Gotta Get Out: Luke Hemmings

Better Man

28th of November 2018

"I can't believe this is happening," I scoffed as I sat down at dinner, Luke to my left and James on my right, Enzo across from me with Madeline and Milla, whilst my parents were sitting at each end of the table. My parents thought it would be a good idea to have a family dinner, to try and resolve the tension between James and myself, as well as getting to know Luke better.

"Do not be rude Arabella," my mother said picking up her glass of champagne whilst the waiters served us our entree of cold beef salad. My mother believes that having a social gathering solves all problems, but she could not be more wrong. The tension and hatred in the air is almost suffocating, and I am certain that either Luke or James will snap at each other sooner or later.

"Yeah Bella, don't be rude," James said with a smirk as I took a bite of my salad, ignoring James as Luke gave me a supportive squeeze on my thigh before everyone began to eat in silence. The one thing about forced dinners is the fact that they are extremely awkward, and I do not think that is going to change.

"So, Luke," my father began after everyone had finished their entree, "When is your next tour?"

"Right now we are just recording some new music and taking a break for a while, we have been touring for a while," Luke said in a polite tone, with a small smile on his face. My father is much more kind to Luke than my mother is, as Alice wants me to choose James, whilst Louis does not mind who I marry, as long as I am happy in the end.

"Wonderful," my mother said sarcastically as the waiter went around and filled up all our wine glasses again. Dinner was oregano chicken, which was delicious, and dessert was chocolate pudding, which was incredibly standard in the Bourbon household. We continued to sit around and drink in almost complete silence when my mother dropped a bombshell of a question on us.

"So, Luke, when are you planning on proposing to Arabella?" my mother asked taking a sip of her tea. Enzo almost choked on his food, whilst I almost spat mine out.

"Excuse me?" Luke and I said in unison, both of us incredibly confused as to why she was asking him this.

"Well, Arabella is almost twenty, and she probably needs to settle down soon," Alice said and I was still confused as to where she was going with this.

"We have been together for four months Mrs Bourbon, I do not think either of us are thinking of getting married anytime soon," Luke said in a polite but firm tone, earning a snigger from James and a glare towards James from me.

"If I were you, I would not waste any time with her," James said with a glare, and my mother nodded in agreement.

"Well you are not me, and you are not dating her," Luke said, Enzo and Madeline looking quite shocked at the events that were unfolding.

"No shit Hemmings, I am just saying."

"Well nobody asked you, James."

"Oh my god, you are so fucking annoying."

"James please stop acting like a child, and Luke just ignore him, darling," I said, trying to defuse the tension.

"Thank you, Belle," Luke said simply before James snapped.

"You think you are so good, but you will never be enough for her and her family, she needs a Prince and you are far from it, you do not deserve her at all, and you know that she knows that and her family sure as hell knows that!" James yelled, before leaning over me and punching Luke right in the right cheek.

"James what the hell!" I yelled standing up, at the same time as Luke and James, who both looked like they wanted to tear each other to pieces.

"It's okay Bella, he will get one right back," Luke scoffed, a fresh bruise now appearing on his cheek, whilst his eyes were riled with anger.

"Luke no," I said before turning back around to look at James, who instead of punching Luke, punched me in the right cheek.

"Oh my god," Enzo, Milla and Madeline all mumbled in unison, as I tried to hold back my tears, as well as trying to hold back Luke.

"Bella I am so so sorry," James said as I clutched my cheek, trying to stop the blood which was running onto my pink and white dress.

"Let's go, Luke," I said grabbing him with my free hand and heading straight up to my bathroom, where I ran two towels underneath some water, asking the maid who was cleaning my room to please get us some ice for her faces.

"I cannot believe him, I hate him," Luke repeated pacing back and forth around my bathroom as I sat on the bathroom cabinet, my back pressed up against my mirror as I held the cold towel, now filled with ice against my cheek.

"Luke calm down it is okay," I said trying to smile, but the pain of the punch that James gave me limited my attempts.

"No it isn't, he punched you!"

"He punched you too Luke."

"I don't care about that," Luke said sitting on the other side of my sink, removing the ice from his cheek to reveal a blue and purple bruise on his face.

"I do."

"I am so sorry that this happened to you darling," Luke said and I just shrugged my shoulders, not knowing what to say.

"It shouldn't have happened to either of us Luke," I sighed as I took the ice off my cheek, revealing a slightly larger bruise than Luke's, which made both of us wince at the sight of that. I have soft skin, and that obviously causes me to bruise quite easily, indicated by the large one on my cheek.

"Come on, let's get you to bed," Luke said after a moment of silence, offering me his hand as we both got off my bathroom counter.

"You know," Luke began, "I probably would have swung back a while ago."

"Why didn't you?" I asked sitting down on my bed, as Luke sat on my couch, looking quite content with himself.

"You make me a Better Man."

"You did not just quote your own song," I laughed, trying not to wince at the pain.

"Shut up, it is true though," Luke said

"What are you going to do?" asked after a while, finally taking off my shoes.

"What do you mean darling?" Luke asked handing me my pyjamas as I took off my dress, blushing at Luke's longing gaze.

"Well, where are you going to sleep?" I asked shyly. Luke has hardly stayed over before, due to the fact we were both too scared to ask my mother, but right now I think both of us did not care about the situation that would become of this.

"With you?" Luke said with a smirk, a glint in his eyes.

"Well obviously," I said going to my draws, trying to see if I had any old pyjamas for him. I ended up finding an old large Leysian College t-shirt, which was the boarding school I attended in Switzerland.

"Cute t-shirt," Luke said with a smile as we got into bed together, Luke wrapping his arms around me as he pulled the covers over us.

"I am so sorry about your face," I sighed gently before my eyes closed and I drew myself closer to Luke.

"It is okay, anything for you," Luke laughed, before we both found ourselves asleep, forgetting the events of the night.

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sorry its been a while !!! and sorry this chapter is not great but I wanted to get a chapter out :))) uni is smashing me lol

Better Man: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oase9QzyxyY

Arabella's outfit is the photo attached :)))

pls vote and comment !! almost at 500 reads <3

thanks for reading xxx