I massage my hair under the hot water to remove as much hair dye as I can.

"That's what I like about you,

You hold me tight.

Tell me I'm the only one, wanna come over tonight. Yeah.

Keep on whispering in my ear, tell me all the things I want to hear.

'Cause it's true, that's what I like about you."

I sing, turning off the shower and wrapping a towel around my waist.

We need to practice, go through our songs a few times before the tour, I think as I blow dry my hair.

I continue to belt the lyrics humorously as I open the door.

Something smacks against me when I open it, I look down to see a beet red Calum with his head against my chest.

I chuckle a little, "You couldn't have waited two weeks?" I ask rhetorically.

I walk across the hall to my bedroom and Cal follows.

I pull on some boxers, and turn to Calum to tell him something useless that I read on twitter.

"You can look now." I state, and wait for Calum to slowly uncover his face.

"How many times have you seen us naked?" I ask sarcastically.

"Too many to count." He replies, before heading to the living room couch.

Ashton and Luke walk in with at least six bags each.

"God, you guys shop like girls." I mutter before turning my attention back to the tv.

"Us? I had to carry three of Ashton's bags because I turned away for three seconds and he's across the mall looking at stuffed animals." Luke grumbles, dumping the bags onto the couch.

Calum and I are showered with an assortment of plushies.

"I'm stealing this!" I shout at no one in particular as I hug a Rainbow Dash to my chest tightly.

"It matches your boxers." Calum points out before returning his attention to a large stuffed elephant.

"Why ya lookin' there Calum?" Luke jokes, jumping length wise across the couch and mine and Cal's laps.

His cheeks flame up to match the red on Luke's flannel shirt.

"Guys. We're out of ice cream." Ashton says slowly, walking into the room with his hands together.

He lays his hands down on the low rise coffee table like in one of those cop movies. He looks a lot more comical, we use the coffee table for random junk and a foot rest. He literally had to bend really low even with his large hands.

"You know what that means." He looks at each of us in turn, a glint of mischief in his eyes.

"It was a bad idea the first time. I am not doing this again." Luke shakes his head and begins to stand.

"Come on Lady Legs, if you don't participate that makes you the loser by default." I mumble, the corner of my mouth tugging up.

He fiddles with his lip ring before nodding, "Fine, but we play my way."

So here we sat, four teenage boys sitting on the edge of our neighbour's in ground pool. Last time we did this we sat with our shoulders nearly touching, but Luke nearly got sick and the family almost caught us when Calum tripped getting up and tugged on Luke's arm for support.

With Luke breathing down our necks we sat on each corner of the small square pool with our bare legs exposed to the chilly English breeze and freezing chlorinated water.

"We're such idiots, one of these days one of us are going to get frostbite." I laugh.

"What is this frostbite you speak of? Australians don't know the meaning of that word." Calum grins, swishing his legs slightly in the crystal clear water.

I watch my feet breeze through the water.

Luke yawns loudly.

"Shut up, you'll wake the neighbours." I hiss jokingly, flicking water at him.

He scrunches up his face and wipes above his eye.

"If it weren't for your leg hair I wouldn't be able to tell where your legs are." Luke mumbles, tilting his head slightly and staring toward my corner.

Calum giggles, "I can see the handprint."

A look of confusion crosses my face, he points toward my stomach while suppressing a laugh.

I look down to see the pool lights illuminated my chest and it made the shadows sharper too.

I groan, spotting the dark handprint showing through my white shirt.

"Remind me not to wear white for a couple of weeks." I state, lifting my shirt to examine it better.

"Kinky. What do you guys do while when we're gone?" Ashton jokes.

My eyes flicker toward Calum to see his reaction. I miss it of course, getting caught up in the ridiculous shadows cast around his jawline. Maybe they're not actually ridiculous, they make his cheekbones stick out beautifully.

"It's hair dye." I cough, dropping the hem of my shirt quickly as if it would catch fire if I held it any longer.

"I see that. But why is it on the side of your stomach?"

I think Calum's fingers are longer than mine, I'll have to find out sometime.

"Michael is a Douche." Calum shrugs, breaking it down to its simplest form.

Luke snorts, repositioning his hands on the pool ledge, "Tell me something I didn't know."

"Got something you want to say, Robert?"

"Maybe I do, Gordon."

"Might as well say it to my face." I state with a shrug, leaning back to rest on my elbows.

