~𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕝𝕠𝕧𝕖 𝕓𝕖𝕙𝕚𝕟𝕕 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕟𝕚𝕘𝕙𝕥𝕞𝕒𝕣𝕖~

respect is earned, not expected

21st May 2020

I hadn't seen Luke since the funeral and to be honest it was easier to avoid him with Demi getting super protective over him. But he invited me out for lunch to apologize for being a dick at the studio. I couldn't exactly say no if I wanted to hear him explain himself but I had lost a lot of respect for him.

"I don't think you should go" demi said, watching me get myself dressed and smiling at the marks she had left on my neck and chest. "I wanna know what he had to say for himself and don't even try to hide that you wanna know as well" she smiled at the fact I knew I was right and rolled her eyes "fine, but if anything happens, imma kill him" she said kissing my forehead and leaving the room.

I received a message from him about ten minutes after getting ready saying to meet him at a restaurant. Demi was still reluctant about the whole situation but I couldn't turn back now. When I got there, Luke was waiting at a table for me and when I walked over his eyes darted down directly to the purple marks that Demi had left on my skin. "I wanna start off by apologising for my recent actioms. I was drunk and I lose all self control when I'm in that state." He said, pulling a chair out for me so I could sit down. "It's fine" I replied flashing a small smile at him "is it? I'm guessing Demi wasn't happy with me." He said dragging his finger over the hickey on my neck, I pulled away from him and he chuckled to himself. "Look, Syd, I know it's not something you probably wanna hear, but. I like you and I know you like me but you're not admitting it to yourself because of Demi, you don't wanna hurt her and I completely understand that."

"I think you're reading the situation wrong Luke. Yeah, I think you're attractive and I said that to Demi, I didn't deny it. But. You have to understand that I'm not fourteen anymore and I'm not going melt into your embrace like a lot of people would. And being drunk isn't an excuse"

"I know but think about it Sydney, you clearly like me, and in the long run it's beneficial. You can keep a secret, can't you?" He said, caressing my cheek. I pulled away from him again "Luke-" "no, just think, how the hell are you getting pregnant later in life. Who's the man in your relationship? You need one" I used to think Luke was  a decent guy, but this proved me wrong. We sat in silence for a moment "Demi was right. I shouldn't have come, you don't care about apologising. You wanted me to cheat. And FYI, we don't need a man of the relationship. We're not trapped in the 20th century anymore, there's this thing called IVF and one hundred percent I will be telling Demi, so if I don't kill you, she will. I thought I could trust you. I was wrong" I stood up and pushed the food away from me. "Wait Sydney!" I could faintly hear him shouting as I left, heading directly for my car and ignoring his protests for me to return to him.

I got home, and immediately wrapped my arms around Demi, breaking down under her touch. "I'm sorry, I should've listened to you!" I sobbed, listening to her shushes. "Hey, you couldn't have known" she replied, swaying back and forth with me. Her movements were slow but she was walking me over to the sofa. She sat down and waited for me to cuddle with her, I rested my head on her thighs and she stroked through my hair "so, you wanna explain what happened?" She whispered, keeping her rhythm with pulling through my hair. I explained everything, the things that had just occurred and the things he had referenced from when we were younger and the fact that he had tried to mansplain my relationship. "Oh, sweet girl, you know I trust you. I know you Sydney, You aren't the girl he knew and he's stupid for not realising it." She assured, stroking my hair and wiping my tears from my cheeks. Her gentle touch was slow and soft, she wanted to make me as comfortable as possible, and it was working. I felt bad that I didn't listen to her, I got myself into this mess even though she advised me against it and now I was the one that ended up getting hurt. But she was extremely gentle, and she wanted to make me feel safer; it was working, without realising I was falling asleep and eventually I nodded off.

Demi pov:

I looked down at Sydney; she was sleeping, her cheeks were still wet with tears and yet they still looked perfect. They were cuddling into me with her head resting on my legs. I couldn't move, even if I wanted to. They had worked themself up pretty badly and I knew that listening to her was the only proper thing to calm her down, and her being in the state she was she passed out from the exhaustion. After a while of comforting her I slowly lifted her head and placed a cushion underneath her, she didn't get disturbed too much and I draped a blanket over her and kissed her forehead before going to the kitchen. I made myself a drink and some food before going into the bedroom and sitting on the bed with the dogs and Ryuk. I ate and drank and thought about it for a second. It being a ring. I had it for a while, I was leaving it for the right time, I wanted it to be romantic for her and right now wasn't the right time. There was no denying I was in love with her, but she had to get back to normal, in ring, every week, fighting and getting her spark back. The ring I held was very much Sydney, I loved it for her, but I needed it to be a special occasion a special time and right now wasn't that time...