"I'm just gonna tie this bandana around your eyes and we can go in." I turn Michael around and tie the bandana over his eyes, making sure he can't see anything.

I jump around in front of him for good measure and wave my arms to make sure he can't see.

"Are you going to push me in the pool?" He asks nervously.

"No. We're in front of my room dummy. I don't have a pool in there." I chuckle and knock on the door.

Please be ready

"Are you going to drown me in the bath?" He asks smugly.

"No."

"Throw me out the window?"

"No, Michael! I don't hate you that much." I laugh as Montana swings the door open. She comes forward with a grin to wish him but I signal at her to be quiet and she clamps a hand over her mouth.

"Okay so walk in slowly and watch your step," I drag him behind me by the hand. The room is full to the brim with people. The band, crew and a few people from management and a couple of fans they picked off the street.

They are all pressed against the corners of the room so no one bumps against Michael and everyone is deadly quiet, no one says a word that you could hear a pin drop if it did. I see the band seated on the bed in a row, little party hats on their head and holding confetti boosters like little children, I clamp my other hand over my mouth so I don't laugh out loud.

Luke opens his mouth to say something when he sees me, forgetting that he's supposed to be quiet but Ashton quickly clamps his hand over Luke's mouth. 

"What is going on? I smell... I smell Luke. Is Luke in here? Luke! What is happening? Oh, fuck." Michael swears as I hand him a stick.

"No, Luke isn't in here. It's just me. There is a piñata hanging from the roof. I want you to try and hit it okay?" I turn him around a couple of times and let go.

"Is it Luke? Are you trying to make me kill my best friend on my birthday?" He asks nervously and the whole room tenses with quiet laughter. Everyone has their mouths covered with their hands.

"Okay go at it," I tell Michael and he starts swinging at the white unicorn piñata hanging from the roof. He makes contact with the object but it doesn't break so he swings again, dangerously close to Montana's head.

Calum yelps a little and Michael stops swinging for a second at the sound. "Keep going," I encourage him and he swings again with a shrug, cussing under his breath.

This time, the pole goes right through and Michael is standing directly underneath the piñata. The side breaks open and drips rainbow coloured cake batter onto him.

The room erupts with noise as everyone shouts a Happy Birthday and howls with laughter at the sight. I clutch at my stomach and bend over, unable to contain my laughter when Michael slowly pulls off his blindfold and looks around the room in shock.

"I knew something bad was about to happen." He says through a mouthful of coloured cake batter.

He wipes at his eyes with a grin and the band forms a circle around him, careful not to slip on the cake batter all over the floor. They pop the confetti and the flash of cameras go off around the room. This was exactly what I had in mind. All the colour. It was such a vivid mess right now it made my head spin with joy.

Michael looks up at the half dead unicorn hanging from the roof and pout's a little "Poor girl," he reaches up to pat the thing.

A soft kiss lands on my shoulder and I lean back a little, knowing who it is. "We got in late last night and I didn't want to wake you," Luke says in my ear and I nod with understanding.

"Thank you for doing this for him." He says and kisses me on the cheek, wrapping his strong arms around my waist and pulling me closer into his chest.

"It's my pleasure." I hum with happiness.

We all sing Michael a very loud Happy Birthday as Montana brings in his real cake. The celebration spills out into the corridor as it gets too hard to breathe in the small room after about fifteen minutes. The hotel manager comes in to tell us there's too much noise so we kick everyone out with a thank you except for the band and start to help Michael open all his presents.

"This one's from me. Sierra told me I had to get something." Calum says and hands Michael a box of condoms.

"Thanks, mate. Was running a bit low on these." Michael chuckles.

"This is from Montana and me." I hand Michael the black gift box and he grins like a child on Christmas Day.

"What is it?" He raises the box to his ear and shakes it a bit like he's unsure if a Frog is going to jump out of it at any second.

Montana gestures impatiently. "Just open it." 

Michael lifts the lid of the box to see the neatly folded black leather jacket inside with sewed on colourful Pokémon. His jaw drops open as he stares at it with wide eyes, turning it around in his hands.

"No way!" He shouts. Luke grins at me from across the room, seeing his best friends expression.

"This is so cool!" Michael shouts again and jumps up to pull Montana and me into a hug.

"This is the best! Thank you, thank you. Oh man." He pulls the jacket on and looks in the mirror, grinning from ear to ear.

"I know you were looking for one but we couldn't find it online so we made one," I explain with a smile, satisfied that Michael liked his gift.

"You guys are the fucking best." He hugs us again as Ashton comes in with Addy. She's typing away on her phone and doesn't make eye contact with anyone.

"We're going out tonight." Ashton claps his hands together once.

"Where?" Calum asks, taking a bite out of some more cake.

"Clubbing?" Michael asks.

"We're going clubbing?" Montana asks excitedly at the same time.

"I don't wanna go clubbing," Luke says, looking at me.

"Yes, yes and yes, Luke you're coming. Be in the lobby by nine." Ashton waves his hand in front of his face and leaves. Addy walks up to Michael and gives him a hug and whispers something in his ear. Michael thanks her and we all silently watch as she leaves without looking back at either of us.

"I don't wanna go clubbing." Luke groans again into a pillow, breaking the awkward silence. I go over to him and sit down by his head.

"Since when do you refuse a good time?" Calum questions but Luke groans again in reply.

He pulls his arm from under the pillow and drapes it over my lap, nudging at me to move closer. I lean in with a chuckle and he turns his face to the side, squinting one eye at me.

