it can make Michael not cry." Luke said and I shrugged.

"I just woke up, might not sound pretty." I said and laid on my back. I rubbed my eye and looked up at Michael. "What song?" I asked and Michael shook his head.

"It's fi-"

"Choose one." Luke said and I closed my eyes again, folding my hands and setting them on top of my forehead.

I hummed a bit and then shifted slightly. "Don't cry, open up your eyes and know, there's someone else out there that feels this way," I sang softly.

"I'm singing to you, cause I know what you've been through and out, not so long ago I've felt the same," I continued and I felt Michael laugh a bit, sounding choked out again.

"Like soldiers, march on, if we could make it through tonight we'll see the sun, march on, march on," I hummed the rest of the song, feeling him rub my arm a bit as Arzaylea came back.

"... Through the good times, through the bad times, through the long days, through the hard nights, keep on, until we see the sun." I sang, not trying as hard as I should have on the high note.

"You just woke up and you're singing, are you Luke now?" She joked and I nodded as I laughed. I looked up at Michael and he smiled.

"I'm actually crying." He aaid and wiped his eyes, rubbing his fingers together to confirm that they're wet with tears. "Fuck, I didn't think I'd actually end up crying."

"It's okay Mikey, sometimes crying is the best thing to do. It's the least destructive way of letting out your emotions." I told him and he smiled as he nodded.

"Become a poet or some shit because you're good at this." Luke said and I gave him thumbs up. "You are Shakespeare."

"I just know how to use my voice." I said and Michael laughed as he leaned back a bit, bringing the clear bottle up to his lips and taking a drink.

"Your voice is your most powerful weapon."

"That's like a nice way to say I'm a bad singer, thanks." I said and they all laughed. "Thanks Michael, means a lot to me."

"You know what I mean!" He said and I nodded, telling him that I did know.