Calum's PoV

Arriving at the reception with Poppy, we received a flurry of tuts and glares as the rest of the group hinted at the time. What? We were only ten minutes later than planned!

"Sorry. I went to the gym." Poppy smiled shyly, giving me a quick glance to say she was trying to give us an excuse. I nodded back as a thank you. Under the intense gaze of the guys, I knew they knew what was going on but they kept quiet, knowing there was no need to bring it up to everyone.

"Pops, you are looking amazing." Crystal was the first to compliment her and the others agreed, showering her with compliments on how great she looked. They weren't wrong, despite nothing being wrong with what she was like before, she had definitely changed since going to the gym and her confidence was becoming her. It was refreshing to see her wearing clothes that showed her body off a little more, making me feel proud to show her and her progress off to the paps who were already eating out of her hands with her story.

"Thanks guys, you're too kind." She blushed, shooing the compliments away as she quickly moved beside me and put her arm around my waist. I put my arm around her shoulders as we all left the hotel, suddenly walking into a sea of paparazzi that must have been waiting for us to leave. The few security guards we had were struggling to hold them back as we quickly pushed through, the car in sight.

"Ashton, how are you and Rebecca doing?"
"Luke, when's the proposal?"
"Calum, how does it feel to know everyone's crushing on your fiancée?"
"Poppy, you look gorgeous, give us a spin!"
"Crystal, how does it feel to know fans prefer Poppy?"
"Sierra, how did you help Luke through a mental breakdown?"
"Rebecca, who's your favourite girlfriend?"
"What about the cheating rumours?"

We all ignored them as we finally got to the car, my grip loosening from Poppy as I let her slide into the car first, away from all the vultures that were the paps. As the doors closed, we all collectively sighed with relief. The security guard started the car and for the first part of the journey, we were all silent. Poppy and I held hands as we drove, but all in all no one could think of anything to say. This was always the effect the paparazzi had on us, always yanking the fun out from underneath us and leaving us to pick up the pieces.

"Who do you think the cheating rumours are about?" Bex was the first to break the silence but none of us were happy with the question. A few scoffed and rolled their eyes at the fact she was letting the questions get to her.

"Bex, it doesn't matter. It's crap anyway." Crystal huffed, rolling her eyes. Bex was quick to jump on her phone and after a few seconds, she dropped her phone into her lap and shook her head. We all waited for her to say something, to describe what she had just seen but for some reason she stayed silent leaving us all on edge. We all exchanged glances as we wondered if we needed to ask or not. My heart pumped heavily in my chest in fear. What If this was going to ruin someone's relationship? Finally, Crystal broke the silence.

"Go on... who?" She asked harshly. Bex's eyes widened as she swallowed heavily.

"You." She said simply, all our jaws dropping at the statement. Michael shot a look over to Crystal who straightened where she sat. She stuttered as she let out an uncomfortable laugh, quickly searching on her phone and finding the newspaper article. Not long after, most of us had the articles up on our phones. There in print was a large article with photos of her with a well dressed man, who she goes into a house with, checking behind her to see if anyone is there before she enters.

"Crystal?" Michael pressed, awaiting the answer that he needed to throw this away as yet another pap fake news story. We all looked at her, watching her as she struggled to say anything at all. She began to tear up and breathe heavily and before we knew it, as soon as the car stopped, she leapt out and slammed the door shut behind her. Poppy was quick to jump out too and the car drove off, leaving the two of them in our dust. Michael stared down at his feet, oblivious to everything else in the world. I shuffled up to sit beside him and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Mike, it's okay. Don't panic. I bet there's a reasonable explanation for all of this." I soothed, giving his shoulder a squeeze as I spoke. He slowly looked up at me, his eyes blurred with sadness, and shook his head.

"So reasonable that she leapt out of the car?" Mike retaliated, leaving me speechless. I thought long and hard about what wouldn't make the situation any worse.

"Well maybe she's doing something as a surprise? Then she wouldn't want to spoil the surprise." I offered with a smile.

"For what? My birthday isn't for half a year and our anniversary isn't any time soon." His answer was short, almost as if hinting at me to stop talking. I let out a sigh as I patted his shoulder.

"Paps fake news stories all the time. Hell, I'm just waiting for one about Poppy and the personal trainers she's been using. My point is, if they even glance at someone they make a story of it. I'm sure there's a perfectly good reason for this so don't get too upset about it. Not until Crystal speaks to you about it." Mike nodded his head, taking a deep breath in and out as we finally pulled up to the town and all got out of the car, heading to the beach to enjoy the rest of the day - as much as we could anyway, seeing as yet again the paps had ruined the moment.