Everyone stayed really late that first day. A songwriter called J Kash came in at around ten and he really helped with the chorus of the song. Ashton did some crazy stuff on the keyboard and I just watched in awe.

Fran came and sat next to me and said, "I know you can sing. And play the guitar."

I looked at her in surprise. "Uh... how?"

"You're part of one of the groups at UCLA. Just because I've never met or seen you before doesn't mean I haven't heard of you. And from what I've heard, you're really good. Surely at least Kate must know?" She raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, Kate knows," I said.

"So why did you say that you didn't sing to the band?" she asked me in confusion.

I shrugged. "I don't know, I guess I feel intimidated. I wouldn't want them to ask me to sing in front of them or something."

She regarded me for a moment. "Fair enough, I suppose. But I'm sure you're good enough that you shouldn't feel intimidated."

I just shrugged again.

It got really late and everyone started to head home. Kate asked if I could stay and clear up which I supposed I had to do, since it was kind of my job. Fran offered to help but I declined and told her she should just go home.

In the end, it was Calum, Luke and me. They were doing some last minute stuff on the song, which now had the title, 'Waste The Night'. I had to say, it sounded really good.

I was going around clearing up coffee cups and chip packets when I heard Calum say, "You know, you don't need to do all this. It's our mess, we should clean it up."

I turned to him and was about to reply when Luke cut me off. "It's kind of her job."

I stiffened but didn't say anything. Instead I carried on cleaning up while Calum muttered, "Luke, stop being a dick."

"No, he's right," I mumbled.

Calum sighed. "Fine. I'm gonna go. I'll see you on Wednesday, Noelle."

I gave him a half-smile as he left, which faded as I realized I was now alone with Luke.

There was a long silence. It was finally broken when Luke said, "Look, I didn't mean to be a dick."

I turned to him in surprise, which he seemed to notice because he glared at me and continued, "Don't act so surprised. I'm not... I'm not that bad."

"Could've fooled me," I said quietly, but Luke heard. He didn't reply but instead began helping me pick the rubbish.

"You don't need to do that," I said in slight exasperation. "Seriously. Leave it, I'm supposed to be doing it."

"I'm helping, okay?" he said sharply, and I shut up.

We cleared the rest of the room in silence and after it was done I looked at my feet and mumbled, "Thanks for helping."

Luke didn't reply for a moment, and then he said, "Why do you never look me in the eye?"

At that I glanced up at him to see him frowning at me. "What?"

"You heard me."

"Uh, I don't know... I guess you're in this world famous band and I'm just a student, and it's... it's weird. Plus, your eyes are really pretty and blue."

When I realized what I'd just said, I blushed furiously and looked away again. I could not believe I said that. But Luke surprised me the second time today by laughing. My blush deepened not just because he was laughing at me, but also because he had a seriously beautiful laugh. I mean he has to have a gorgeous face and a gorgeous laugh as well? Now that's just unfair.

"Stop laughing," I grumbled, gathering my things and putting them in my bag. "That wasn't supposed to come out."

"Yeah, well, it did and it was funny." He was full on smiling at me now causing me to glance at his lips and then his lip ring.

I tore my gaze away and stated, "I'm glad I amuse you."

"Don't be embarrassed." Luke walked past, brushing close to me, making me again realize just how tall and broad he was. Just as he was exiting the studio, he turned back around and said with a smirk, "For the record, I think your eyes are pretty too." Then he was gone.

I took a moment to compose myself after that comment. Luke Hemmings had just said I had pretty eyes. I had told Luke Hemmings he had pretty eyes. Wait, was he flirting with me? I'm usually really oblivious to that kind of stuff.

I blew out a long breath and left the room, locking it behind me with the keys Kate gave me. I then made my way back to campus, all the while thinking that I was disappointed I had the day off my internship tomorrow.

~ ~ ~

"Hey, babe. How was your first day?" Nathan greeted me as I entered my dorm room.

I furrowed my eyebrows. "Uh... great. Why are you in my dorm?"

"I was waiting for you. I wanted to find out how your internship went," he told me as if it was obvious – which, to me, it wasn't.

"Well, yeah, it went really well. How did you get in here?"

"Jess let me in. I thought we should celebrate your first day." Nathan got up and went over to my desk where he had clearly placed a bottle of champagne beforehand.

"How did you get that?" I questioned with a raised eyebrow.

"Fake ID," he replied with a shrug, popping open the bottle and filling up two glasses which he must have brought over. He certainly came prepared.

"Nathan, it's just an internship. You didn't have to do this," I said in slight exasperation. It was late and I was tired. I kind of just wanted to go to bed. "Also, where is Jess?"

"With Tristan. She said I could stay over tonight." He grinned at me and handed me my glass.

"Nathan, I'm really tired, I'd rather just–"

"That's fine," he interrupted. "We can cuddle. I know girls like to cuddle."

I glanced over at my single bed doubtfully. "Have you seen the size of my bed? It's not big enough for both of us."

Nathan's smile faltered a little. Evidently, he didn't like how unaffectionate I was being. I felt a bit bad so I said, "But if we squash up I guess we can fit."

His smile returned and he held his glass up to mine and tapped it lightly. "Cheers. Here's to Noelle's amazing future in the music industry."

I took a sip and said, "I thought you didn't like the idea of me going into the music industry?"

