Chapter Text
Luke
You were mindlessly skipping around the venue, looking for something to do. Your boyfriend's band was getting ready for one of the biggest sold out shows of their career and they were basically bouncing off the walls in excitement. But now that you thought about it, you hadn't seen your boyfriend in a while. The hallways were much quieter than where the fans were now piling into the arena, so you decided to start looking back there.
"Luke!" you sang, "Where are you?!" You were about to enter the band's dressing room when you heard coughing and sniffling coming from the other side. That only meant one thing: Luke was sick.
"Yeah?" Luke cleared his throat. You swung the door open and crossed your arms, leaning against the door frame. "I can still play!" he exclaimed, knowing there was no point in faking it since it was obvious you already knew.
"Luke," you sighed, walking over to him and sitting down beside him, "You can't play shows when you're sick."
"It's just a cold," he mumbled as you felt his forehead. Luckily, he didn't have a fever.
"If you play the show, you're gonna strain yourself and get worse and you know just as well as everyone else that you would beat yourself up if you missed more shows than you had to." He sighed, knowing you were right.
"But this show is sold out!" he whined, "We can't cancel it!"
"So just reschedule it," you shook your head, "I'm sure everyone will understand." He looked at you and you could just see a light bulb go off.
"You play it," he suggested.
"Y-You want me to play the show?" your eyes widened.
"Yes! You know all my parts and you've heard these songs thousands of times! I know you can do it!"
"I'm not even that good of a singer!" you squeaked, jumping up.
"Yes, you are," he told you, "I hear you singing more than I hear you talking."
"Yeah, only when there aren't thousands of people staring back at me!"
"Babe, please?" he coughed, "I don't want to let them down."
"Luke-"
"You can play these songs in your sleep, Y/N," he said, "Honestly, I think you're a better guitar player than Michael."
"I know I am, but that's not the point."
"Then help me understand the point."
"Your fans don't like me, Luke!" you shouted, throwing your arm up, "They're not gonna want me up there where you should be!" Luke looked at you for a moment as you stared at the floor before getting up and walking over to you. He took your face in his hands and made you look at him.
"They haven't warmed up to you yet," he said softly, "They'll come around eventually, Y/N. I think you should help them out with it."
"You really think I can do it?"
"I know you can do it," he said firmly. Luke went over to the rack of clothes on the other side of the room and pulled his favorite red flannel off of the hanger. "Here," he said, holding the shirt up for you, "I know you're most comfortable in situations with fans when you're wearing my clothes."
You turned around and he helped you put it on. The shirt came down just past your hips and Luke helped you roll up the sleeves so you wouldn't get too hot on stage. As cliché as it sounds, wearing his clothes made you feel better because it was like he was hugging you even when he wasn't near you.
"Come on," he said, taking your hand and pulling you toward the stage, "I wanna make sure my guitar lays on you properly."
"You're gonna let me use your guitar?" you asked, a bit shocked.
"I don't trust it with anyone but you," he smiled, kissing your head. "Ready for showtime, boys?" Luke announced as he made his way over to the guitars.
"You're not playing tonight, Luke," Ashton stated, "You're too sick."
"You figured it out too?" he asked quietly.
"China could have figured it out with how loudly you were sneezing earlier," Calum chuckled.
"It's just a cold," he rolled his eyes, "And I'm not playing." Luke grabbed his guitar and lifted the strap over your head.
"Wait," Michael grinned while Luke adjusted the strap for you, "Y/N's gonna play?" The boys looked at you and you nodded slowly, honestly terrified you were going to screw up.
"You play?" Calum asked.
"And sing?" Ashton wondered. You nodded again. As if he could read your mind, he added, "Don't worry, Y/N. They'll love you."
"Alright," Luke said, "You're ready to go." You gave him a look and he said, "I'll be right here in case you get nervous, okay? Just keep your eyes on me." A crew member hurried over to help you put on an in-ear monitor before you and the boys went on stage. You were immediately greeted by screams filling the stadium.
