michael.

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Tour busses were always our home away from home. When we toured with One Direction for the first time, the tour bus was our sanctuary. It was the one place that stayed constant. Hotel rooms and venues always changed, but the tour bus was the one thing that stayed the same.

Our bus this time around, was frigging gargantuan. As we were making a name for ourselves in the music industry, the perks were getting better and our tour bus was not immune to it. Though I always had to remind myself to stay grounded. I didn't want to end up as some kind of diva who sold out. I wanted to stay true to the music and I wanted to stay true to myself.

"This is a crazy upgrade from Gus Bus!" Luke whooped, sticking his hands in every drawer and cupboard in the vehicle.

"Our bunks even got bigger," Calum observed, pointing to one of the beds. "So much more room for activities, if you know what I mean."

I rolled my eyes, "please keep your Snapchat groupies out of here."

"Fùck you Clifford," Calum stuck his middle finger in my direction before the lads and I bursted into laughter.

"Aw look! They even prepared a bunk for Melody," Ashton said, crouching down in front of one of the lower bunks on the bus. I cocked my head to the side, approaching him. I looked at the section Ashton was referring to and was surprised to see that one of the bunks was embellished with pink blankets and stuffed animals.

"Naw man, that's not for Melody," I declared seriously.

"What?" Ashton stood up from his position to meet me eye level.

"That bunk is obviously for Luke," I mischievously grinned at the tall, quiffed blonde.

"I wish that were my bunk," Luke mused, "it looks more comfortable than ours."

"Where is our little princess anyway?" Calum questioned, turning his head in all directions, searching for the tiny girl.

His question was answered not a moment too soon when light, cheery singing filled our ears from outside of the bus. The tune of some classic Disney song wafted through the air followed by a wave of laughter and cheering. The boys and I walked out of the bus and down the steps to find Jude, Gail, Melody and some other girl with dark hair whose face I couldn't see. She was kneeling down, eye to eye with Melody whose tiny voice still carried a tune.

"Boys meet Gail's assistant stylist," Jude hinted, pointing over to the girl who was still engrossed with Melody.

"...the dream that you wish will come trueee," Melody finished her song, another round of loud claps and laughs assuring her that she had done well.

"Wow, you are such a talented girl. Is that why your name is Melody? Because you can sing?" the girl's voice dripped with fluffiness. "Who taught you to sing so well?"

"My Unca' Luke," Melody answered.

Luke had a satisfied grin on his face, clearly flaunting this feat, "why yes, I did teach her to sing."
"And who's you're uncle Luke?" the girl questioned. Melody turned around and pointed to Luke, but the moment she did, her body uncovered the mystery girl's face.

My jaw dropped.

It was the snarky, pretentious girl from the bar in Dublin. I recognized her from the tattoo beneath her clavical that was showing underneath her tank top. I could smell her sassy attitude from where I was standing and I felt my fists clench in defense. Her brown eyes caught mine and they widened with shock. The girl slowly stood up, walking passed Melody and approached me.

"You!" we both yelled at the same exact time. The others around us all looked at one another, eyebrows raised in confusion as they wondered how on Earth the two of us knew each other.

"What hell are you doing here!?" I bellowed.

"Michael, this is Annette Silva, she's Gail's niece," Jude explained, placing a hand on her shoulder.

"Don't tell me she's a fan," I groaned, rolling my eyes.

"Oh please, you'd wish I was a fan. Then you'd have more than just your mum following you on Twitter," she snarled, crossing her arms.

"She's not a fan," Jude stated, "she's the new stylist."

"You've got to be kidding me," I smacked myself in the face in frustration. "Can we bring Queenie back."

"Dude, you know she's on maternity leave," Calum pointed out, patting my shoulder. He extending his hand towards Annette, "hi, my name is Calum, the bassist. And I totally have more than just my mum following me on Twitter... My sister follows me too."

Annette giggled, taking Calum's hand in hers, "nice to meet you Calum."

"And I'm the infamous Unca' Luke," he brandished his arm to shake Annette's, who smiled at him with welcome. "I'm vocals and guitar."

"Welcome to the 5SOS tour family," Ashton chimed, "my name is Ashton and I like to bang... the drums," he winked at Annette, causing her laugh.

"Nice to meet you all. As Jude already said, I'm Annette Silva. I'm a fashion merchandising student at the University of London. My Aunty Gail needed a styling assistant and was kind enough to bring me along," Annette was able to swing her attitude in point two seconds. From a stuck up little bitch, to a sorta-kinda charming girl. Everyone seemed to be sucked into her words, admiring the way she was able to conceive a sweet-girl performance. I however, was much smarter. I knew better than to trust her with the little hair I do have. What if she dyes my hair a normal color?

"A student? She's not even a real stylist," I carped, gesturing for Annette, whose eyebrows narrowed in on me. "She's going to make us look like a bunch of teens derping around on stage."

"Man, we are teens derping around on stage," Luke confirmed. He seized my arm, pulling me away from the group, "we need to talk," he gave Annette an apologetic look before rounding the corner to the other side of the bus.

"What the hell is going on with you? Why are you being so rude to Annette?" Luke was never one to give lectures, but when he did, we all knew he meant business.

"She's a f-cking prick that's why. She's rude, pompous and I already know she's going to mess up," I argued, my voice at a stern whisper.

"You're a dick Michael. You can't possible predict that Annette is going to mess up. She's a nice girl and Gail's niece. If you love Gail then you'll respect Annette. Besides, Melody seems to have taken a quick liking to her," Luke mentioned.

I sighed, turning away from my best friend. I could hear Annette and Melody having a conversation from a distance, and I rubbed my face in irritation. Luke did have a stupid point. I did love Gail like my own mother and I guess out of respect for her, I had to play nice. That didn't mean I had to like Annette, I just had to tolerate her.

