Neighbour
34 | Daddy Kink
Fast forward two painstakingly slow weeks later and we're sitting in Luke's backyard, the cold January air hitting our faces as rays of sunlight act as a contradictory base. There's music playing in the background and Corey's running around with a water gun, chasing Ashton as the older boy scurries over his own feet, tripping and falling and stumbling and laughing. And I'm laughing at the scene, too, laughing because I'm at my happiest and there's a guy sitting right next to me, looking at me like I'm the best thing in the world.
The Christmas hangover has long since faded, but some meagre decorations are still scattered around the house. The odd Christmas ball. Bits of an open Christmas cracker. They sit on the windowsills, sweep the floors. No matter how much we clean they always find a way to pop back up.
Luke's laughing at something next to me and I smile to myself, snuggling deeper into his arms like a penguin seeking warmth in the Antarctic. He places a soft hand on mine and squeezes it as a gentle reminder, and a kiss is placed on my forehead. "You okay?" he murmurs with the slightest hint of a smile.
I smile too, regardless of whether he can see it or not, a ring around my finger that holds a small, yet visible, diamond. It's on the middle finger of my left hand, sparkling and beautiful with the elegant cursive of an infinity sign in the middle. It's not an engagement ring. It's not a piece of jewellery that someone's supposed to slip on for you at the altar. It's something that holds an equally as deep meaning; it's a promise ring. One given to me by Luke on Christmas day, and one I repeatedly cried out of happiness over.
"You didn't have to get me this," I told him truthfully, once everybody had settled down with their gifts. Calum got a new amp, Ashton a lifetime membership at the chocolate milk factory, Michael a bunch of different wigs and Ashley a brand new hammer. There was more, but it was only 9am in the morning and nobody wanted to rip every single thing open at the same time. "A simple 'I love you' would have done the trick."
Luke just shook his head with a laugh, placing a kiss at the end of my nose. "I know that. But I wanted to get it for you," he said. "Just so you'll never forget how much you mean to me. Ever."
I was blushing at that point, reaching upwards to plant a lingering kiss on his lips. The ring truly was beautiful, and I felt guilty for him spending so much on me, but Luke insisted that it was money well spent and that I shouldn't have spent so much on him.
"It wasn't that much," I said with an eye-roll later on, as we were talking quietly in his bedroom. Everyone else was downstairs watching some Christmas film, probably Home Alone, but we were upstairs with quiet music playing and our bodies pressed up against one another under the sheets.
"Are you kidding me? You got my guitar back," he said in disbelief. "I can't believe you got my guitar back."
All I could do was giggle and rest my head on his chest, hearing the steady thump of his heart go on and on and on. I could listen to it all day. It served a purpose, and it also reminded me that Luke was real; living, breathing, walking this earth and leaving so many great impressions in his wake.
It wasn't easy to find his Christmas present online, though I'd never tell him that. I went through countless websites, called way too many people and even ended up having to wake up at 5am on Christmas morning to avoid the doorbell from ringing too loud and waking him. The guy he sold it to was, apparently, an impulsive buyer, and agreed to sell it to me for four thousand and not the full six grand he'd listed it for online.
I then spent the rest of the morning wrapping it up in festive wrapping paper, as well as his card and the little dogtag necklace I'd gotten for him a while ago. It was simple and silver with a minimalist chain, yet Luke's face lit up once he unwrapped it as much as it did when he first saw the guitar.
He slipped it on almost immediately and I did the same for the ring. We shared a small moment, just soaking in each other's happiness before Corey tugged on his shirt, pointed at my ring and said, in the most innocent voice ever; "Uncle Yuke, are yew and Thopie gonna get married?"
Thankfully, I didn't have much time to be embarrassed, for Ashley let out a loud laugh on the other side of the room, slapping her leg and having to lean on Michael for support. "Not yet, kiddo. Give it like, a decade or so, or wait until your uncle actually grows some balls."
"Don't say that!" Ashton had scolded her, quickly yanking the little boy back and covering his ears with large hands. Then, with a hiss, "He's small! You can't be swearing around him!"
"What did I say?!"
"You said-" Ashton lowered his voice and gently pointed Corey's head down, making sure that he was momentarily blind as well as deaf. "You said the B word."
"What? Balls?"
"Ssh!" Ashton narrowed his eyes, and Ashley's own widened in surprise. "He's little! He probably doesn't even know what that word means!"
"It's not a swear!" Ashley argued, and all Michael could do to calm her down was pat her on the shoulder and explain why she should just let Ashton continue being Ashton. I laughed, and so did Luke, before he took Corey out of Ashton's arms and settled him on his lap.
About one week after that, and one week ago from now, I developed a burning fever. Apparently it was some nasty bug circling not just the neighbourhood, but the entire school, and it had the ability to be passed on by the simplest of actions. Luke didn't like this one bit, and frankly, neither did I- I was a coughing, sneezing, head-spinning mess that couldn't even stand straight, let alone do anything beyond the point of kissing.