"As you may be able to tell, Lukey isn't here," Calum pouted while you shyly walked to center stage. You started playing with your fingers as you stood uncomfortably at Luke's microphone.
"Instead, we've got someone better!" Ashton chirped, "We've got Y/N!" You gave the crowd a small smile and wave.
"She's a little nervous, so you have to treat her just like you would treat Luke, okay?" Michael added, "This is the first time she's ever played for a crowd, so don't be mean to her if she messes up." The crowd cheered in response and you began to start feeling more comfortable.
"Well, Luke did say I was a better guitarist than you," you smirked, looking over at him. The crowd gasped jokingly.
"Luke!" Michael whined into his microphone, looking over at the singer, "Why would you lie to your girlfriend like that?!" Luke simply chuckled.
"Trust me, Michael, he wasn't lying."
"Really?" he asked, trying to look as intimidating as possible, but he couldn't keep himself from smiling back at you. You shrugged and he went on, "Then prove it."
"Why don't you get this show started then?" you smiled innocently, grabbing the handle and resting your other hand on the strings, waiting for Michael to start the song.
"Hey!" Michael shouted, starting off She Looks So Perfect. Calum joined him, but you backed away from the microphone.
You began taking slow breaths in as you played Luke's guitar, knowing he was the one that sang the first verse. The boys watched you as their part came to an end, seemingly just as nervous for you as you were. You looked at Luke and he smiled reassuringly at you. You took in a deep breath and went back to the microphone.
"Simmer down, simmer down, they say we're too young now to amount to anything else," you sang, "But look around, we worked too damn hard for this just to give it up now. If you don't swim, you'll drown, but don't move, honey." The crowd screamed in response – both in happiness that you didn't suck as well as a bit in shock that you were so good.
Throughout the entire show, Luke watched you proudly as you danced around. Honestly, you looked like you felt at home on that stage.
~
When the show was finally over, the boys all came over to you for the group bow. You quickly motioned for Luke to come on stage and join you. The fans cheered as he walked out and squeezed in between you and Calum. After your bow, the boys backed up and held their arms out toward you before clapping. You blushed lightly, smiling and taking your own bow before running off stage with them.
"They absolutely loved you!" Luke beamed, spinning you around after you put his guitar away.
"They did?" you asked shyly.
Calum grinned, "You were amazing!"
"You are going to be the most talked about thing in the world by morning," Michael nodded, "I guarantee it."
"I'm so proud of you," Luke said, kissing your forehead.
"Thank you," you said quietly, smiling.
~
By the time you and the boys got back in the tour bus after loading everything into the trailer, YouTube videos, Vines, and photos of you performing with the band were already taking over Twitter. You were honestly too scared to see what everyone was saying, but curiosity got the best of the boys and they had been sharing tweets about you for the past five minutes.
"No, wait! This tweet is my favorite!" Michael exclaimed for the what was probably the tenth time.
@5secsofnatalia: It's official. @Y/T/N is my new girl crush.
You finally decided to pull out your phone as Calum spoke up, "Yeah, that one is pretty good, but have you seen this one?"
@earthtobailey: I would give up my Luke and Ashton follows just for @5SOS to record a song with @Y/T/N for the next album.
You couldn't help but smile at that one. Luke pouted slightly as he read a tweet he found in his mentions.
@BrooklynHope: Sorry, @Luke5SOS. Your girlfriend is my favorite now.
"Oh," Ashton smirked, "What about this one?"
@Calum5SOS: Great. Now we have to replace Luke.
The boys laughed before they finally looked up at you, noticing you were being kind of quiet. You were staring at your phone screen with a look they couldn't quite pin an emotion to.
"You okay, babe?" Luke asked carefully. You nodded quickly, leaning on him and grinning before reading the tweet you found.
