Luke's POV
"Did you see that one girl today with the-" Calum gestures to his chest with a smirk.
"Shuttup you perv," Michael pushes Calum out of the way with his foot so he can concentrate on the video game that I am currently beating him in.
"Pass me a chip," I say opening my mouth without taking my eyes off of the screen. This is our usual afternoon on tour.
"Get it yourself idiot," Michael elbows me to mess up my game. I flinch, making him score on me. That little shit. "Calum get out of the way!" Michael groans.
"Luke it's almost 2 o'clock" Ashton peeks his head into the living room.
"So?" I squint at the screen, almost gaining a lead on Mikey.
"So you have a dinner date skype session with Maddie at 2." I can feel Ashton roll his eyes at me.
"Okay dad," I bite my tongue, making the winning goal and yelling in Michael's face. "Okay, I'm done," I stand up, content with beating him.
"What the hell! Rematch after you're done!" Michael yells from the couch. "Calum play me, at least I can beat you."
"You cocky son of a-"
"Guys stop fucking swearing," Ashton yells at us.
I walk into the kitchen, opening the laptop and pouring myself a bowl of cheerios.
"Really?" Ashton raises his eyebrows at me.
"What do you expect me to make?" I shrug as I call up Maddie. Within seconds her face lights up the screen, her smile wide and eyes bright. I can't help but grin, my mood automatically shifting to happier.
"You are so beautiful," I bite down on my lip as she covers her face and blushes.
"I forgot how cute you are," she scrunches up her eyes and pokes the screen as if she was booping my nose.
"So what did you make for dinner?" I laugh, holding up my bowl of cheerios, "nothing can beat my gourmet meal."
"Jokes on you because my cheerios are honey nut," she holds up her bowl, "so yes, mine beats your bland cereal."
"Fine you win," I bite down on my tongue. Calum and Michael are yelling at the television, but their voices are loud enough to be heard from here.
"How romantic," Maddie jokes when she hears them.
"Guys shuttup I'm on a date in here!" I yell at them, making Maddie laugh. "Why are you laughing? They are being annoying."
"Because you're cute," she stares at me through the screen, "and I miss hearing your laugh in person," she pouts. Holding her stare, just for a second it feels as if we are actually together, as if I could reach across and brush the piece of hair that always falls in her face when she laughs. Just for a second things felt normal again.
"I miss you too," I take a bite of my cereal before I say something stupid and embarrassing. Instead my eyes focus on the room behind her, our kitchen. There are flowers on the windowsill and pictures hanging up on the fridge. Mainly of her, Grace, and Charlie, but it was hard to see from here. "What is that certificate on the fridge?" I squint, but the words are a blur.
"Oh that," Maddie turns around to look at it, but just shrugs. "Just some academic scholarship thing the principal gave me."
"Just some scholarship?" I smirk at her, "You are just- amazing, you know that? Here I am sitting in some hotel playing video games and there you are getting your life on track."
"Luke, you are building up your future right now too, our futures are just different. Here I am sitting in my empty kitchen reading a book and there you are getting ready to perform in front of an arena of people. You are the incredible one."
"Hardly," I shake my head. Our futures are just different. College. Touring. Work. Performing. Two different lifestyles, two different paths, two different people. We will find a way to merge into one, right? We spend the next forty minutes catching up, telling stupid stories, and just enjoying each other's presence. I went through three bowls of cereal.
"Is that Maddie?" Calum walks into the kitchen to grab a can of soda.
"Hey Cal," she smiles, waving to him. "Nice haircut, where's the fringe?"
"I've moved up in life Maddie, this is how to cool people do it," he jokes, running a hand through his mini quiff, "I forgot how cute you are."
"Hey!" I elbow Calum as he sits on my lap to talk to Maddie. She turns her head at the sound of her front door opening, her eyes widening as she looks back to me and Calum. "What?" I frown.
Maddie awkwardly bites her nails as Charlie walks behind her, opening the fridge to grab a can of beer. Calum stiffens on my lap. A toned arm wraps around her waist, grabbing a bottle for himself and giving her waist a squeeze, Charlie's flirtatious giggle filling the speakers. Maddie slants the laptop screen down so Charlie can't see us. After a few second she brings it back up, Charlie and the guy are gone.
"Who the fuck was that?" Calum sneers.
"Um I don't know actually," Maddie looks away from the screen.
"A random guy? She already moved on?" Calum clenches his fists. "No, the truth is I don't want to know."
"Calum it's been three months," she mumbles.
