Bittersweet Coffee [A 5SOS, Luke Hemmings Fanfiction]

Chapter 18: Her Words

“To burn with desire and keep quiet about it is the greatest punishment we can bring on ourselves.” - Federico García Lorca

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Luke stumbled and fell on the floor. His back ached from the fall and was about to get up when Mike grabbed him by the collar and pressed him against the wall, laying another punch on his face. He kept on punching him until Luke's face was already bruising. The latter wasn't fighting back though. He accepted those punches as he knew that it was his fault in the first place.

"You bastard!" Mike held his fist high ready to punch again when a hand grasped his wrist firmly. He was about to shout at the person for interrupting him when he saw that it was Annie.

"M-Mike, stop," she said. Tears were already straining down her face, her grip on his wrist never wavering. Her brother's face softened for a second seeing his sister cry but immediately regained its hardness when he glared back at Luke.

Sighing, he let go of Luke's collar, purposely pushing him, making him stumble backwards if it weren't for the wall supporting him. He ran his fingers through his fair making it messier. Small sweat pearls started to outline his face. He was really getting frustrated. The scene kept replaying on his mind. He can't help but feel overprotective of his sister. He was scared. Yes, he is. He can't help but remember the times when her sister cried all night and refused to talk to anyone. He knew he was being a jerk right now, but he has a reason, and his pride won't allow him to back down.

Annie immediately went to Luke's side, not noticing her brother's glares on her way. "Are you alright?" She asked him while cupping his face, examining it for bruises.

"I don't think you doing that is such a good idea right now," he whispered. She looked confused for a moment until she looked at her brother and saw that he was glaring at the two of them. Annie sighed and stepped away from Luke.

Minutes have passed and no one talked. Mike was glaring at Luke while the latter kept on fidgeting of his intense gaze at him. Annie though lost in her thoughts. She felt bad for Luke but at the same time she can't blame her brother. He was just overprotective of her considering what happened to her in the past.

As if on cue, Liam and Ashton walked out the VIP room. The two were shocked to see Luke's face, a fuming Mike and a dazed Annie. Liam sighed as he registered what happened.

"Hell. I think I'm going to age early because of him. Seriously, he needs to calm down and stop punching people. This is the third time already." Liam told himself, annoyed.

Liam glanced at Ashton, "Ash, help Annie and Luke at the van and text the others we're going home," he ordered, being the leader he was. The elder only nodded his head and wrapped his shoulders on Luke, helping him stand up. Annie followed the two silently. Once the three left, Liam placed his hands on Mike's shoulders and said, "We need to talk." 

Meanwhile, the boys and Annie piled in front of the van. Some were drunk while some were still sober but still a bit tipsy. Ashton ran his hand on his hair in frustration.

"Aish, that Liam, really. How are we supposed eleven people in one van?" He complained.

"Ash, can Annie and I take a cab home? I can take her home. Besides, it'll be less burden for you," he suggested.

"I don't think that's such a good idea. After what happened a while ago? Nu-uh." Ashton frowned and crossed his arms together.

"Ash, please. We still need to talk anyway," Luke whined, "Ash~"

The elder sighed in defeat, "Fine. But don't expect me to keep this from Mike. I'll text Liam  that you took her since he's talking to Mike right now."

Luke nodded, "Take care of the others, Ash. Bye." With that, Luke and Annie waved to the others as they left. Luke hailed a cab and told the driver to go to the park near Annie's house. She looked baffled at him and he chuckled. "I need to tell you something, remember?" He said. She sighed but stayed silent. The ride home was silent. None of the two said a word. 

The taxi eventually stopped at the park and Luke and the driver. He guided Annie to the swings and they both sat. A minute passed in silence till Annie spoke up. "So, what do you want to talk about?" She asked.

"Kaiden. Do you still think of him?" He asked suddenly.

She went stiff for a second but replied, "Sometimes, when Harry talks to me though, he reminds me of him."

"Do you still love him?" He asked again, a hint of sadness was evident in his eyes but Annie failed to notice them.

"I don't know. Maybe? I can't help but miss him sometimes. Small things make me remember him. It makes me angry sometimes when I remember what he did but at the same time I feel guilty," she continued, "After talking to you guys, I realized that it's better to confront him about the issue. I realized that I haven't known his reason all this time so I'm in the wrong too. I should've done that ages ago. I guess I don't have the guts to do that."

''I remember when I first met him. He was really handsome. I liked how he approached me first in our class. We immediately clicked. I miss how we talked about random things. How we used to go to Starbucks and drink coffee. How we hang out on his house studying and playing at the same time. I miss his voice. I miss his presence."

She sighed before continuing, "I miss him, but what can I do? A lot has happened already and I can't do anything about it. I can't change what happened in the past. He hurt me and I hurt him, too. He's got pride and I have as well. I guess that's why it came to this point." she turned to look at him, "Luke, I'm sorry for ranting. And thank you for being here for me. I really appreciate having a friend like you." Her words were hurting him as hell, but she didn't notice since she was busy talking about Kris.

"Oh," was all he said.

"Friend. Just a friend" he thought. To Luke, walking with a friend in the dark was a whole lot better than walking alone in the light, but with Annie, he would trade all of his friends, just for her. The love he felt for the latter was the only force capable of transforming him into a selfish man.

"Oh, didn't you say you wanted to tell me something?" She asked, breaking his thoughts.

"It's nothing. Forget about it," he dismissed. Another silence passed by. "Let's get you home." Luke stood up followed by Annie. The two of them walked towards her house. No one talked on their way home. Annie kept glancing on Luke but he just kept his focus on the way. Luke felt her gaze at him but he didn't spare a glance back. She felt that something was wrong but she can't point it out. After 5 minutes they finally arrived.

"Thanks for sending me home," she said, "and I'm sorry for what by brother did to you."

He nodded and turned back, making his own way home. Annie was about to enter the apartment building when he called her name. It was Luke. "Annie."

"Yeah? Why?"

"I'm sorry." He was smiling bitterly.

Annie was baffled. Why would he say sorry to her all of a sudden? "Sorry? For what?"

"I'm sorry for liking you," he bitterly smiled one more time before walking away. Annie was stunned. Her eyes went wide and tried to open her mouth to say something but no words came out. She watched his back until he couldn't be seen anymore. She was left off-guard, baffled at that. She didn’t know how to react after that seemingly confession he left her with.

“Wait, what?”

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