[a/n: dedicated to @fatecanberewritten Because she's pretty frigging awesome for reading all my stories and voting too. ALSO she's an awesome writer. Go check out "Saving The Reject" because it's awesomely well written and Michael is hot lol]

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ARI.

I found myself slowing getting back into the swing of things. Mom was finally walking around the house on her own, preparing her own tea, and even doing some laundry. We had neighbors check on her every once in a while when Mia and I were at school, and whenever I had a spare minute at work, I'd quickly call home to make sure my mom was alright. Midterms were in two weeks which meant two weeks of homework, essays and intense studying before exams. But after suffering sleepless nights and copious amounts of coffee, winter break would be our ultimate prize. Two and a half weeks of being absolutely lazy.

My body was ready.

Thursday evening at Pier Pressure was at its normal liveliness. It wasn't brimming with an aggressive amount of customers like the weekends, nor was it completely empty that I could pick out a wedgie at center floor and get away with it without awkward eye contact. The restaurant was at a calm bustle, which allowed me to make more small talk with our customers- especially the group of cuties in the corner booth who were in dire need of bigger bibs.

"Do you guys even aim for your mouths?" I chuckled, dropping off a stack of napkins at the corner booth. My eyes darted from Calum, to Luke, and to Ashton whose faces were caked with gravy and cajun seasoning.

"When it comes to seafood, eating proper doesn't work," Calum justified, a sassy undertone to his voice as he sat up straighter in pesudo-posh.

"We're men. It's in our DNA to be barbaric eaters," Ashton continued, licking his lips, "with everything we get our mouths on."

With a chuckle, Ashton wiggled his eyebrows mischievously before receiving a high-five from Calum. Luke joined the innuendo games, licking the seasoning off of the corn on the cob in his hands with a sultry expression on his face. I scoffed, rolling my eyes at their typical-boy behavior.

"You guys are disgusting," I shook my head in disapproval, trying to keep somber plastered on my face but as I watched all three boys obnoxiously lick their food and fingers while awkwardly winking at one another, I couldn't hold it in anymore. I bursted into a fit of raging giggles.

"I knew you'd find it funny," Calum pointed at me with a satisfied grin.

"Fine, you caught me," I held up my hands in mock-surrender, "I'm secretly a 15-year-old boy who still finds fart jokes and sexual ambiguities hilarious."

"You're a 15-year-old boy? I've been hoodwinked!" Luke mused, theatrically gasping and throwing a hand to his chest.

"Hoodwinked? Okay Mister Perfect-Score-On-Their-SAT's," Ashton teased, pursing his lips in approval.

"Wait, what did you say?" I halted my laughter, an eyebrow raised at Ashton. "Perfect score?"

"We didn't just come here because we had a craving for seafood," Calum began, an ever-growing smile forming on his face. "We're here to celebrate the fact that Lucas here," he gestured for the boy,"is actually a smarty-pants."

"I know, I know, I didn't believe it either. But Lucas is going somewhere with his brains," Ashton reached across the table to give Luke a playful smack on the shoulder.

"Is this all true?" I looked at Luke with pride in my eyes, "did you really get a perfect score?"

"I thought I was going to bomb Literature but, I guess those SAT-prep classes I took really helped me out," Luke mentioned. He was clearly holding in all his excitement, attempting to stay humble. But this was a huge deal and my favorite quiff-boy totally deserved to brag about it.

"Dude! I'm so freaking proud of you! Looks like we're both on our way to Newcoast University," I hinted, snaking an arm around Luke's shoulder to give him a side hug. He rested his head against my hip, his arm draping around the back of my legs.

"Since I did so well, can you bring me out some ice cream?" Luke tilted his head to look at me with a pout. His widened eyes were glossed with earnestness and his facial expression reminded me of the hurt animals on the ASPC commercials.

"Yes, anything for my favorite smarty-pants," I cooed, morphing my voice into one that exuded a cutesy, overbearing mother as I pinched both of Luke's cheeks.

"Stop that, or I'm not sharing an apartment with you," Luke slapped my hands away, flinching as I perpetually attempted to squeeze his cheeks in between my fingers.

