The Middle | Hemmings + Styles AU

27. voodoo doll

Luke was holding up a black Offspring shirt, and I nodded. "Definitely take that one."

He threw it into his small black suitcase and picked up another from the pile of clothes on his bed. "What about this one?"

I screwed up my nose, "Misfits? Pass."

He frowned but threw it on the floor along with the other clothes that didn't make the cut. A red flannel was picked up from the pile on the bed. "Definitely pack that one!" I said a little too quickly, snatching it from his hands and putting it into the suitcase.

"Favourite of yours?" he asked, biting into his lip.

"You look good in red," I told him casually. What an understatement.

Without answering, he placed his knee on the bed, leaning forward and kissing me. He kept moving until I was laying flat against the bed, his body against mine and hands on either side of my shoulders.

"I look better in nothing," he laughed softly, moving his lips to the skin just below my ear.

"Stop it," I whispered half-heartedly. My eyes fluttered closed catching the open doorway before they shut completely. "No, stop it," I said again, more firmly this time. "Your mum could come in."

He groaned, "Good call," and after sighing, he placed a small kiss on my forehead.

"But we'll resume later," I laughed, watching his tongue roll over his lip ring. Tease.

As Luke resumed packing, I stood up and looked around his room. It seemed weird that this was the first time I'd ever been to his house. Usually, he came to my house or we hung out at the store or at gigs.

Most of the wall next to his bed was covered with posters. All the usual suspects were there: Green Day, Blink-182, Good Charlotte, Fall Out Boy and -

"Why do you have a poster of The Veronicas?" I laughed, leaning closer to look at it properly.

"I like them," Luke defended, turning around to look at the poster on the wall behind him. "Their music is sick and they're kinda hot too."

"Kinda? They're both gorgeous. Even I'd date one of them," I laughed again. Luke laughed too, but only for a moment. Then he frowned, and got this serious look on his face.

"I thought you didn't want to date anyone."

"It was just a joke, Luke."

"Yeah."

He opened the wardrobe and took out a pair of black vans and a shiny pair of black boots. I'd never seen Luke wear shoes like that before. He usually stuck to Vans or Converse. The boots almost looked like something Harry would wear. "They're my grown up shoes," Luke explained when he noticed me staring at them.

"Fancy," I said, feeling a little awkward because there was still some tension in the air. And not the good kind of tension. "You know you're not leaving for another week, right?"

"I like to be organised." Now that the shoes had been added, the suitcase was almost full.

More silence. More tension. "Your mum seems really nice," I added, trying to fill the silence. Liz was really nice though. She'd greeted me with a hug and told me how lovely it was to finally meet me.

"Yeah, she is."

"I've always gotten along pretty well with people's parents. Aunty Peg reckons its because I'm an old soul."

"Hmm," Luke hummed, zipping up the suitcase, pulling it upright and then wheeling it over by the door.

"Okay, why are you being weird?"

"I'm not being weird."

"Yes you are. Ever since I made that comment about dating one of The Veronicas. It was a joke, obviously, but if you have like a weird thing against gay people then we might have to reevaluate this friendship because - "

"You're so freaking annoying," he groaned, throwing his head back and cutting me off from launching into a speech about marriage equality and LGBT rights (something I felt really passionate about.)

"What?"

"I like you, Stella," he said simply yet forcefully. "I mean, we hang out all the time. I spend more time at the store than I do at my own house. I bought you a damn fish before we'd even had our first date! I've been smitten since the first time I walked into your work and you gave me sass about where I could hang the band posters," he paused for a moment, taking a step towards me.

I'm too shocked to say anything because he was saying it all so casually, like he'd given the topic a lot of thought. "I like you, Stella," he repeated, "and I guess I thought that you liked me too."

"I do like you." Wasn't that part obvious?

"Then why don't we make an actual go of this?" His finger went underneath my chin, drawing my face upwards until I was looking into his eyes.

"This?" I squeaked, as Luke stared at me. I'd never felt more self-conscious.


"You and I," he elaborated. My head honestly felt like it was going to explode, and I had no idea why. "Let's try being an actual couple. We could be so good together."

His words produced a strange aching behind my chest. It felt like my heart was being strangled. I swallowed hard. Is this what Olivia felt like when Oliver mentioned the whole boyfriend thing? He was still staring at me and I knew I had to say something. I did like Luke, it's just -

"Can you say something?" he said with a nervous laugh.

"This..." I stuttered, trying to catch my breath. "This is just all so sudden. I feel like you've just thrown all of these thoughts and feelings at me out of no where. I need a moment."

"Out of nowhere?" Are you kidding, Stella? We're practically dating anyway. Why are you so freaked out by this?"

He sounded frustrated now and my head began shaking on it's own accord, strings of thoughts leaving my mouth without any real sense behind them. "You're going on the tour. You're not ready for commitment. I'm not ready for commitment. You're going on the tour. And there'll be girls. We're not ready." The voice didn't even sound like it belonged to me and I doubted Luke could understand anything I was saying.

"Hey," he said, taking my hands and placing them on his chest. I could feel his heart beating hard beneath my palms, just like I did backstage the night 5SOS played at The Ink. "I'm really sorry, I didn't mean to freak you out."

My head shook again. He was being so nice and understanding, while I was freaking out and acting like a crazy person. I felt guilty freaking out on him but bigger than that, bigger than every other feeling I had was the need to get myself out of this situation. Right now.

"I'm sorry, Luke," I said, not making eye contact with him. "I have to go."

His hands fell from my cheeks, and I walked as quickly as I could out of his room. He called out after me but I kept walking, through the hallway, through the kitchen where Liz was and out the front door.

My car was parked outside Luke's house and my hands shook as I started the ignition and tried to dial Olivia with my other hand. "Liv? Are you home?" I asked the moment she answered. "I'm coming over."

so stella is freaking out and luke is adorable and harry is just waiting to pop up again and that's where we're at