I'm Not Leaving // lrh

31 || Lollapalooza: Now

chicago
12:00am
A
tw:smut

When Luke hugs, one of his hand slides up against the space between my shoulder blades, he grips onto the back of my neck and buries his face against the crook while his other hand gently rubs against my lower back. It's all one swift, soft movement.

I can't do anything but enjoy the tight squeeze I'm in, clinging onto him by throwing my arms around his neck. Maybe hoping that if I hold on tight enough I'll be able to memorize this feeling down to the last minute detail. I close my eyes. Every time. It's natural, instinctive, like having your eyes closed when you kiss.

I'm not the first one to speak, afraid my voice might ruin the magic of this reunion on the noisy, dark tarmac.

"Thanks for coming."

"Mhm." I hum, too tired for a quick witted comment at the moment.

"Seriously, you could've just said no and I would've totally understood-"

"Luke."

"Two days is a lot, for us so-"

"Shh, I'm here." I sigh, feeling my lids get heavier.

"Right, right, heh, sorry." He chuckles.

"Really though, Mar. Thank you." He says much quieter, in my ear.

"For what?"

"For showing."

"Where else would I be?" I giggle, we break our embrace and smile at each other.

"You know, as much as I missed you..."

"Uh-huh?"

"I like the feeling of missing you, too."

"Yeah, you lost me there Hemms."

"I just mean, I get to miss you. Pathetic, right?"

"Only a smidge." I giggle.

Luke - very romantically - tells the security personnel to be very careful putting my bags into the SUV. He knows me well. He takes my hand, helping me into the car that's always a bit too high off the ground. We ride in the backseat in a comfortable silence, holding hands all the way to the hotel.

I could only make it to Chicago tonight, for the extra time we wouldn't otherwise have, if I pulled an overnighter at work last night, went home for a quick cat nap and a shower, and went straight back to the office for a work day that lasted until an hour before the flight. I'm running on too many espresso shots, little to no sleep, and a rumbling stomach, dressed in my clothes from this afternoon. I nearly begin to drift off in the car, leaning against Luke's shoulder. But he nudges me awake before I can fully fall asleep, telling me to hold off until he can get me into an actual bed, and he kisses my forehead.

Last week, I called Luke after the longest day of work I'd had in a while. I didn't even know if he'd be awake. He wasn't. All I knew was that the only person on the entire planet I wanted to talk to, was him.

But he woke up, and answered my FaceTime call anyway.

I freaked him out by hiding on the other side of my laptop's view, the only thing on his phone screen was the headless mannequin I brought home from work I named Lola. So naturally, he freaked out and I laughed.

I didn't want to tell him that I was coming home from work later and later because it hasn't been getting any easier for me.

This whole... thing. The different time zones...thing. The fact that he's a famous musician...thing. The tour...thing. The distance...thing. If there's even a word for it.