My toes were beginning to feel numb but there was no way I was going to go out and buy ice cream for the other three two times in a row.

Who buys a pool in London? Cold swim water is something I'll never get used to. This one isn't even heated.

"Well, no offence to the others, you're the most enthusiastic guitar player in the band. And your earrings are kind of cool."

"Aw Luke, you're kind of cool too." I coo, pretending to pinch his cheek. I assume it look a little weird with the distance dividing us.

"To tell you the truth, I don't really like Muke." Ashton says after Luke and I's moment.

"What?" The rest of us say, confused.

"We made teams for that idiotic game and we had team names. The 5SOS Fam came up with the rest. I never really liked Muke." He explains.

"Yeah, Luke's more of a little brother. The kind that you tease and be a jerk to and no matter what, you know that none of the things you said were true." I nod, I hadn't thought of any of this before.

"You know what I think is weird?" Luke begins, pausing a moment to scratch his neck. "Cashton. I understand that you two are the most giggly, but that's all I see happening between you two. You guys would just giggle and joke around, nothing else. I don't think Cashton would work at all."

"What about Lashton?" Ashton laughs a little, "Don't get me wrong, if I were gay or a girl, I'd date you. But, sorry mate, I'm straight. Not to mention you're considered the hottest in the band and the girls would kill me."

"What girls?" Luke jokes, getting laughter from all of us.

"I'm offended, I thought if anything, Mashton would work. Obviously I was dead wrong. Fuck you guys, I'm Team Malum now." I joke, not that I wasn't already for Malum.

"Pfft, maybe I'm for Cake, even if Ashton doesn't approve." Calum crosses his arms defiantly.

"Why do they always go for the blonde?" Luke whined jokingly, attempting to shelter his hair.

My jaw drops, "I'm blonde too, Stupid."

"Don't worry Mikey, I was joking. Luke just couldn't handle this." Calum jokes, gesturing to himself.

He slides his way over to my corner and side hugs me, resting his head comfortably on my shoulder.

"Malum would probably be the only one to work out. Plus you guys sicken me slightly with your cuteness." Ashton mutters, striking up a conversation with Luke quietly.

"Comfortable?" I ask, turning my head slightly to look back at him.

"I was until your stubble poked my nose." He pouts, giving me an accusing look while massaging his nose.

"What do you expect me to do?" I demand. I was never good at comforting people, especially little kids.

"Fucking hell, okay I'm getting the ice cream. I am so done with this pool!" Luke practically yells, lifting his legs out of the water quickly.

Some water shoots up with his feet and flies across the pool to Cal and I.

"Watch it Hemmings!"

"I'll shove you in the pool!"

"If I go down, you and you're giraffe legs are coming with me!" In a blink of an eye we were back to the usual friendly bickering.

I detach myself from Calum and stand up too, Ashton and Luke are already racing for the short picket fence separating the backyards.

"Damn, this means we only get chocolate ice cream," I whine. "Not that I don't like chocolate, I just prefer a different kind."

I wasn't about to mention to Calum that my favourite flavour is strawberry, because it's not pop-punk and the boys would tease me endlessly.

"If you don't get out of the pool now, you might hypothermia." I tell him, turning to follow the path Luke and Ashton took. It was hard to walk with the insane numbness up to my knees.

There was a loud watery crash and I turn to see Calum coming up for air.

"What happened?"

He spits out a mouthful of water before answering, "I f-f-uck-king tripped-d." He states.

"Help-p m-me up!" He says, teeth chattering loudly.

I pull him up and nearly drop him back in when one of the lights goes on in the neighbour's house.

"Fuck, we gotta go Calum." I rush out, dragging him behind me. Leaving a long puddle detailing the route we traveled. Fuck it, the worst they're going to do is shoot glares my way when I get the newspaper when I wake up, which is usually around noon when they casually soak the flower beds with their hose.

We make it over the fence with little difficulty, it's only two feet high.

"You've got to be kidding me. Isn't that fantastic?" I mutter angrily, when we reach the sliding glass door.

All the lights in the house were off and the two other bandmates were nowhere to be seen.

"W-W-What is it, M-Mic-ch-ael?" Calum shivers next to me.

"It seems Lashton thought it would be funny if they locked us out." I deadpan, glancing at Calum out of the corner of my eye.

