Self-Destruction • Luke Hemmings

Chapter 23

"Please tell me where we're going?" I beg Luke, we're walking through the town, passing shops I recognise, then some I don't.

"The bad side of town." Luke grins,I roll my eyes at the way he says this, and I presume he is joking, but I can't be sure.

"I hate surprises." I mutter under my breath.

He chuckles and then suddenly grabs my hand. I still at the sudden contact, but relax in his grip. I look up at him to see he is now wearing sunglasses so I can't see his eyes, but from the grin tugging at his lips, I know that they're slightly crinkled at the edges. Fuck, why did I think that, why do I know that? I shake my head slightly to stop thinking about him in this way, Michael said he's a player. I need to play him at his own game, I can't get feelings.

"Did you want to move to here?" Luke asks, distracting me from my inner conflict.

"I guess, I wasn't exactly the best kid, I didn't get good grades, I was a shit daughter, I did need a change." I shrug.

"You wanna know something?" He says, and I wait for him to elaborate.

"You've changed me." He says, I blink up at him, I've changed him? I've only been here for what, 3 weeks? How could I change anyone?

"I have done some bad things, but ever since you've been here, I haven't felt the urge to do them." He explains, and as much as I want to ask about these 'bad things' I remain quiet.

"Wow...erm..." I murmur, I'm not sure how to react to this. He just has this smile on his face as he continues dragging me towards our destination.

"A park?" I ask Luke, staring at the derelict looking park, it didn't look safe for us let alone children.

"This is not just a park, this place holds dear memories to me." Luke corrects, and I follow him as he strides towards the swings, which are swaying slightly in the weak wind.

"What memories are they?" I ask, as I sit down on one of the swings, and he sits on the other.

"This was the first place I had a fight." He says eventually, looking off into the distance.

"Oh." Is all I say, waiting for him to elaborate.

"It was with this kid, Dennis, he bullied me and I just snapped and told him we needed to sort this out, he thought I meant a fight and told me to meet him here. I did meet him here, and it was a proper fight. I left with a black eye, but he had a broken nose and he left me alone after that." He explained and I nod.

"Another?" I ask, I feel as though I'm learning a lot about Luke, things I could use to play him, rather than him play me, like Michael said he would.

"This is the place I first smoked. Where I tried drugs for the first time. Where I sold them for the first time." He listed off.

"Have you got any happy memories of this place?" I question eventually. His face immediately softened.

"I met Imogen here." He says softly, his eyes look distant.

"Who's Imogen?" I hesitantly ask.

"She was my girlfriend. I flipped out on her and her dad moved her away." He shrugs as though it's no big deal but from the way he speaks, I can tell it is. I remember the story Calum and Michael told me of Luke kicking a girl out of his house when she refused to have sex with him, is this the same girl? I start to ask but he interrupts.

"I want to make happy memories here with you, though." He smiles distantly and I involuntarily shudder; not because it's cold, it's because of the way he speaks of the future so easily. I don't want to live for the future, I want to live in the present.

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I have had really bad writers block lately and this story is really slow so I might start posting my Ashton story as well as this bc I'm actually Ashton af even though both my stories have Luke as the main😂

Love you all! -Rebecca x