“Wow this feels like déjà vu. Only backwards. But still as sucky as the first time.” I mumbled, watching as Kendra attempted to shove her suitcase in the trunk along with Wyatt’s. A pair of arms wrapped around me from behind, and I took in the familiar smell of Luke’s cologne.
“You know they’ll keep in contact, Dae.” He murmured, resting his chin on the top of my head. I squirmed out of his grasp, pulling a face.
“Ugh. You know I hate when you do that. It’s bad enough that I had to deal with it from Wyatt for four years. Don’t you start.” I complained. Luke didn’t smile at my attempt to change the subject, and I sighed.
“I know. And I have you and the other boys here with me. But I wish I could have everyone.” I felt tears begin to form in my eyes, but Luke wiped them away before they could get very far. Luke understood exactly what I meant, and his hands found their way to my shoulders, squeezing them gently.
“Hey. Those two right there are not your mum. Alright?” He said, his voice taking on a more firm tone as he pointed to where Wyatt was making fun of Kendra for packing the car keys into her suitcase. “They’re not going to forget you’re here, and they sure as hell aren’t going to stop talking to you.” He paused, and I realized he was waiting for a response, so I nodded.
“I know.” I said, looking at my two best friends. Wyatt slammed the trunk of the car shut with a triumphant look on his face and turned to face me. His grin disappeared immediately and he crossed the space between us quickly.
“Don’t you start, Dae-bird.” He warned, which caught Kendra’s attention.
“No!” She yelled, jogging towards me. “I won’t allow this to be a cry-fest. “ She scolded. I nodded, letting out a short laugh at her choice of words.
“I’ll try.” I assured her. “Now, we need to get you two to the airport.”
--------
I sat on the couch, staring at the newspaper clutched in my hands. The headlining story seemed to taunt me, the black words screaming news I had yet to hear from the source himself.
LOCAL BAND 5 SECONDS OF SUMMER TO GO ON WORLD TOUR WITH POPULAR BOYBAND ONE DIRECTION
That wasn’t where the problems started, though. No, they started with the first paragraph of the article, where it was detailed just when the boys would be starting their tour with One Direction.
Two weeks.
And they wouldn’t be back in Australia for over eight months.
When the front door opened and four rowdy boys tumbled into the Hemmings household, I barely even flinched. I did, however, get up from the couch as soon as a certain blond-haired boy sat down next to me, passing the other three, fairly confused boys on my way to the kitchen. I didn’t say a word to any of them.
“Daeyna?” It was Michael who spoke first, as he was probably the first to enter the kitchen out of the four of them. I was leaning against the counter, facing away from them.
“What’s wrong, babe?” Luke’s voice sounded next, and that was what threw me over the edge. I whipped around so fast it was a miracle I didn’t get whiplash.
“You want to know what’s wrong?” I asked, my voice deadly calm. I could see immediately that the tone of my voice put all four boys on edge. It was one thing to have me yelling at them; it was something entirely different to hear me speak so calmly when something was so obviously wrong. Nobody said a word for a moment and I continued.
The newspaper rustled and crackled loudly as I pulled it up in front of me, opening to the headline I had read over and over for the past thirty minutes. If the boys had any reactions to seeing the paper itself, I didn’t catch them, too focused on the task at hand.
“Local band, 5 Seconds of Summer, to go on world tour with popular boyband, One Direction.” I read. “But wait, there’s more!” My calm façade began to crack as I read on, my voice raising in pitch as each word passed through my lips. “It seems luck is on Australia’s side this year, as the local band, named 5 Seconds of Summer, has been asked to accompany world-famous boyband One Direction on a world tour this coming year. The tour, titled Take Me Home, will be One Direction’s second, and 5SOS’ first, and will start in London in less than two weeks.” I lifted my gaze to look at the four boys in front of me. Ashton was looking sheepishly at his shoes. Michael had found something on his shirt to be very interesting, and Calum was picking at his fingernails. Luke was the only one still looking at me.
“Dae—“ He began, but I cut him off, holding up my hand.
“The interview in this paper,” I began, crumpling the article in my hands as I spoke, “Was conducted over a week ago. Kendra and Wyatt were here, and they left five days ago. And since there’s so much information in here, I’m assuming it was known well before the interview took place. Hell, the interview was obviously because of the tour.” I growled.
“Look, I’m sorry—“ He began again. This time, his words were cut off when the balled-up newspaper hit him square in the chest.
“When were you planning on telling me, huh?” I snapped, feeling anger make my heart beat faster. I began pacing in front of the counter, my bare feet making quiet tapping sounds on the tile as I stepped. “When I saw it on Twitter? When I found the plane tickets in your room?” I stopped my pacing abruptly, a thought coming to mind. “You weren’t, were you? You were going to wait until we were in the fucking car, on the way to the airport. ‘Oh, by the way, Daeyna. After we drop you off at school, I’m going to fly off to London again. Then I’ll spend some time in Europe, a little in the USA, then Canada. We’ll dip into Latin America for a moment, then we’ll head back to the UK for a little bit before coming home. Eight months later. Hope that’s okay with you.’ “
“I didn’t know how to tell you, okay?” Luke interrupted me before I could continue with my rant. The entire room went silent for a moment as I gave him the most incredulous look I could muster up.
“You didn’t know how to tell me?” My voice had once again taken on that calm, eerie tone. “You didn’t—so you just assumed not telling me was the better option?” I ran my hands through my hair in frustration before shaking my head in disbelief and stalking out of the room. I heard a muttered ‘damn’ from one of the other boys as I rounded the corner and stomped up the stairs.
