Safety Pin | Luke Hemmings' Little Sister (COMPLETED)

18 | Innocence

I jolt awake the next morning to the sound of more yelling. I look at the clock, seeing it's only 7:30am. There's no way Luke is up yet, he always sleeps late. I sigh, flinching a bit when I hear a loud crash and a door slam. I slowly get out of bed and creep to the top of the stairs, greeted with an eerie silence. What I really want to do is crawl under the covers next to Luke, like I do when there are thunder storms, but I don't want to wake him. Instead, I decide to pull my hair into a messy ponytail and go downstairs to see what's happening.

I tiptoe downstairs and enter the kitchen, seeing my father slouched on the sofa with a beer. My eyes widen. It may only be eight o'clock, but I know that it isn't good to be drinking beer this early in the morning. My parents usually drink it with or after dinner.

"Don't you think it's a little early for that?" I ask quietly, noticing my father roll his eyes. "How would you know," he mutters, his voice gruff and raspy. I open my mouth to speak, but quickly shut it, remembering how angry he was yesterday. I decide it's better to just eat some cereal and let him do his own thing.

After I've finished my cereal, dad grabs a six pack of beer and goes outside in the backyard. I raise my eyebrows, but decide to ignore it. I flop down on the couch and decide to play games on my phone for awhile, until mum comes back around 10, looking very flustered. I get to my feet and skip over to her, wrapping my arms around her waist.

"Hi mama!" I chirp. She sighs, smiling tiredly at me before turning her attention to dad. "Oh..." She growls angrily, patting my back. "Honey, go upstairs and get Luke up, I'll make you two some breakfast." I nod, worrying what she'll say to dad for getting drunk. Before going up to Luke's room, I hide on the stairs and listen to mum scolding dad. When he raises his voice, I hurry upstairs and jump onto Luke's bed, just like when we were on tour.

"Up and at 'em!" I chirp happily. Luke groans, tugging his pillow over his head. I giggle and shove the pillow further into his face, making him give a muffled groan. He lifts the pillow up and smacks me across the face, causing me to gasp. I freeze suddenly when I hear more yelling. Luke sits up slightly, listening to their worlds closely.

I suddenly feel guilty as I remember the way dad pushed me away yesterday. Does he hate me? Am I the reason he's drinking? He's raised three boys, maybe he's just tired and stressed. I sigh, biting my lip as I listen to them go back and forth, yelling about the money dad's been spending on beer and how he's setting a bad example for us kids.

I hear another door slam, flinching yet again. Luke looks at me carefully, but I avoid his gaze and stare intently at the wall. "You okay?" He whispers. I just nod, even though the thought of my being his reason for drinking lingers at the back of my mind. Pushing it away, I pull Luke to his feet. "Mum told me to wake you because she's making breakfast," I say. He gets out of bed and stretches before tugging on a shirt and we race downstairs.

Luke slides onto a chair at the counter, and I follow his lead. I frown and feel my stomach drop when I hear a sniffle come from mum. She has her back to us, cooking pancakes on the stove. I notice, however, that her posture is much worse than usual. She's hunched over and the way she grips the spatula so tensely causes her knuckles to turn as white as fresh snow. I look over at Luke, who's on his phone and seems completely unaware of how upset mum appears to be.

She turns around, wiping her eyes with the sleeve of her sweater. "Here you go," she says, faking a chirpy attitude. I raise my eyebrows, unimpressed. I'm the queen of chirpiness, and mum, well, isn't. Of course she's happy and loves us all, but she's also very strict and down-to-business. Now that I'm thinking about the way she acts, I realize how similarly Luke resembles her quiet and mature personality.

"Are you okay mama?" I ask, stabbing part of my pancake and putting it in my mouth. She smiles sadly, stroking my hair. "I'm fine, dear, now just eat your breakfast," she says as she goes upstairs.