Chapter 51:
"Hand me the bottle, Bigfoot."
Eloise-Anne
Through the drive home, I've felt nothing but anxious and somehow betrayed. As strong as I wanted the betrayed feeling to be, the fear rose up in my chest as soon as we stepped outside the building. I had no clue if the guy had left or if he were somewhere to wait for me. Just literally anything so this night could end up the way he likes it to be.
"Hey, don't worry so much about Luke," Michael tells me, his hand resting on my thigh in a comforting way. "It's nothing to worry about probably." There's a crack in his voice, something he always has when lying.
"You're a bad liar, do you know that?" I tell him. "I'm just afraid that one guy finds out where I live or worse.." I sigh at the end of the sentence.
"I can install an extra lock and security systems?"
"It's not worth your money if we're gone here in two years. You better save that shit, maybe after that you and Tammy find a place." I smile weakly. His eyes light up at the words. Maybe by that time Luke and I aren't even together anymore. Maybe he's found a girl who gives him more than I will ever be possible off. Maybe has more knowledge in bed and out. Knows how to treat him properly. Maybe by the time he's forgotten about me. "Do you think he's gonna break up with me?" I ask him.
"What?! No! Of course not." Michael says. "He loves you, El." He parks the car, but when he's done that he keeps on sitting behind the wheel. "What makes you think he's gonna break up with you?"
"He's done with uni in a few weeks, he has to move out. He's gonna start a fully mature life outside campus. He is leaving everything behind and I'm afraid it includes me." I tell him. "Lately all he ever does is go to his internship or hang with you guys. And I get it that he does the things he loves, but he doesn't do me." Michael snorts out a laugh at my failed attempt to joke. "What I'm saying is, I always say that he should be with you guys whenever he's texting me and hanging out with you, but whenever I want to hang out with him, he doesn't have the time."
"El, he's crazy about you. Whenever we're hanging out you're all he ever talks about. I've heard more things about you that I definitely did not wanna know." I frown at the words. "Oh, you want an example? He told us when you two were still secretive how you got into subspace because he fucked the living shit out of you." He chuckles. "He's just very busy right now."
"Yeah, I figured," I mumble. "I'm just a burden to him, Mike." My voice is barely above a whisper. "Luke deserves someone who's better for him."
"Jesus, El. You know that's not true." There it is again, I said it out loud. "I think the two of you should talk. You clearly need reassurance I can't give to you." We both step out of the car and walk into our house. "How about you stay with me tonight?" Michael says. I nod at him and change myself into comfortable clothes. "Oh snacks," Michael says, walking towards the kitchen. "Do you want candy as well?"
"Definitely," I answer him from upstairs. "Bring the bottle of vodka with you as well."
"I was thinking more classy, Bailey's?" He calls from downstairs. I giggle and make my way downstairs to see him looking in the fridge. "You in for Bailey's?" I nod and grab some iced tea as well.
"If there are crumbs in my bed, we're sleeping in your bed," Michael says sternly. I grab the bags of chips and candy while he carries the drinks upstairs. I settle everything on his bed, with a blanket underneath it, while he undresses. "I know I can't say shit, but he just has a surprise planned for you. I don't want you to worry about it."
"A surprise?" Michael makes a move with his hands, a zipper for his lips. He has already said enough, more than enough. A smile creeps up on my lips, but I can't help but let it show anyways. "Hand me the bottle, Bigfoot."
"Here you go, little human." I chuckle and grab it from him, drinking from the bottle itself. Being too lazy to grab ice and a decent glass, but Michael also didn't feel the need to. The only thing we know is that this bottle is gonna be empty at the end of the night.
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My head is pounding and the ray of sunshine appearing through the curtains isn't helping. I roll over and feel a body next to mine. I open my eyes to find Michael, looking at his phone. He looks down at me and chuckles.
"You look like shit," he says. "I can't remember shit of last night, but I guess we had a blast." I nod, but the idea of that was wrong since the pounding headache got worse. "I got aspirins, take 'em." I sit up and take the painkillers he's handing me. I really can't remember last night in the slightest.
"A sleepover without me, huh?" Tammy says, opening the door.
"I gave her the key, hope you don't mind," Michael whispers. "But we're kinda hungover." She chuckles and lays down on the other side of Michael.
"A fucking shame I wasn't invited." She says, cuddling up against her boyfriend. "I have to tell you guys something, it's the reason why I've been home a lot." She says. "It turns out that my mom has been diagnosed with stage four cancer, there's no cure left to use." A single tear is leaving her eye. "I want to be as much with her as I possibly can. So if it feels like I abandon you guys, I swear I'm not."
"Don't apologize," I say immediately. "Are you okay?" She shakes her head and Michael holds her immediately. I join in on their hug and feel a piece of me breaking. I have barely seen her this way. "I am so sorry." My phone buzzes and I grab the thing. I repaired the screen a few days back, but now it's been slow and the screen isn't working properly.
From: bolton <3
what are you doing tonight?
To: bolton <3
'm not sure yet, but i'm kinda busy right now
I throw it away again and focus on the girl in front of me. I wish there was something I could do for her, but I truly do not know what to do. That all while Michael is truly comforting her. He always knows exactly what to say or do.