He's shaking like a leaf in a storm, only wearing a tank top and shorts.

"Take off your shirt." I blurt out, thinking back to all of the lame movies I've watched where one of the two main people ends up wet and nearly freezing to death, only to be saved by their other half.

"But I'm-m-m f-freezing!" Calum exclaims, hugging himself tightly in hopes to keep his remaining body heat. The light above the door allows me to see that his cheek are red, I can't tell whether it's from my bizarre demand or the frigid air nipping at his exposed skin.

"And staying in that soaked shirt isn't going to help, you need to eliminate the problem before starting to warm yourself up." I state, feeling like a freaking genius for remembering that.

"Oh, okay." Calum mumbles, beginning to peel his shirt off slowly.

"Here, put my sweater on. I'll call the idiots and see to opening the door." I shrug my sweater off, in the beginning I had worn it because I thought it would help me win.

"Michael? W-Why are you only wearing b-b-boxers?" He asks, gesturing to my beautiful Spider-Man boxers.

"I don't own any shorts at the moment." I answer, matter-of-fact-ly. And since you can't really roll up skinny jeans, I compromised.

"Hello?" Ashton answers, trying to hide his laughter and shushing Luke quietly.

"Hey assholes, would you mind opening the door?" I ask sarcastically.

Calum is still shaking noticeably, wrapped up in my sweater which is large on me. Giving him sweater paws and making his shorts look shorter.

I gesture for him to come closer and bring him into a hug, rubbing his back to warm him up.

He feels minuscule in my arms, resting his head against my chest and soaking my shirt with his wet hair.

"No can do Michael, we actually left to get the ice cream. I'm teaching Luke how to drive--sort of--too. Luke, we'll get pulled over for going so low under the speed limit. Okay, pull over. I'm driving. You can talk to Michael."

"You locked us out of the house and left?" I ask in disbelief.

"Yeah, pretty much," Luke says. "We'll be back in like, ten. After we grab the ice cream." He tries to reason.

"You don't understand, Calum fell in the--he hung up on me." I state, pushing the phone into the pocket on my sweater, surprising Calum and making him jump.

"Are there any other ways to keep warm that you know of?" Calum asks.

The only one that come to mind at this moment is sex... Which will actually warm you up if you're freezing.

"Nope." I lie, I wasn't about to say sex. That would make everything more awkward and Calum and I haven't even been on a date yet. Keyword being 'yet.'

"You know what? I bet they didn't even lock the front door." I say, leading Calum around the house.

Let me tell you, we were quite the sight. The house across the street has a party every other night, it's owned by some hot shot bachelor. He's a decent guy most of the time, but when he's drunk he gets a little antsy.

"Mi-kay!" He wolf whistles across the road, waving in a wild fashion.

"Hey Wade." I acknowledge momentarily so he doesn't feel the need to cross the road and strike up a conversation with me and 'the bae' as he would call Calum.

"Idiots." I mumble, chuckling as the door swings open when I go to use the door.

They didn't even close the door properly.

"Go take a hot shower, we need to get you warmed up right away. I'm going to put some pants on. And more than one pair of socks." I add the last one as an afterthought.

I get some black skinny jeans on and go steal Luke's penguin slippers because I was too lazy to put socks on.

"Hello?" I answer the phone while making some tea for Calum.

"Hey Mi-kay!" Wade yells, the thudding music vibrates through the phone.

"Cal! Remember, don't put the water on too hot even if it feels cold it won't help!" Putting the phone speaker against my shoulder.

"Yeah Wade?" I ask once Calum yells something from the bathroom that confirms he heard me.

"I don't mean to interrupt but, I didn't know you swing that way?" There's a smash over the line and incoherent yelling.

"What?" I ask, hoping that I heard him wrong.

"I said, I didn't know you swing that way!" His thick Jamaican accent explodes through the phone.

"Well I do?" How do you respond to that without sounding stupid.

"Hey everyone! This one's for Mi-kay, he's getting laid tonight!" Wade yells, the drunken cheers are so loud that I could hear it if I wasn't on the phone.

"Wade! No, he's a friend!"

"Never mind, he's not getting laid, their just mates!" He yells to the party-goers, who once again to cheer.

"Wade why did you call?"

"Well, Mikhail, one of my friends wants to get to know your friend. Says he looks great in boxers and white shirts." He explains, sobering a bit.