@secretreject: I can't believe all those horrible things I used to say about @Y/T/N. You're amazing and don't let anyone tell you otherwise.
"Yeah," Michael nodded, "That one wins."
Luke kissed your cheek and whispered, "Told you they'd come around."
~
Michael
"Mikey!" you shrieked in horror as he fell to the ground. He let out a yelp as a sharp pain shot up his leg but quickly sat back up, still playing his guitar.
The band was in the middle of a show and Michael had just jumped off of the speaker like he always does. This time, however, he landed on his foot the wrong way and twisted it. You desperately wanted to run out to him, but you hated going onstage in front of all the fans.
Calum, Luke, and Ashton looked at each other then back at Michael. In that split second, Michael still managing to play his guitar told the other boys that he was determined to at least finish the rest of the song and that was what he did.
As soon as the song ended, Michael threw his head back and groaned in pain. At that point, you didn't care about hating to go onstage; All you cared about was Michael.
"Mikey!" you squeaked as you ran over, sliding across the stage on your knees and coming to a stop right behind him, "Are you okay?"
"Yeah," he winced when he tried to move his ankle, "I'm fine." The other boys were talking to the crowd, but you knew all eyes were on you and your boyfriend.
"Michael, you need to get checked out."
"Y/N, I'm fine," he insisted.
"Mikey, please," you whispered. He looked back at you and saw you were only one more 'no' away from tears.
"Okay," he said.
You got up, helping him up and pulling his arm across your shoulders as you wrapped your own around his waist, taking him backstage and sitting him down in the chair you had been using. A paramedic was already called, so all you had to do was wait. The crowd had no problem with waiting as long as they knew Michael would be okay.
Once the paramedic arrived, he checked Michael's ankle out.
"It's definitely sprained," he nodded, "You're gonna need to stay off of it for at least a month."
"So I can't play the rest of the show?" Michael asked. The paramedic shot him a confused look.
"Not standing up, no," he replied, packing up all his equipment and getting up, "I would advise you to go to the hospital to get some x-rays done as soon as possible because there's not much I can do here to fix the problem."
"Thank you," you smiled politely as he left. You turned back to Michael and saw he was giving you a small smile with raised eyebrows. "Absolutely not, Michael," you stated, already knowing what he was going to ask you.
"Come on, babe," he begged, "I don't want everyone to be mad that we had to cancel the show just because I got hurt."
"Why can't you just do it sitting down?! You haven't been teaching me how to play guitar for that long!" you exclaimed, "Plus, the next song is Rejects! You know how hard that solo is, Mikey! There's no way I'm gonna be able to do it!"
"No one is going to hold it against you if you mess up, Y/N. Please just give it a shot. For me."
You sighed, "I hate when you do that."
He smiled, "You're gonna do great, okay? I'll be right at the side of the stage. If you get nervous, just look at me." He gave you a quick kiss, "I love you."
"I love you too, Michael," you mumbled. He reached over to the guitars and grabbed his favorite one, handing it to you.
"Well, well, well," you heard Luke announce to the crowd as you lifted the strap over your head. "It looks like we've found ourselves a replacement for Michael and it seems as though it's none other than his girlfriend Y/N!"
You took a deep breath and started walking on stage when you felt a grab on your hand. Michael pulled you back, giving you a reassuring kiss, letting you know that no matter what happened, he was still proud of you.
When it came time for Michael's solo, Luke and Calum had fully intended to help you out with it. However, when you started playing it, everyone watched you in shock for a moment before the crowd continued to scream.
When the song ended, they screamed even louder, blown away by how well you played.
"Dude!" Luke smiled widely, looking at you.
You grinned sheepishly, "Was it that bad?"
"No!" Ashton laughed, "Y/N, that was amazing!"
"Michael!" you heard one of the crew members exclaim.
Before you had the chance to spin around to see what happened, you were startled by an arm wrapping around your shoulders from behind. Michael had hopped over to you and was now using both you and his microphone stand for support so he didn't hurt his ankle even more.
