Pretty Girls ⇼ Luke Hemmings

When I woke up, it was nearly 3 in the morning. Mandy was sleeping next to me in the small bed and Lea was in her bed with Michael. I stirred, trying to pry the blanket away from Mandy. When I didn’t succeed, I sighed and climbed over her to stand up. My attention was immediately drawn to the open window and I closed it, blocking the wind from entering the room and further freezing me. I stared outside, watching the trees sway and noticing the stillness of the night.

Everything seemed so peaceful—From waking up in the middle of the night, to the light chill in the air, to Michael’s snoring. A stray cat ran across the street to the side my dorm was on, and I couldn’t help but watch it. The cat’s eyes glew from the glare of the streetlamp and it looked up, into a tree. I wondered what it found so interesting, but when my attention fell to the tree, I saw nothing. I let out a quiet sigh and kept watching the cat.

My near hypnosis was interrupted by the sound of my door open. I turned around, expecting to see Michael, Lea, or Mandy getting up to take a bathroom break, but they were still sound asleep. When my eyes met the door frame, a silhouette of a tall man appeared. I held my breath as he stepped in and let it out when I realized it was Luke.

“What are you doing here?” I asked, my voice barely above a whisper. His eyes fell to Lea’s bed, then to mine, and his brow furrowed when he saw a sleeping Mandy. His head crooked towards the door, signalling me to follow him. I grabbed a cardigan from my closet and met him in the hallway, pulling it on. “What are you doing here?” I repeated, shutting the door behind me and raising my voice to a normal talking tone. It was hoarse, but still audible.
“I just came to make sure you were okay,” he shoved his hands in his pockets.

“Why wouldn’t I be?” I pulled my cardigan over my chest.
“I don’t know,” he shrugged. “You didn’t come to the show,” I rolled my eyes.
“So you waited until 3am to check on me?” I scoffed.
“Well… Yeah… I guess so,” his eyes fell to the floor.
“I’m fine,” I told him. “I just wanted to stay in tonight. Mandy and I got wine drunk,”
“You ditched me for Mandy?” He pouted.

“Well I never said I was going to come,” I pointed out. He didn’t reply. Instead, his back hit the wall and he slid to sit down, staring up at me. I shook my head, following in his lead and sitting next to him. “How was the show?” I changed the subject.
“Fine,” he grumbled. “We were going to sing a song for you,” he picked at the holes in his skinny jeans and I bit my lip.
“You were?” I asked.

“Yeah,” he sighed. “We were going to do Valerie by The Zutons. But you didn’t show up, so we didn’t sing it,” I felt guilty for not showing up.
“Ashton told me you didn’t do covers,”
“It was for an apology,” he snapped. “They wanted to apologize,” I took interest in pulling off the hangnail on the left side of my pinky.
“I’m sorry I couldn’t make it,” I frowned.
“It’s okay,” his voice softened.

“So Cass, huh?” I brought up and he raised an eyebrow.
“What about her?”
“I just saw a video that Michael posted of you two kissing,” I tried to seem like it didn’t bother me, but he saw right through that.
“It was just a kiss,” he laughed, throwing an arm over my shoulders. I couldn’t help but wonder if that’s what he thought when we kissed. “I was sad that you didn’t come and she was comforting me,” there was a strain in my heart and I slowly nodded, pulling away from his grip.

“What?” he asked, lightly bumping into me.
“Nothing,” I sighed.
“Are you jealous?” He turned to me, an amused look splattered over his features.
“No,” I gritted through my teeth. “Why would I be jealous?”
“Because you miss kissing me,” he teased and I rolled my eyes.
“No I don’t.” My answer was too quick and I cursed myself. “That’s ridiculous,” I added in hopes to make it better.

“So you wouldn’t mind if I did this-” he paused, scooting closer to me.
“Luke-” I warned as he brushed a piece of hair out of my face. I shied away when he cupped my chin, but he tightened his grip and pulled me back to look at him. My eyes immediately fell to his lips and I parted mine with the intention of saying something, but I couldn’t think of what to say. He leaned in and, out of reflex, I shut my eyes.
“I missed kissing you, too.” He whispered, his breath hitting my face before he crashed his lips against mine.

I forgot how soft his lips were and I couldn’t help but kiss him back. My hands tangled in his hair as he pulled my body closer to his by placing his hands on my waist. We sat like that for a while, our tongues sliding against each other, until I wrapped my head around what was happening and pulled away. Luke’s face fell and I stared at him, confused.

“What?” He asked.
“This isn’t right,” I croaked, standing up. Luke followed after me, grabbing my hand to stop me from walking away.
“How is this not right?” He asked. “Val, we ooze chemistry,” I stared at the floor, unable to look at him and I shrugged.
“Because everytime I turn my back, you’re just giving me more reasons not to trust you,” Luke flicked his tongue out to wet his lips.
“You don’t trust me?” He asked, a sad look on his face.
“No,” I replied honestly.

“Let me take you out,” he nearly pleaded. “I want to show you that I can be a good guy,” I didn’t know if he was being serious.
“Luke-” I started, but stopped. “I can’t,”
“Well, why not?” He finally released his grip on my wrist.
“Because I’m going on a date with someone else,” he stared at me, eyes wide before shaking his head and scoffing.
“If you don’t want to go out with me, just say so. You don’t have to lie to me,” he shoved his hands in the pockets of his leather jacket.
“What’s so unbelievable about me going on a date?” I frowned, crossing my arms.
“That’s not what I meant,” he rolled his eyes.
“Then what did you mean?” I pressured.

“That you don’t go out with people,” he tried to soften, but I shook my head.
“Just because I don’t make out with every boy that gives me attention, does not mean I don’t go out with people,” I shot, feeling upset from my lack of sleep.
“You’re taking this too far,” he muttered, pulling out his phone. “Whatever, go on your date,” he insisted. “I didn’t really want to take you out anyways,” and with that, he tapped his phone screen and put it to his ear, walking away. I knew he was calling Cass and that killed me a little bit.
“Luke,” I called, but it was too late. He was gone. With a knot in my throat, I went back into my room and climbed back into bed with Mandy. It took what felt like hours to fall asleep, and when I did, I dreamt about having an actual date with Luke. I hated myself for getting angry at him when he was trying to do right by me. Why does everything have to end in a fight with us?

Notes