Friends with Benefits [m.c.]

Long Way Home

Michael's POV

"Michael, wake up," I hear Luke say faintly. I lay in my bed silently, desperately wanting to fall back asleep.

"Michael, get up! We have a plane to catch in an hour!" he orders a little louder as a blind opens in my room. The light is almost blinding, even with my eyes closed.

I shove my head under my pillow and grunt. "No... Five more minutes," I plead, wanting nothing more than to have a day away from human civilization.

I hear footsteps fade away and smile to myself, accomplished. Then, I begin to hear muffled voices and more footsteps coming closer.

"MIKEY! TIME TO GET UP!" Ashton yells as he collapses on my bed next to me. I feel him wrap his arms around my torso, and someone else pulling at my covers.

Oh shít.

"Michael, you need to get up, now," Luke says in the best impression of Liz that he can muster. I chuckle slightly, but refuse to move.

Next thing I know, Ashton rolls me off my bed onto the floor, trapping himself under me. They all start to laugh as I lay there, pretending nothing happened.

"Ashton is my new cuddle buddy," I mumble. "Now leave me alone and let me sleep with him in peace."

Luke gasps. "I'm hurt, Michael!"

Ashton pushes me off of him, flipping me over so my back is on the hotel room floor.

Calum grabs Luke as I watch from below. "You always have me, Lukey."

Luke laughs, shoving him off slightly. "No, Calum. I don't wanna cuddle with you."

Cal gasps and steps away from Luke. "Whatever. We'll see who wants to cuddle with me on the plane," he says with a hand over his heart. He walks out of the room I share with Ashton.

I finally decide to stand up. "Cal?" I croak, my morning voice deep as can be.

He pokes his head back in the door, raising an eyebrow.

"There are armrests on planes, so no one can cuddle with you anyway," I tell him with the straightest face I can manage.

He scowls at me. "Shut up." He walks out of the room as the rest of us laugh. 

After some more begging and dragging, I start to get ready. It's finally time for us to have a break from touring and go back to Australia for a few months. I'm excited, to be honest. I mean, of course I'll miss the fans all over the world and spending all my time doing what I love with my three best friends, but I miss being at home with my mum and dad and just playing video games all day. I'm ready for a bit of a break.

I finish packing my things and get to the car with the other boys. Calum and Ashton are already sound asleep, so I sit in the back by Luke, who is curled up with a pillow and blanket. He's staring at his phone and smiling like an idiot. I laugh at him.

"What's so funny?" he asks, the grin not leaving his face.

"You look like a damn fool, Luke," I reply.

"Shut up, Michael. I'll remember this when you have a girlfriend," he retorts as he rolls his eyes. I completely forgot about Stephanie. They've been together for a couple months now; he met her on the streets somewhere in America when she asked for a picture, and they clicked instantly. She's a little young, so he has to keep it to the down low. We all do, really.

I snort. "As long as I have Calum, I don't need a girlfriend," I say jokingly.

Luke opens his mouth to reply, but closes it as we reach the airport. "We'll talk on the plane," he orders. Wow, Luke bossing me around, I can't have this. That's my job.

I roll my eyes and nudge Ashton and Calum. The four of us walk into the airport, only to encounter hundreds of fans coming to see us off. How did they know?

We all take a few pictures, kiss a few cheeks and give some autographs. Not soon after, we board our flight, waving goodbye to the fans as we leave. I look at the boys. They all have bags under their eyes, but have wide grins on their faces. People don't believe us when we say that we love all the fans, but every time we encounter them, they give us a happiness that none of us had ever experienced before.

On the plane, I sit next to Luke while Ashton and Calum sit behind us. Once we take off, I look back to ask Ash how long our flight will be, but he's already sound asleep next to Calum, who's listening to music.

I turn to Luke, keeping my voice at a whisper.

"So what did you want to talk about?" I ask him.

He yawns as he turns to look at me, taking his headphones off.

"Look, you aren't gonna be able to use Calum as an excuse forever," he says. "Eventually he's gonna put his bare ass on your face one too many times and you'll finally get tired of trying to claim that you have Calum instead of a girlfriend. I know you. I know you want a girlfriend just as much as the other boys, if not more."

"I don't want a girlfriend," I mumble as I cross my arms like I did as a kid when I had to stop playing with my Power Rangers and go to bed.

"Don't lie, Michael," he says, slightly biting his lip ring.

I frown. "Just because you have a girlfriend doesn't mean everyone else needs one!" I cry out louder than intended.

His eyes widen as he covers my mouth with his hand. "Do you want this whole flight to find out about Steph?"

I shake my head and sigh. "I'm just saying, Luke, give it a rest. We're fine."

He shrugs and puts his headphones back on to begin watching an episode of How I Met Your Mother.

I curl up with my pillow and blanket and blast some Green Day. Luke and I are leaning against each other once we're both finally comfortable and I finally drift off into a restless slumber.

-

"Michael," I hear Luke say groggily.

"What?!" I grunt, still half asleep.

"Would you like some peanuts or something to drink?" the flight attendant next to Luke asks me.

I nod. "A Coke would be nice, thanks," I say as I stretch. There's no way I'm going back to sleep now.

Once I get my drink, Luke falls back to sleep. Every once in a while, I see his phone screen light up with a text from Stephanie, saying something like, "Call me when you get off the plane!" or "I miss you already. You're so far away." It is cute, but also disgusting. I've never seen my best friend that happy, though.

With each buzz of his phone, another thought about a relationship pops into my head. Eventually, I come to the conclusion that maybe Luke is right for once. Maybe I do want something more than just having my best mates around. I haven't properly been around a girl who wasn't one of our mums or a fan or someone who goes on tour with us in a long time. Maybe I should give this relationship thing a shot, or something like that.

I smile to myself as I try to plot my days at home, imagining a girl to hold and laugh with. A break from reality to be with someone else would be nice, and I think it's time for it to happen.

It only took me a long ass flight to figure this out.

Edited: 12/17/15