chapter forty-four:
the last one.
Here's the thing; I don't like April, I don't like what she's capable of, and I certainly don't like what she's caused between Luke and I, but I have to admit- the girl can lie.
"We know you're not pregnant, April."
"Wanna cut me open and see?"
That's literally how the entire conversation went. And usually I would have left, way before she had the chance to fake contractions or whatever with the flattest stomach in existence, but I didn't. I stayed, and I folded my arms, and I watched as Luke rolled his eyes, and I waited for my anger to subside.
"Why did you do it?" I asked.
"Do what? Get pregnant?" she shot back.
"Why did you lie about getting pregnant?"
"Why are you asking me why I'm lying about being pregnant?"
I'd heard the 'p' word so many times that night that by the end of it, I was just about ready to explode. Luke and I came home that evening absolutely exhausted; we got April to admit it, yes, but not without a fight. We ended up getting screeched at to leave her apartment after spending an entire three hours trying to get through to the girl.
"Well, at least now we know she's baby-free," Michael had said, rolling the tinted windows down as Luke and I climbed into the truck. I puffed my cheeks out, settled my back against the seat, and tried to slow my heartrate as Luke gripped my hand.
"She's a lot of things." I grumbled.
We sped down the motorway, the car barely getting by yet proving it's function as it got us back home before seven. We broke the news to everyone- and for some reason, as if it was a physical hurdle we had to face- we were congratulated.
"To Mr and Mrs Soon-To-Be-Hemmings," Bailey had burped, raising her glass for a toast despite downing half of it already. "For exposing the psycho!"
I tried to brush off the Mr and Mrs, hoping nobody else would pick upon it. I think Luke did, too; his gaze quickly swivelled in my direction before flittering away again.
"Bailey," Chloe raised an eyebrow, obviously unhappy with the somewhat crude statement. Bailey just rolled her eyes.
"For uncovering the truth about the liar," she said, much more carefully the second time around. She then raised an eyebrow at the blonde. "Better?"
Chloe simply nodded, and we all raised our glasses. And for the first time in a long time, it felt good to drink again.
"You're leaving?" I'd asked that same night, my heart falling to the pit of my stomach as the person on the other line shifted.
I heard a smash, then a curse, then a sigh. A sigh I knew all too well, for it was the same sound I'd hear every night whenever I asked for another shot.
"I thought Ashley told you already," Chase chuckled, though he sounded pained himself. It wasn't like the guy had no heart. He had a dark sense of humour, much like Bailey, but he was loyal to the very end. "I've got enough money saved."
"I only found out the other day. I was counting on you staying in the same city as me for at least like, another few months," I frowned.
Again, a sigh fell from his lips. "It's not like I'm falling off the face of the earth, Soph. I'll come visit,"
I scoffed. "Yeah, right. Watch, you'll leave and forget all about me."
"Forget about you? Never," Chase gasped, quite dramatically, and I could envision him placing a hand on his heart in mock-hurt. "I could never forget about you, Sophie... uh-"
"Hmm?"
"Sophie..." he cleared his throat. "Hemmi-"
"Hayes!"
"Who?"
"Chase!" I whined. He just laughed; his signature loud, lively and contagious laugh that somehow made even the grumpiest person take a smile on their face. "Ugh, you're such an idiot."
"Is that any way to say goodbye?"
"No, because there's no way to say goodbye," I shot back quickly. It was no surprise that I hated the word. "Goodbyes sound like they're for forever."
"What, you want us to start a Badbye?" he asked. I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. "Badbye? From-morrow? Fromday? Olleh?"
"I hate you."
"I think that's the nicest thing you've ever said to me, Hayes." he chuckled again, and I couldn't help but feel annoyed at myself for letting my expression soften.
That's when I heard some busy bustling in the background, as well as voices and static and Chase clearing his throat. I held the phone, waiting for it.
"Hey, I gotta go," he said, and the corners of my lips turned upwards in a sad smile. "Tony needs me to sort some shit out for the mover's vans."
"Oh," I said, and in that moment I scolded myself for being so unbelievably speechless. "Right. Well, I'll talk to you some other time?"
"Tomorrow." Chase said, rather firmly.
I nodded, disregarding the fact that he couldn't see me. And if he had somehow broken the laws of the universe by being able to do so, there's no doubt that he would have made some snarky remark about my interesting choice in pyjamas by now; Luke's old Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle shirt and a pair of bright yellow shorts.
"And try not to drink whenever you have a problem, alright? My sister may be there with you but she's less tolerant as I am when it comes to your non-sober sassy self,"
I giggled, subconsciously holding the phone tighter in my hand. I didn't want him to hang up, for whatever reason, I had no idea. I guess it was just nice having someone to talk to other than the people I saw every single day. "Will do, Chase."
"Good. For once, she listens." he said, and I could practically hear his lips stretch into a triumphant grin. "Alright, well. 'Til tomorrow, Miss..." his voice began to fade.
I waited, knowing fully well what he was going to say but not making any attempts to stop it. If I did, it would change the situation completely and in my emotional state, I was just about ready to break down over anything.
