Permanent Vacation // Luke Hemmings [au]

5

"Hey babe" Luke says in a soft voice, walking into my room about 10 minutes after I turned off the lights. Dinner tonight was hamburgers and salad, which I liked, so did the boys. It was awkward at dinner, simply because Luke kept bringing up his Dad. I'm not sure why Liz gets so tense when he talks about his Dad. Maybe they're divorced? I don't think he would be coming back in a few nights.

"Hi" I say, lifting the covers for him to climb underneath. His warm hands pull me closer, until my head can rest next to his.

"You're so cold"

"I know" I giggle lightly, "It's definitely colder here than California"

"Well, now you'll be Luke-warm" He tells me, causing me to roll my eyes and laugh.

I feel his eyes on me, so I look away, pretending not to notice, but soon enough I can't help but awkwardly laugh, "What?"

"You're beautiful" He says, smiling lightly.

"No I'm not" I mumble.

"I know you hate it when I say it, but it's the truth" He protests, "Violet, you are the most beautiful girl on this planet and I don't care what you say"

I don't exactly know what to say, so I just roll my eyes and smile at him.

"Who's Jayda?" I ask, finally having the courage to do so.

"She's.. Well, it's not an easy story" he chuckles nervously.

"Luke." I begin to grow anxious.

"She's our house keeper. She has been since I was 13." He rambles.

"And why is that not an easy story?" I roll away from him slightly.

"I... Well, before Aleisha, Jayda and I kinda had a thing between us. It was a secret because she's 5 years older than me, but whatever... It's over now. Don't worry, babe"

"You fucked your housekeeper?" I grin, finding situation quite funny.

"Yeah and now I'm fucking my heart-keeper" he tries to create a pick-up line.

"That was fucking horrible" I laugh, moving closer to him.

"Just cuddle me, Jesus" he rolls his eyes and pulls me in tight. My face finds a perfect cranny in his chest and the warmth overwhelms me. I fall asleep in his arms.

-

It's early in the morning, and my eyes open to the sounds of rain hitting the window. Usually, I'm woken up by the sound of Ashton coming to get me, but this time, waking up is peaceful. It's nice to wake up like this.

Looking next to me, I see Luke still fast asleep with his arm resting over my waist and his face resting in the crook of my neck, causing each of his light breaths to tickle me slightly. When my cold hands run through his messy hair, he begins to stir.

"Good morning" I say lightly when he opens his mesmerizing blue eyes, which he responds to with a small smile, pulling me closer to him.

A few minutes pass of us holding each other, but I feel his eyes burning into me, so I look at him again, "What?"

"Nothing" He says slightly louder than a whisper.

"Just tell me"

"You just make me happy" He shrugs, "I'm just really happy when I'm with you"

Happy doesn't even come close to how I feel when I'm with him. He saved me. I still remember the day he saved me. It was cold, and I was doing a puzzle that must have been new because I'd never seen it before. It went quiet, and I turned around to see him. I didn't know he saved me that day until only a couple days ago. This boy came into my black and white life that I wanted to end and brought so many colors with him. He lit everything in his surroundings up, even my broken and empty body that was like a house, left to rot in the rain. Not only was he my hero, but the closest thing I'd ever had to soulmate, and there was no question about it.

"You're so sappy" I tease and poke him in the nose, giggling.

"Yeah, well..." He chuckles, pulling me tighter into him. We sit like this for a few minutes, before he speaks again, "my mom probably made us breakfast. I'll go downstairs and you grab Michael?"

"Yeah, okay" I sigh, wishing our cuddling never had to end. I watch as he climbs out of the covers, leaving me alone in the unfamiliar room.

My feet carry me into the ensuite and towards the sink. My appearance is as expected, knotted hair and greasy face. I turn the knob and splash my face with cold water, waking me up and removing the grease. There isn't much I can do about my hair without a brush, so I steal a hair type out of the cabinet and tie it all up in a bun.

-

"Michael?" I knock on his door. I hear him stirring in his room, "Mikey can I come in?"

"Yeah" he responds. I open the door to find him sitting on his bed with his forearms against his knees. I sit next to him and smile.

"Liz made us breakfast" I tell him, watching as his eyes light up, "and it's not going to be shitty like always" I laugh.

"Violet?" He interrupts my small laughter.

"Yeah?" I ask.

"I don't know how long I'll be able to take this" he bites his lip as his eyes scan the room in every direction but mine. "It's the voices, the ghosts in my head. They're back and they're not going away. I'm dying Violet"

"It's going to be okay, Michael. We're out of West Hill, everything will be better soon" I comfort him. "Now let's go to breakfast"

-

Arriving at the table, Liz has set up a large amount of food. There's waffles and sausages and fruits and juices. I don't remember the last time I had food this great.

"Wow, this is amazing, thank you so much" I tell her, pouring maple syrup on my waffle. Liz smiles at my thanks.

"It's no problem at all" she simple responds.

The breakfast is rather quiet and awkward, without a lot of conversation. Nearing the end of everyone's meals, Luke finally speaks.

"Well I think Violet should enroll in the highschool up the street from this place" His eyes lock with mine, while he takes his lip in between his teeth.

"I- I don't know if that's a good idea" I stutter, "I'd have to use a fake name, and I don't know if I even learned that same stuff as real high school kids at West Hill"

"Violet, Mike and I are too old to actually be in highschool, you should really take the opportunity to make something of yourself." He encourages.

"I'll think about it." I shrug, picking up my plate and taking it to the kitchen, excusing myself from the awkward conversation. Highschool is full of people, some that are unpredictable. I don't know if I could handle it.