"Aw stop, you're gonna love having me as a roomie," I confidently told him, stepping back from Luke's flailing hands.

"Not if you're going to treat me like that," Luke groaned, rolling his eyes. "Now get outta here and get me some ice cream woman!"

My face dropped into smooth, unamused lines. I crossed my arms above my chest, glaring at Luke who sat there snickering to himself with an oh-so adorable pleased look on his face.

"You're lucky I'm on the clock, otherwise I'd slap that smirk off your face Hemmings," I threatened, turning curtly on my heel before walking to my other customers.

"You adore me Quiroz!" Luke called out, causing me to immediately scoff at his statement. He wasn't wrong though- I did adore him. A lot. But I wasn't going to succumb to it now.

"No I don't!" I retorted, continuing my trek to table number 10 where a group of soccer players were sitting. I smiled softly to myself, feeling giddy as fùck, which was something very new to me. The only time I really felt pathetically unstable because of a boy was when Xavier Neimar accidentally grazed his hand against mine in the 6th grade- that, and when watching One Direction's Night Changes music video because, well, duh.

But Luke, he was something refreshing. He was my best friend; someone who I could count on and feel so comfortable around, but on the other end of the spectrum, Luke gave my stomach butterflies- no, not butterflies, zombie bats on crack. There were some things he said or did that made my heart plummet out of my butt, my muscles to contract with a gush of feels, and my mind to nose-dive into a tailspin of high school, teenage hormones. It was safe to say that I really, really adored the boy who once vomited in the alleyway right outside of this very restaurant.

My shift was coming to an end with only 30 minutes left and I was demoted to folding utensils into linen- which I never understood since 99% of our customers used their hands to eat the copious amounts of crab legs, shrimp, oysters and crawfish. The 1% who did use cutlery however, were those who had the clam chowder. And in California where it's summer practically the entire year, scorching hot chowder in a bread bowl wasn't the number one item ordered from the menu.

"You totally love him,"

I jerked my head away, shifting my attention from the boy jubilantly eating ice cream to my bombshell coworker standing across from me. The two of us stood at the empty bar with a bin of utensils on one side, another bin of linen next to it and a bin of completed tableware sets next to that.

"Wh-what?" I stammered, dropping the fork in my hand to the table top with a bang. "What are you talking about?"

"Luke," Jasey simply stated with a raised brow. When I opened my mouth to speak, she quickly continued, "don't deny it Ari. I'm standing right in front of you and I can see the way you look at him. This isn't some cutesy, high school infatuation- you seriously love the boy."

"You think I love him?" I bit my bottom lip, leaning my body slightly to the side to catch glimpse of Luke sitting a few yards away from where Jasey and I were.

"I don't think you do, I know you do," Jasey confidently proclaimed, reaching into her apron pocket to grab the clear container of TicTacs. "Besides, you've been only rolling forks into the linen," she popped the minty candy into her mouth before continuing to ask, "where's the spoons?"

With shock and furrowed brows, I gazed down at the bin of folded silverware, grabbing a set in a haste. I unrolled the fabric and as Jasey claimed, there were in fact only forks inside. I lifted my gaze to the cutlery in my hands back up to Jasey with a guilty expression etched on my face.

"Sorry," I apologized. Jasey giggled.

"It's okay Ari. I totally understand how you're feeling," Jasey quipped reassuringly. She reached her hand across the bar top to give mine a friendly squeeze. "You're in pretty deep my love. Better start swimming before you drown."

"That's the problem," I sighed, taking one last glance at Luke who was laughing hysterically about something with the guys, "I don't wanna move."

Jasey flashed me another small smile and she nodded subtly; I could tell that she knew exactly what I was talking about. She and Sean have been together for several years and I'm pretty sure she felt deeply for him, the same way I was starting to feel for Luke.

The two of us eventually dropped the subject, talking about topics besides cute, blonde boys. The last 30 minutes of my shift came to an end and before I knew it, I was in the back room gathering my things. Quietly singing along to the music that was playing through the speakers, I folded my red apron and stuck it into my purse.

"All done for the day?" Jasey walked in through the swinging doors. With an empty pitcher in one hand and empty plates in the other, she stuck her head into the break room with a smile on her face.

