"Good morning, Gem... Jesus, what happened to you?" Justin gasped, taking one look at Gemma's black eye and fat lip and becoming completely shocked.
"Oh, I slipped when I when I was getting out the bath the other day. It looks worse than it actually is" she shrugged, glancing over at Oliver who was also staring at her face.
"Okay, well seeing as it's your first day back I'm going to give you an easy task. You're going to choose a playlist for the 11am show, okay? Whatever you want to play, whack it on the list"
That sounded easy enough; she got to it right away, taking up the seat next to Oliver but completely blanking him. He didn't attempt to make conversation, nor did he even look at her and somehow it was freaking her out. She wasn't used to him being so quiet and reserved, something must be going on. Gemma ended up choosing songs that reminded her of Luke and her mum, she even crept the boys song in there and once she was finished, she handed it over to Justin who gave her a thumbs up on her choice in music. The rest of the day passed pretty quickly, Gemma sat in and listened to the 11am show, then for the next couple of hours she found herself on twitter. There wasn't as much hate as she had expected, although pictures of her and Luke kissing at the zoo had been posted so many times. Gemma decided to actually post something herself, nothing too revealing, just a little update on her life. She had gained so many new followers since rumours of her and Luke had spread. Some people were nice and others, not so much.
'How was ur 1st day back at the station? He didn't touch u did he? xx'
'No, Luke. He didn't. It was okay, chose the playlist for one of the shows :-) xx'
'I hope our song was included in that? ;-) xx'
'nope, they don't play shit on the show.. ;-) xx'
Gemma loved winding him up; she found it difficult to go a full day without teasing him about something.
'u wait till I get my hands on u, cheeky xx'
Her heart fluttered as she read through the text, what would he do if he got his hands on her? She knew what she would like him to do... The thought of having Luke inside of her... The thing was, she had only ever slept with one person before, and that was over a year ago. What if she couldn't remember how to do it? Oh God, she was panicking now...
'i'm not scared of u, lucas. just bc u got a lip ring and went 2 jail doesn't mean i can't whoop ur ass xx'
'didn't say u'd be scared now, did i? ;-) xx'
-
It was the day that the boys where due home; Gemma had never been so excited in all of her life. The week at the radio station had helped to pass some time, Justin had asked her to stay on for another week but she had politely declined. She didn't want to be around Oliver any longer than she had to be. Luke had been texting her non stop every night and their messages had somehow gotten more and more flirtatious. Gemma had played along but that was only because they weren't face to face; now she was going to be in his arms within a matter of hours she was feeling rather nervous. She had finally made things up with her dad too; he was really understanding about her outburst and the two of them had become closer, she realised he was suffering too and they had to stick together when days like that came around.
"So, your boyfriend's back today?" Dad asked, sipping his tea across the breakfast table.
"He's not my boyfriend" she replied, wanting to avoid this awkward conversation topic.
"You better hope he's your bloody boyfriend, having him sat on top of you like that the other week"
Oh God. Why dad? WHY?
"Please stop" Gemma pleaded, her chinks flushing pink. This was so embarrassing.
"You'll have to bring him over to meet us sometime. Properly." Dad suggested, offering her a friendly smile. "Is he the one in the band?"
"Yes dad, he's the one in the band"
"And does he have a back up plan?... These youngsters chasing after the music industry, it doesn't work out a lot of the time and then they're left with nothing"
"Dad" Gemma sighed, "They've just had a sell out Australian tour, I think they're doing okay"
"I'm just saying..."
"I'm gonna get going anyway, they'll be landing soon" Gemma needed a reason to get out of this conversation, she knew he was only trying but he was so bad at it. "Luke's mum is going to take me to the airport with her"
"Oh so she gets to meet you properly but we don't get to meet Luke?"
"For God's sake dad" she sighed, slipping into her vans at the side of the door and leaving the house before allowing him to say anything else. Luckily enough her black eye had cleared up now, which meant she didn't have to explain anything to Luke when she eventually got to see him again. Each time they had skyped Gemma had caked herself in foundation to cover it up, or put a random filter on the webcam so it wasn't as obvious and none of the boys ever pointed it out so it must have worked.
"Hello, Gemma" Liz smiled, inviting her in. She waited for Liz to lead her through to the kitchen and took a seat at the table, staring over at the clock. It was 12.45pm and the boys were due to land at 2. "You excited to have the boys back?" Liz asked, joining her at the table and flicking through the pile of papers in front of her.
"Yeah, it's not the same without them around."
"My house is much tidier and I don't have to buy as much food, but you're right. I'll be glad to have them home" she smiled up at Gemma and sighed, obviously she had missed them just as much as Gemma had, probably more. The two of them decided to set off towards the airport immediately after; both eager to see Luke and the boys. They stood at the arrivals gate, checking the board every now and again to see if they had landed.
"Time isn't moving" Gemma sighed, pulling her phone out of her pocket for the hundreth time.
