FIFTH HALF ― luke hemmings ✓

#10

I refreshed the app and saw that it got poured by a thousand of likes in just a moment, and one of those were... Luke. I could only wonder where he was because I saw him a while ago, but he didn't follow me back to the studio where the boys are. "The Calcey ship is sailing!" Mikey whispered excitedly and I could only roll my eyes.

"How many times have I got to tell you that ship would never even leave the dock." The thing about their fans are that they're too dedicated in creating love teams. They could ship the boys to one another, they could ship me with anyone else in the band, but the one that stands out the most was from Calum and I. I didn't know how and why—but I'm pretty sure back then they consider Luke and I as secret twins for being both blondes, and for bonding so much it didn't seem romance-y to them anymore.

Or maybe they want the vocalist shipped to Ashton. I don't know and I have no plans of knowing anymore.

After a long hour of zero progress since the boys weren't entirely getting inspired in this four walled room, they continued to bug me off seeing as I was the only one remaining calm on the couch and that these children needed something to do before they all cause chaos. "Man, I've been trying to get Luke for an hour now. Do you think they're okay?" Ashton the ever so drama queen wailed as he had his phone right by his ear and has been calling the man in question for several times as it always went on voicemail.

"I'm sure they're fine." I breathed out, my ears exhausted from Calum's non stop banging on the drums. Him and Mikey were messing around and I admit it's not always fun when they've been at it for three hours.

"Can you lower it down, asshats?!" Ash blurted out as the two jammed on a song by Pierce the Veil. Mikey only laughs as he documents the whole thing on his social media. "God, sometimes I wonder why I stayed."

"Amen to that, brother." I raised my hands and closed my eyes on the couch in an attempt to tune everything out when Mikey started playing out a song very familiar to me. The one the four wrote three years ago when I was too sick to even function-and started singing it as Calum went on to the beat of the song. Ashton got tired of trying to call Luke and grabbed Cal's guitar, and there in front of me, the sight of boys as if we're back to that era. To bandana Ashton, to Mikey's red fringe, Calum's day where he never wore anything but a singlet, and... one missing boy that had a black piercing right by his lower lip.

"I don't wanna say goodbye to another night. And watch you walk away..."

This completes and breaks me at the same time. Is that even possible?

"I don't wanna waste it, don't wanna waste it. I don't wanna waste it. Don't wanna waste the night"

They only finished the chorus before stopping altogether and feeling the same thing I did. Something that doesn't feel complete. Something missing in the puzzle piece. "I still have a gym session, guys. I-I think I gotta go." Ashton laid the guitar back to its place and gave me a kiss on the forehead as he waves to the rest of the boys. The two started clearing out with a much gloomy place before going over to where I was.

"I think I'll be heading to Crys, wanna catch a ride, Lace?" Mikey asks with voice lower than I expected. It wasn't as cheerful as it is just a while ago and it made me sad.

"I'll head home. Catch some needed sleep." Calum says as he laid down his head on my shoulders. I breathed out a sigh and tapped the two boys' shoulder.

"You go ahead. I'll have some things to do." The two didn't seem to convinced but I gave them a tight smile. "I'll text you guys when I get home." The two stood up, giving me a group hug before they went to their own ways. Leaving me in the same place we used to fill with laughter over plenty boxes of pizza, jokes that would make me snort out the water or cough up from it, and the place we filled with something good. Something memorable that we hold on to.

But now, things seemed to have gone awry. The one place where we could be bond together as a band, with no one else but ourselves and music? It looked like it had gone away with the wind.

The door burst open and the view of Luke with the same clothes I've seen him this morning came in, a worried look on his face as he scans the studio and sees me, the only person strumming mindlessly on the guitar while I try to remember the good days. "Lace, I'm—"

"I never thought I'd see the day where I'm too tired of hearing you apologize." I say without warranting him another look. He closes the door behind him and sat at the other end of the couch, hearing him catch his breath as he might have run towards here. "So, where's damsel in distress?" I asked, sarcasm lacing on my voice.

"Sydney."

"Thought she'd be back?"

"She would've." He mumbled.

"You two had a fight? And you forget your responsibilities every time you do?" I stood up, ready to leave this place before it turns into a black hole. Something sucking you back into a bad and dark place that you'll never have the chance to escape anymore. Luke is another black hole. The one I voluntarily fell to, not knowing the horrors that hid beyond the vast ocean of his blue eyes and angelic voice. "Luke, it's not me you should be worried about letting down. It's Ashton, Mikey, and Calum. They've been calling you. Trying to give you unlimited chances. And you... you're wasting all of it." I turned and raised my hand in a pointing gesture only to stop when I saw him, his hands covering his already red face... and tears. "Luke..."

"I know I fucked up." It felt like a stump on my chest. The way his voice cracked while tears pour down on his cheeks. I have only seen him cry when he's too overwhelmed with happiness, and had seen it only briefly when he's too angry—but not this certain type of cry. The one where he's falling apart. Being torn into pieces. "The only reason why I wanted her to go here was to break up with her."

I slowly took a seat right back at the other end and frowned, "Why?"

He wipes his tears at the back of his hand and bit his lip to calm himself. "I... I thought I'd be happy with her. You know that? The one we always tell each other about back then? If we found the one for us, it'll give us love that flutters in our stomach—"

"—a love that makes our heart sing, and our eyes see rainbows and sunshine." I snorted. "The sad reality is, it's not always rainbow's and butterflies, Lucas. There will be storm, there will be times where you wanted to pull your hair out of your head and leave you a distinct bald spot." He chuckled, only for a bit before it went back to his weary face. "Love will make you go a tad bit crazy, make you cry your heart out or pains you to wake up in the morning. Love will pull you towards oblivion and make you wish you didn't try—but... it'll all be worth it for the right person. And the right person won't stroll in front of you casually like a walk in the park. You get to choose who the right one is—the right one that'll make everything worth up to the very brim." I brushed my hair out of my face and stopped myself on looking at him. The one who I chose before. The one that gave me all those feelings and made me wanna say he's gonna be worth all the wait, the pain, the casual glances or the electricity on every fiber of my body. But... no.

"And I can't see that in her." He breathed out.

"Well, then I'm sure you'll move past that. You're Luke Hemmings. You're beyond every woman's dream. You just gotta pick the right one out of the bunch." I hoist myself up and deciding to go home and sleep it all away.

"It's you, you know..." I stopped, my feet frozen on the pavement as soon as he muttered those words. "The first time I saw you that day at Year 8, I knew I just gotta have the balls to ask you out. Told myself to earn it, to try hard and get you to give me a chance. But you were so close with Calum. Every time he calls you, you'll be there. Every time he needs you, it won't take an hour before you appear at his doorstep. I—I got jealous. Thought you like him and saw me as a brother. It's stupid." My hands curled and I could almost feel my nails digging into my palms from too much... anger. "I... didn't know, Lacey."

This time, I held no horses back. "I fucking loved you! I poured all myself to you. Appeared at your doorstep twice as fast when you needed me, answers your drunk calls at two in the morning, and... and you thought all these time, I like Calum?! Even Calum fucking knows how I'm head over heels for you. The whole fucking band knows it! You are so oblivious, Lucas. I—I can't."

I can't do this anymore.