"You've been with girls too, just accept it," I glance over at him.
"I didn't ask you two for your damn opinions. Why don't you fix your own damn relationships before you comment on mine," Calum pushes my chest, storming off into the other room.
"What do we have to fix?" Maddie frowns.
"Nothing, he is just being a jerk."
Ashton walks into the kitchen, giving me a questioning glance, I just shrug. He holds up a big envelope, sliding it across the kitchen table to me. "Don't forget," he winks.
"Thanks man," I tuck it into my pocket.
"What was that, and is Ashton in the room?" Maddie raises her eyebrows.
"That is a surprise, and yes he is." I turn the camera around so he can wave.
"Hiya Madds," he grins, giving the laptop a hug. "I'll talk to you later, I have to go somewhere."
"Where?" She pouts.
"Actually we all have to leave in 15 minutes!" Ashton announces to all of them, groans coming from every room. "We are meeting with our possible new producer today."
"Wow that is exciting! Who is it?"
"Sort of exciting but sort of scary," I add, turning the laptop back to me. "His names John Feldmann. He is pretty big, so we are afraid he won't like us. Or he will think we are a joke."
"Don't doubt your talent!" Maddie searches my face. "You are so talented."
"I dunno," I shrug, looking away.
"I guess you guys should get ready," she sighs, pouting at me.
"Don't look at me like that I won't be able to leave," I frown at her. "It is hard enough as it is." Ashton makes a belching noise from across the room.
"Sorry," she continues to look at me with sad eyes. I just want to reach through the screen. "I'll talk to you in a few days?"
"You know what is coming up this week," I grin at her.
"Stop," she shakes her head.
"Our one year anniversary on Wednesday," I chuckle as she tries to cover her grin. "We can simultaneously order take out food and have a really fancy virtual date, okay?"
"Okay," she grins at me. "I love you Luke."
"I love you," I smile, as she clicks end, and my screen turns black. I shut my laptop, sighing and slipping on my shoes.
"In the envelope is everything you need for Wednesday," Ashton slips on his jacket.
"Thanks man, I don't know where you get these ideas from." I pull Mikey off of the couch and wipe the orange cheese stain off of his mouth.
"I guess I just think about it sometimes," Ashton trails off as we all gather near the door. "Anyway," he shakes his head, "lets go meet this guy."
-
Maddie's POV
Grace is sprawled across my couch, her legs resting on my lap as we share a box of chocolate and leftover pizza, some movie playing that we stopped paying attention to an hour ago.
"So then Mikey goes, 'I'm tired of gaming can we just Skype' so I log off of Final Fantasy and when I answer the Skype call guess who is sitting next to him?" Grace throws back her head for dramatic effect. "Niall freaking Horan thats who. I nearly peed my pants."
"Oh my god what did you say!" I cover my mouth, imagining Grace's awkward fangirl self.
"I told him I was single, and that Michael was just my brother." There was a light knock on the door, Grace continues her story as she gets up to answer it, "Mikey just flipped me off and hugged Niall. He told me 'Niall isn't single because he is dating me so the joke is on you'," she opens the door and squeals, "Holy shit! How are you- this is so cute I'm done." She backs away from the door with her hands held in the air in surrender.
"Who is it?" I push myself up from the couch. Grace jumps up and down running over to me and yanking me off of the couch, pushing me over towards the door. "What are you- oh my god!" I gasp, covering my mouth and blinking a few times to make sure I wasn't hallucinating.
"Happy anniversary," Luke chuckles in the doorway, a bouquet of flowers in his hands and a large duffle bag by his feet.
"Luke!" I jump up to give him a hug, wrapping my legs around his waist and running my hand through his hair before resting them on his neck and pulling his face towards mine for a kiss. His lips find mind with a desperate urgency, my heart pouring out three months of waiting and wishing into this one kiss. I could feels my palms shaking from surprise and overload of excitement. He clutches me against him, kissing me feverishly as we are reminded of what it feels like to have real contact.
"How did you get here?" I break away from his kiss with a giant grin. Luke walks inside, still holding me around his waist, and shuts the door behind us.
"A plane," he smirks, planting a kiss on my nose just so he could see my eyes crinkle up. "I hope you don't mind if I crash here for five days?"
"That is just overstaying your welcome," I giggle, pulling him in for another kiss. "But I guess you can stay."
"I wouldn't have left anyway," he giggles against my neck.
"This is too cute. This is literally too much for me, I don't think I can get up," Grace squeals from behind the couch, clutching her heart.