"My friend was wearing shorts and a sweater."

"Really? She was going wild when she talked about blue and red boxers. Says she likes them pale."

"Mate, she was talking about me. I'm going to hang up the phone, and it's a no." Hoping to end this call before Calum gets out of the shower.

"Hey Sydney! Pale boy says he's going to bang you so hard, and it's a done deal!" Wade yells over to the crowd.

"How in the fuck did you get that out of what I said?" I demand, I know the music is loud and we're talking over the phone but really.

"Looks like Mi-kay is getting laid tonight!" A chorus of screams follows.

"No, I'm not getting laid. What the fuck Wade? Do you have a hearing problem? I don't think Sydney and I would work out." I ask.

"Looks like your out of luck Sydney, he's gay as hell!" Wade shouts before a splash sounds and the line goes dead.

"Who's Sydney?" Calum asks quietly, nearly giving me a heart attack.

He looks sad, I don't know if it's just his lips being tinted blue or if it's the fact that I'm not finished making his tea.

"No one, some drunk girl at Wade's party. He was trying to hook me up with her." I explain quickly, waving the topic off.

"Oh." Calum says, taking a sip of his tea.

"It's fine though, I'm gay, so it wouldn't work out." I shrug, dropping the bomb casually. That's right, Michael Oh-So-Casual Clifford. It was more casual than the time I missed the wall by trying to lean on it, or that time I tripped over my own foot. That's me, damn casual.

Surprisingly, it's was actually casual, so casual Calum didn't process what I said right away, he nodded silently before dropping his mug out of shock.

"You're what?" He exclaims. Maybe it wasn't a good idea.

"I'm Spider-Man." I answer, lying discreetly. Maybe I can pretend I didn't come out of the closet.

"Michael, that's not what you said." Maybe it's possible to pretend this conversation didn't happen.

"I'm okay?" It comes out as more of a question with a little wince at the end.

"Michael." He gives me a stern look.

"Okay, I'm gay. G-A-Y. Gay. More gay than that one pair of skinny jeans I have that make it look like I'm wearing spandex pants." I basically rant about it in hopes that that fact will sink in.

He stares at the marble counter top.

A few minutes pass before I can't take it any longer.

"Please say something." I beg, not being able to handle the silence of my best friend any longer.

"Sorry, I just think it's a lot to take in." He mumbles.

"Have you found a guy you like yet?" He asks awkwardly after a long pause.

"Yeah, I guess you could say that." I answer just as awkwardly.

"Who?"

I'm looking at him right now.

"I don't want to say."

He's right in front of me.

"C'mon, I want to know."

Just look in the mirror.

"Well he's really sweet."

As in he enjoys too much sugar.

"But he doesn't realize he is."

Calum can be a dense sometimes.

"He is great at cuddling."

We almost cuddled today.

"Like seriously great."

We were so close.

"I can't even describe how great he is."

So close.

"He has the most amazing eyes I've ever-"

Calum interrupts loudly as if it's hurting him, "it's Ashton, isn't it?"

"What?" I ask genuinely surprised.

"It's Ashton. At the pool you said you thought Mashton would work." Calum states.

Right after I said I was pro Malum. Like I said, Calum can be dense sometimes. But I still have feelings for him.

"No, it's not him."

"I have no doubt."

"Well you're wrong." I say defiantly.

"What's up?" Luke shouts from the front door.

Neither Calum or I reply, we continue to glare at each other from across the island in the kitchen.

"Oh no, don't tell me you guys are fighting about who's better at FIFA again." Ashton question, walking into the kitchen with the ice cream.

"Michael's gay." Calum deadpans in the simplest manner before exiting the room as if nothing happened.

Luke was in the middle of asking who wanted ice cream when Calum cut him short. Now he was standing in front of the cupboards with a stack of bowls in his hand and a wide mouth.

"Yes it's true." I sigh loudly when our other bandmates gawk at me.

I drop my head onto the counter, wrapping my arms around it.

"Michael. Do you want to go see a movie?" Ashton asks randomly breaking the deafening silence.

"No." I groan into my arms.

"It's happening against your will, go put a sweater on." He says, not moving when I look up to glare at him.

"Okay." I throw on a large sweater and a beanie.

I meet Ashton at the front and right before the door closes I get a glimpse of Calum, with a knowing yet stony look on his face.