// chapter seven //

talia's pov

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he kissed me, he kissed me, he kissed me, were the only words i thought of as i slowly walked through the isolated hallways of my house, making my way to the basement where the guys were.

where he was.

my heavy footsteps mirrored the sound my heart made when he pecked my lips. it was a short kiss, but a sweet one.

and that kiss was the one that made me feel something deeper for this purple-haired boy.

suddenly, my vision was momentarily non-existent as a thick, black blindfold was pulled over my eyes. a pair of large, bony hands clamped my wrists together, and i screamed out in fear. the person, who was pretty strong, lifted my body, my hands still in their grasp.

'let me down, you dirty bastard!' i screeched loudly, and i heard the person (who is apparently a male) wince from my high-pitched scream. i heard a familiar creaking door (the basement) and i yelled in anger as the unidentified man dragged me down the stairs.

'jesus christ, talia. keep it down.'

i felt my eyes widen in horror under the mask when i recognised that deep, husky-sounding voice. 'luke??'

i was finally set on the ground. i breathed in the musty, mildewy scent of the basement and frowned.

'i'm guessing there are more people here?' i stated, but it came out in more of a question form.

'yep,' said the all-too familiar voice of my brother.

i sighed in relief at the thought that i was in safe hands; it was only the guys, after all. 'what are you's up to now?' i groaned.

'you just wait and see, talia.' luke's voice whisped, making me realize that he was walking around me.

'i swear to god. if this is a prank-'

'nope,' said calum. 'not this time, at least.' he sniggered. i was slightly crestfallen that michael's voice hadn't made its way to my ears yet. was he even here?

i felt the wooden ground creak beneath me as an object was placed at my feet. luke's same, cold hands held my chilled ones as he guided my fingers to the surface of the object, which stood tall above the ground.

'feel around it,' luke's voice instructed. it was the voice that would have made the fireworks erupt in my stomach any other time, but not today, for some reason.

i did as i was told, and according to my sense of touch, it was a stick-like thing; a microphone stand, i learned. i smiled, but my smile grew wider as i felt the object that was connected to the stand.
i gasped, and that's when i knew what it was.

i ripped the blindfold off of my face as i marveled at the sight in front of me. 'no. freaking. way,' i said as i admired it.

it was the same exact microphone that hayley williams owned. it was orange, resembling a carrot. its color reminded me of her vibrant-shaded hair.

i looked up to a scene of weirdly mixed emotions. there was luke, and calum, grinning their faces off in pride at my reaction. and then there was michael, who scowled down at his tattered all-stars, and ashton, who was senselessly passed out on the couch.

'it was my idea,' luke says shyly. 'i know how much you love paramore, and now that we're kind of in a paramore format too... you know. think of it as a welcome to the band kind of gift.'

i coo in delight at his inability to express his thoughts coherently, and begin to pinch his cheeks. he chuckles sheepishly, and i throw my arms around his neck, resting my elbows on his broad shoulders. 'oh luke. thank you so so so so so much!' i squeal. he grins and squeezes my torso. 'where'd you find it?' i ask curiously when we release each other.

'paramore had an online sale-auction to raise money for the awareness of cancer. they sold all these cool stuff like jeremy's red vest, and taylor's jacket...' he mumbled.

'i'm the one who coughed up the bucks to buy it, though. all he did was pick it out,' calum interrupts with a frown. 'so i think i deserve a hug too.' he breaks out into a huge smile and welcomes my small body with open arms as i jump into him.

'cal, i love you so much. you're the best brother ever,' i muttered into his shoulder. he smelt of a fresh, green apple orchard during the daytime.

his laugh vibratated through out his body as he twirled me around. 'you say that only because i got you something. so shallow, tal,' he teases.

michael clears his throat, and our heads turn towards his direction. he was standing, back against the wall. he hooked up the instruments, apparently, and was tapping his foot impatiently. 'we should start now,' he says monotonously. he calmly paces to his faded-green, electric guitar and balances it onto his knee, which was leaning against the stereo-speakers. he strums a note or two to make sure it's tuned correctly, and luke does the same. calum drops me, and heads over to a passed-out ashton, shaking him in an attempt to awaken to curly-haired boy.

'wait, wait, wait,' i say, interrupting the guitar riffs that resonated throughout the basement walls. 'what are we doing?'

'practicing,' calum replies in a matter-of-fact manner. 'duhh.'

'we're not practicing your old songs, remember? those are the songs from 5sos Past. we should be working on 5sos Future,' i say, sitting with my legs open wide on one of the large speaker boxes.

luke furrows his blond brows, and sets his sleek guitar on its stand slowly. 'so what? we talk or something?'