"This is my girlfriend, guys!" he shouted happily into his microphone, "Isn't she a bad ass?!"
"Michael, what are you doing?" you asked him, "You should be resting!"
"And she cares too," he sighed dramatically, making everyone laugh. You rolled your eyes and he kissed your cheek.
"Go sit back down before I sprain your other ankle, idiot," you giggled.
"God, how did I get so lucky?" he teased as you helped him back to the chair.
~
Calum
"Y/N!" you heard Ashton call out.
"Yeah, Ash?!" you yelled back.
"Where are you?!"
"On stage!" Ashton hurried out of the venue's hallway with Luke and Michael following close behind. "What's wrong?" you asked, looking up at them as you were finishing up tuning Michael's guitar.
"We think something's wrong with Calum," Luke explained.
"Such as?"
"He won't talk to us," Michael answered, "All he does it shake his head or nod or shrug."
"Can't it wait?" you looked up at them, "I'm almost done." They each gave you the same look and quiet groan, making you roll your eyes. You put Michael's guitar back and got up, "I'll be back in a minute."
"Thank you!" they said in unison. You walked down the hallway to the band's dressing room and found your boyfriend sitting on the couch on his phone.
"Hey, Cal," you said, walking into the room and shutting the door. He simply looked up at you and smiled. "Is something going on with you and the boys?" He gave you a confused stare. "They said you aren't talking and they're worried you're mad at them." He shook his head quickly. "Calum," you crossed your arms, "You're not getting sick, are you?"
He shook his head again. You narrowed your eyes at him. You knew he wasn't lying, but you knew he's wasn't telling the whole truth either.
Your eyes suddenly widened as you exclaimed, "Calum, did you lose your voice?!" He sank down in his seat. "Cal, what have I told you about straining your vocal cords? You're gonna hurt yourself one of these days! How were you planning on playing the show tonight? You can't sing if your voice doesn't work, you idiot!" He bit down on his inner cheek, looking up at you shyly. You sighed, sitting down next to him and grabbing his hand, holding it in his lap. "Sorry," you said, kissing his cheek, "But everyone was going to find out at some point, you know?"
Calum sighed, having absolutely no idea what to do. He began rubbing your thumb with his own, trying to come up with something – anything – that might work. And that was when the light bulb went off. He perked up, making you jump slightly, as he pointed frantically at you.
"Cal," you sighed, "You know I'm not good at charades. What are you doing?"
He kept pointing at you and making weird gestures with his hands. He suddenly stopped, exhaling quickly. He held his finger up, pulling out his phone. He typed something into his notes before handing it to you. You raised your eyebrows and took the phone, reading what he wrote.
You play the show
"Whoa, whoa, whoa," you stood up, giving the phone back to him, "You want me to do it?" He nodded. "Calum," you shook your head, "I... I can't do that." He got up as well and gave you puppy dog eyes. "No," you said firmly, "That's not gonna work on me this time."
You immediately left the room and made your way back to the stage. The other boys were still waiting, rushing to you when you entered the room.
"Is he okay?" Ashton asked. You grumbled in response, taking a seat back down at the guitars. The boys looked at each other in confusion as Calum ran through the door.
"What is happening?!" Michael exclaimed in frustration. Calum didn't answer him – he simply pulled out his phone again.
"He lost his voice," you muttered, setting Calum's bass on your lap so you could tune it.
"You lost your voice?!" Ashton shouted, "Why didn't you tell us?!"
"He thought I would play the show tonight," you said over your shoulder.
"You're gonna do it?" Luke asked.
"No," you stated, "I said he thought I would."
"Fans have been lining up outside for hours, Y/N," Ashton said uneasily, "We don't want to have to cancel the show now."
"Well," you laughed dryly, "Your bass player should have thought about that before he just assumed I would be okay with going on for him."
