Red Roses [Luke Hemmings]

Twenty

Rebecca's skin tingled as Luke grazed the very tips of his fingers on her bare skin as they talked, the new day being introduced by the sunrise. Luke and Rebecca had had a wonderful night filled with love and lust. Now, they were still recovering, seven hours later.

"Come on tour with me," Luke said softly. His voice was coarse, deep and tired. It was Rebecca's second favourite thing to listen to. The first was Luke's laugh. They didn't laugh often, but when they did, Rebecca loved it.

"I thought I couldn't," Rebecca said.
"You can't," Luke chuckled, "But who am I to ever play by the rules?"
"Whoa, when did you become such a bad-ass?"
"I'm punk rock, baby. It's only natural."

Rebecca snorted out a laugh and that made Luke laugh too. Once it died down, they stared at each other for a good few seconds before laughing again. It felt so good to be near him, Rebecca had to go on tour with him but she wasn't having a baby and the truth was, she didn't want to, at least not yet.

"I meant what I said yesterday," Luke said. Rebecca looked up to meet his intense gaze. It was like all he could see was her and all he wanted to see was her. She felt like a queen, like a goddess even. She felt beautiful and even when she wore nothing more than a comforter, she didn't feel ashamed. Rebecca felt beautiful and it was all because of Luke.

"About what?" Rebecca asked, keeping her voice light as she remembered all the scenes of the night before. She remembered the feeling of Luke's skin under her fingernails, the kisses he left on her skin and the slight but powerful touches.

"About loving you. I love you to a point where it scares me because I don't know what I could do if I didn't have you," Luke said.
"You don't have to worry about what you would to without me because I'm not going anywhere," Rebecca assured.

There was a silence, once again and Luke seemed so deep in thought that Rebecca decided it was best for her to get changed and let him to think. However, Luke's hold didn't loosen and he kept her bolted to him.

"Marry me," he whispered.
"What?" Rebecca breathed.
"You heard me. Marry me Rebecca. You said it yourself, you're not going anywhere. Marry me, make it official."
"Luke, we haven't even been dating for six months!"
"Some things don't need time when you're so sure of them."
"I can't marry you, at least not right now."
"Why not?"
"Luke, do you hear yourself? Marriage! We're only twenty-two!"
"You were going to marry Noah at this age. What's stopping you from marrying me?"

Both of their breaths hitched. Rebecca wanted to ignore this subject but she remembered her mother two days before. She couldn't do that; if anything, Rebecca was nothing like her parents. She was anything better.

"I can't do this," Rebecca said.
"Wives can come on tour," Luke mused.
"So this is just because you want to fuck me in a moving bus?"
"I'm not a kinky guy."

Luke started to laugh and soon Rebecca felt ashamed. She pulled from Luke's grip and hopped into the shower quickly before changing into some pants and a shirt. No dresses, no skirts, no easy way to her panties. None of that.

In the kitchen, Rebecca scrambled eggs and fried some bacon as Luke typed away on his laptop and talked on the phone to his manager who was clearly upset for Luke's disappearance. Rebecca and Luke were not talking and this situation reminded her of her old relationship with Noah. No matter who she was with, work always got in the way. It seemed like it was something she could not escape and she decided that whenever Luke was to leave, she would finally hit her clinic again.

"I hired you. I can fire you if I'm not satisfied with your service. Like I said, my girlfriend wasn't feeling well and she's my number one priority. Everything and everyone else comes right after. I'll send out an apology or something and I'll explain it." Luke was furious as he rolled his eyes, listening to Wilson over the phone. When breakfast was ready, Rebecca popped some bread into the toaster and smeared Vegemite and butter on top alongside the eggs and bacon for Luke. Then, she put Nutella on her bread, just the way she liked it.