"Oh before I forget," Luke puts me down for a second, bending down to open his bag. "Michael gave me things to give you."
"He did?" Grace's face lights up as she scrambles over to Luke.
"Yep, here are two t-shirts to wear to bed, a hoodie, a pikachu stuffed animal he just bought for you but sprayed with his cologne- I think that was Ashton's idea- and a few packages of British candy," Luke unloads the items from his bag. "Oh and he stole one of Harry's t-shirts for you," Luke smirks, handing it to her.
"HE WHAT?! YOU MEAN HARRY FREAKING STYLES?!" Grace drops the stuffed animal and grabs the magical cloth. "Wow he really does love me." She stuffs the items into her book bag. "Well I guess you two want some alone time, I mean if Michael surprised me after three months of not seeing him I would definitely reward him..." Grace chuckles to herself. I shoot her a glare. "Sorry, I'm leaving!" She grabs her stuff and gives Luke a big hug, "I'll see you later." She slips out the front door.
"I can't believe you are here, my hands are literally shaking," I hold out my hands for Luke to see. He intertwines them with his own and pulls me in for another kiss. "I forgot how good this felt," I whisper against his lips.
"Want me to remind you how good it can feel?" He smirks, trailing his hands down my sides as his lips brush my neck, slowly backing me down the hall. "We have a lot of wasted time to make up for," his voice lowers.
"Charlie is out for the night, so we have plenty of time to make up for all three months," I trace the buckles of his jeans, pressing my lips against his jawline and pushing him back against the bed.
"Show me what I've been missing out on," his voice is croaky as I slip my tank top off, his eyes widening. I watch his chest rise and fall unevenly. I tease him, running my hands over my bare stomach and slowly letting my hair down. My fingers trail over the hem of my shorts teasingly slow. "Shit Maddie I waited three months for this, I'm not waiting any longer," he swats my hands out of the way and flips me down onto the bed, "I need you now."
-
"Do you have to go to school today?" Luke pouts, his arms holding me close against his chest as I attempt to reach over and hit snooze.
"Yeah I kind of do," I shrug.
"But you didn't go yesterday, or the day before, you might as well not go today either," he traces circles on my stomach.
"I didn't go Wednesday because it was our anniversary and we were busy, and I didn't go yesterday because we got no sleep at all after our little date." I giggle, pressing my lips against his chest. After our solid five hours making up for lost time, Luke took me out to a nice dinner and then we went and watched the sunset on the beach. "It's just six hours and then I'm yours all weekend."
"Six hours is a long time," Luke frowns, kissing my neck softly. "Imagine what we could do in those six hours," he smirks against my skin, trailing kisses down my neck to my collarbones.
"Luke please," my eyes flutter shut, "you know I can't say no," I moan as his hands roam my body, his eyes watching me slowly feed into his every touch. "Fine, but you are forging me a doctor's note."
"You are going to need a real doctor's note when I'm done with you," he says smoothly, but after a second of silence he breaks out into laughter at his attempt of being sexy.
That describes Friday. We were still pretty awake when midnight hit so we went for a walk around town in the moonlight, stopping at a dinner to get some breakfast in the middle of the night. The waitress probably thought we were high. Then Luke took me to the park where we laid down on the dewy grass and watched the stars. We really just ended up watching each other.
No matter what we were doing, some part of our bodies had to touch, the touch that we have been yearning to have for so long. The touch that reminds us that we are finally together. He gave me piggyback rides from room to room in the house, or I would just spend an hour on the couch laying on top of him as we watched tv. We could be doing anything, and I would just be grateful to have him here in my arms.
"Want to go out to lunch?" Luke rubs my back as I rest on his stomach. We were watching reruns of How I Met Your Mother, but really we were just telling stories and holding each other tight. Luke's stomach growls against my cheek.
"Sure, what are you in the mood for?" I groan as Luke pulls me off of the couch.
"Well I only have one day left in the states, so how about a burger?" He slips on his flip flops. "We can go to the beach after?"
After a piggyback ride down the street, Luke and I were hounding down In-N-Out Burgers and suffering from milkshake induced brain freezes.
"Wimp, you can't even finish your fries?" Luke opens his mouth as I feed him my leftover fries. He inhales them in less than a minute. "Okay beach time," he grabs my hand and pulls me outside.
"Great now that I'm bloated and full," I groan, covering my stomach.
"Shush you are beautiful," Luke wraps his arm around my waist as we walk and gives my tummy a squeeze.