"Y/N, please?!" Michael whined, "We don't want to let everyone down!"
"I'm sorry," you shook your head, "But there is a reason I'm the guitar tech. I only go on stage during shows for emergencies and I'd like to keep it that way."
"This is kind of an emergency though..." he trailed off.
You saw out of the corner of your eye that Calum finally finished typing whatever he was typing and walked over to Ashton. He gave the drummer his phone and nudged him, motioning toward you. Ashton began reading what Calum wrote.
I know the real reason you don't want to go out there is because you think all the fans hate you for being my girlfriend. And while some fans might say rude things about you, the family doesn't. They love you and they love how happy you make me and they defend you just as quickly as they defend any of us.
You are one of the best guitar players I know and I want nothing more than for you to show that to the world. You have a beautiful voice that blends perfectly with the boys' and you know my parts better than anyone else.
But if you don't do it for those reasons, please just do it for me.
You kept your head down for a moment, taking in everything Calum wrote for you. You sighed, turning in your chair and looking up at the boys. They were all giving you pleading expressions, desperately wanting to find a way they wouldn't have to cancel the show.
"I am only singing, Cal," you said, "You can still play." The boys smiled widely and Calum walked over to you. You put his bass back in its spot and stood up. Calum wrapped his arms around your waist and pulled you into him, kissing you softly.
"I love you," he mouthed after pulling away.
"You better," you mumbled, kissing him again.
~
"As you can see," Ashton said from his spot at his drums, "We have an extra member of the band today!"
"It seems as though Calum lost his voice and can't sing tonight," Luke said. The crowd awed sadly as he continued, "So – instead of one of us singing his parts – we thought it would be fun to switch things up and have his lovely girlfriend Y/N sing for him. Is that cool?" The fans cheered in response and you smiled, beginning to feel a little more comfortable – although you were sure it was just because Calum was standing right beside you.
As the boys began playing the first song, Good Girls, you began nervously tapping the microphone as you held it tightly. Calum was watching the crowd and when he noticed the girls in front row looking at you with seemingly worried looks on their faces, he looked at you as well. As his part was approaching, he moved behind you and rested his head on your shoulder, putting his face against your neck.
You instantly smiled, leaning back onto your boyfriend as you began singing, "'Cause every night, she studies hard in her room."
"At least that's what her parents assume," Michael winked at you.
You rolled your eyes and laughed, "But she sneaks out the window to meet with her boyfriend. Here's what she told me the time that I caught her."
Once you were relaxed again, Calum went to walk around the stage as he normally would. He watched you closely throughout the night and noticed that with every song, you would get into the music more and more. You weren't dancing around the stage or anything, but the way you sang the lyrics let Calum – and everyone else – know you were having a lot of fun.
~
You were actually sad when the show ended, honestly. You didn't expect to be that energetic and everything went a lot better than you thought it would. As soon as you all made it backstage, Calum put his bass back in its spot and wrapped his arms around you, lifting you off of the ground slightly. You let out a quiet squeak against his shoulder before laughing.
"Y/N, you were so good!" Luke said proudly, giving you a hug after Calum let go.
"Yeah," Michael laughed, "Maybe Calum should lose his voice more often." Calum made a face at his best friend – a look that Michael happily returned.
~
Ashton
The boys had just run on stage and finished their first song of the set. Everything was going perfectly and they were having a really good time on stage. That is, until the end of the second song. Michael was talking to the crowd when Ashton just got up and ran backstage.
The three boys up front spun around to see what was going on when the crowd started yelling about Ashton, just catching him leaving. They looked over at you in a panic and you shrugged, running after your boyfriend.
"Ash!" you called after him in a confused tone as he got to the dressing room. He immediately went for the bathroom and you heard him start throwing up not long after. You dropped down to you knees next to him, rubbing his back gently.