"I know, sweetie. They'll be here soon" Liz said, placing her hand onto Gemma's shoulder and giving it a gentle squeeze. When the board finally changed to tell them the flight had landed, she could feel her heart racing and as the boys walked through the gate she found herself running at Luke full speed. He held his arms out, pulling her up and swinging her around; it was almost like a scene from a cheesy romance movie. Gemma suddenly became aware of the fact they were being watched by the boys and Luke's mum, how embarrassing. Luke put her down and smiled, "I've missed you" he whispered, taking hold of her hand and making his way over towards his mum. Ashton pryed her away from Luke why he greeted his mum and forced her into an overly tight hug, "A month without you, Gem! I've missed ya"
"You too, Ash" she beamed back at him, ruffling his hair as if he was a pet dog. Calum and Michael jumped over to them and pulled her into a group hug, she couldn't stop laughing as they started to cheer at the top of their voices; everyone was looking at them.
"Get off you losers" Gemma managed to say, even though they were squashing the air from her lungs.
"BUT WE'VE MISSED YOU GEM" Michael shouted right into her ear. He loved making a scene and she loved that about him, even if it was embarrassing as hell at times. The boys soon let go when they noticed Kiara and Reshale waiting outside for them; Gemma allowed herself to breathe again and walked alongside Ashton to the car, allowing Luke to have some time with his mum. She was hoping to have him all to herself later.
Calum and Michael went off with Kiara and Reshale, obviously wanting some alone time with their girlfriends after a month apart. Ashton decided to tag along back to Luke's where Liz made dinner for them all; it was nice watching Luke talk about the tour. His eyes would light up with such passion and enthusiasm, it was quite possibly one of the cutest things Gemma had even seen. They talked about how Ashton had broken one of his drumsticks on stage and had to sit there pretending to play throughout one of the songs; they told them about how many gifts they received from fans and then they showed them some pictures of Melbourne, Adelaide and Brisbane and how they'd managed to squeeze in some tourist activities on their days off.
"I'd love to travel around Australia" Gemma smiled, looking down at Luke's phone.
"You're coming with us next time. No excuses" Luke poked her on the nose, then dropped his arm back on to the table. He had obviously forgot about his mum and Ashton being there. They needed to be alone...
"Anyway, I should probably get home and see my family" Ashton chuckled, almost as if he was reading Gemma's thoughts about wanting Luke to herself. Liz offered to drop him off, as well as running Gemma back to her house. When they pulled up outside Luke told his mum that he was going to have a late tea with her family and he'd be back about ten.
"I didn't invite you, weirdo" Gemma laughed as Luke followed her inside.
"I invited myself. Deal with it"
"Fame's changed you..." she teased, pushing her hand against his chest. He wrapped his fingers around her wrist and pulled her into him, embracing her. She stood up onto her tiptoes and pressed her lips against his; glad that she was able to taste him again. Their tongues explored one another, softly flicking against each other. He tasted of mints.
"Gem?" her dad's voice echoed through from the other room. The two of them pulled apart, Luke giving her a gentle push to put some space between them. Gemma rolled her eyes; all she wanted to do was kiss him, why was that so difficult?
"Yeah dad?"
"Oh Luke's here" he pointed out the obvious as he approached them in the hallway. "How you doing mate?" he offered Luke his hand and he took it respectfully, giving him a gentle smile.
"Good thank you sir"
"Sir? No... It's Henry. You staying for tea?"
"Yeah he is, dad" Gemma answered for him.
"Glad you're back, she can't function without you! Slipped out the bloody bath last week and had a huge black eye, did you see it?" her dad asked and Gemma bit her lip nervously as Luke shook his head, shooting her a quick glance. Fuck.
"He fucking hit you again didn't he?" Luke snapped, slamming her bedroom door behind them.
"No!" Gemma insisted, this time she was telling the truth but understandably it didn't look that way. Luke walked up to her, taking hold of her shoulders, his bright blue eyes burning into hers.
"Tell me the truth, Gemma"
"He didn't hit me, okay? Keep your voice down!"
"Isn't it funny how you hid it from me then? If you slipped and fell, why didn't you tell me?"
"Because I knew you wouldn't believe me!" Gemma took his hands off her shoulder and sat back on to the bed, casting her eyes on to the floor. Luke sat next to her, his hand finding its way onto her knee.
"You swear you're telling the truth?" he asked, lifting up her chin with his finger so that she was looking directly at him.
"He didn't hit me, Luke. I promise... He has barely said a word to me since I started back. I slipped and fell, that's all" she hated lying to him and she wasn't even sure why she still was. At first she had kept it from him because she hadn't wanted to worry him but now she had no idea why she didn't want to tell him. Maybe it's because she knew he'd feel sorry for her and if there was one thing she hated more than anything it was sympathy.
"You'd tell me if anyone hurt you, right?" he whispered, running his fingers through her hair and pushing it behind her ear. Gemma was tired of lying him; so she tried to take his mind off things by moving in for a kiss, taking hold of his neck and driving him towards her. Their mouths connected again and this time Luke was on top of her within a matter of seconds, his hands gliding up and down her body, exploring every inch of her. Oh god, it was going to happen... She couldn't have sex with him yet, she wasn't prepared. Her heart was racing as he slid his hand underneath her shirt, finding his way to her breast. No. She couldn't do this.
"Luke" she mumbled, pulling his hand away.
"Sorry.. I'm sorry, Gem..." he replied, moving off the top of her and lying beside her. "I didn't mean to do that... I just got carried away, I'm sorry"
"Stop apologising" Gemma ordered, propping herself up on to her elbows and turning to face him. He looked hurt and rejected; she hadn't wanted that. If only he knew how much she wanted him, but that was what terrified her. She wanted him too much and she didn't want to disappoint him...