in the crowd • luke hemmings

10. music to drive to

he was watching her - really watching her. she noticed his eyes following her across the stage and it made the pit of her stomach feel warm and kind of tight. she knew her friends would be here any minute and she hoped to god luke had decided to come with them.

"you're amazing!" a shrill scream echoed through the small room, and before lola could even notice her in the mirror, bella's arms were wrapped tightly around her, rocking her back and forth quickly.

"who did 32 spins? lola did 32 spins!" ashton cheered, leaping into the dressing room, his landing echoing in the small space.

bella stayed attached to her as the other boys filed in, excitedly congratulating her on how well the showcase was going.

luke was the last time enter the room, his softer-than-usual expression not going unnoticed by lola.

he caught her eye in the mirror and smiled, making her heart clench up inside her chest.

"you have another number right?" calum asked, fixing his hair in the mirror and winking at himself.

"yeah, i have the duet with matthew." lola opened the programme that was laying on her dressing table and pointed at their closing number.

'the middle of the world'
a contemporary ballet duet
danced by matthew ariti & lola hendricks
choreographed by lola hendricks

"you choreographed it?" luke's low voice stood out against the high pitched excitement of the rest of the group, and lola's spine straightened as she felt him lean over her shoulder to look at the programme.

"y-yeah. it's my first time choreographing, and our first time dancing it." she all but whispered, tilting the programme so he could read it better.

"oh." he nodded slightly, rereading her name and noticing how she smelled faintly like lavender.

"you were really good, by the way." her lips inadvertently twitched into a smile as she looked down at her lap - she'd never heard his voice sound so soft.

"thank you. and - thank you for coming." she smiled up at him, and when he smiled back she swore her heart grew about three sizes.

***

luke had sat through at least another hour of dances - they were all amazing but he was getting anxious for lola to come out again.

the boys had invited everyone back to their apartment after for celebratory drinks, and her number was the closing number; he just wanted to see her dance one more time, before being able to spend the rest of the night drinking with her.

he clapped as the two guys onstage bowed, mentally crossing his fingers and hoping to see lola onstage again.

luke's prayers were answered when he saw the small girl virtually glide onstage for the last time.

lola was standing beside a boy who was about a head taller than her; dressed in the same shades of white and blue that she was, that looked blinding against his darker skin.

luke stifled a childish grin after deciding that his arms were definitely bigger than the boy's onstage.

their music started; low violins sounding through the speakers and bringing the dancers to life.

this dance somehow seemed different from her previous two. maybe it was because it was entirely her own, luke wasn't quite sure.

both dancer's movements were fluid beyond belief, but of course luke was only focused on lola.