"Why don't you guys talk to the crowd for a bit while I go check on Ashton?" you could hear Luke tell Michael and Calum. He hurried into the room not even 30 seconds later, still carrying his guitar. "What's going on?" he asked, coming into the bathroom. You looked up at him and shrugged, giving him a small smile. "Ash," Luke said softly, "Why didn't you tell us you were sick?" Ashton sat against the wall, finally finished puking.
"I didn't want to let the fans down," he mumbled. You grabbed his hand, rubbing small circles on his knuckles.
"They would have understood, Ash," you told him, "Your health is more important to them than a rescheduled concert."
"But we can't cancel now!" he whined, "We only made it through two songs!"
"Y/N could always fill in for you," Luke said with a joking tone.
"Okay," you shrugged, getting up.
"Wait, are you serious?"
"Ashton's been teaching me how to play," you informed him, "Why not put it to some use?"
"You're sure you can do it...?" he asked slowly.
"Luke!" you laughed, helping Ashton up, "I can do it." He looked at Ashton skeptically.
"If she says she can do it, she can do it," the drummer nodded.
"Alright, let's go," Luke said, leading you and Ashton back out of the room. Once you finally got to the stage, you let Ashton sit back down at his drum set to explain what was going on.
"Hey, guys," he cleared his throat as the crowd screamed, "I'm really sorry to have to say this, but I can't play the rest of the show. I'm too sick and they won't let me." He pouted slightly, making them laugh despite the fact that they were sad he couldn't finish the show. "So I was wondering if it would be okay if my girlfriend filled in for me."
"Whoa!" Michael shouted, holding out the word, "Y/N's gonna take over?!" You smiled sweetly as you flipped him off. "Wow," he huffed, "Rude." The crowd laughed again while you and Ashton switched places. He went to the side of the stage to sit down so the drums didn't damage his hearing, but he was still where most of the crowd could see him.
"Hey, Y/N," Calum said, looking back at you as one of the crew members ran out to give you an extra set of in-ear monitors.
"Hi, Calum," you smiled into the microphone.
"Please don't be good, okay? We don't want to have to replace Ashton."
"No promises," you winked, causing the crowd to laugh again.
"I've gotta ask you guys something," Luke addressed the fans, "Do you think we should start off easy on her or do you think we should just jump right into it?" They started yelling in response. "Jump right into it, huh?" he smirked.
"Bring it on, Hemmings," you grinned.
You looked down at the set list by your feet and read it, breathing a quiet sigh of relief. Ashton's taught you almost half of the songs and the others, you simply knew how to play by ear.
The boys looked back at you again and you nodded as you gripped the drumsticks tightly, signalling to them that you were ready.
"1, 2, 3, 4!" Calum shouted and you immediately began playing Try Hard.
You – and the boys as well – could tell that the crowd was actually really impressed with your drumming. After the chorus, you could see out of the corner of your eye that you were on the big screen and you couldn't help but laugh, already knowing why.
"She's got a rose tattoo, but she keeps it covered. I play guitar," Calum sang, pointing back at you, "But she's into drummers."
"Well, you're not wrong," you said into your microphone, smirking slightly. The fans cheered, looking over at Ashton. He was smiling and his cheeks were turning a light shade of red.
~
An hour later, the show was finally over. You and the boys ran off stage to where Ashton was waiting for you.
"That was awesome!" Luke shouted as he nudged your arm, still in a rush, "I never knew you could play like that!" You shrugged, blushing slightly.
"You were hilarious during Try Hard," Calum added, chuckling.
"And as soon as I'm not sick anymore, I'm gonna show you exactly why you're into the drummer," Ashton smirked, pulling you into him.
"Oh, God," Michael jokingly gagged, "I think I just threw up a little bit."
~
Songs mentioned:
"She Looks So Perfect" by 5 Seconds of Summer
"Good Girls" by 5 Seconds of Summer
"Try Hard" by 5 Seconds of Summer
shout out to my friend marshy for helping me with the ending of ashton's