"Fine, fine. I'll be nice," I surrendered. Luke grinned happily.

"That's my boy," he patted me on the back. "And think of it this way, she could be a babysitter for Melody because God only knows how fantastic of a father you are," Luke smirked, emphasizing the word to insinuate that I sucked at being Melody's dad.

He wasn't wrong though.

✖ ✖

After a whole day of radio interviews and acoustic shows, it was nice to finally be back on the bus to relax. We had a day's worth of traveling before we hit our first arena on the East Coast. But before I could play video games, stuff my face with Poptarts or even attempt to go to bed, I had a tiny girl to deal with first.

"Melody?" I walked into the back room of the bus where the television, game consoles, and couches were. Melody sat on the floor contently, playing with her dolls. "Time to get ready for bed."

She ignored me, as usual, and continued to play, quietly humming to herself. I crouched down next to her and placed a gentle hand on her back.

"Sweetheart, come on, you have to take a bath and get some rest," I told her. Laughter filled my ears and I turned my head over my shoulder to see the guys joking around in the kitchen area.

"No," Melody simply said, never once looking at me.

"You can play with your toys tomorrow. Please stop being difficult and listen to me. Time for bed," my voice was growing more stern, but my mum kept reminding me, even from thousands of miles away via text message, not to blow my temper with her.

"No, later,"

"Melody don't be like this,"

"You don't be like this,"

"Stop your sass! It's time for bed little missy!" I snatched the doll away from her hands, holding it behind my back. Melody gazed at me with wide, glossy eyes and a frown. I knew that look. She was about to have a tantrum.

5, 4, 3...

"Don't you f-cking dare throw a fit Melody Joyce Clifford!"

...2, 1, 0.

Melody's high-pitched shrieks kicked my eardrums and reverberated off of the bus walls, echoing throughout the entire home on wheels. Melody continued to sit on the floor, crying intensely, drowning out the laughter and music from the other end of the bus. Several thumping later and the boys filed into the back room with concerned looks.

"What's going on? Why's she crying?" Calum questioned.

"She f-cking had attitude," I explained gesturing at the crying girl. "She won't listen to me and get ready for bed."

"Michael language!" Ashton scolded, as he walked over to Melody and crouched down before her. "Come here sweetie."

"Dude, she's a little girl. You gotta be patient with her," Luke advised. Suddenly he wasn't the baby of the band and apparently had more wisdom to raising my daughter than I did.

"I. Want. To. Play," Melody wailed, holding up her arms towards Ashton in need to be held. He swiftly picked her up and held her to his chest.

"I know, calm down princess," Ashton gently rubbed Melody on the back, bouncing up and down to pacify her as she continued to cry into Ashton's neck. "You have to listen to your daddy and go to bed. I promise we can all play tomorrow and go get ice cream too. Would you like that?"

Melody sniffled, her cries slowly subsiding. She nodded, her head resting on Ashton's shoulder as the last of her tears trickled down her tiny face. He wiped the remaining away with his hands before placing a kiss on her forehead.

"But only if you take a bath right now and go to sleep. Alright Melody?" Ashton negotiated, giving her a serious, yet pouty expression. Melody nodded her head again, earning a grin from Ashton. He put her back down and the moment her feet hit the floor, she ran passed all of us and towards her bunk.

"You gotta be able to stay calm with her Mikey," Ashton sighed. "You know what she's been through. Regular parenting isn't going to work with her."

The lads walked away, giving me some space while they helped Melody prepare for bed. I plopped down on one of the couches and buried my face into my hands. I don't know how or why my friends made better parents than I did. And I didn't understand why Melody listened to them over me. She frigging lived in my house for the past month; I bought her toys and tried my best to take care of her yet she wanted nothing to do with me.

"Melody, the water is all warm. Don't forget to clean behind your ears,"

How could a 3-year-old already learn to hate someone at such a young age? She was far too young to be an angsty teenager so I was baffled by her behavior. I was honestly hurt and jealous that Melody chose Ashton, Luke, Calum, and even sassypants Annette Silva over me. I'm her f-cking father; I f-cking helped make her.

"Are you doing alright in there? Call us if you need help okay Melody?"

"Okay Unca Cal,"

I just wanted to call up Carrington and yell the shit out of her for not just leaving me, but for leaving me with a child we both know I can't raise. Carrington shattered my heart the moment she broke up with me and ripped me to shreds the moment she decided to take her life away. She made a selfish decision and I was pissed that there was nothing I could do about it.

"There's our princess. Let's get you dried up and ready for bed, yea?"

I was trying my best to raise Melody for Carrington but so far I was messing up. At the end of the summer and the US leg of the tour, social services are doing a final evaluation of my case. If they deem me an unfit dad they're taking Melody away, but they won't have to. Because at the end of the summer, I'm giving her back.

I can't be a dad anymore.

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Yay! Update! And yay for cute Melody/Ash moments. I can't handle myself trying to imagine the boys with children. It's just too cute that I can't handle myself! Also, Annette is back and reintroduced into Michael's life. Girls are just giving him problems right now, aren't they?

Also for anyone wondering about the chapter photo and whyyyy the baby freaking looks so Asian. It's because she is lol. If you don't remember in the past chapters, I mention that Melody takes after her mother Carrington Cruz, who is of the Filipino-descent. Asian traits tend to dominate over others (i.e. brown eye & dark hair genes are a dominate while blue eyes & light hair are recessive) so that's why there's a half Asian / half Caucasian child as a chapter photo haha.

Anyway, I hope you liked this chapter! If you do please don't forget to VOTE, COMMENT and share it with all your friends! Thank you so much for reading guys, it means a lot to me!
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