FIFTH HALF ― luke hemmings ✓

#15

A full week has passed after the night I became too soft and too foolish. Like a lovesick teenager, alone in a house with the love of her life she so wanted to hate, an awaiting tragedy.

I stayed away from him for as long and as far as I can. The band noticing once again the growing tension, building up day by day until they had to forcefully cancel the meetup on Friday just so we could all take a break from it. From my endless quips about the vocalist, and him getting irritated all of a sudden.

"You should really do your grocery, Lace. There's like, literally no food here." Calum says, breaking my train of thought as he rummaged through the fridge and cabinets, finding nothing but forgotten packet of biscuits and jugs of water. A lot of them. He does that while he wears his favorite band shirt, a pair of black jeans and his favorite sneakers. Absolutely looking ready for where we're going, and what's about to happen.

I was still sitting patiently on my living room, wearing nothing but a simple summer dress paired with a jacket. Obviously not ready for the day—and reluctant to leave my sofa for the reason that I didn't want to go, nor would I want to relieve memories I plan to bury down under. Being in the same place with him felt so suffocating—it's as if the walls are closing between us and there's no other escape than to face the oblivion. He felt like that for so long I wonder how I'm still here. Not for long, though. "Where are the others?" I asked, staring blankly ahead as I still hear Calum rummaging on the cabinets like a hungry child.

"Well, Ash won't be able to come since he got some important events to attend to, and Mikey can't because it's also Crys' sister's birthday. So, you're stuck with me, little one." He sat right beside me, an arm rounding around my shoulder while he raises both his brow up and down repeatedly.

"Little one my ass. Come on, let's get this over with." Calum beat me into carrying my purse and also, used his own spare key to do the honors of locking my door. He even went as far as also bringing one of his least expensive cars to drive me, and to see to it that I won't be having to hitch a ride with someone I hate tonight if I get a hard time booking for one. I'm amused of how Calum thought this out—not just because it's for me, but because I know it's for their own fear it'll cause too much damage that the band won't be able to get back up to. The fear of ruining the foundation we worked hard to build, just because of a past that keeps biting us in the ass.

The half hour ride towards the Hemmings' residence was silent. Only The Smiths playing on the background as Calum drove with ease, causing me to droop for a bit before realizing that I was going in the same place I didn't know I would still be in after a long year of disappearing into view. The thought surely kept me up and at it while on the road. "You'll be fine, Lacey." Calum spoke as I looked at my reflection on the mirror ahead, the car parked just beside their house that seemed packed with some of their relatives I got to know and other strangers I was bound to face. Bits of smokes coming at the back from which I'm guessing was the barbecues—and well, the sigh of the three Hemmings brothers, welcoming everyone at their huge and humble home.

"I sure hope you're right, Cal." I breathed out as he went outside the car, going over to the other side and opening the door for me. "You're quite a gentleman today, huh?" I quipped, a smile going over my lips for the first time today.

"Of course." The smile he gave turned mines into a scoff. "Oh, please, Lacey! Ash and I will not make a sound, I promise." I pursed my lip in an attempt to suppress it in but the scowl on my face says it all. Ash and Calum are going to watch another new series I found miraculously downloaded on my flat screen last night, and they thought it was a good idea to watch it at my small apartment rather than indulge themselves into their million dollar houses.

"I should've known!" I rolled my eyes and slam the door shut, with Calum giving me one of his puppy eyes and lips. "That's not gonna work." He clasps his hands together with the same childlike look—and god forbid does it work. It always does. It never fails. "Fine but—" Before I could even set out rules, he squeezed me into a hug which both limited me of the air and the right to breathe.