Luke didn’t follow me immediately. Judging by the muted conversations I could hear going on downstairs, the boys were deciding how to handle the situation they’d created by hiding the truth from me. I’d already decided, though, and that was very apparent to them when they appeared in my doorway, catching me in the middle of zipping my suitcase shut.
“What are you doing?” Ashton’s voice sounded very confused as he spoke. I shrugged, not turning to face him as I crossed the room and pulled my laptop charger from the wall, rolling up the chord and tucking it into a side pocket on the suitcase.
“Packing.” I said simply.
“You’re leaving?” Where Ashton’s voice was confused, Luke’s was hurt. This time, however, I did turn around, my tear-filled eyes meeting with his.
“Yeah. I’m going home.” I confirmed. At this, the other boys took their cue to leave. I heard their shuffling feet as they went back down the stairs
“Why?” He asked.
“Well, I’m going to have to go eventually, so I figured now was as good a time as any.” My guitar let out a muted ring of notes as I picked it up, pushing it into its case as gently as I could.
“Don’t go. Just—why don’t you come on tour with us? Mum is going and—“
“I’m not dropping everything here to go on a tour with you, Luke!” I snapped, dropping the textbook in my hand on to the desk with a loud thud. “I have classes to go to. I’m almost done with this year, and then there’s only one year left until I graduate. I have exams to study for, colleges to apply for, job options to consider. Yes, it’s great that you’ve got a tour lined up, and maybe, if given a lot more time to think about it, I may have said yes. But you’re leaving in two weeks, Luke!” My voice wavered slightly. “That’s not enough time to prepare. Hell, I was given two months to work on that damn Africa cutout for geography, and look at it!” I exclaimed, pointing to the red-painted cardboard cutout of the continent. “It’s due on Friday, and I’m nowhere close to being done.” By the time my rant was finished, I’d packed everything in the room. Surprisingly, there wasn’t much there. The only large items were my suitcase and my guitar. Then there was a bag that held my laptop and various wall decorations, and my backpack and pillow. And of course, that damn Africa cutout. All of it fit into my arms easily.
“Don’t go.” Luke’s voice was pleading, and I had to resist the urge to look at his face, knowing that if I did, I’d be way too tempted to stay. I brushed past him, looking away so he didn’t see the tears beginning to make their paths on my cheeks.
Ashton intercepted my halfway down Luke’s driveway, leading me to his car and insisting that it wouldn’t be a problem for him to drive me home. I had just closed the trunk when the front door banged open and Luke stormed out into the yard.
“Fine! Leave, then!” He shouted. Calum and Michael raced out of the house and grabbed him, trying to pull him back inside. “You know, I thought you were special. I thought—Well, I guess it doesn’t matter now, does it?” His voice cracked, and even from this distance, I knew he was crying. And, of course, that made me cry even harder than I already was.
“You don’t lie to those you think are special, Luke!” I cried out, trying my hardest to choke back sobs so I could speak clearly. “You don’t just let them—you tell them things. You tell them when you’re leaving. You tell them when you’ll be back, and you just—“ I paused, and Ashton took that opportunity to guide me to the passenger side door. He opened it, but I didn’t get in right away. My gaze locked with Luke’s, and I said the one thing I knew I shouldn’t, but couldn’t keep from my thoughts.
“You’re just like her.” He knew who I meant. And the looks on the other two boys’ faces told me they did as well. Ashton gently ushered me into the car, and as soon as the door was closed, I broke down in ugly, body-wrenching sobs.
The sobbing didn’t let up for the next several hours. I cried as Ashton helped me bring my stuff into my house. I cried as I told my dad I was coming back for good. I cried when I realized I didn’t say goodbye to Liz and Molly. But I cried the most when I realized that there was no chance that Luke would ever forgive me for my words.
I’d compared him to one of the only people in my life he was the farthest from being. My mom. Luke’s situation was nowhere near my mom’s. He didn’t tell me he was leaving because he didn’t know how. Not that it was an excuse for keeping me in the dark, but he didn’t do it because he didn’t care.
And so, lastly, I cried because I fucked up.
Big time.
////////
Woah! Last chapter wooo! Well, not technically. I've got an epilogue coming up on Friday probably because I'll probably be drowned in family tomorrow. SO, since all of you lovelies can only expect ONE more update on Bully, I'm going to point you in one of two directions.
Direction One)) If you like Calum, I have a fic for you! It's a sad one, so keep your tissue boxes handy. It is titled As The Memories Fade, and it would mean a lot to see more feedback on it, as the lack f response its getting is making me nervous that it's not a good fic.
Direction Two)) If you like Ashton, I have a fic for you! This one is also sad, but in a different way. However, unlike the Calum fic, this one deals a lot (and by a lot, I mean the entire thing-- each and every chapter-- will mention it at least once) with suicide and pretty much everything related to it. That means a shit ton of potential for triggering material, so please, PLEASE keep thast in mind if you want to read this one. It is titled When We Go, and I'm literally just about to post the prologue for all of you to enjoy.
So follow a path, comment, vote, and make my day! =))
And, lastly, I really hope you American readers out there have a wonderful Thanksgiving! I'm totally looking forward to the food, and since it's at my house this year, I get to help make it! YAY! That, and I'm going Black Friday shopping with my bestie! I'm sure if you follow me on any of my social media sites that you'll see what happens with that. Hopefully nothing too crazy! For any non-American readers, have a great day in general! I love every single one of you with all my heart, and I will see yu on Friday when I'm back with the Epilogue of Bully!
Toodles! (<<OMG I have a fish with that name!)