Cake One Shots

Remembering and Not Forgetting

The four of them were sitting on the porch, a cold beer in their hands. It was a clear night, not a cloud in the sky giving them an incredible view of the stars and the crescent moon. There was a slight breeze that raised goosebumps along their arms but it was nothing they couldn't handle.

The four men were getting close to fifty, crow feet forming at the corner of their eyes. Their hair had splotches of gray, giving them the salt and pepper look, that is if they had any hair left.

Calum exhaled the puff of smoke in his mouth before bringing the cigar back to his lips. "Is that a Cuban?" Ashton asked, narrowing his eyes to get a better look at the label.

"Course, only the best. I'm not gonna smoke some cheep shit, especially when the wife only lets me smoke on special occasions."

"I never would have thought that the great Calum Hood would settle down."

He narrowed his eyes at the blonde next to him, "What's that supposed to mean?"

Luke shook his head, a small chuckle racking through his frame. "You slept with hundreds of girls, never actually thought you'd stick with one."

He should have felt offended, would've been offended if anybody else had said it, but it was Luke, he could never be angry at Luke. So he just shrugged it off, "Guess I just found someone that wasn't just another fuck." They all stayed silent, just simply enjoying one another's presence.

There was a time where they'd all be together 24/7, traveling the world as a highly successful band. But as the years passed and they stopped touring, they split apart, got married, had kids, only staying in touch through texts and Skype. This week was different, they had all decided to get together for a big 5sos reunion, bringing their families with them. They rented out a giant beach house for them all to stay at.

"I can't believe how old we are." Michael started, "Some of our kids are in high school. Fuck, I remember going to high school."

Ashton snorted, "Who doesn't remember going to high school? And why are you complaining? You and Calum didn't even finish it!"

"Shhhh! My kids don't fucking know that!" Michael whispered harshly.

"Just tell them that unless they're making enough money to live comfortably for the rest of their lives, they're finishing school, that's what I tell my kids." Calum said with a shrug.

They joked around for a couple hours, relaxing and drinking beer as they caught up on lost time. It felt like they were teenagers again, just the four of them against the world.

They somehow got on the topic of how difficult growing up can be. "Growing up was hard." Ashton frowned, "I remember the day my dad left. Everything seemed perfectly normal that morning but when I went to look for my dad, he was gone. There was nothing left of his, it was like he never existed. As the oldest, I had to step up and be the man of the family, be the one who helped bring an extra income. All the stress of not being able to afford things for my siblings was hard to cope with." He let out a sigh, "God, I'm so thankful for the band. I don't know how my little brother or sister would have turned out if they didn't go to college."

"It wasn't fair for you to carry all the weight Ash. You never really had the chance to be a kid or a teenager, you were always so worried and responsible. I hate that fucking bastard for taking your childhood away." Michael spat, his face darkening.

"I hate him too." Ashton took another swig of his beer, trying to relax himself again. "Hemmings, tell us a bad growing up story."

Luke sighed, "When I started posting covers I got a lot of shit for that. All the upperclassmen would tease me and it was hard to hear that at times. Sometimes I even wondered if I should just stop singing because of how bad I was treated." Calum softly patted Luke's shoulders, hoping the blonde would feel somewhat better. "But hey! Look at us now, we're fucking millionaires!"

They clanked their beer bottles together, "Cheers!"

They all turned to look at Michael, indicating that he was next. "I guess for me it was insecurities. I always felt like everyone was judging me and it was hard at times, especially in the spotlight. The mean tweets and comments would hit a spot and just leave me feeling horrible for hours, maybe even days sometimes. I hated letting people have that power over me and it took me years to finally stop caring."

"They're just a bunch of cowards hiding behind a screen. Those comments shouldn't have mattered, you should have just focused on the millions of girls who wanted you to bang them."

A small smile graced Michael's lips, "Thanks Ash. What about you Cal, what's your struggle story?"

Calum bit his lip, concentrating on something that tore him up. "I had this really huge crush on someone. It was bad, like extremely bad. It hurt to see them but what probably hurt the most was that this person was already in a relationship. It felt like it was constantly rubbed in my face. I went out with as many girls as I could, trying to stop myself from loving this person. Eventually I decided to settle down once I learned that they got engaged. There was no chance for me and I accepted that, it didn't matter that I would never be completely happy, I wasn't going to be selfish and destroy a relationship." Throughout his explanation he made sure to not make eye contact with the boys.

"How long did it last, the crush?" Mikey asked.

"To be honest, I don't think I ever stopped loving this person." He abruptly stood up, grabbing his beer bottles and headed to the kitchen.

Someone followed right behind him and he cursed the Gods because it just had to be Luke. They stayed silent as they rinsed the glass bottles. Once they finished he muttered a goodnight and started heading for his room. "So who was it, your crush I mean?" Luke asked, stopping Calum in his tracks.

Calum looked over his shoulder to see the blonde with an expecting look. He took a deep breath, "You." He whispered, leaving the blonde frozen in shock.

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AN: Super short since I didn't really know what else to write. I hope I didn't screw this up, that'd really suck. There's not much Cake and they're all "straight", so sorry if this disappoints and feels rushed.