'yes, that's exactly what we're going to do.'

we hear ashton grumbling from the couch, and turn our heads to see him rubbing his temples slowly, calum with a glass of water by his side. 'ughh. band practice?' ashton moans in indifference, his hangover still a lingering conflict. he takes the water from cal's glass, and winces as he swallows a mouthful.

'yeah. sorry, buddy,' calum replies soothingly.

ash sighs. 'fine, but i might be in a coma for the first half hour, just to warn you.'

michael flashes a sarcastic thumbs-up. 'thanks for the info.'

'alright,' i say, straightening my posture when four pairs of eyes were focused on me. 'a new path in music, huh?'

'yep,' says my brother.

'how about we start from the beginning?' i suggest.

luke sends me a blank expression. 'the beginning?' he repeats.

'yeah. we should bring back the youtube covers,' i reply casually.

'but why?' calum asks.

'uhh because,' i say, dragging my vowels for emphasis. 'it'll be hard for you guys to take a swift change in music direction, since you've been doing pop songs-'

'-with punk influences,' defends michael, crossing his arms in a cocky gesture.

'for a few years now,' i continue, as if i hadn't heard his outburst. 'we should cover songs in a more alternative genre to give us a taste of what we're giving into.'

ashton whines, his eyes shut tight in annoyance. 'i'm too tired to cover songs right now!'  

i roll my eyes, a bad habit of mine. 'not now, dumbass. later. whenever you're ready.'

he smiles, reassured, and i continue on.

'let's cover more All Time Low, or Green Day... Paramore, Fall Out Boy, Pierce The-'

'i swear to god, if you say Pierce The Veil, i'll kill you,' calum says, rubbing at his eyes.

i pout. 'what's wrong with Pierce The Veil?'

'nothing. it's just that i don't want to create that kind of music. scares the sh*t out of me. and plus, i can't scream like vic fuentes, anyways. but, we should definitely do Paramore.'

i shrug. 'fine then. what should we do for our debut cover?'

'Dear Maria, Count Me In?' calum suggests.

'My Songs Know What You Did In The Dark?' says luke.

'BOOM CLAP!' shouts ashton, who was still in his The Fault In Our Stars daydream.

'guys, remember. talia's our lead singer, now, so let's choose a song that's sung originally by a female to make it easier for her,' michael reminds. 'let's do a Paramore song.'

'dude, Paramore shouldn't be the only female-fronted band that we resort to. what about Fireflight?' i say, raising my shoulders.

'they're a religious band, aren't they?' calum says reluctantly, scrunching his nose.

'yeah. so what?' i reply defensively. even if i didn't necessarily lead a religious lifestyle, christianity was always a touchy subject for me, for some odd reason.

'nothing, tal. it's just that i don't want to be associated with religion. it's nothing personal, it's just-'

'cal, i get it. but they have this one song that doesn't technically deal with christianity. it's called Unbreakable. pretty inspirational, if you ask me. and it doesn't contain any cheesy, frivolous lyrics, which is what we're currently against.'

luke searches the faces of everyone in the room. 'shall we check it out?'

i smile, nodding, and motion for everyone to gather around me; they do. when i feel the heat radiating off of cal, luke, michael, and ashton's bodies, i open my youtube app on my phone. in a few seconds, the music video of Unbreakable by Fireflight appears on the screen. as soon as dawn michele was visible, i point to her and say, 'that's the lead singer.'

'no freaking duh,' calum says when ashton remarks simultaneously, 'she looks dead.'

i giggle lightly, and let my phone absorb my full attention as i focused on the melody of the song, planning the acoustic version that we would be covering, in my head.

'not bad,' michael says, nodding in approval when the video was finished playing.

'i want to work on it now,' luke says eagerly, a twinkle present in his luminous, blue eyes.

we gather the instruments, paper, and pencils, and sit ourselves down. the discussion we hold is productive, now that we have 5 voices to give input (and also because ashton was currently sober). and all this while michael was watching me intently, his green eyes never tearing from my figure.

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guys, oh my dear goodness... i haven't updated in a long while. sorry for the incredibely dull, and short chapter.

Unbreakable by Fireflight on the side/ above.

(ashton's right. dawn richardson-michele does look dead)

also on the side/ above is a 5 foot, 2 inch, ginger-haired girl by the name of hayley nichole williams, singing out her spirit into her carrot microphone (which is the one cal & lukey got for talia aww).  

tee-hee xxx