"Knock, knock." Elodie startles as she looks up, seeing Luke standing on the top step of the crew bus.
"Hi." She smiles sheepishly, setting the book she'd been trying to read aside.
"You do know there's a party going on outside?" Luke asks, wandering into the bus space further.
"I don't like crowds."
"I know. But you did promise me I'd see you after the show tonight."
"I didn't know about this little surprise you guys had planned then."
"You know this party is in part for you too, right?" Luke chuckles, settling into the couch beside her.
"I know, Peter keeps texting me to come out for a bit too." She sighs.
"How about I make you a deal, pretty girl?"
"What kind of deal?" She cocks an eyebrow at him.
"Come to the party for a bit and then you and I will go back to the hotel and we can celebrate more your speed, just the two of us. How does that sound?"
"I get a private party with the Luke Hemmings?" She gasps, amusement written across her face as she jests.
"If you come out to the crew party for a bit. An hour with the crew and then you can have the rest of the night with just me."
"Buses don't leave until two, so do I get you until then?" She giggles, her hand lifting to cradle one side of his jaw.
"Absolutely."
"One hour."
"One hour." He repeats back to her, leaning in quickly to place a kiss to her lips, smirking as she chases him when he pulls back. "One hour and then you can have all the kisses you want, pretty girl."
"Alright, I'll be out in a minute. I should probably put on a bra again if I'm going to be in public." She sighs.
Luke's eyes glance down reactively as she says it, smirking as he sees she's wearing the pink cropped hoodie they've had available at a few shows. "No one out there is going to have any idea you're not wearing one of you don't."
"But you will."
"Is that a bad thing?" He smirks, "Because honestly I think it's kind of hot knowing my girl's not wearing anything under her hoodie." His grin grows as he sees her blush hard.
"Your girl?" She squeezes out.
"That's the part that has you blushing?" Luke laughs.
"No, but that's the part I'm focusing on."
"You're sexy, El, and you're my pretty girl. I'm going to remind you of all of that. Now, let's get out to the party so your hour can start and end sooner."
"For me right?" She cocks an eyebrow at him, chuckling at the sudden change in his tone.
"Maybe for me too." He shrugs, pulling her up by the hand before gripping her bare waist tightly, sliding his hands up slightly until his thumbs can brush the points where her lower chest begins to round.
"One hour." Her voice has lost all confidence as she focuses on the rough pads of his thumbs against her skin, goosebumps running through her ribs and up her spine from the contact.
"Come on, pretty girl, it's time to let us thank you for all you've done on tour. And later I'll thank you privately for everything you've done personally for me." He winks, leaning in to kiss her deeply for a moment before he pulls his hands from her body, walking backwards for a second before spinning to head for the door. Elodie stays where she is for a moment, shivering physically to rid her body of the intense feeling flooding it before following after him off the bus and into the backlot where the band set up an end of tour party to surprise the crew after the show.
***
"So what did Luke say that I couldn't? That convinced you to come out and join the party?" Elodie looks up from the drink she'd been nursing to see Peter smirking at her.
"As my older brother, I doubt you want to know." She replies quickly.
"Wait, are you two that serious?" Peter asks, eyebrows shooting up to his hairline.
"We're getting there." El shrugs, sipping at the sweet alcoholic concoction in her red cup.
"Who'd have thought that all this would come from me convincing you to take a chance on a dream." Peter laughs, "One tour, that's all I wanted you to try and now look at you. You've found a love in the work, and a potential love in a person."
"Thank you, Pete, for pushing me to do this tour with you." Elodie purses her lips slightly, eyes wandering the large space filled with people, "I know it may not seem like it, with the fact that I haven't talked to anyone here besides you and Luke, but it's been a really good growing experience, and I'm glad I did it."
"I'm glad you did too, and I'm proud of you, El. I've seen you grow so much in the last few months, and a lot of that is due to Luke. You've taken leaps that I never thought I'd see from you, and I'm glad to hear you're letting him in. Just remember, if he hurts you, I hurt him." Peter adds with a wink.
"What else are big brothers for?" She rolls her eyes quickly at him, understanding the joke and truth behind the threat.
"Pete!" They both turn as Michael yells out, "Want to whip some drummer ass with me?" Michael grins.
"Mike, I love you man, but you cannot take on Ashton." Peter laughs.
"Maybe not physically, but he and Tommy are challenging us to a game of beer pong." Michael laughs.
"Alright, we can beat them at that." Peter nods, "You coming to watch?" He turns back to Elodie, who nods quickly, following behind Peter as Michael leads them across the space to where the table had been set up.
"Oh look, a couple of losers ready to get their asses kicked!" Ashton calls out loudly as Michael and Peter approach, the table already set.
"Who won the end of tour pong battle in 2019?" Peter smirks right back, "Oh right, Michael and me."
"Revenge is going to taste sweet. You won because of a technicality." Tommy laughs.
"We'll see." Michael shrugs.
"We already took out Calum and Chris, you're next on the list." Ashton shrugs.
"So if the teams are band members and their tech, does that mean the winner plays Luke and El?" Peter cocks an eyebrow at Ashton.
"If they'll play."
"Stop flirting and start playing already!" Luke wanders up unaware of the conversation they'd been having, stopping beside Elodie a few feet from the table, a small group having gathered to watch the game.
"You and El are playing winners." Calum informs Luke as the game finally starts.
"We are?" Luke looks over to El, surprise in his eyes.
"According to Peter." Calum answers again, Luke's eyes still on Elodie until she gives a small shrug, telling him with her eyes that she would much rather not be involved in a beer pong tournament.
"I think that's just Peter being an older brother and trying to make El uncomfortable, she clearly doesn't want to play." Luke answers Calum back, seeing relief in the emerald eyes he is so captivated by.
"Ya, It didn't seem very Elodie to play beer pong." Calum nods in agreement, "And no one, not even your brother, is going to make you." He adds, looking at Elodie now, smiling back at her as she nods in thanks.
"Twenty-three more minutes." Luke mumbles to Elodie, winking quickly as he sees her smile.
She cocks an eye at him smirking slightly for a second, and he can clearly read her thoughts through the look, knowing she is suggesting they could leave earlier than planned. Chuckling back at her as he shakes his head in response. Amused by the dramatic sigh she lets out, and then surprised as she leans into his side, her arm wrapping securely around his waist as her head hits his chest. His arm wraps tentatively around her shoulders, as he turns his attention back to the game of beer pong happening in front of them.
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