"Let's sleep in all night. Let me make love to you." He sings tiredly and my heart does a weird twist in my chest. I run my fingers through his hair and he hums with satisfaction.

He's still looking at me and I feel my face burn a little, a blush fanning over my cheeks.

Please don't turn crimson please don't turn crimson.

"I would love to. But it's Mikey's day. We gotta celebrate him." I manage to say without my giddy voice shaking.

"Why are you so kind?" He murmurs and I look up to see Montana and Calum arguing silently in the corner of the room and Michael standing near the window taking a bunch of selfies in his new jacket with cake batter still matting his dark hair.

"They are my people. You get me?" If you don't do great things for your friends then who does right?

"I get you." He says after awhile and raises himself up on his elbows, kissing me on the knee.

"—but one of these days. I have to be your only person okay?" His lips form a little pout but there's a mischievous look in his blue eyes.

I run my fingers along his jaw, the stubble pricking me. I promise him he always will be the number one.

---

"Don't you think it's a bit too—short?" I ask Montana, running my hands down the silky material.

"It's not. It's perfectly fine. Look at the way it hugs your butt. Luke is going to cry for a week." She laughs, curling her hair into short waves.

"I've never worn anything this short to be quite honest." I tug the hem down a little because I can't even bend to pick up my heeled boots off the ground without it threatening to show my bum to the whole world.

The dress is a metallic gold colour and is fastened at my shoulders. I love everything about it and kind of wish I wasn't so uncomfortable with the length of it. I decide not to put on any accessories since the dress is already too shiny. I sit on the bed and pull on my black high heeled ankle boots that I never thought I would wear but lug around with me anyway.

Montana does a little spin in front of the mirror in her strapless black leather cocktail dress that has a sweetheart neckline. It hugs every single curve of her body like it was tailored for her and her only.

"Was that dress made for you?" I ask and she smiles a smug smile in the mirror. "Totally. Tailored for the pure torture of Calum Hood and so that he can never, ever take it off. He will have to use a steak knife." She jokes and I force myself to not cry with laughter even though we went all out waterproof with the makeup tonight.

I grab the tiny clutch with my money and phone in it and run my fingers through the locks of curled hair, teasing them for good measure. Montana quickly drags me in for a mirror selfie but we stop after one picture because we can feel the missing presence of the third person who usually stands on her other side. 

"Let's go." She sighs and slips into her stilettos.

I shut the door behind me and do a run of things in my head to make sure everything is in place. I will have a lot of drunk people to take care of since I don't plan on drinking tonight. Montana fusses with her clutch while we wait for the elevator to take us to the lobby.

"Addy came to borrow a straightener while you were in the shower." She says.

"Oh. Did you ask her to come get dressed with us?"

"Yeah. She said she just wanted the straightener and left straight after I gave it to her." The lifts open with a ding and we step in. A man in a suit takes a step back, his expression a bit stunt.

I ignore his eyes that start to roam over us and look down at my phone. "I should talk to her. But she doesn't want to." I say silently and Montana gives me a sympathetic look.

"Just give her time. She will come around." Montana brings a strand of my curled hair from the back and puts in the front, arranging it for me.

"How much time though? I don't even really know why she's mad!" I huff a little and shift my weight to my other foot. The elevator doors finally open and we step out, relieved to be away from the man's uncomfortable stare.

A group of people is standing in front of the reception and we head towards them. Michael sees us and grins a little, waving in our general direction. He's in his usual outfit, black skinny jeans, and a t-shirt but he has a dark blue leather jacket over it.

Montana swears a little under her breath and takes my hand in hers, squeezing it almost painfully. I follow the trail of her eyes and spot Calum standing in the circle of people looking great in a suit jacket. Looks like the band decided to get super dressed up tonight.

"I'll see you in the limo," Montana whispers in my ear and suddenly turns away from a gaping Calum, strutting towards the exit and to the limo waiting outside for us. The fans scream when they see her approach but before I can follow her, I spot Luke among the group.

His hands are raised like he was frozen mid-conversation. His blue eyes slowly rake down my body and back up to my face. He excuses himself from the group and starts to make his way towards me, not daring to break eye contact. He takes his lip ring in between his teeth and runs his hand behind his head, tugging at the hair a little. He looks striking in a white shirt and a black leather jacket paired with black skinny jeans and boots.

From the corner of my eye, I see Calum rush out after Montana and another wave of screams resonates through what feels like the entire planet. My heart beats faster in my chest when Luke comes right to a stop in front of me.

In my heels, I'm almost to his forehead so he looks right into my eyes and I feel the burn of it to the very core of my being.

"Baby—" he makes a sound deep in his throat and I watch dumbfounded as his jaw moves with a kind of agonising frustration, biting down on his lip. 

"You like?" I ask nonchalantly, realising just how much he does.

"I want to kiss you. But if I kiss you we will never leave this spot and the whole world will see what I want to do to you so..." He groans deep in his throat again, his hands land on my waist and he run's them up and down my sides, his fingers pressing into my skin through the soft silk of the dress.

I lean in and peck him on the cheek, controlling myself so I don't jump around like an energizer bunny on sugar.

He groans a little again and squeezes his eyes shut. He pulls me closer and kisses the side of my head. "We should go." He says and takes my hand in his. I beam with joy at how uncomfortable I've made him. It felt good to mean something to someone again.

Everyone else has already gotten into the waiting limos and as we step out, another wave of screams go up, fans surrounding us. I don't pay much attention to the comments aimed at me, looking over at Luke—my heart starts to pound too fast in my chest with the amount of affection I feel for the man who now has my hand and my duct-taped heart in the palm of his hand.