haunted || l.h.

20

"Paisley are you okay?" I heard Luke's soft voice say from the other side of the door. My lips were trembling as I tried to catch my breath and keep my hands from shaking.

"Paisley I'm opening the door." He said after I hadn't answered.

When he opened the door the two of us made direct eye contact. Except he was calm and collected and I was a shaking mess that can't breathe.

"Hey it's okay. It's okay Paisley." He said softly and rushed over to me.

"They're not going to hurt you, you're safe here, you're safe with me, you're safe with us. You're okay, everything's okay." He said reassuringly and held my shaking hands in his and gently stroked my skin.

"I-I c-can't-"

"It's okay it's okay. Calm down it's okay." He said and tried to help me settle my breathing and settle my shaking hands.

Once I could actually breathe normally I lunged towards him and wrapped my arms around his waist. He immediately held me back and practically wrapped his entire body around me. He whispered soft, comforting words in my ear and ran his fingers through my hair.

I felt my lip tremble and a lump for in my throat as this overwhelming feeling of comfort and security. I can't explain it, but he was the only one that made me feel safe and it was so overwhelming in the best way possible.

"You're okay P." He said and pulled away from me the slightest bit.

"I just wanna stay here a little longer." I whispered and looked up at him.

"Okay I'll tell them you had a phone call." He said and went to leave the room but I just held onto his arm.

"Stay... please?" I begged as he turned back around to face me.

"Okay." He said and wrapped his arms around me like before.

"Hey we were thinking of having a fire on the beach and maybe have a few drinks what do you guys say?" Ashton asked as me and Luke walked back from the bathroom. Luke looked at me with a questioning look while I looked at him.

"What do you say P?" Luke asked softly.

"Yeah that's okay." I said and looked away from Luke and at everyone else.

"Great let's go. I'll drive." Ashton said and picked up his keys and led us out to his moms mini van.

Me and Luke sat in the way way back with Luke in the middle and Calum sitting next to him. Then in the middle row was Michael, Caroline, and Gracie with Ashton and Jade in the front.

My hands were shaking the entire car ride there just because I was so nervous. I don't drink and I'm not comfortable with these people at all. I was stressed to say the least, but I was doing this for Luke. He held my hand though the entire time while he talked to his friends.

When we got there an hour later Calum, Michael, and Ashton all ran off to find a spot in the sand by the water. Caroline, Jade, and Gracie all grabbed chairs, blankets, and huge pillows for us to sit on. Luke and I stayed back a bit. He hasn't let go of my hand since we got in the car and I was grateful for it. Even just him touching my hand sent comfort throughout my whole body.

"You okay?" He asked as we started walking barefoot in the soft, cold sand.

"Yeah I'm okay." I said and looked down at our feet.

"You don't have to do anything you don't want to do. I understand that drinking maybe isn't a good idea for you so if you don't want to then you don't have to. And if you don't want me to I won't either. They get a bit rowdy when they're drunk but I don't want you to be scared." He said and looked down at me as we walked.

"No you drink, it's okay. I want you to have fun." I said truthfully and kicked the sand as I walked.

"I don't have to. I want you to feel safe, and if you think that you won't while I'm drunk then I won't have anything." He said and stopped me from walking so he could look me in the eyes. His eyes looked so beautiful in the moonlight, I can't even explain it but they looked so light and so beautiful.

"I promise it's okay." I said reassuringly.

"Okay. Caroline will probably be driving so she's not going to drink anything either." He said and I just nodded my head before we finished walking over to everyone else.

"Paisley what do you want to drink, we've got plenty of options for you." Michael said as he opened the cooler that they had brought that was full of alcohol.

"Oh I'm okay." I said and felt Luke look down at me from beside me.

"Are you sure? We have water too if you don't want to drink." He said which made me feel relieved. I kind of expected them to be the type of people that judged you for not wanting to drink alcohol, but he didn't seem that way.

"Waters fine." I said before he reached down in the cooler to get me a water bottle.

"Come sit, we still need to get to know you better." He said and took my free hand and dragged me away from Luke, making my sense of comfort disappear.