NO SHAME

XXVI

It was too early for me. We had to wake up at the ass crack of dawn so that we could make our flight to Japan for the first stop of the Meet You There tour. I was happy about going with my best friends on this adventure, but I was not happy about having to wake up so early for said adventure to begin. I'm not a morning person, never have been, never will be, and from what I witnessed that morning, neither was Luke. Luke had been leaning on me and hugging me the entire cab ride to the airport and even while we were waiting in line at the airport, he was leaning on me for support and said I was his 'emotional support bear'. I had to remind him that I was his girlfriend and definitely not a teddy bear.

    "Luke, baby, come on we have to get on the plane now," I told Luke as he was holding me close to him and refusing to get out of his chair. "Luke, I swear to god if you don't get up, I will get Ashton to drag your ass onto this plane."

    "Fine," Luke whined and let me go so that we could both get up. I stood from his lap and held my hands out to help him up.

    "Is he always like this when y'all are traveling?" I asked Calum as we boarded the plane.

    "You've been living with the man for what, two months, and never noticed how much he hates mornings?" Calum said with a laugh.

    "We don't usually get up at four in the morning," I reminded him.

    "Usually it's Mike that he's clingy with, I think he's just glad he has you here."

    I let out a small laugh at this information before joining Luke in our seats.

    "Can I sleep on you?" Luke whispered.

    I nodded at Luke and he rested his head on my shoulder so he could sleep. I started to play with his hair before leaning myself against him so that I could get some sleep too.

-

    Losing myself in the flashing lights and blaring music was something I had always enjoyed. I just loved to be at a concert, and being there standing in a reserved section for staff and significant others was absolutely insane to me. I wasn't just a concert goer anymore, I was the girlfriend of the lead singer of the band that was on stage. Crystal and I were losing our minds and dancing like mad men while the band played so incredibly well just a few feet in front of us. Sometimes I would look up and catch Michael or Luke looking over at me and Crystal, and it all just felt so surreal.

    They were incredible too. Listening to them play live was such an amazing experience and I really felt like they sounded better live than they do in the studio recordings. They gave it their all and just went all out, dancing and jumping around while playing. And of course Luke sounded absolutely incredible.

    "You guys sounded so good!" I yelled as Luke got off stage and I ran into his arms.

    He lifted me up and spun us in a circle before setting me down and just holding me close to him.

    "So you liked it then?" He asked.

    "I loved it, Luke! You guys seriously sound so good live! Me and Crystal were having the time of our lives!"

    Luke laughed and gave me a kiss on my head before letting go and grabbing my hand to lead me back to the dressing room. We walked in and Calum and Ashton were going insane already, singing to their music and taking a shot each.

    "Aspie!" Calum shouted over the music. "What did you think?"

    "It was incredible, Callie!" I told him as he pulled me into a quick hug. "Ash, you are like a beast on the drums, dude."

    "Fuck yeah!" Ashton called out in response.

    "Michael, your guitar solo in Want You Back was literally insane," I told him and gave him a quick hug as well.

    "Luke you were okay," I teased and he reached out to pinch my sides causing me to scream.

    Luke laughed at me before picking me up and kissing my cheek over and over while saying sorry to me.

    "I'm kidding, you were my favorite, obviously," I whispered before giving him a quick kiss.

    "Shot, Aspie?" Calum called out to me.

    "Shot, Callie!" I responded and held out my hand for the shot.