"Well," he began, stepping closer to me, "I decided I wasn't being a supportive enough boyfriend and if that's what you want to do then I'll help you along." He kissed me gently and said quietly, "I love you, Noelle. I hope you know that."

To get out of replying I kissed him again but I wasn't concentrating on the kiss. I was feeling bad because I couldn't say it back since I wouldn't mean it. I didn't love him. I liked him a lot, sure, and he could be really sweet and all but I didn't love him. Hopefully he wouldn't expect me to say it back.

While kissing me, Nathan took the champagne glass out of my hand and put it down along with his. He cupped my face with his hands, deepening the kiss before moving his hands down to my waist, causing my top to ride up. He took hold of my top and started to lift it up but I pulled away.

"Not tonight, Nathan," I said firmly.

"Come on, babe, I've had a really bad day and this would make it so much better–"

"No. I'm really tired, Nathan. I think you should go," I said shortly. He stared at me for a moment before leaving my dorm room and slamming the door behind him.

I sighed in frustration before changing into my pajamas, cleaning my teeth, removing my makeup and going to bed. I couldn't help pondering over the way Nathan had been tonight. A good boyfriend shouldn't be like that. I pushed those thoughts out of my mind and tried to clear my head as I went to sleep. Only, I couldn't get to sleep. I also couldn't seem to get those blue eyes out of my mind either. It was past two in the morning when I finally drifted off.

~ ~ ~

I didn't get up the next morning until late. Jess woke me up at around eleven by sitting carefully at the foot of my bed. She seemed to sense I was a bit upset, and she said cautiously, "So Nathan didn't stay over?"

"No," I replied, my voice muffled by the pillow. "He was a jackass."

Jess didn't question me further but asked, "You want me to get you a coffee? And some breakfast?"

I turned my head so I could smile at her. "You're like the best roommate in the world. I'm not hungry, though. Coffee would be nice."

"I'll get one for you. And I know I'm the best – why else would I have offered to bring you that revolting substance that you seem to like so much?"

"Fair point."

"You should probably get up and get dressed, though. What's the plan for today?"

I sighed deeply. "I don't know. I might figure it out after my coffee."

"Got it. I'll be back in a few." She stood up and left the dorm. I lay in bed for a moment longer before gathering the will to get up and out of bed. I pulled on some sweatpants and an oversized t-shirt before tying my hair in a messy bun and checking everything on my phone. I used the Capitol Records' twitter account to re-tweet one of the band's tweets, and then lay back down to wait for my coffee.

When Jess came back to the room she saw what I was wearing and shook her head while handing me the coffee. "Oh, no. I got you a coffee; you are putting on something decent. We are going to go out today."

I groaned. "We're going to what?"

"We're going to wander around LA, we're going out for a nice lunch and George is coming along too. You need to tell us both all about your first day as an intern." Jess started going through all my clothes as per usual and threw at me my black ripped jeans and a black and white top. "Make yourself look presentable. I'm going to get George."

I slowly got changed and went into the bathroom, applying some makeup and taking my hair down from its bun. By that time George and Jess had arrived back at our dorm and George greeted me by squeezing me in a tight hug.

"How was it? How was the famous band? Did you sing in front of them? Did you flirt with any of them?" he questioned excitedly.

I couldn't help but grin at him as we left the dorm. "They were... they were good. Took a bit of warming up but they were nice. And no, I didn't sing in front of them. I told them I didn't sing. I gave Luke a line for a song, though, and he used it."

"Wait, Luke Hemmings used a line you suggested in one of his songs?" George said frantically.

"Yeah. And he... he told me I had pretty eyes. After I blurted out that he had pretty eyes," I confessed, my cheeks heating a little at the memory.

"He did what?" Jess said loudly in amazement.

"You got complimented by Luke Hemmings," George said in wonder. "Life is so unfair."

I just shrugged. "I made him laugh as well. He has a really nice laugh."

"Sounds to me like someone's crushing." Jess winked at me.

"What? No. I have a boyfriend."

"Who was disrespectful to you last night," she pointed out.

"Wait, what did Nathan do?" George said quickly.

"He just... he didn't want to take no for an answer, if you know what I mean," I muttered.

"I'm going to kill that bitch. I always told you he was no good–"

"George," Jess interrupted. "Let's just... move on, shall we?"

"Okay. Moving on to me. Guess who's got a date," he sang.

"You met that guy from the library again?" I questioned with a raised eyebrow.

"Yep. Got his number this time. He texted me and asked if I wanted to hang out. And I of course said yes," George said proudly.

"Cute. Ross, was it?" I asked, and George nodded.

"He has these really dreamy green eyes, and dark hair, and... ugh."

"Did he call it like a date, though?" Jess queried.

"Well, no, but it's definitely a date. We're going out for lunch on Saturday."

"How nice. When do we meet him?" I said. "We need to approve before anything else happens."

"Let's see... never," George stated, and Jess and I immediately started complaining.

"We're not that bad," I insisted, while Jess assured him, "We'll be on our best behavior."

"I think not. At least, not yet. We haven't even been on our date so it would be weird. Afterwards though I'll be sure to let you know how it goes."

"Good," Jess said firmly, linking her arm with George's. "Now this is the part where you ask me about Tristan."

"How is the perfect boyfriend?"

"Doing just perfectly..." We carried on walking, the February sun shining down on us as we made our way through the city of Los Angeles.