"Excuse me, who are you again?"
"Oh my god, now I definitely hate you." I groaned, leaning my head back.
Chase laughed. "Badbye, Soph."
"Badbye." I said gently, though this time, I actually did roll my eyes; just to avoid getting too emotional.
Luke found me not too long after, slumped over the kitchen island with my phone in my hand and my head deep in thought. He came over, wrapped his arms around my waist, and pulled me in close.
The moonlight trickled in through the blinds, framing the dark kitchen perfectly. All I could hear was the quiet hum of the refrigerator, masked by the countless muffled beeping of the vehicles whizzing past way down below the apartment block.
"You okay?" Luke murmured, his hot breath tickling my neck as I took in a deep breath
I nodded, leaning my head up to look at him. "I'm okay," I mumbled back. "Are you?"
"I'm doing amazing, actually," he said. He planted a small kiss on my temple; soft and slow, which was all that I needed. "I'm surprised to see you're still up."
"Couldn't sleep." I shrugged.
"No surprise there," Luke said softly. "You really need to get a better sleeping pattern,"
"Says you. I swear you have insomnia,"
"Woah there, déjà vu," he chuckled, before shaking his head. "If I do, then so do you. We're in this together."
"Okay, Troy Bolton."
"You really know how to ruin a good moment, don't you?" Luke asked, and all I could do was smile. Then he leaned back, craned his head ever so slightly to the side so that our faces were right in front of each other, and bit his lip. "What do you say we go for a ride?"
Roadtrips in the middle of the night with your significant other sounds very cliché, I'll give you that. They sound corny. They sound like I should be staring out of the window, watching the trees and the restless birds and the freeway fences whiz by, with Luke holding my hand, our minds clear and our hearts warm.
Roadtrips sound like a story, like something that doesn't happen in real life. If that's the case, then I'd be more than happy with a fairytale ending if it means sitting in the passenger's side of my boyfriend's car at exactly 02:31am, with the windows down and my spirits up.
I don't know where we're headed to, or what the future holds, or what we're going to do one the truck runs out of gas, or what I'm going to do when Poppy invites me back to Orlando for her anniversary, or even when the next time I see Chase will be. Who does? Seriously, if a person knows exactly what they want to do at some-PM at an exact month, and an exact year, then they're to be applauded. Because it takes a lot of guts to wing the rest of your life, but it proves to be a much more difficult task once you decide to cling to a commitment.
I lean my elbow against the bottom of the open window, a genuine smile on my face. The freeway is empty. The wind is warm, but cold against my face. Memories rush back like a wave on a shorefront, clouding my mind with thoughts and assumptions and what-if's as Luke swiftly swerves the car into a deserted lane.
"Luke?"
"Yes, doll?"
My heart flips. It's been so long since I last heard him call me that; for a while, I'd forgotten the term even existed. "We're gonna be alright. Right?"
Confused, he looks at me for a split second, before diverting his eyes back to the road.
"Of course we are. Why do you ask?"
I shrug, tucking my legs into my chest and wringing my arms around them. "I know we sorted everything out. Talked to April, I said bye to Chase," he nods. "But what about everything else?"
"Everything else?"
"The club's gone, I'm pretty sure you have a couple of other crazy ex-girlfriends willing to get with you again, and I'm yet to find another job," I start. Luke chuckles, shaking his head. "Not to mention, we're low on gas, I'm hungry, I think we ran four stoplights, and we're practically in the middle of nowhere."
"Soph?"
"Hmm?"
"Shut up. You worry way too much," he smiles, gently taking a hold of my hand. "Forget the club. That's history."
"It's how we got together."
"That's not exactly how I want to tell our kids we fell in love," Luke says, grimacing a little. My eyes widen, and to my surprise, he doesn't look fazed by my stunned expression. "What?"
"Our kids?"
"Well, they're not just going to be yours. Sure you'll give birth to them, but it takes two to tango," he shrugs, nonchalantly, as we slow in front of the first red light we haven't sped past.
"Excuse me, but our kids?"
"What?"
"You've thought of that already?" I ask. "Like, in detail?"
"Elaborate what you mean by detail."
"I don't know. The little things and the big things. Like, the colour of my wedding dress-"
"Cream. Because I know you and you're basic."
"-I'm going to ignore that. Flowers?"
"Roses, because you're allergic to daisies."
"Your best man?"
"Best men. Are you crazy? I refuse to give the title to just one of the guys, they'd kill me."
"My head bridesmai-"
"Ashley, for sure," I look at him, amused. "What? I know you love the other two just as much, but let's be real- if there's any duo in our group, it's you two."
"You've really thought about this, haven't you?" I ask him, looking over in awe. My heartbeat has sped up so much that I'm finding it hard to calm myself down.
Luke smiles, shrugging slightly before biting down on his lip ring again.
"A little."
"Oh, thank god," I breathe.
"What?"
"I'm not the only one," I say, letting my head fall back onto the seat. Luke just laughs, squeezing my hand reassuringly in his own.
"And you never will be," he pauses, and a goofy grin spreads across his lips. "Remember, you signed a contract."