Luke wrapped me up in a bunch of different blankets he'd found around the house, before laying me down on the bed and propping my head up with a pillow he slid a hot water bottle under. It was cute, despite the whole thing being a slight overreaction, but I couldn't move. Luke wouldn't let me move.
All I did was stand up, the pillows and blankets falling to the floor when, all of a sudden, I heard the sound of someone stumbling clumsily up the stairs.
Tripping over his own feet, having to cling onto the hand rail and almost accidentally banging into the wall in the process, Luke burst through the bedroom door with a frantic look on his face as he shouted a, "No! Go back to bed!". So, of course, I did, after a slight refusal and ultimately losing in the end.
I was trapped in the house for a whole three days, feeling awful for making Luke do stuff for me that I could have easily done myself. But it's not even like I was sick enough to the point where I couldn't function; he just thought I couldn't, and this became his main argument for whenever I wanted to go somewhere simple like across the road to my own home.
"Princesses don't work when they're sick," he scoffed, as I folded my arms stubbornly, frowning.
"I just need to check if the house is still okay," I huffed, and it wasn't necessarily a lie. I just didn't trust Chloe enough to be home on her own, despite her being a little over two years older than me. Knowing her, she'd invite a few of her guy-friends around and they'd trash the whole place- my room included.
"I'll check for you."
"Luke," I whined, hitting his chest lightly. He chuckled. "You are the definition of annoying."
"I'm annoying because I want to stop my girlfriend from getting even sicker than she already is?" he asked in amusement, holding me by the waist. "Your logic's cute, little girl."
"I'm not actually little anymore," I yawned, though I had a smug look on my face. "I've grown."
"Oh, really?" Luke smirked. "What were you before?"
"Five-two."
"And what are you now, baby?"
I paused. "Five-three."
"You sure about that?"
I sighed in defeat, ducking my head down. "Fine. Five-two point five," I mumbled. "I still don't get why you call me that, though."
"What, you don't like it?" he frowned.
I shook my head quickly. "No, I do! I was just wonde-"
"It's 'cause he has a daddy kink!" a voice from downstairs then yelled, before giggling and slamming the door shut. I soon later learned that it belonged to Ashton, after an hour and a half listening to Luke deny it.
The rapid replay of flashbacks in my head are soon drawn to a close once I see Ashley coming towards Luke and I, a bundle of different papers in her hand and an earbud in her left ear. She's humming along to a song that I don't know, setting the folders down on the table in front of us before fanning them out neatly.
My eyes land on the two words marked at the top of the first stack and I wince. "Do we really have to do this now?" I ask in distaste.
She sighs. "Unfortunately. We've been putting it off for so long that Mrs Styles is convinced we're going to be college dropouts."
I grimace, sitting up straight and situating myself on the other side of the porch swing. Luke's still lying on his back, his sunglasses on and his arm outstretched. I think he's sleeping, so I try my hardest not to wake him.
Ashley moves the table closer to the other side, sitting right across from me with a puff of her cheeks. "Right," she says. "Okay."
"Okay."
"Right."
"Okay," I say weirdly, raising an eyebrow. "What are we doing?"
"Well, we're supposed to confirm our college applications before the end of this month," she breathes shallowly, and my eyes widen. "But I don't even know where to start-"
"By the end of this month?" I raise my eyebrows, staring at her with a shocked expression. "Why this month?"
"Look, all I know is that we are way behind everybody else," she bites her lip. "Even Niall's group know where they're going for college. And they rarely even come to school!"
"Ash, calm down. We know where we're going. We sent in our applications, remember?" I ask, and she looks at me in confusion.
"What, to Melbourne?"
"Yes," I say cautiously.
She frowns. "You still want to go through with that?"
"Why not?"
"Well," she slowly starts to make a look of discomfort, gesturing to the snoring Luke beside me, and my heart falls. "Melbourne's not exactly Sydney's next-door-neighbour, Soph."
I purse my lips, the twinge of guilt in my stomach unsettling. We applied to Melbourne University a while back, just a couple of months before we met Luke; when I hated the neighbourhood and so badly wanted to escape it, but couldn't because I was tied down to the complications of attending a high school nearby. All I wanted was to get away. But now, it seemed as if all I want to do is to stay where I am and let things carry on the way they're supposed to.
I don't exactly know how much time we spend poring over leaflets and guide books, searching extra information up online and wincing every now and again at the requirements; but not before long, the sun starts to set and the wind is already beginning to get freezing cold, so we pack all the papers up and head inside to join everyone else.
"You guys staying the night?" Luke asks, his voice harbouring traces of grogginess due to sleeping with his mouth parted slightly open, and the sinking feeling in my gut is quick to come back.
