Imagines and One-Shots (Book Two)

Much Better (Michael Clifford)

Your POV

You were already in your seat at the 5 Seconds of Summer show, bouncing excitedly as you counted down the minutes until the band came out. There had been a subtle ringing in your ears for a few hours now, but you just ignored it; You weren't going to let anything ruin this day. But as you got closer and closer to the arena, the ringing would only get louder.

You'd been told before by your parents that when you and your soulmate are near each other, you would hear a ringing sound in your ears. That ringing would get louder – almost to the point of it being unbearable – until the two of you were actually face-to-face. You never believed it – you didn't think things like that actually happened since it still hadn't happened to you – so you'd been ignoring it all day. Since the sound was so soft, you thought it was just because of the commotion of the fans waiting in line around you that was making your ears ring.

What you didn't know, however, was that it was actually because of your soulmate – and he was inside the venue experiencing the same thing.

Michael's POV

Michael had been in the city for a good 12 hours before he ever started hearing the ringing in his ears. He didn't know it had started at the same time as yours – as you were closer to the city the show was in that night – but he didn't say anything to his band mates. All of the boys knew the ringing meant you were near your soulmate, and he didn't want them freaking out and forcing him to go out and find whoever this person was; He just wanted to get ready for the show.

And it's not like he hadn't experienced ringing in his ears before – he heard it for about 10 minutes after every single concert, but he'd be lying if he said he didn't think this was any different; He knew it was. The sound in his ears was usually very high-pitched, but this one was more of a low hum – letting him know his soulmate was around somewhere, but they weren't incredibly close.

Your POV

As you and your best friend Kara walked into the arena when security finally started letting people in, you found it increasingly more difficult to focus on anything other than the ringing.

You didn't speak a word of it to Kara, however, knowing damn well that she would have started freaking out about how one of the members of the band could be your soulmate. You couldn't deny that you were thinking the same though, but you refused to get your hopes up.

Michael's POV

Moments before the band would run out onstage, Michael's eyes were closed tightly and he was focusing on breathing in and out slowly. He was alone in the dressing room, not knowing exactly where the other boys were but not really caring either. It felt like he couldn't hear anything but ringing, the sound having gotten louder in the last half hour. But he did hear the door open and Ashton's voice follow immediately afterward.

"There you are, Mike!" he sighed in relief, clearing having been looking for him for a while now, "Come on, we go on in 5!" The drummer left right after, not even paying attention to look of exhaustion on Michael's face.

It was difficult to get excited to play a show when he couldn't hear anything but a shrill ring, but he got up anyway, heading out to where the band was waiting at the side of the stage. Unfortunately though, the ringing only got louder, and it would continue to do so until he was actually onstage.

Your POV

The countdown for the band's appearance popped up on the screens and everyone started cheering, but you weren't affected by it in the slightest. Of course, that was only because you were beginning to feel physically ill at how loud the ringing in your ears was by that point.