I'm Not Fine At All 》Michael Clifford

Chapter Eight

Riley's POV:

Bythe time Michael finished telling the boys my story, I found myself wrapped in a giant group hug, full of tears from both Calum and Ashton, and sniffles from Luke - so punk rock, I know right?

I was beginning to feel better now that they knew, and I began to feel less alone.

"Riley, you need a night out! Let's go somewhere, and get you mind off of this!" Calum exclaimed.

"I'm fine, guys, really. I'll be alright." I said.

"Well, I still think you need to do something. Let's go out!" Luke said. They all jumped up, all except for Michael, who stayed with me on his lap, and his arms around me. While the other guys ran around getting ready to do whatever it was they wanted to do, Michael nuzzled his head into my hair.

"Are your really fine, Riley?" He murmured into my hair.

"I... yes... I'm fine." I replied.

He stood up and offered me a hand, which I took thankfully. We gathered our things, and the boys all somehow made it through the door, where we were met with a few security guards. They stopped us, but Luke held his hand up. "It's alright, guys, we're just going out. I don't think we need protection, where we're going." The guards reluctantly stepped aside and let us pass.

I wondered what Luke had in mind, as we all stepped onto the elevator. I took Michael's arm again, and he smiled, but the other boys looked confused.

"She doesn't like elevators," Michael said to them, and they laughed. I just turned red and burried my head in Michael's shirt sleeve.

We had just left the hotel and were walking down the streets, when the fangirls began crowding. The boys were kind enough to sign autographs, take pictures and give hugs, until the crowd finally dispersed, and we continued on. Luke led the way, and the whole time I was wondering exactly where he was taking us.

Fifteen blocks later, and several fangirls, we made it to a little shop, with barred windows from the inside. On the door was a sign, which read in fancy cursive, Jay's Music.

Luke had brought us all to a music shop.

"Oh, man, I forgot about this place! It must have been, what? Two years ago?" Ashton exclaimed.

"Yeah, this place was great!" Michael agreed, and opened the door, letting us all in.

Inside it was dim, and the first thing my eyes landed on was a giant drum set right in front of the door. The floor was a thick, blue carpet, and the walls were dark bloodred. On the red walls, hung multiple stringed instruments; acoustic guitars, electric guitars, basses, banjos, ukuleles, a few mandolins and violins, and in the far corner, a harp. Yes, a harp. There were pianos and drum sets everywhere, and a wall behind the counter full of everything from strings, to tuners, to picks. This was musical heaven.

A skinny, bearded guy came out of a back room, and lit up when he saw the boys. "Fellas! Long time, no see!" He said shaking each of their hands. "What can I do you for?" He asked. The boys all looked at me, and smiled.

"Hi Jay, we just needed a night out," Luke replied, and the guy looked at me.

"Well, help yourself to whatever you see." He replied, and returned to his back room. The boys scattered, and I was left standing at the door, watching them as they all went to their own sections. Michael and Luke to the electric guitars, Calum to the basses, and Ashton to the drums. Soon, the shop was filled with music, everyone playing to their own beat.

I was soon drawn to the wall of acoustics. I ran my hand over the surface of one of the Fenders, and gently picked it up. The guitar was upwards of six hundred dollars, and I treated as though it were made of glass.

I began playing the song, You And Me, by Lifehouse, and I didn't even notice that when I began singing, everyone stopped playing and listened to me. Michael walked over and took an acoustic off of the wall as well, and joined in.

Cheesy as heck, but our voices harmonized together perfectly while we sang together. Even cheesier, everyone listened to us as we sang together - or wait, was Michael singing to me? He sang the bridge smoothly and looked at me the whole time, singing as if he meant it.

The question was, did I mean what was singing?

I was unaware of Ashton's phone being held out, recording us as we played together. Only after we finished, and I looked up at everyone around us, did I notice Ashton speaking to his phone - or should I say, speaking to his fans? He was going to upload it to YouTube, so that everyone could see.

"Well, guys, I think I just heard my new favorite duet. What do you guys think? Are they super cute or what?" I blushed redder than the walls and looked at the ground.