Quiet Hours [Luke Hemmings]

Chapter 5

Chapter 5

THERE WERE LOTS of things that frustrated Luke Hemmings. Like, the coffee pot being empty when he woke up in the morning because his roommates decided to be dickheads and not save any for him. Or when Ashton turned the apartment thermostat to fifty degrees because while Luke liked the cold, he didn't want the inside of his home to be the same weather as it was outside. But Luke had quickly realized that another thing to add to that list was Ophelia Wright.

The girl herself hadn't really done anything, per say—Luke was just having a hard time controlling the weird sensations swirling in his stomach at the sight of the resident advisor. Those weird feelings that he recognized all too well only happened to Luke once before, and he had made a stupid promise to himself to never feel that way about another girl again. He should've known better, though, because he can't really control the way he feels. It was ridiculous to Luke how after only interacting with Ophelia a handful of times, he began to feel an excited jolt every time he ran into her.

Plus, he couldn't stop thinking of her lips—lips that were so inviting and alluring that it was almost unfair that he couldn't do anything but stare at them. But Luke was not someone who did anything to a girl without firm consent, so all he could do for now was just stare.

Much like he was doing right now as he sat in the student center with his roommates. They were all having lunch, sitting in one of the center circular tables in the middle of the big room buzzing with activity, and Luke had happened to glance past Calum's shoulder where he was sitting to his right, catching sight of the very girl clouding his thoughts. Ophelia sat with a group of girls he recognized as her roommates along with two guys sitting across from her he didn't know. But Luke could care less, for his gaze was stuck on her more than he could help it.

"Dude, you look like a stalker," Ashton piped up from across from him, causing the Australian to finally tear his gaze away from the unknowing girl who was happily eating from her plastic bowl of food from Panda Express. Ashton quirked his brows, "the way you're staring at her should be illegal."

A bewildered expression took over Luke's face as he sat up, earning snickers from Calum and Michael as he demanded, "the fuck?"

"We get that she's pretty and all, but at least don't look at her like you wanna rip her clothes off in public," Michael advised with a smirk, which only caused the other two to begin laughing while Luke glared at all three of his friends.

"Fuck off," he gruffly retorted, scowling as he took a bite out of his cheese quesadilla.

Calum shook his head after taking a sip from his water bottle. "If you like her, why don't you just ask her out?"

Luke's gaze snapped over to his dark haired friend, trying his best not to peer over Calum's shoulder to where he could clearly see Ophelia, before scoffing. "I don't like her," he denied with a roll of his eyes. He was attracted to Ophelia, he knew, but acknowledging, admitting, or accepting that he liked her wasn't something he was willing to do. Sitting up, he leaned back in his seat as he continued, "besides, you guys know I'm not one for commitment."

Michael, having heard this a million times before, rolling his greenish-grey eyes. "Oh, why, because you got your heart broken once and you've sworn off relationships forever?" he mocked with a raised brow before letting out an unimpressed scoff. "Get over it, Luke—it happened a year ago. Move on."

The Australian's jaw locked at his friend's words, irritation flushing through his bloodstream because Michael knew the way Luke felt, yet he seemed unapologetic for his words. When Luke looked at his other two friends, he was bothered to see that they weren't shooting Michael warning looks like he had hoped. Instead, Ashton offered a shrug, looking more sympathetic than Michael as he said, "he's kind of got a point, Luke. Swearing off relationships is kind of. . . Extreme, don't you think?"