"Yup. Gonna go home and get into some shenanigans," I informed, slinging my bag around my body.

"So a tub of ice cream and catching up with Pretty Little Liars?" Jasey predicted with a chuckle.

"You caught me," I threw my hands up in surrender, sending her a goofy grin.

"See ya later Ari," Jasey bid me a goodbye with a head nod. As she turned away towards the sinks, I grabbed my flannel which was draped over a chair and wrapped it around my waist. Just as I pulled the two sleeves, creating a knot at the button of my black pants, I heard a loud, startling crash. I lifted my head immediately, halting my movements as all five of my senses went into overdrive.

"We're supposed to be best friends dammit!"

I knew that voice. It was Calum's and by the inflection in his tone in addition to the anger laced with each word, I knew some kind of commotion was taking place out on the floor. So in a haste, I catapulted myself out of the break room, running through the back and out the swinging doors.

"Are you going to fùcking throw away eight years of friendship over something we could possibly fix?" Calum was fuming.

I stood by the doors watching Calum's broad shoulders heave up and down, his fists clenched at his side. On the floor by his feet were broken dishes and splatters of ice cream caking the surfaces in the surrounding area.

"What the hell is going on here?" I stomped towards the boys, noticing as customers gawked at us, some with their phones out, ready to snap photos or to take video for their own social media motives.

"Why don't you ask him?!" Calum gestured for the boy standing a few feet away.

I darted my eyes over to the figure, my breath literally being taken away. Michael didn't look like Michael anymore. His body was drowning his his clothes- even his skinny jeans looked a little loose on him. His normally warm and joyful face was hallow, dark and was twisted with notes of fury. The boy who I considered my best friend stood before us all like a stranger from the underworld.

"Mikey?" I whispered, taking a step towards him. His lilac hair was considerably faded, long and even though he might be the one behind all these creepy texts, I wanted so bad to reach out and hug him. "What's going on?"

"Nothing's going on," Michael snapped. He stepped forward, walking in my direction. As he tried to push pass me, I quickly grabbed his wrist.

"No! Don't you dare walk away from me Michael! We're supposed to be friends and I wanna know what's been going on with you!" I yelled at him, feeling all bottled up feelings threatening to explode. At this point, I didn't care that we were in the middle of a restaurant. I was off duty and if I didn't talk to Michael now, who knew when I could.

"Nothing's been going on," Michael grumbled. He towered over me with a spine-tingling superiority.

"I know you've been hanging out with Reese," I mentioned, glaring up at my once friend with the same intense eyes as he.

"So what? I'm not allowed to have any other friends?" Michael replied, an unamused chuckle slipping through his dry lips.

"What the hell have you guys been up to?" I dropped my voice to a lower volume. Creepy texts weren't something that Calum and Ashton knew about and if they found out Michael might have something to do with them, then there's nothing stopping them from punching Michael in the face.

"Not that it's any of your business but video games and pizza... the usual," Michael listed, crossing his arms above his chest.

"That's not what I'm referring to and you know it. Why the hell are you and Reese being such creeps, huh?" I questioned.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Michael scoffed, rolling his eyes and walking away from me. I slowly turned around, shooting deadly glares to Michael's back.

"Michael!" I bellowed, trying to get his attention, however he simply ignored me. "Michael! Talk to me!"

Once again, no response. I was growing frustrated and there was no way I was going home without an answer.

"I know that you and Reese stole Luke's therapy files!" I suddenly yelled, ire coating my voice which seemed to grab the attention of Michael. Upon hearing my statement, he turned on his heel. "I know that you've been spreading it around which is why Luke keeps getting bullied. And I know that you and Reese keep threatening the two of us! Why are you doing this?!"

Michael sauntered towards me. Agonizingly slow, his Doc Martens left an almost inaudible tap against the wooden floor as he inched forward.

"You don't know shit Ari," Michael's voice was deep and chilling, like a stroke from some maniacal, crazed killer. "Just because for once you're out of the loop about something doesn't automatically mean you get to be included. You need to get off of your self-righteous high horse Ari because it's fùcking annoying. Grab your favorite quiff boy and say goodbye."