I laugh along with him, shaking my head. "Oh, please. That contract was only six months and it ended like, what, three months ago?"
"Still. If it wasn't for that contract, we probably wouldn't even be together right now," he says.
"Excuse you, but yes we would," I retort. "It would just take a little longer. And you probably would have ended up with April somehow,"
"Wha-"
"But then I would have swooped in, rescued you, and the rest becomes history," I say, making odd hand movements to prove my point, causing Luke to smirk. "I'm being serious."
"I thought the handsome prince was supposed to rescue the damsel, not the other way around?"
"That's how normal fairytales go," I wave him off. "But look at us. We're on a freeway, nearing 3am, the truck's running low on gas, and I'm wearing a shirt with four cartoon turtles on it," I say, my last few words fading into a giggle. "We're hardly normal."
"You got that right," Luke chuckles breathlessly, before the car slows in front of yet another red light.
He could go, speed right past it and down yet another path we have no idea will take us anywhere, but he doesn't. Instead, Luke turns to his left, cups my face in his hand, and connects our lips in a soft, gentle kiss.
When we pull away, I'm convinced that I don't even know my own name. We've stolen a lot of kisses since we got back together, but none of them have felt quite as good as this one.
"I love you." Luke tells me, and it may or may not be the right moment to think this, but the slight twinge of his Australian accent kicks in and my heart skips a beat at the simple sound of it.
"I love you." I say back, voice as light as the kiss and chest swelling with a confusing mix of being in love and being in the moment.
The truck starts up again. The wind continues to drift into the car. The trees become a blurry mess once more, and I know I'm at home.
Maybe we don't know what we're doing right now. Maybe we're as clueless as we once were before Luke started working at the club and before I dropped out of college. Maybe, at this moment in time, we're clueless. And the craziest thing about it all is that maybe- just maybe- I don't mind.
All I know is that I want that basic, cream coloured wedding dress. I want those roses, and for three of my best friends to share a title, and for Ashley to scream at the other bridesmaids to move out of the way. I want to be able to tell our story to our kids, to leave out the bits it would be inappropriate for them to hear, and I want to be able to be able to do all of that with Luke by my side.
I'll admit, my life probably won't make the best campfire story. It probably isn't as interesting as your typical fairytale saga ot whatever. It probably isn't as sexual or as pleasing or as satisfying as you'd think, given Luke's prior job at the club and his kink that we still have yet to address- but it's mine. And not necessarily everything that I own has to be sexual, or pleasing, or interesting. It just has to be mine.
So, that's it. The story of how I stumbled into a club, found out that the other half of my friendship group were into some pretty intriguing things, and fell in love. Point blank. Sounds like your typical love novel, right? Right, there's a possibility that it is; but just because something sounds typical doesn't exactly mean it can't be great.
Because sometimes, it can be the greatest story ever told.
THE END.
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Omg hello we made it wtf f i n a l l y
BYE KINK CLUB LOPHIE it was hell trying to get through the first version of the kink club (skye who) BUT IM HAPPY I CHANGED IT BC I ACC KINDA LIKE HOW THIS FIC TURNED OUT WHOOP
OK my children soooOooOoOoOo it's the end of Kink Club and the start of the Record Store, but seeing as that's gonna be quite a short fic (short to me is like 25 chapters so its probs gonna be like that) YA BITCH HAS SOME OTHER IDEAS that I would love for you to vote on :-)
1. 17:27
"most people make their wishes at 11:11. on the day of my seventeeth birthday, i made mine at 17:27. and now i don't know how to get back."
or in which a girl's seventeeth birthday party ends in turmoil, making her wish for a life where everything- including age- is completely different.
2. Instafamous
"I know you! I've seen your pictures,"
"Oh, god."
Or in which she's well known for posting provocative pictures on her Instagram, and he's a horny hotshot rockstar who tries very hard not to like each and every single one of them.
3. Someone pls help it's 11:30pm and my brain can't create any more story ideas so if you wanna suggest some Lophie shit HERES WHERE TO DO IT ILYYY XX
Well t h a t was a ride
Thank you guys so so so much for supporting me and this story until the end. You are all so so so amazing and lovely to me, I can't :'). You are all the reason I continue to write and the reason I continue loving to write.
AND TO MY GIRLS AT "DICKS OUT FOR 5SOS" I LOVE U BUTTNUGGETS SO MUCH LIKE THANK U FOR EXISTING<33
It's time to say goodbye to Kink Club Lophie! I won't be making an Epilogue bc tbh 'the last one' seems to be a fitting way to end this fic and I honestly have no idea what I'd write. I'm sorry if you're disappointed by the lack of smut; I'd read Daddy's Girl if I were you and not this because this was more Friends (the tv show) based than anything :).
Again, thank yous for everything that you do for me. If you wanna, hit me up on my instagram @fckdolly because, no reason, just because. (:
Have a lovely day you guys. Keep being wonderful people. I love you! Take care<3
-M xxx
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The Kink Club | lrh
Restarted: 24th January, 2017
Completed: 1st May, 2017