Safety Net {l.r.h}

14) "I can't believe I'm trusting you"

LUKE HEMMINGS

After establishing our sleeping arrangements, I realized it was a mistake to sleep in the same bed as Ellie. Fluffy pajama pants shouldn't even be attractive, but I couldn't keep my eyes off the skin showing when she laid facing away from me. Her sweatshirt rode up her back due to the position she was in, and I so badly wanted to put my hand there. She told me goodnight, but I know she wasn't sleeping. There's no way she could get any after sleeping for 19 hours and being stressed out from the new information about being drugged at the party I hosted.

"Luke?" I heard from next to me, and I was thankful that she brought me out of my thoughts.

"Hm?"

"I can't sleep."

"I figured." I felt guilty because the first thing that crossed my mind to help her sleep was to dive my face between her thighs. It's scientifically proven that it's a solution to help with sleep... right?

"Do you have any melatonin, or something like that?" The second thing that crossed my mind was drugs, but only the natural herb known as marijuana.

"Something like it. But you're not going to like the idea."

"Anything to help," she breathes out, turning over on her back to stare at the ceiling. That's when I really wanted to help her sleep. I shook the dirty thought out of my head and slid to the edge of the bed.

"I'll be right back." Glancing at the time on my alarm clock, it read 1:02 a.m. Ellie sat quietly on the bed, fumbling with her fingers as I exited the room. Walking down the hallway, I opened a door that held a wooden carving of the letter 'C' from a small nail and instantly regretted my decision. Catching sight of Calum with a girl was not something I wanted in my brain. Especially now. Mid-stroke, Cal turned his head to face me and smiled.

"Oh, hey mate. What's up?" I grimaced before looking up at the ceiling, unable to look at him in the eye. I mean, I probably should've knocked. But who would expect people to be fucking at 1 a.m. on a Monday? But this is also Calum I'm talking about.

"Do you still have the stuff that Ashton gave you like a week ago?"

"Yeah, top drawer of my dresser." Walking over to the opposite side of the room, I opened the drawer and sifted through various pairs of socks until I found a small box. Turning back to him, I noticed the girl under him looked familiar. That's when I realized-

"Hey, Luke," she says cheekily, staring at me for just a bit too long.

"Zoey?" From the information that Ellie told me, her presence angered me.

"Care to join?" Zoey asks, glancing at Calum for a second. He laughed, thinking it was a joke, but I knew all too well that it wasn't.

"Hard pass." I say harshly and my eyes flicker to Calum. "Well, I'm gonna go back to Ellie now."

"Ellie's here?" They ask simultaneously. Smirking at the defeated look on Zoey's face, I decide to only answer Calum.

"Yeah, she's staying the night," looking back to Zoey, I raise my eyebrows, "with me."

"Alright, well don't make too much noise." Calum joked.

Zoey scoffed while rolling her eyes. "Oh please, she's a prude."

My eyes narrowed at the girl beneath my friend, and it was then that I established my strong disliking for her. "Not for me." And with a shrug, I walked out of Cal's room and into mine. Quickly closing the door, I locked it and placed my back against the wood feeling like I may have just said the wrong thing.