The Middle | Hemmings + Styles AU

11. ringo

"Luke's outside and he said you have to close your eyes." 

Michael was standing in front of me acting like he wanted to be anywhere else but the store I worked in. "Why?" I folded my arms across my chest.

"Because. Please just do it so he'll come in and I can get out of here," he said forcefully, then let out a huge sigh. "Sorry, I don't mean to be rude but I have a date."

"A date?" I wiggled my eyebrows at him. "Do tell, Michael Gordon Clifford."

"Her name is Lila and..." his own eyebrows frowned, realising what I'd just said. "Did you just call me by my full name?"

"Yes, now tell me more about Lila," I answered, not giving him any explanation about how I'd Googled the boys the night before.

"We met at the supermarket which sounds completely lame, I know. Anyway, I was there buying hair dye and I accidentally ran into her - like, literally ran into her - and she dropped her basket, causing her tampons to spill all over the floor. Shit, it was so embarrassing and of course she's one of the most beautiful girl's I've ever seen and..." Michael stopped speaking to take his ringing phone from his pocket. "It's Luke," he groaned. "Just shut your eyes. I have to go."

His long legs took him out of the store. "Good luck with your date!" I called out, waving goodbye before shutting my eyes. I felt absolutely ridiculous when I heard the door slide open and I just hoped it was Luke rather than an actual customer.

"Are you peeking?" Luke's voice asked. My fingers pressed more firmly against my eyes.

"What are you going to do if I am?"

"I'm going to go all 50 Shades on you and bend you over that counter," he said flatly and my hands tore away from my eyes.

"Lucas, I didn't know there was a side to you like - " I realised Luke's hands were behind his back as he realised my eyes were no longer concealed.

"I said no peeking!" he groaned, throwing his head back for a second. "If I really were Christian Grey, I'd be palm-twitchingly mad right now. I wouldn't be standing in this shitty store either. I'd have Taylor pick you up and bring you over to my kick-ass apartment."

"You seem to know a lot about Mr Grey and his preferences," I laughed, enjoying our conversation too much to ask what he was hiding behind his back.

"Calum was banging this girl a while back who was really into the books," he snickered like a school boy, shaking his head. "Really into the books, if you know what I mean."

He opened his mouth to say something else and then closed it, noticing the song that had just begun playing through the speakers. He frowned, and then smiled, and finally I couldn't take the silence anymore.

"Surprise?" I said, throwing my arms up half-heartedly. So tell me what else can I do, I bought my fake ID for you. It was hard to resist singing along to the song.

"You're playing one of our songs in here?" His eyes lit up the same way they did after one of their shows.

"I am," I confirmed, nodding my head. "I put Amnesia on the CD too."

"Shit, Stel. That's... That's really cool," he smiled; an open-mouthed, truly genuine smile. After basking in the small gesture for a while longer, he seemed to remember what had brought him here in the first place and from behind his back, he handed me a small plastic bag. 

There was a fish inside of it.

"His name is Ringo," Luke explained. "I bought him for you."

"You bought me a fish whose name is Ringo?" I laughed, lifting the bag up to my eye-line to examine the tiny orange fish who was swimming around in the water.