» à deux // luke hemmings « [editing]

6

i'm sorry - the maine

[Luke]

The last thing I wanted to hear at four in the morning after playing a sold out show was someone waking me up.

I groaned, kicking whoever was trying to shake my leg.

“Ouch!”

I sat up from the gasp, bumping my head at the ceiling above the bunk. I rubbed my head in pain, getting out of the bed to see Alice sitting on the floor, frowning.

“Did I push you off? I’m sorry.” I extended my arm for her to reach, pulling her up in a standing position in front of me. “So, uh, what did you want?”

“We need to talk.” She sighed. I followed her out the hallway of bunks and to the door at the back, closing it behind me after entering.

We sat at opposite sides of the table, silence taking over us. I had a few good guesses of what Alice wanted to talk to me about, and it scared me. We stared at each other for a while, the deafening silence never ending. Alice was a lucky girl because of Michael. He has had feelings for this girl for who knows how long, and it’s not just because she was pretty. Because of Michael, I got to see a different side of Alice. Michael pointed out the littlest flaws in Alice, and those tiny details made her even more attractive.

I clapped once and rubbed my hands. “So, what do you want to talk about?”

She opened her mouth and paused abruptly, like she was beginning to have second thoughts about what she was supposed to say. She closed it and her lips formed into one straight line for a while before opening it once again. “When are you telling Ivey?”

I felt like I was underwater at the deepest part of the pool, feeling my lungs start to give up because of the lack of oxygen. I swallowed hard, trying to compose myself. “Do I have to tell her?”

“Luke,” she said quietly, giving me a look of sympathy. “I know it’s hard, but if we keep this from her longer, she’d be even more mad at us.”

I sighed. “Do you think she’s ready?” It was honestly a stupid question, but it was the best one I could think of.

Alice looked at me for a moment before responding. “Honestly, no.”

“Then we shouldn’t—“

“But we should.” Alice shook her head. “Don’t you want her to know, Luke?”

“I do.” I sighed. “But I don’t think she can handle it right now.”

“Why not?”

“It’s bad enough already that she’s in a car with Ashton.” I stated, playing with the ends of the sleeves of my sweater. “How much more if we tell her this?”

“I just feel like a bad friend.” Alice said quietly. “She’s been my best friend since forever, and I’m hiding so much from her. I don’t know if I can still do this, Luke.”

“You can.” I reassured her, smiling from the other side of the table. “We’re all here to help you. We’re doing this for Ivey, remember?”

She nodded slowly. “We’re just doing what’s best for her and for everyone else.” She recited, like she was trying to convince herself.

“That’s right.” I smiled a small smile. “I understand that you want to tell her everything right now, but this is definitely not the right place, Alice.”

“Okay,” she breathed out.

“Plus, she caught Ashton having sex with Mandy just how many days ago?” I added. “If we tell her these things, she’s going to start smoking two packs a day.”