the reunion [hemmings]

one

• one week earlier •

alice

I sigh, opening up the window in my tiny bedroom, so that the fire alarms won't go off as I smoke my cigarette. Across from me, also sitting on the window seat, Luke absentmindedly strums his guitar, probably reliving his so-called 'glory days' which consisted of him and his bandmates touring the world and meeting adoring fans. Maybe that was his life five years ago, but certainly not today.

Nowadays he shares an apartment with me, his [somewhat] best friend. He needs me, but he'll never admit that. He won't even admit just how badly it affected him when the band broke up, or how much he still misses all of them, despite not exactly being on the best terms with Calum.

Speaking of the boys, Calum took up football [soccer] again, and became even more rich and famous than he already was. He also got married to Trinity Everdale who Luke is in love with. [more on that later]

Michael began traveling, and seemed to be in a different country as frequently as he seemed to dye his hair. Ashton started a family, and is happily married to his beautiful wife Christina, and their daughter Julia.

Luke, on the other hand, was an absolute mess. Being the youngest in the band, he was only twenty when they officially broke up, and really had no idea what to do with his life. He spent seven and a half months in London, Sydney, and even Tokyo for a brief time, but finally settled right here, in the center of New York City.

I met Luke on the subway, of all places. The damn thing had broken down for a few hours [which didn't trouble me much because I was really in no rush to get anywhere] but poor Luke had no idea what the hell was going on. It was only his third day in the big apple and he really had no idea what he was doing here, anyways, despite being still mildly famous and a little bit of an egotistical asshole. Luckily enough, I quite liked him, and tolerated his adorably naïve questions about the shithole we call the melting pot of America.

Long story short, here we are in a somewhat trashed penthouse, smoking cigarettes out of a window with the view of a brick wall. Luke and I had never really talked much about our pasts, but I didn't live under a rock, I just didn't really care about how famous he used to be.

I did know, that the reunion Trinity was planning was supposedly her last effort to get the boys back together, says Christina. And Grace, Michael's fiancé was apparently forcing him to go. Christina also told me over coffee last week that she was making Ashton go and that I should at least try to reason with Luke who stubbornly said no the minute I read him the invitation.

Snapping back into reality, I puff a smoke ring and take a deep breath, turning towards Luke who was still lost in his own little world, where he often disappears to.

"Will you please go? For me, Luke?" I beg him, handing him the cigarette so he can take a drag.

He sighs, looking at my boring green eyes with his piercing baby blue irises, before reluctantly giving in. "Fine. I will go to the stupid reunion that Trinity has been planning since like forever, but on one condition: you have to go with me." He tells me firmly, but the fact that his eyes light up when he says Trinity's name, gives away just how much he's still in love with her.

"You have yourself a deal, Hemmings, but you have to pay for my dress," I tell him smugly, grabbing his hand [and my cigarette] before pulling him out the door.

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god i love this book already