The boys all reply with a chorus of yes' and nods of heads, along with Ashley, who still can't seem to get over the idea that scholarships demand certain things from a person in order to be attainable. Another half hour of lazing about in the living room passes until, finally, Luke whispers something in my ear about having a private talk with him in the kitchen.
I stand up, cautious of the lightly snoring Corey wrapped up in a Spiderman blanket next to me, before following Luke out of the den and into the hallway. Once we reach the kitchen, I take a seat on one of the island stools, spinning around to face him.
For a while he just stares at me and nothing is said, until a hand brushes up against my face and he parts his lips, "Melbourne University, huh?"
I try not to let yet another sigh escape from my lips, for I'm pretty sure that it's all I've been doing ever since Ashley came up with the idea of planning our futures now instead of procrastinating them like we'd usually do.
"I don't know what to do," I mumble childishly into Luke's chest, not hesitating to wrap my arms around his neck in a sort of hug. Not a second is wasted before he inches his hands closer to my hips and just rests them there. "I don't want to go to college."
"College is fun, baby." he says softly. "I know how stressed you are, but it'll be fine."
It won't be fine. Because amidst all the roommate planning and careful budgeting, scholarships and tuition's I'll also have to stress about getting a job for, money is the least of my worries. It used to be my main priority, the reason I wanted to get a job and save up all the allowances my parents sent me; but again, not anymore. No, it's irrelevant to me now, because all that's going on through my head is the distance.
SSPA is a way away from Melbourne University. Despite being in the same country, the two colleges are almost a days way away from each other, and they're even farther from the neighbourhood where we actually live. I've tried many other college's, even resorting to the community one downtown; but none of them have my courses, and none of them seem like the types of places I'd want to help me determine the rest of my life.
I was hoping Luke couldn't hear Ashley and I's hushed whispers, as we talked quietly over relationships that stretched over long distances. She said she didn't have to worry about it, for Michael was a college dropout and could easily visit whenever he wanted to- which would, undoubtedly, be most of the time. But Luke wasn't a college dropout, and frequent visits wont be as easy for us as it will be for them.
He has his own college, his own courses, his own education. He has a little nephew that he's been left to take care of. It's not like he can just hop on the next train down to Melbourne to see a girl who's studying there, and then get back to Sydney in time to pick Corey up from daycare. And vice versa; college is demanding, it sucks up a lot of time.
Luke rubs my back with a light hand, soothing me both physically and emotionally. "Don't think about it." he whispers in my ear.
I can't not think about it. It's like a leech, latching onto my brain and staying there like a parasite. "I'm not." I lie.
"Yes you are," the vibrations of his chuckle sounds against my skin. "You're tense, sweetheart."
"It's just how I am," I murmur, and again, it's a complete lie. I soon give in, knowing that Luke can see right through me more than anyone else can.
"I'm worried." I blurt out of nowhere.
"Worried?"
"About college," I confess. "About the distance."
"I knew you were overthinking something," he sighs, pulling back to look me in the eye.
I bite my lip. "Am I the only one?"
"No, babygirl," Luke says, shaking his head. "I've been thinking about it too. A lot, actually."
"And are you as conflicted as I am?" I ask, tangling my fingers together.
He shrugs slightly. "Honestly? Not really," his thumbs trace over the grooves of my knuckles and I wait. "Because I know we'll be okay in the end."
"But what if we aren't?" I ask him in a quiet voice, pressing my lips together. "Melbourne's too far and we'll both have college in a few months."
"When the time comes, we'll think of something," Luke tenderly presses his lips against mine, and when he pulls away I can still feel it. He suddenly pauses, staring into my eyes like he's stuck on what to say. "Can you promise me one thing though, Soph?"
I nod in certainty, taking into account the beautiful colour of his sky blue eyes. "Anything."
Luke sucks in a deep breath. His tone is on the verge of playful, but there's an edge to it. "If we do end up in a place where you're in Melbourne and I'm still here, promise me you'll keep in touch. Alright?"
"Alright," I say, my mood lifting a little. "I promise."
"And promise me that you won't suddenly find someone else to run off with," he jokes, but there's a pained look in his eyes as he bites down hard on his bottom lip. "Because honestly, Sophie... I have no idea what I'd do if I lost you."
"I promise, Luke." I repeat in a soft tone, and his entire stiff body posture relaxes.
Then I watch as he smiles, places a kiss on my hand and whispers lovingly in my ear,
"That's my good little girl."
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Neighbour's ending real soon you guys I'm getting so hemmotional :-( But I don't want to drag this story on because that's always the worst in Fanfics.
Also, thoughts on this chapter? I woke up with such a bad case of writers block today, its awful :(
Anyways, hmu on my Instagram if yous wanna, my user is @fckdolly :-)
As always, thank you guys so much for reading! I love love love all the positive feedback omg. Ilysm, take care!!
-M xx