simmer down // a.i. [ON HOLD]

[19] boy sweat

‘GOOOOOOOD EVENING, SYDNEY!’

Calum, Ashton, Luke and Michael stormed out on stage, shaking their guitars (or drumsticks) in the air and clapping their hands, waving to the screaming mass of fans before them. From beside the stage, Ciara and I watched together, trying to take it all in. I was literally shaking.

Looking out across the crowd, I could see thousands of fans cheering and stamping, holding up signs and waving placards that said things like, Welcome home 5SOS!, 5SOS We Love You, and the one I had a major giggle at, Ash, can i digeriDoo you?. There were people everywhere, all dancing on their feet, ready to see 5 Seconds of Summer perform. Looking back to the boys, I grinned. Luke was urging on the crowd and Michael adjusted his ear piece, flicking out the first few chords of Unpredictable. As Ashton began to beat out on the drums, Calum shouted excitedly into the microphone.

‘We’re going to start with an oldie, but a goodie - you guys all know it, so we wanna hear you singing along!’

He stepped back and grinned widely before breaking into the song with the rest of the boys. I couldn’t stop myself from laughing out loud from pure happiness, and soon, Ciara grabbed me and we were jumping up and down, shouting out the words with the rest of the audience.

Hey, we’re taking on the world,

I’ll take you where you want to go,

Pick you up if you fall to pieces,

Let me be the one to save you,

Break the plans we had before,

Let’s be unpredictable,

Pick you up if you fall to pieces,

Let me be the one to save you...

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

‘So before we play you guys our last song, we’d like to give a shout out to some special people.’

Luke and Calum moved out of the way so Michael could shuffle to the front of the stage and address the crowd, who fell quiet so he could speak. I ignored the bright flash as Ciara took a photo next to me and tried to focus on Ashton, who was slowly making his way off his drum stool and around the stage equipment to stand with the other boys. He glanced off to the wings and gave me a wink. Cheeky bastard.

‘We’d like to start by thanking our families. Yes, that’s you, Mum,’ he grinned, blowing a little kiss up to the higher seats, where a dozen girls screamed, as if it were for them. But I glanced a little further back and saw a group of older adults and two little kids. As one of them blew a kiss back, I figured they were the guys’ families, and I smiled.

‘So thankyou for letting us all drop out of school-‘

‘Not me!’ Ashton cut in, smiling, and the crowd laughed and cheered as Michael fake slapped him on the forehead.

‘Yeah, but you’re even dumber than me!’

‘Oi!’

I laughed as Ashton pretended to get Michael into a headlock, and Luke stepped forward, winking at the audience.

‘Moving on...’

‘Yeah, thanks for letting us quit school to get a better education elsewhere - a music education, on the worldwide stage.’

Michael finished and the crowd burst into applause, Ciara and I whistling and clapping as Calum stepped forward.

‘Thankyou Mum and Dad for supporting me and putting me on the right path, you guys mean so much to me and I couldn’t have asked for better parents. I’m so happy that you’re both here tonight to watch, and even though Mali couldn’t make it, I want you to know that I appreciate everything - from the early morning texts from the other side of the world to the long videos of old school photos of me that you post on Youtube for everyone to look at. I love you guys.’