From: bolton <3
be ready at 7pm
"Is it okay if I leave you two alone for a bit?" Michael nods and that's my cue to leave the room. I walk into my own room and look at my phone. Sudden images of yesterday come back to me, leaving me such as clueless as I was. I lay down on my bed and sigh deeply.
To: bolton <3
can we talk?
From: bolton <3
what about?
To: bolton <3
us
i just need some reassurance
Within seconds there's an incoming FaceTime call from him and I answer it immediately. His sleepy face is on the screen and his curls look fluffier than usual. The bags under his eyes are somehow belonging to him. He always has them, but in the morning a little worse. There's a worried look on his face.
"What is it?" He asks me. I lay down on my stomach and look at the screen, too mesmerized by how good he looks. Fuck, it is unfair how the man looks so good when he has just woken up.
"Do you love me..?" I bring out quietly.
"Yes of course." He says without hesitation. "Where is this coming from?" The worried look on his face increases. "I've told you that I love you and I mean it, El. Please, tell me what made you think this."
"I know you're leaving campus and you haven't talked to me about it at least once. We haven't talked about what happens to us. You'll leave everything behind, including me." He frowns at my words.
"You are the last thing I worry about." This time I frown and a part of my heart breaks at the sentence. He doesn't worry about me? "That came out wrong." He says, stuttering right after to find the right words. "When it comes to leaving uni and all things included, you're the last thing I worry about since everything is chaos and you're not. I didn't know you thought that I was about to break up with you." He brings out after a while.
"We haven't seen each other in weeks, Lu," I mumble, the screen slowly getting away from my face, in the hope that if I cry he won't see it.
"Three things. The first one, did I hear a non-mocking nickname there?" I feel my cheeks flush and through the screen, I can see that they are. Slowly I bring my camera more to my face and an achingly beautiful smile curves his lips. "I actually like it. Second off, you know how busy I've been and it's not just the studio. I've barely been there actually. I've been looking for a place on my own, near campus so I can come by whenever I like." I can't hold back a smile. He has been thinking about me.
"And the third thing..?"
"I love you," he says. I smile at the words. "I'm coming over right now, fuck being ready at seven. I need to see you now." Before I can even answer he hangs up and I drop my face into my pillow. I walk downstairs to brush my teeth and lay down on the couch. I start the TV and zap through different channels. Things are so boring in the morning. I hear the front door open and sit up immediately. I sigh relieved when I see that it's Luke. He smiles when he sees me and walks up to me. He presses his lips onto mine and he moans into the kiss the second I pull his hair. "There's more." He says, exploring my face. "I can see it in your eyes, just spill it out." I hate that he knows me so well by now.
"Are you still attracted to me?"
"Yes, of-fucking-course I am." He chuckles quietly. "You know how fucked up it is to get a tour through houses and I keep thinking about all the places I could fuck you? To have a boner the rest of the time and try to hide it?" I can't help but chuckle. "You're the most beautiful girl I've ever laid my eyes on. Ever since Calum brought me to his house."
"I just feel like I'm not enough sometimes. You're so busy and sometimes it seems like you're better off without me." I sigh deeply. "I just feel like you want someone else, someone who suits you better and can give you everything you need."
"Stop the nonsense, El. I'm sorry if I made you feel that way, but you're perfect to me. I just explained to you why I've been busy." He pushes me into the couch and hovers above me. "You're mine and if you needed some reassurance you could've said so. Can have you screaming who you belong to." I bite my lip at the thought.
"As badly as I want something like that to happen, it really can't." He frowns. "Tammy just got the news that her mother is dying and they're upstairs right now," I tell him. "The last thing I can do is have you fucking me on the couch while she's crying upstairs."
"That really sucks," he says, kissing my neck, "Honestly." He keeps on kissing it and a soft, breathy moan leaves my lips. "I've got to mark you, sweetheart. You're all mine. Tonight I'll fully make it up to you, okay?" He presses his lips on my neck again and starts sucking the sensitive piece of skin until a purple mark appears.
"You really didn't listen, did you?" He chuckles. "Fuck, I really need you so please stop." He chuckles again and leans back from me, making himself sit on the couch. "Do you have any place in mind already?" I ask him, about a place of his own. He nods and grabs his phone, showing me the pictures.
"This one is my favorite so far, it's only ten minutes from here." He says. Tammy and Michael come downstairs and I look at her. She really looks like a mess. I climb on Luke's lap to make room for them. I bite my lip and shift a lot on his lap. "Eloise," my name is softly coming out as a warning. "Don't you fucking go there."
"Are you dry fucking?" Michael laughs. "Get a fucking room."
"I really fucking want that." Luke groans.
"Don't let us hold you back." Tammy chuckles. Before I realize Luke lifts me up and throws me over his shoulder.
"Bolton!" I laugh. "You're really another breed."
"Just be quiet," Michael says. "And try wearing a condom for christ sake, don't need babies crying around anytime soon. Calum will kill you again, for real this time."
"She can't be quiet," Luke says, grinning like a kid, making his way upstairs. "And there's nothing wrong with babies you know. I just let them shit in your bed, Clifford." He yells from the top of the stairs. "There are earplugs underneath the television, good luck."
"Good fuck more like." Michael groans.
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hiii guys, another chapter because why not. i hope you guys still like it. i know i've been at it a lot but there's yet another story to be found on my profile called venture, a luke hemmings fanfiction as well. make sure to check it out! the prologue will be up soon!!
loads of love x