I awkwardly shuffle in my seat. Why did I ever agree to come here?
Noah flashes me a big smile as he jogs onto the field, pulling his helmet down over his face. I smile back, but it doesn't feel real.
I frown as my eyes scan the players lining up on the sidelines, trying to hide my disappointment.
There's no number 7.
My gaze travels over the stands, some of the tension draining from my body when I spot Calum standing in the shadows near the top of the bleachers. I start to make my way towards him, pushing past other students.
He looks absolutely terrible. There are dark circles under his eyes, saying that he hasn't slept that well these past few days. His hair is complete wreck like he's been tugging on it constantly, his jaw is clenched tightly.
"Calum," I say gently as I come to a stop beside him. "You ok? Where's Luke, shouldn't he be playing?"
Calum blinks as if just now noticing my presence. "Oh, hey, Emmy," he says with a small smile, but I can tell he's not really into it. "I'm... It doesn't matter. And as for Luke..."
He trails off, rubbing a hand over his face. "Luke is..."
He stops again and starts over. "Emmy, Luke's always had... issues. His family isn't the greatest and he wasn't quite sure what to do with all these bottled up emotions so he started getting into the drugs and if it was bad enough drinking too. He doesn't know what to do with himself."
"What do you mean?" I breathe.
Calum's eyes are on the game but he's not really watching it anymore as he speaks. "It got really bad two years ago. We didn't know how to help him, his family wasn't sure whether to acknowledge his behavior at all. He... We decided to put him in rehab because we were worried about him. He came back before school started and he seemed perfectly normal, but he never quite smoking. He saw all those girls in place of drinking and other drugs."
Calum sighs as he looks over at me, his dark eyes reading whatever expression is on my face. "He kinda snapped a few days ago and he's been recovering at home. We... We're not sure whether to send him back to rehab, or what even caused any of this."
I sit down heavily on the bleachers, my head spinning. I knew that there were darker parts of Luke that I hadn't seen yet, but I didn't know it was like this...
Calum takes a seat beside me, setting a comforting hand on my leg. "Hey, don't worry, we'll keep him safe. It would kill us if anything happened to him and I have a suspicion that you feel similarly."
I blush, trying to cover it up with a scowl. "Why would I? He's a fuckboy. I don't date guys I can't trust. In fact, I've never dated anyone before so this all very new to me and he treats it like it's some sort of game." The words pour out of me, harsh and angry. "He places all of the blame on me, but he's the one who was making out with Amber Davis in the hallway. But I got coffee with Noah once and he freaked out on me? It's so unfair!"
"If you want to kick his ass, just tell me and I'll hold him down for you," Calum teases, hitting my shoulder with his.
I giggle despite myself. "If he keeps acting like a dick, I might take you up on that."
We fall silent and the crowd cheers as our team scores a goal.
"Hey, do you want to... go see him?" Calum asks carefully, looking over at me.
"See Luke?" I say, shocked. "Why?"
Calum shrugs. "You're frustrated with him, but you're not a bad person. You'd be upset if something happened to him. It's one of Luke's superpowers, somehow making people care about him even if they're furious with him."
"Plus I know he'd secretly like it if you came and saw him," Cal adds in a softer voice. "Even if he never actually admitted it."
I sigh, dropping my gaze to my lap. "I don't know..."
"You don't have to," he says. "But if you want to, you're more than welcome to come. I'll give you a ride home."
I look back at the lacrosse game and sigh again, getting to my feet. "Come on, Hood," I say, looping his arm through mine. "Let's go before I change my mind."
Calum grins at me as he leads me to his car.
****
I bite my lip nervously as we pull up to Calum's house where he tells me that Luke's been staying to avoid worrying his family any more than necessary.
Calum puts the car in park and walks up to the front door, smiling reassuringly back at me as he pushes the door open. "It's ok," he says to me as he steps inside.
I follow him, not bothering to push the hair out of my eyes.
Calum's house is warm and smells like... home. He walks through the kitchen and down a set of stairs to the basement, where three boys are sprawled across a large L-shaped couch, playing video games on the TV.
"Luke?" Calum says gently. "I brought someone to see you."
Luke peers over the back of the couch, his eyes widening when they land on me. "Emmy," he breathes.
I shift awkwardly in the doorway, not quite sure what to say.
Ashton and Michael exchange a quick glance as they pause the video game.
"I'm gonna go order pizza," Michael announces suddenly, pushing himself to his feet. "Emmy, do you want any?"
