chapter twenty: the people want answers
WEDNESDAY NIGHT. In the middle of a conversation I was having with Madalyn, my phone began to ring. I peered down to see who was calling and smiled to myself as I saw Luke's name.
"Luke?" Madalyn asked and I nodded slowly before she let out a quiet laugh and told me to answer. I thanked her and lifted the phone to my ear as I accepted the call.
"Hello, Luke," I answered, interested to see what he'd be up to.
"Hello, Joseline," he countered and then immediately let out a soft laugh. I hadn't talked to Luke much after the video we filmed together, other than in the two other group videos, and I still felt sort of strange about the result of Luke Hemmings would be my boyfriend. "Michael is on his way over and I thought maybe you'd like to join?"
"To... hang out?" I asked Luke, genuinely surprised by his request. Not that it was out of the ordinary to hang out, but I wasn't expecting the combination of just Luke, Michael, and myself. It seemed random.
"No, Jos, to have a threesome." I could picture Luke's eyes rolling and I let out a small laugh. "Yes—to hang out."
"I think that sounds fun... you're sure I won't be intruding?" I asked Luke, not wanting to ruin their time together.
"You won't be intruding at all—Michael wanted me to ask you to join," Luke told me which surprised me further.
"I'd love to join," I told Luke truthfully. "Should I come over soon?"
"Yeah, just whenever you can," he told me. "Are you at home?"
"Uh... yeah," I told him, trying to think of any other place I'd be. I really didn't get out very much.
"Is Madalyn there?" I laughed at Luke's words and instead of answering, I handed Madalyn the phone. She furrowed her brows but took the phone anyway, bringing it up to her ear.
"Hello?" she asked and then nearly immediately smiled. I heard Luke from the phone—he seemed excited as he realized that it was Madalyn. I zoned out as they spoke, but kept a smile on my face. I genuinely appreciated how much Luke seemed to like Madalyn. "I'm giving you back to Josie, now... okay... okay." I came back to reality as Madalyn said my name and I looked up at her as she started to end her conversation with Luke. "Yes, I promise," she told Luke which caused my eyebrows to furrow. "Secret's safe with me—bye." She handed me my phone back and observed my confusion; she mouthed that she'd tell me later.
"I'm back," I said as I brought the phone to my ear. "I'll get ready and be over soon, okay?"
"Okay, sounds good," Luke told me. "Don't make us wait too long."
"You guys will be okay," I declared, knowing they wouldn't miss me too much. "I'll text you whenever I'm leaving."
"Okay. Bye, Jos."
"Bye, Luke." I ended the call and looked up at Madalyn. "What's the secret?"
"He just told me to say that," Madalyn said and I rolled my eyes but kept an amused smile on my lips; that was very Luke. "You're leaving me?"
"Is that okay?" I asked her, suddenly worried she had wanted to spend time together. She simply laughed and nodded her head.
"Of course," she told me. "I'll probably just have Howie over."
"I should be home before ten or so," I told her with a shrug, not imagining a reason why I'd stay later.
"I won't be surprised if you don't come home," she told me with a wink, which caused me to laugh dryly.
"That's not happening again," I told her. "Luke makes sure to remind me... over and over."
"When do you guys think you'll realize?" Madalyn asked me ominously.
"Realize what?"
"That you're slowly falling in love?" Madalyn said 'love' in a funny, drawn out voice and I slowly rolled my eyes to emphasize my irritation.
"You're delusional, Mads."
"You're blind, Jo, and it's starting to become concerning." I sent her a glare and she smiled sweetly. "He's no better, though... you two drive me crazy. Oh—I almost forgot! That video! Did you guys plan to admit meeting sooner than the interview?"
"What do you think?" I told her and she bit her lip nervously.
"You guys were cute in the video."
"Shut up," I told her as I started to walk away from her.
"I'm serious! Really cute!" I walked into my room and sighed to myself.
If only I felt comfortable enough to tell Madalyn about my feelings for Luke.
. . .
I had gotten to Luke's place about twenty minutes later. I was standing in front of his door, waiting patiently after knocking to be let in. I felt nervous for some reason as I waited. I had no idea what to expect of the night ahead, but I was sure it would be fun. I was genuinely excited to spend more time with Michael.
Eventually, the door opened and Luke revealed himself, wearing a big grin.
"Hey, you."
"Hey," I said, sending Luke a smile as he opened the door wider to let me in. "Did I take too long?"
"No... I guess we were okay waiting this long," Luke joked with me. "Do you want something to drink?"
"Uh—no, I'm good for now," I told him. I became painfully aware of the lack of sexual tension between us and felt sort of strange knowing that things were truly casual between us.