"Hi Luke!" A fan walks up to us, Luke immediately drops his arm from around me as one other girl joins her. They look me up and down before turning to Luke. "Where are you heading?"
"To the beach," he smiles, waving to them. I bite my tongue, taking a step back as they both give him hugs. They asked him about the tour, and why he isn't with the boys.
"I just came to visit my friend Maddie," Luke points to me.
"Hi Maddie," the one girl smiles at me. "How long have you been friends?"
"I don't know Luke, how long?" I give him the fakest smile. "A little over a year now was it?"
"Yeah," he chuckles, looking away from me. "She's been friends with Ashton since they were younger too." You can see the girls calm down, their suspicions of me being a possible threat or groupie disappearing. They give me genuine smiles, and even ask me about myself. "Alright, it was nice meeting you guys, see you in a few months if you are going to Take Me Home Tour."
"Bye Luke!" They all wave with wide grins.
I don't say a word until we turn a few corners. I can feel Luke's eyes set on me. He reaches for my hand, but I pull away.
"Maddie," Luke groans.
"Really Luke? Again?" I stop walking, shaking my head.
"It's not my choice Maddie."
"Then whose choice is it? Last time I checked no one told you to say any of that!" I lean up against the wall of some building, refusing to keep walking.
"We got signed," Luke mumbles.
"What?" I roll my eyes. What kind of excuse is this.
"We got signed by their label. Modest?" Luke runs a hand through his hair.
"Even I know that is a bad idea, everyone on Twitter hates-"
"Sorry I don't take business advice from Twitter fan accounts."
"They are controlling." I cross my arms.
"They are our best chance at making it Maddie."
"And that is what is most important to you?" I honestly don't know where I'm going with this, but I know I'm upset.
"Right now? Sort of."
"Wow. It's okay, who cares if you aren't allowed to call me your girlfriend. Are you even allowed to be dating?"
"Well technically no, but they understand. I would never give you up for that." Luke closes his eyes, obviously unhappy of where this was going. "Listen, its better for you this way. You won't have people watching your every move, judging your life."
"I don't want to have to pretend I don't know my boyfriend!"
"How much are you going to let them control you?" I nearly scream at him. My phone buzzes, a tweet from the band account. "Oh look at that, you're having lunch with Michael? What a convenient damage control."
"You get our tweets send to your phone?" Luke glares at me.
"Yeah because most of the time that is the only way I know what you are doing!" I stomp my foot. I might as well let it all out now.
"What is that supposed to mean?"
"That you don't make as much of an effort to talk to me anymore Luke." I cover my face.
"I'm here aren't I?" Luke's hands are in fists now, his forehead covered in anger sweat. I stay silent, not knowing what to say. He stays silent. We stand in silence, staring at opposite sides of the ground, both lost in our waging thoughts.
Luke shuffles his feet, "I never said this was going to be easy," he mumbles.
"You never said it was going to be this hard."
"Can we just- just stop fighting and make the most of the time we have together before we regret it? If you are still mad, scream at me at the top of your lungs on the phone, but right now is the only time we have to actually be together," Luke traces a finger down my arm.
"I guess you're right," I look up at him, his eyes searching me desperately. "You're only saying that because you can turn the volume down on your phone," I chuckle, allowing him to take my hand.
"I would never," he clutches his heart teasingly. He swings our intertwined hands back and forth. We go to one of the emptier beaches, Luke pulling me to sit in between his legs, my back resting against his chest. He wraps his arms around my waist, resting his chin on my head. We just sit like this, in silence, simply taking in the feeling of holding each other, of having each other.
"We will get through this, we always get through it," Luke mumbles as we watch the waves break. "One day it will all be worth it."
What will be worth it? Our fighting will be worth it when we are happily married and living our lives? Or him giving up his freedoms and giving up our relationship will be worth it when he is big and famous? I was too scared to ask.
But I think deep down, I already knew the answer.
I tell myself I'm overreacting, that everything will work itself out, but deep in my mind I have to promise myself to not be blinded by love and forget what I deserve. Don't let the swarms of butterflies block my view of the polluted sky. I promised myself he gets one more chance. One more.
OMG WHO ELSE IS IN LOVE WITH SHE'S KINDA HOT HDKAKF THIS SECOND ALBUM IS GOING TO BE SO GOOD IM NOT PREPARED
75 VOTES FOR THE NEXT CHAPTER, TIME TO MOVE THIS STORY ALONG
-MADDIE