Across The Street // Luke Hemmings

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Chapter Twenty-Eight

I held the phone up to my ear and waited for him to pick up. "Chelsea?" I could hear the disbelief in Luke's voice.

"Hi," I said softly. I don't even know why I'm calling him. I don't even know what I want to say.

"Chelsea, you have no idea how happy I am that you called. How are you feeling? Are you alright?" He was so concerned. My lips started to tremble and I could feel tears threatening my eyes.

"Chelsea, are you there?"

I lied back against my pillow, keeping the phone to my ear. "Yeah, I'm here," I said, still feeling the need to speak softly. I felt like if I spoke any louder, my voice would crack from holding back tears.

"Are you okay?" Luke's tone was so sweet and sincere. It was easy to forget that he was such a rockstar onstage. He's always so calm and gentle when he's with me.

"No, I- I mean yeah, I just, I uh, I wanted to thank you for the flowers and everything. So, thank you." Getting that sentence out was way more difficult than it needed to be.

Luke spoke up right away. "You deserve every flower in the world after what you went through."

I'm not sure why, but I was getting so emotional. A steady flow of silent tears were now running down my face.

"Chelsea. Chelsea, talk to me." There was that hint of desperation in Luke's voice again.

I covered the phone with my hand so I could choke out a sob before answering him. "Luke, I don't think-" I paused to catch my breath. "I don't think we should see each other for a while," I said. This was even harder than I imagined.

"Let me just talk to you in person, please," Luke said after a second of silence.

"Luke-" I could feel myself wanting to give in.

"Just let me come up," he said.

I was confused. "What?" I asked while I tried to wipe my tears.

"I'm here and I'm coming up," he said. I didn't say anything. The right thing to do would be to tell him to go home, but then I realized something. This whole situation can't be easy for him either. I think we're both confused. And I think we're both upset. And I think we're both scared.

I heard him make his way up onto my balcony, and he used his muscles to lift and open the window. I stayed on my bed and watched as he carefully climbed into my room. He caught his balance and stood up straight, then turned to look at me on my bed.

I'm sure my bruised face wasn't something he really wanted to see, because I could see him take a deep breath when he saw it.

I stood up, feeling sharp pains in my head, and walked over to Luke. He immediately pulled me into him and embraced me. At this point, I had given up hope of trying not to cry. My sobs were muffled against his shirt, and my whole body shook.

"Shh, shh, you're okay. You're okay. I'm here, Chelsea. I'm right here."

I couldn't stop crying. I was having a complete and total break down. Until this moment, I hadn't had a chance to really let myself give into the feelings that I had from the assault. It was a terrifying experience that I went through, and I have every right to cry right now.

I was shaking uncontrollably, and Luke was doing his best to calm me down. "Come here, come sit back down on your bed. It's alright, you're gonna be alright," Luke said as he guided me to sit on the bed.

The sobbing became less intense, and I was able to catch my breath. He had me sit up against the headboard of my bed, and then he sat down next to me.

I slowly laid my head down onto his lap, and he continued to soothe me. "It's okay, baby. I'm right here." Luke gently rubbed my back until I stopped crying.

I felt like every ounce of energy I had was drained from my body. It was a struggle to sit back up, but I did it.

I sat next to Luke and stared straight ahead. A silence sat between us for a minute or two, then I turned to face him. "Thank you."

Luke turned to face me, and shook his head. "No, don't thank me. I don't deserve to be thanked," he said as he let out a sigh.

I squinted my eyes in confusion, trying to figure out what he was saying. "I should have kept you backstage. I shouldn't have let anyone near you. I should have taken better care of you." Luke began running his hands through his hair. His stress over this was apparent.

"It's not your fault, Luke." This time, I was the one consoling him. I gently ran my fingers up and down his back, and his tensed muscles immediately relaxed under my touch.

I took a deep breath before saying what I was about to say. "I think.. I think I'm becoming a bit of a nuisance for you." I looked down at my lap as I continued to talk.

"I don't like the idea of me getting in the way of anything that has to do with your band. You guys work too hard to let anything get in the way of success. And some stupid girl definitely shouldn't be something that gets in the way. You know?" I looked up at Luke, nervous for his response.

He narrowed his eyes at me, then firmly said, "No. No, I don't know."

Was he mad at me? I thought I was doing the right thing.

"I just think, maybe I should take a step back and give you some space. I don't know if this is the right time for us." I said the last part softly, probably because it hurt my heart to say that.

"You're not some stupid girl, Chelsea. So don't say that about yourself. Do you know that whenever we're not together, I count down the minutes until I get to see you again? All I ever think about is being with you. And it really fucking scares me how much I like you. But it really fucking scares me even more to hear everything you just said." Luke's voice cracked as he said this, and I knew he was trying to hold it together.

I reached up to touch the side of his face, and ran my fingers down the side of his jaw and down to his chest. "I'm scared, too." I felt a tear roll down my face. Great. More crying.

Luke wiped the tear off my cheek, and pulled me onto his lap so I was straddling him.

"Don't say this isn't the right time for us. Don't say that, Chelsea. This is the right time for us. Okay? I want to be with you. I want.. I want you." Luke said this with a helpless look on his face.

Part of me felt like I should say goodbye to Luke and the life that he lives. But I told that part of me to pipe the fuck down, and I crashed my lips onto Luke's.

"I want you, too," I said as I slowly broke free from the kiss. Luke pulled me in and I wrapped my arms around him.

We stayed like that for a while, and I felt him bury his face in my hair. He whispered into my ear, "I'm getting really good at climbing up that damn trellis."

A smile spread across my face. Partly because of what Luke said, and partly because I could feel myself falling head over heels.

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