» à deux // luke hemmings « [editing]

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the sound of silence - simon & garfunkel 

[Ivey]

The things you would do for someone you love are unbelievable—especially lying.

I held the bottle cap that dangled on my chest from a ball chain in between my thumb and index finger, twirling it as I sat in the cold bathtub of the hotel room. I listened to the water slowly filling it in, the gushing sound calming me down.

I usually had music to accompany me during baths, but everything that day sounded noisy—even my instrumental playlist made me want to pull my hair out. Sometimes, the best thing to listen to is silence.

And, coincidentally, silence is always broken when you need it the most.

“Ives!”

I rolled my eyes. “No one’s here!”

The bathroom door aggressively opened and presented Sam, whose face had a mixture of confusion and relief.

“What do you want?” I said with a groan.

Sam put down the toilet cover and sat on it with a sigh. “Luke talked to me.”

“And?” I didn’t want to talk about him, or anything that had to do with him.

“He said that you told him you cried because of your fight with Ashton.” She raised an eyebrow.

I raised my chin and cleared my throat. “I did.”

“Not!” Sam quickly corrected. “You liar!”

“Sam—“

“Why did you lie to him?” Her face shifted to a softer expression, almost pitiful.

I shrugged and played with the suds that covered me, trying to avoid her eyes. “I technically didn’t lie. I mean, I did cry because of my fight with Ashton.”

“Yeah, but you cried about Ash that morning.” Sam rolled her eyes. “You cried later that afternoon, backstage.”

“I didn’t cry.”

“Stop lying.” Sam narrowed her eyes at me. “I saw you.”

I sighed. “So what if I did?”

“Why did you cry?” Sam pressed on.

“Luke told you already; I had a fight with Ashton and it just got me in a bad mood.” I looked down and played with the suds that covered my body, trying to avoid Sam’s eyes.

“No, that can’t be the reason why.” She shook her head. “A fight with Ashton couldn’t affect you that much.”

I looked at her with a raised eyebrow. “You don’t know what we fought over.”

“But your fight with Ashton couldn’t have been that bad.” Sam pouted. “Ivey, you can tell me. It’s good to talk things out rather than pathetically sulking in a bathroom. You have friends for a reason, remember.”

I took a deep breath and closed my eyes, resting my head on the tiled wall of the bathroom. “Luke has been showing me some stuff that he collected from our relationship before.”

Sam smiled and leaned forward, her elbows on her knees. “Okay,”

“And even if that’s more than enough proof that he actually was my boyfriend, I didn’t want to believe it.” I shook my head. “Like, I couldn’t see me with him. I don’t know why, because he’s so sweet, but I just can’t picture myself with him for some reason.”