I really needed to get over these feelings.
Luke and I walked into his living room and I was surprised to see Michael on the couch, his phone set up on the coffee table as he live-streamed.
"Hey! There she is," Michael said as he glanced over at me. Luke ran over to Michael and sat down beside him. I felt my cheeks heat up as I processed my current situation. I felt mildly set up, but I also didn't mind. With a sudden burst of energy, I rushed toward the boys and squeezed between them, becoming the center of the stream.
"Wow, a surprise live just for me? You guys shouldn't have!" I got my face closer to the phone and both the boys began to laugh. I started to promise I was only kidding with them and started to stand, but Luke gently placed his hands on my waist and pulled me back down. I laughed as I ended back up where I had weaseled my way into and smiled at the phone. "Whatcha guys doing?"
"The people want answers, Josie," Michael said which caused my eyebrows to furrow. "This is an informal interview," he explained which caused my eyes to close as my lips curled into an embarrassed smile.
"No crazy questions," Luke promised as he got comfortable beside me. "You know I wouldn't do anything to embarrass you."
"Do I?" I asked Luke as I looked over at him. He simply rolled his eyes as he scoffed. "Luke acts like he's a saint which is hilarious to me," I informed those who were watching. "Can I have a moment alone with them, before you start asking me questions?" I asked, directing my question at Michael. He shrugged but nodded. I simply took Luke's phone into my hands and held it so that it was only showing me. "How are you all doing?" I asked and looked down at the comments that were rolling in. I read one of them and smiled. "Someone named Hanna just told me I looked lovely."
"Doesn't she?" Luke asked as he popped his head into the frame. I nudged him aside and he laughed as he took his face out of view. I didn't know what Luke was trying to pull, but he'd be hearing from me as soon as this was over.
"Thank you, Hanna. I'm sure you look lovely as well." I looked back at the comments and began to read a couple more. I saw one in particular that said 'JOSIE !! if you and luke are a thing, touch your hair !' which caused me to laugh out loud. It also made me hyperaware of touching my hair for the time being, which I would not be doing. "I wanted to let you all know that I saw your comments about me being a fake fan on the video from yesterday... and I wanted to come on here and say that I know. I'm really trying to learn and grow, though, so I hope you all will come to accept me as one of your own." I set the phone back up where it had been before and looked at Michael, then Luke. "Okay... I'm ready."
"We have a lot of questions planned out," Michael told me and I suddenly became curious as to how long ago they had planned this.
"I can't believe you set me up coming over here," I told Luke as I crossed my arms. He smiled sweetly at me and nudged me with his elbow.
"I would never do something like that," he told me as he shook his head. "I'm sure I told you this is the reason I asked you over." My eyes playfully rolled and I waited for them to start asking me questions.
"I just tweeted out that I needed more questions to ask you, so I'll incorporate some of those soon," Michael said. "Luke, you do the honors."
"Okay," Luke said, seeming excited. "You sure you're ready for this, Jos?"
"Would you just hurry up and ask me something," I said impatiently as I slightly turned toward Luke.
"Okay, okay! Josie Culley—how are you doing? I feel like I haven't asked you that lately." Luke started out dramatic, acting as if he was going to ask me something important, so his simple question caused me to laugh.
"I'm doing fine, Luke. Thank you for asking, that's really sweet of you," I told him.
"I am pretty sweet," Luke jokingly bragged as he modestly shrugged. "But seriously, how have you been these past couple of weeks? You've recently found a new passion."
"I have?" I asked him, which caused him to laugh.
"Yeah, putting up with me on camera?" he reminded me and I suddenly realized he was referring to the recent change in my job.
"Um—and me," Michael said, reminding us that he was here as well. I made sure that I was sitting back, so that I was able to see them both equally.
"I don't know if I'd call putting up with you two plus Ashton and Calum a passion," I started off. "I have recently delved into something new, however... and it has been fun, honestly. It's brought some chaos, but nothing that I can't handle. I have loved having so many of you interacting with me," I pointed to the phone as I spoke, "it's genuinely been a very fun couple of weeks." I glanced at Luke just before I started to speak again. "I can honestly say that getting to know you four has been a very joyous experience and I am happy that it happened. I'll be sad to send you off in a couple of weeks, but I'm glad we have this time to make a memory or two."
"We'll annoy you plenty after all this," Michael promised me; which I thought was sweet. "Do you think you'll keep doing more of the interviewing once we're out of the picture?"
"I have no clue what my plans are once this project is over... they know about the project, right?" I suddenly became nervous but the boys nodded as they laughed. "Anyway, I'm really not sure what will happen after this is over. I might just go back to strictly editing." Luke leaned forward and looked at the comments.