"Sure," I mumble, ducking my head. "Any kind is fine."
He nods as he starts upstairs, Ash and Cal finding excuses to follow him.
Not quite sure what to do now that Luke and I are alone in the basement, I take a seat on the couch across from him.
"Look about Amber-" he starts suddenly, but I cut him off with a forced smile.
"I get it, it's ok," I say. "You want someone who's perfect. And that someone will never be me. That's not why I came here. I came here to make sure that you were ok, not to make out with you."
Luke's expression is unreadable as he stares back at me.
"I left Amber right after you walked by," he says finally. "She's a bitch and I never should have kissed her in the first place. I just... I needed something to try to... take my mind off things."
He leans forward, running a hand through his hair. It lies flat without any product and I can't help but imagine running my fingers through it.
"You don't have to explain anything to me," I say coolly. "We're not together. You've made that quite clear."
Luke recoils as if I'd slapped him instead. "You were the one that kept turning me down-"
"Maybe I don't want to date a guy that sleeps around," I shoot back sharply. "One that I feel like I can't trust. I've never had an actual boyfriend before, Luke, and you're not making this any easier."
He looks at me in surprise. "You've never dated anyone before?"
"I'm not the kind of girl most guys are into," I say with a shrug, trying to hide the blush creeping up my face.
"No, but you're the kind I'm into."
I blush even harder, dropping my gaze to my lap.
"If it makes you feel any better, I've never really dated anyone either," he says after a beat.
I look up at him in surprise. "Really?"
Who wouldn't want to date Luke? He's like every teenage girl's dream.
Luke smiles, leaning back against the couch. "Yeah. I've never really been into the whole dating mess and I've never found a girl that I want to stay with for more than a night. Until you."
The leftover red on my cheeks darkens.
He shifts on the couch to sit beside me, my heart pounding at his sudden closeness. "I'm willing to try if you are," Luke murmurs, tucking my hair behind my ear. "Give me a second chance, Emmy. I can't stop cursing myself for ruining my first."
It's hard to think with him sitting so close to me.
"So if I walked into the girls' bathroom at lunch, I wouldn't see you making out with a cheerleader?" I breathe, almost too afraid to know the answer.
Luke shakes his head, his eyes flickering all over my face. "No. I'm all yours, Em."
Acutely aware of how close our faces have become, I tilt my up to lock eyes with him. "Then yes. I'll give you a second chance."
As soon as the last word leaves my mouth, we're kissing. I don't know who leaned in first all I know is that his lips were on mine. I carefully slid closer to him until I was almost on his lap, my fingers tangling in his hair.
"Don't make me regret this, Hemmings," I tease as I press my lips to his again.
His hand drops down to my waist, pulling me closer. "I fully intend not to screw this up. But no promises," he adds with a crooked smile. He deepens our kiss, opening his mouth against mine.
"Ok, pizza's ordered," Michael's voice says.
He breaks into a round of chuckles when he sees our position on the couch. "You guys really didn't waste any time making up, did you?"
I don't break away from Luke, too helpless to pull away from his warmth.
The couch dips as someone else sits down. "Could you at least move over so the rest of us can sit?" Calum says with a scowl, but I can tell he's fighting off a smile.
Luke tosses his friends a glare as he apologetically ends our short-lived make out session. He scoots into the corner of the couch, pulling me with him so I'm half sitting on his lap and half laying against him. "You guys ruin everything," Luke whines, sticking his lower lip out in a pout.
Ashton rolls his eyes. "The only thing we ruined was your chance to get some on Calum's mom's couch."
I turn my head into Luke's shoulder to hide the blush on my cheeks.
Luke wraps an arm around my shoulders. "Oh shut up," he says half heartedly but a faint flush colors his face too.
Michael chuckles softly as they resume their videogame, Calum taking Luke's controller.
I lean my head against Luke and relax. But there's still a part of me that wonders whether I made the right choice. Should I have given him a second chance?
I feel like I know the answer to that is not the answer I want to hear. But I'm too weak to tell him to leave me alone. It's like what they always say, the heart wants what the heart wants.
A/N:
I hope everyone had a merry Christmas or whatever you celebrate!! :)
Thanks so much for keeping up with this story, although it's probably not very good. Updates may take a while, but I'm doing my best to write something amazing for you guys!! Don't give up on me just yet! <3
Alright, I'm out like your mother in a beauty pageant
- A
P.S. Do you like the stupid exit lines?