Critical || Luke Hemmings

Chapter Twelve

---- 1 Month Later ----

It had been a month since I took the job at Fueled By Ramen.  It was one of the hardest decisions I’ve ever had to make.  They flew me out within that week and set me up with an all expense paid apartment in New York City. 

The boys decided to go with me to the airport to say our goodbyes and to say it was one of the hardest things I've ever had to do was an understatement.  They had fans all around us and I looked like a blubbering mess who wouldn't let go of them.  I cried the entire flight here and for a few days after that.  The fans weren't very pleased with me leaving either, which was surprising considering I never played a huge role to the public eye.  I was always the girl that followed them into the arena with my camera slung over my neck, but apparently they took notice.

I made sure before I left the boys on tour that I would find a replacement for my position on their team and hooked them up with one of my good friends from home who kept me in the loop on all things 5 Seconds of Summer.  I also got multiple calls, texts, and facetimes from Calum, Michael and Ashton.  They’d invite me to shows and stuff whenever they were near by but I’d only gone to one about a week after I moved out here.

The last time I saw them, Luke was still with Emily and it was clear to see that she was still very into him.  I’m assuming he didn’t tell her about our incident because she was very welcoming and hugged me tight when she saw me, making me feel even guiltier than before.  I did everything I could to avoid any alone time with Luke and avoided all calls and texts from him until he gave up trying to call.

“Sydney, come on you’ve been staring at this monitor for an hour, is it a yes or no on the blue?” my partner, Jamie huffed, falling back into his seat.

He was about twenty, with dirty blonde hair that hung in his face and beautiful green eyes.  It was safe to say he was attractive, and with his tattoos peaking out from under his shirt, it was enough to make any girl swoon. 

“Make it a shade darker and I think it’ll be perfect,” I said giving him a smile before glancing back at the screen.  We were currently trying to make a new logo for the Paramore tour coming up and to say I was excited about it would be an understatement.

“Whatever you say princess,” Jamie chuckled, changing the blue a hint darker.

I felt my cheeks redden at his nickname for me.  When I’d first arrived here, I was told that I would be working closely with Jamie on most of the designs for the bands until a tour started, in which case I would start bouncing around to different gigs, getting pictures of the bands as they perform.  It was practically a dream job, and getting to work with someone so attractive made it even more incredible.

Suddenly the sound of my familiar ringtone came from my purse, causing both of us to jump slightly.  Giggling, I reached into my purse and pull it out, looking at Calum’s face lighting up my screen.  I hit the answer button and held the phone up to my ear. 

“Hey stranger,” I spoke into the phone.

“Sydneeeey!” he chuckled.  “How’s life in New York?”

“It’s pretty great actually,” I smiled, looking over at Jamie who was busy working on the artwork.

There was silence for a minute on his end.  I could hear a bunch of chatter before Calum spoke again.  “GUYS SHUT UP ON ON THE PHONE,” he screamed, making me pull the phone away from my ear.  I could hear the voices of the three other boys in the background, making my smile grow larger.  Despite being in New York, I honestly missed having them with me 24/7.

“Who are you talking to?” I heard Luke ask to Calum.  His voice sounded rougher than usual.  I’d actually almost forgot how deep it was.

“No one, don’t worry about,” Calum mumbled before acknowledging my presence again.  “Sorry Syd, he just.. yeah.”

“It’s okay,” I murmur, nodding my head.  “So, is there a reason you called or did you just miss my voice?” I joke, trying to lighten the mood some.

“Both actually.”

“Well, get on with it then, what’s the reason for calling Mr. Hood,” I grinned.

“So there’s a place near you called the Barclays Center,” I nodded, knowing exactly where he was talking about.  “And the guys and I happen to have a show there..” he paused for a moment, probably to check that I didn’t hang up on him.

“Okay, when?” 

“Tomorrow..?” he said more as a question than a statement.

“Tomorrow?!” I practically yelled back.  I knew I wasn’t on tour with them anymore but they could have at least told me they were in the same state as me.

“Yeah.. We wanted to surprise you.” 

“Calum, I don’t know if it’s a good idea for me to go,” I said honestly.   I was terrified to see Luke and Emily again.  I’d been doing so well these past few weeks; I didn’t want to fall back into that place. 

“No, Syd, you can’t miss another show,” he whined into the receiver.  “We miss you.  I’m having withdrawal symptoms,” he said causing me to laugh. 

“What about Luke?”

“He wants to see you,” he let out a sigh.  “We all do..”  I could practically hear him pouting.

I huffed, and rolled my eyes, contemplating what to do.  “Fine, I’ll go,” I said shrugging my shoulders.  I’d be stupid not to go just because of a boy.  Well, not just a boy.  That boy happens to be one of my best friends, or was.  I don’t really know where we stand now. 

“YES! Okay, I’ll make sure to let the guys know.  Come by around four and we can get you some backstage stuff.  This is so going to be just like old times.  I can’t wait.”  He was talking so fast I couldn’t understand half of what he was saying.  “I’ll see you tomorrow Sydney.”

I smiled wide and nodded my head.  “I’ll see you tomorrow at four.”

-------

Don't hate me for making her take the job with Fueled by Ramen.  I know skipping a month seems like a lot and things have changed within that time frame when it comes to the boys too.  I'll get into detail with them in the next upcoming chapters.