"The masses are saying that you shouldn't do that," Luke reported which caused me to softly laugh.
"I would love to keep doing this, honestly, but we'll just have to see."
"You're in school, right?" Michael asked me. "Not right now, of course, but you're not graduated?"
"I'll be a senior in the fall," I answered him with a nod. "That's another reason I'm really unsure if I'll be doing anything like this for very long. School is still a priority, so I have to focus on that. I'm scheduled to finish up my major requirements in the fall, so I'm hoping to graduate early."
"And you're a journalism major?" Luke asked, even though he already knew the answer.
"It's like you know me or something," I joked with him. "Yes, I am."
"When Josie and I first met—" My eyes widened at Luke's words and I abruptly looked at him, just as he cut himself off. "In that club—" Luke continued awkwardly, which caused me to chuckle. "She told me she was a journalism major. I guess to impress me or something?"
"Shut up," I said as I shoved him gently.
"She also told me about her modeling background," Luke said and I genuinely shoved him this time, hoping to push him sideways. He only smiled widely and held his balance, fighting back ever so slightly. "And how she's a nude model at—" I covered Luke's mouth with my hand as I started to make bizarre noises to cover up his talking.
"Would you stop it?" I asked him and he nodded. Michael was too busy laughing at us to be of much help. "Don't listen to a word this guy says," I told those who were watching. I took my hand away from Luke's mouth and he played nice by staying quiet. He also wrapped an arm around me and pulled me into his chest, to annoyingly hug me. "Get off me, you dummy." I laughed as I pushed away from him and he only continued to smile.
"Are you two done?" Michael asked me which earned him a glare. "Okay, first fan question."
"That makes it sound like I have fans."
"You do have fans," Luke told me, but I simply shook my head.
"Iris wants to know if you had a crush on any of us at first glance," Michael said with a smile on his face as he peered down at the phone in his hands.
"Oh please," I said as I rolled my eyes. "Iris is a very pretty name, but I refuse to answer."
"You're hiding something," Luke prodded and I simply shook my head in amusement as I continued to look at Michael, trying to ignore Luke.
"Okay, okay. Teddy wants to know if you actually listened to us before meeting us."
"Yes, I did. My best friend is a huge 5SOS fan, so I grew up listening to you guys... but I will admit I wasn't very immersed. I have a couple of favorite songs and could probably sing along to every song on your all's first album, but I don't really know the names of them."
"Did you have a favorite out of us?" Luke asked me.
"I saw you in a tutu once and fell head over heels," I joked which caused Luke's cheeks to turn a shade of pink. "I do remember being obsessed with the clip of Harry Styles singing to you during Teenage Dirtbag."
"But that was because of Harry, wasn't it?"
"I mean... yeah," I answered Michael's question and both of the boys found the heart to laugh. "Harry wasn't my favorite, though."
"Bullshit," Luke said, laughing to himself. "You told me Friday night that Harry was your favorite."
"Okay! He was, for the most part, but my favorite was originally Louis... I still think the world of Louis, but I jive with Harry a little more," I explained which caused them both to laugh. "Harry was my guilty pleasure for a while... I didn't want him to be my favorite, you know? Plus I liked Louis because he was older."
"Imagine if she had this much to say about us," Luke said to Michael which sent him into a laughing fit. "You've really let us down."
"I'm sorry," I told him, sticking out my lower lip. Luke looked down at me and as we stared into each other's eyes, I felt my heart begin to pound.
"Okay, next one," Michael said, causing me to snap out of my slight daydream. "Penny wants to know if you have any tattoos."
"Yes, she does," Luke answered for me which caused my blood to run cold.
I had a small flower tattoo that lined the underneath of my left boob.
"I haven't seen it, but she's told me about it," Luke said with a shrug—seeming to lie successfully for once. "Isn't it on your hip or something?" Luke continued to act as if he didn't know much about it, even though he often commented on it being lovely.
"It's right under my boob, actually." I laughed nervously as I admitted that in front of so many people. "I forget about it a lot. I got it in high school to rebel against my parents."
"How'd they react?" Michael asked, seeming genuinely interested.
"I showed my mom a picture of it when I told her about it, and she genuinely liked it. My dad knows I have one, but he's never asked me anything about it. Sorry dad." I looked over at Michael to see him scrolling through the tweets.
"So many of these are asking about you guys," Michael whispered quietly which caused me to laugh.
"Isn't it funny how they're so persistent?" I asked Michael and he nodded, a smile plastered on his face.
"Do you sing, Josie?" Luke asked me as he placed his head on my shoulder.
