24: Wherever You Are

                                    

                                          
*Michael's POV* 
                          
5 Seconds of Summer had officially broken up. It had been over a month since Luke and Ashton left. I haven't heard from either of them. We've been replaced. As soon as management found out Ashton and Luke we gone, Calum and I got dropped. The last few weeks have been pretty uneventful; Calum has been spending a lot of time with Evangeline, they had become very close and were always together. Evangeline and Storm's bonding session was very intense, they were now the best of friends and simply inseparable. I ended up spending a lot of time with Storm since Calum had a habit of dragging me around so that I wasn't on my own. Evangeline seemed to be doing the same with Storm. 
                          
Storm and I have been invited out on many double dates even though we aren't even dating. Calum had only made it official that he was dating Evangeline a few days ago. He took me out to help him buy a bracelet the week before but he didn't end up buying one; he just gave her one of his own, which I thought was a lot more meaningful. 
                          
"Michael! We're going to be late!" Calum called from the kitchen. Today we were going into a late notice meeting with management, we had no idea why. Then at three o'clock in the morning, Calum and I were meeting up with Evangeline. Evangeline had insisted that Calum met the rest of her family, which was exactly what was going to be happening. Tomorrow, we were finally heading home. 
                          
I had no idea what to expect. I am absolutely positive that I would probably just spend all of my time playing video games, quite possibly for the rest of my life.
                          
"Would you stop looking so sad? It's depressing." Calum spoke up when I didn't answer him.
                          
"I wonder why." I mumbled, getting up and shoving past him out the door. I waited for Calum to unlock the car so that I could get in the passenger seat. I just wanted this meeting over and done with. I suppose it wasn't just the meeting I was on edge about. It was going home. 
                          
Calum got into the driver's side, turned on the car and rolled out of the driveway in silence. It wasn't until we hit the highway that the silence vanished into thin air. 
                          
"You're scared, aren't you?" Calum asked, he said it more like a statement, as though he already knew the answer.
                          
"Calum," I turned my head to face him. "I'm not scared of a stupid little meeting." 
                          
"You know what I meant." He looked at my sympathetically for a short moment before returning his gaze to the road. 
                          
"So what if I did." 
                          
"Michael. You can't hide from her forever you know." 
                          
"I can most certainly try." 
                          
"I mean it." He replied pulling into an empty parking spot, pulling on the handbrake and turning off the car. He made no attempt to get out of the car.
                          
"You know what, so do I." I fired back. "Geez Calum, don't you get it." I reached for the door handle, pulling it so that the door opened. In a quick, swift movement, Calum reached over and closed the door on me before I had a chance to get out. 
                          
"No, I don't. Would you please explain it to me?" He challenged. I rolled my eyes at him and got out of the car more quickly this time, Calum didn't have a chance to stop me. I stormed off towards the tall building in front of us where we were due for our meeting. 
                          
*Calum's POV* 
                          
I chased after Michael who was walking very quickly across the parking lot. 
                          
"Michael, would you just listen to me for one minute?" He paused for a moment and pivoted on his heel giving me a chance to catch up. 
                          
"What Calum." He sighed, clearly not caring about what I had to say.
                          
"When we get back, you and I are going for a drive." I answered, giving him no clues whatsoever. He didn't reply in any way at all. He just continued walking. Unfortunately, I had the privilege of knowing exactly what this meeting was about, I had no idea what Michael's reaction was going to be.
                          
*Ashton's POV* 
                          
"Luke?" I poked my head through the small gap between the door and its frame. "Are you ok?"
                          
"It's been a month and we have nothing." Luke sobbed. 
                          
"Hey, we'll find her." I rubbed his back reassuringly. 
                          
He was right; Arielle had been gone for over a month. Luke refused to give up on finding her though. I guess it was safe to say that Luke really did love her. 
                          
I'd spoken to Calum fairly often throughout the past month. I felt so bad about leaving him behind. He says that he doesn't mind and that he's glad I did. Who knows what would have happened to Michael. I've also heard that he has a new lady friend. I was happy for the guy but it reminded me of my own relationship problems. In the mail this morning, I received a wedding invitation. As much as I wished it was me, I knew that I wasn't the best for Bella; she deserved more than I could give her. 
                          
Luke was very beaten up by the whole Arielle situation. I really had no idea how to help him; all he wanted to do was find her which was proving to be very difficult. I remember the day we went to Arielle's house only to find it wasn't her house anymore. One particular word that the old lady had said continued to bounce around in my head. Hiding. If she was hiding, it meant she didn't want to be found. Maybe she was actually hiding, but from what? I really didn't know what to think about her disappearance. 
                          
Seeing Luke like this was definitely torturous. I had to fix it. 
 Calum and I had made a deal to go looking for her when they got back in a few days; I had kept close contact with Calum. I had an idea but there was no guarantee it was going to work. It was worth a shot though.