"Do you hate me? Hate Luke? Is that why you're doing all this? Are you jealous of mine and his friendship?" A slew of questions came out of my mouth like wildfire, attempting to understand what was going through Michael's head.

"You're so fùcking pretentious Ari," Michael sneered, "not everything is about you. The world doesn't revolve around you. Why would it? You're just a little girl who acts tough when you're nothing but a cold-hearted bitch who goes to a party when her dad was dying in the hospital and studies for tests instead of visiting her mum!"

"That's enough! What the fùck is wrong with you, man?!" Luke stepped in between us, shoving Michael in the chest. "Leave us alone! You're such a perv!"

"You don't scare me," Michael snarled, glaring intently at Luke. "And you might want to leave me alone. Therapy files are meant to be private. I would hate to see them published somewhere, wouldn't you?"

With that, Michael smirked satisfyingly before turning back around and walking away. I stood there, immobile and angry. I puffed my chest, my shoulders heaving up and down as I felt my hands clench in frustration. I noticed Drea and Jasey walk out from the back room with concerned expressions as both pairs of eyes darted from me to the surrounding area.

"Come on, let's go," Luke tugged onto my wrist, his head gesturing for the open door. When I looked at the door and the evening air before it, I noticed that Calum was already outside. He paced back and forth, as Ashton tried to console him.

"I don't even know you anymore," I screamed at Michael, who was contently sitting at a booth reading a menu.

Michael ignored my words, consuming himself in the laminated booklet in his hands. Hot tears filled with anger rolled down my cheeks as I succumbed to Luke's pulls. He practically dragged me out of the restaurant and towards the cool air where Calum and Ashton were. However, as I stepped foot onto the outside pavement, my body almost slammed into a figure I wasn't expecting to see, but should've.

"Reese?" I breathed, quickly wiping my tears away. Of course he'd be here right now. Michael doesn't eat alone- he was obviously on a man date with creeper Reese.

"Ari, hey," Reese's voice was low and he sounded oddly tired. In a pair of dark blue scrubs and his Children's Hospital badge pinned to the pocket, I noticed his eyes trail at my cheeks and the tears that still remained. "So you know?"

"Know what? That you and Michael are creeps?" I jeered angrily. Reese seemed taken aback by my words but I didn't buy it. He was acting; he really wasn't my friend.

"I don't know what you're trying to get at," Reese shook his head, "but Ari, I need to-"

"Leave her alone dude," Luke demanded, tugging onto my wrist once again.

"Sorry dude," Reese gawked at Luke with annoyance, "but I need to tell Ari something."

"Whatever it is, she doesn't want to hear it," Luke answered for me, his voice suddenly husky and dripping in protectiveness.

"Yea, she does," Reese insisted. He tried to open his mouth again to speak, but Luke wouldn't let him. He simply shoved a shoulder against Reese as we strolled passed him to meet Calum and Ashton.

I was safe now, barricaded by three people to cared about me. If Reese or Michael wanted to pull anything, I was at least protected by Ashton, Calum and Luke. But there was one piece of information that dangled in the air; a declaration that wasn't going to come to me by text or morse code or a smoke signal. It would come from the mouth of a person whom I wanted to eschew.

"Ari listen to me!" Reese yelled, a pleading manner to his voice, "Brayson just passed away!"

//

Okayssss another update for you guys! Been getting lots of messages telling me to update so I've been trying to finish this chapter up all day. I hope you guys liked it.

Confrontation with Michael! I almost made Calum beat the shit out of Michael but I decided against it. It might happen another time though haha.

AAAAND Brayson has received his angel wings :'(. I know it's upsetting, but it had to happen. Ever since I introduced him back in Chapter 3, I was aching because I already knew that I was going to kill him off. Go ahead and yell at me, call me a monster for killing a child... but yea. There's a reason why I had to have Brayson die, which you'll find out in a later chapter.

THANKS for all the reads and the 6K+ votes. Holy ajskwiwhsk!! I'm so happy and excited and it keeps me super motivated! Please do continue to vote & to comment! I really appreciate it. Also, made a Luke/Ari manip last night cuz I was bored. It took forever and it was really hard so sorry if it sucks lol.