"Not even sort of," I told him, shaking my head vigorously. "I saw one of you tweet that you thought I was secretly starting a music career, and that these goons were supposedly picking me up—I really enjoyed that theory, but I am sadly musically inept."
"I'm sure you're not so bad," Michael assured me, but I knew I was horribly untalented. "Next time we do this, we'll just jam out."
"I'll pass," I told him. "Do you have any more questions for me?"
"I have one," Luke suddenly perked up, getting my attention instantly. I urged him to go on after realizing he seemed nervous. "What do horses say when they fall?"
"Gee, Luke... I don't know, what do they say?"
"I can't giddy up," he said and I tried my hardest to keep back a laugh, but a small one came out.
"Oh, Josie—you cannot encourage him like that," Michael told me, immediately scolding me for letting out a laugh. Luke seemed to be ecstatic and I started to tell Michael that I tried not to, but that it just happened.
"What can I say, Mike? She's a smart one... she knows a good joke when she hears one."
"I think she knows a good joke when she sees one, too. You absolute buffoon."
. . .
After an hour-long stream and another hour of hanging out, Michael decided that it was time for him to head out.
"I'm really glad we did this... it was a lot of fun. And thanks for being such a good sport about the live, Josie. I hope that didn't annoy you."
"Are you kidding? It was a lot of fun," I told Michael as I smiled up at him. "We should make a habit out of it."
"Yeah... maybe we should," he agreed as he began to smile. "Well, I'll see you two tomorrow?" Michael asked and both Luke and myself nodded. "Okay... I'll see you then."
"Bye, Mike," Luke said as Michael started to leave the room.
"Bye, Michael!" I called out.
"Bye, Josie!" A couple of seconds later, I heard Luke's door close.
"And then there were two," Luke narrated which caused me to laugh lightly. "Sorry for dragging you over here."
"No, I'm glad you did," I told him. "However... I have a bone to pick with you, Hemmings."
"What did I do now?" he asked as he launched his head back.
"Are you trying to make the masses think we're a thing?" As I asked, Luke's head slowly raised. "I mean... maybe I'm just crazy, but I swear that's the flirtiest you've been. Possibly ever."
"I want people to think we're friends... good friends." I was still confused and that caused Luke to sigh. "I want you to write the article, Josie."
"What?"
"The article for Tony... I want you to write it," he told me, nodding his head slowly. "I was thinking about it all day and I know it's what you should do. And I'm glad you let me know about it, because I think we can make it out to be something really great. Something that'll be exactly what she's asking for, but that undermines her perfectly."
"You've actually been thinking about it?" I asked Luke, finding it sweet that he had gone to the trouble of making some sort of plan.
"Of course I have... I hate that you've been put in such a shitty position. Let's work on it together...it'll just be a retelling of getting to know me, and finding out about all my great qualities," Luke boasted which caused me to laugh.
"Are you sure, Luke?" I asked him and he nodded as he lifted his hand and tucked a strand of my hair behind my ear. "You've got to stop doing shit like that," I warned him and he raised his hands in surrender, but we both eventually laughed. "So... just write a nice article about making a new friend?" I asked him.
"Exactly... just a story of two people finding out that they like being pals," he said, which caused me to smile sadly.
"You know, it would be really nice to get it done and over with. Could I use your laptop?"
"Of course," Luke told me before excusing himself to go get it. I already had some ideas running through my head, so I wanted to get them written down as soon as possible.
Luke came back into the room with his laptop and he got it set up for me before we started to work on the article together. I typed out an introduction to the article, mainly to outline what I was planning to talk about, and from there we brainstormed together.
We altered the truth ever so slightly by leaving out bits and pieces of our real experiences together. It was nice to talk through things with Luke without feeling strange—talking to Luke continued to be easy.
Luke eventually turned on the television, deciding to watch Friends from where we left off at my place, and I laid against his shoulder as I continued to type the article. I would ask for his guidance every now and again, and if I hadn't asked in a while, he'd ask me to read whatever I was working on.
After an hour of typing, I finished and sent myself the article. It was nearing ten o'clock at this point, so I told myself that I'd go home after one more episode of Friends.
However, as the episode continued, and as Luke and I continued to get closer to one another, my plans of going home changed.
to be continued ...
a/n:
oh hey!!! funny to see u here !!!
this chapter gave me a headache and i feel like i'm gonna wanna rewrite it at some point ..... but there's no time for that !!!!
technically i missed a day of updating BUT there are some of u out there in other time zones so i think i'm safe
i hope u guys enjoyed this chapter !!!
lemme know what you think !! and PLEASE lemme know what kind of things you might wanna see happen/people u wanna see more of !!!!
thank you SO much for reading !!!
i love u all !!!!
<3
jill