headline ; l.h

chapter 5 ; a little bit more

buxton - a little bit more

The next days started out okay. Luke and I have been talking through calls and texts, which leveled up our friendship probably. We spend two days of spending time with each other at our designated cafeteria table. I've spent a lot of time with his friends too. and they're surprisingly nice too. Well, except for Olivia. I never really liked her and I never will.

Katie and I finally got next week's papers organized and now in the process of printing.

"Oh my god. Emily. Our newspaper has never looked this good before. Your article is perfect!" Her choice of words reminds me of Luke. The original physical copy of next week's newspaper is right in front of her. We printed it first to make sure it looks fine when it prints. "And the blind item. It's not even obvious that we went with Casey and Hugh as our blind item! You are such a genius, Emily."

"Actually, Luke thought all of this. Well, except for the speech, it was my idea." I confide.

"Wow, he's actually kind of clever." She gushes. I badly want to tell her everything about Olivia. How much I hate her. How mean she is. Everything. But I can't just backstab a friend's girl friend. Especially when he's treating me like his best mate.

"I need to go to lunch. You coming with me?" I offer.

"No. I'm waiting for Matthew to come out of his class. Only a few minutes before we go to lunch. Go enjoy your time with Hemmings and his cute friends." She sits on a stool with the newspaper rolled in her hands.

"Are you sure you're okay here? The last time you left me all alone here, I heard footsteps." I chuckled.

"I'm fine. Go. And don't scare me, you bitch. Goodbye." She throws at me the newspaper but managed to catch. "And bring that back to me I'm not finished reading it yet!" then I walk out of the spooky classroom.

As I approach our table at the cafeteria, Luke and Olivia are nowhere spotted. Only Ashton, Michael, Serena, Calum and Belle were at the table.

"Hey guys." I greet and they return the greeting. "Where's Luke and Olivia?"

"They're fighting somewhere hidden." Ashton says before he takes a sip of his juice box, looks adorable.

"Or probably making up or having sex somewhere hidden." Michael chuckles.

"Are you still up for tomorrow, Emily?" Serena chooses to converse with me than laugh at Michael's disappointing joke.

"Yep. I still am. But Luke and I got in trouble so we both got in Saturday detention for two weeks." I sigh at the thought.

"What did you guys get in trouble for?" Calum smirks and I throw a tissue at him.

"Calum, we didn't do anything naughty, alright? We were caught talking by Babineaux." I shift uncomfortably in my seat.

"Ooh, that's a bad excuse." Calum scrunches up his nose.

"But I'm still going to go to Ashton's after that. I don't know about Luke. He seems to always have plans with Olivia." I roll my eyes.

"Oh my gosh, don't tell me you have a crush on Luke?" Belle practically screamed.

"No, I don't. He's like my best friend now." I act like it's such a funny joke she's telling. But I just couldn't hide the pain. I knew what I was feeling. And it wasn't good. Knowing that Luke and Olivia are together right at the moment somewhere makes me sick in the stomach.

"But it's still possible, though." Belle takes a sip of her cold cup of coffee.

"No, Belle. It's not going to happen." I sigh. When can I stop pretending?

Luke's image emerges from the cafeteria entrance and he looks kinda sulked.

"Hey Luke, we printed the newspaper today. Take a look at it." I hand him the newspaper but he budges.

"Emily, we need to talk now." He grabs my wrist with a tight grip.

"What? Where are we going?" I try to loosen from his grip but he's too strong.

"Somewhere."

He brings to the janitor's closet. I don't want to speculate what's going to happen, expectations always ruin the moment.

"Olivia and I broke up." He says with his eyes focused on mine. I didn't know that something that once looked full of life and color can look so dull and lost.

"What? When? Why?" I was shocked by his words. Part of me was happy, he was all mine now. But then a part of me says that I shouldn't be, because he is my friend and all he needs now is a little comforting and support from his best friend.

"Earlier. She said she was done with my shit. I don't know what to feel. I'm sad but partly I'm happy." He looks lost. He could really use some help here.

"If you really love her, then go run after her. It's not too late to fix this. Don't waste your time." My heart breaks into million pieces. I had to say it, I had to do it. I can't stand here and look at him like this.

"I will. Thank you Emily." He pulls me in for a hug and I don't resist. He needs me now. He needs me the most. He grabs my shoulders and connected his lips to my forehead. His lips are soft, partly dry, probably because of dehydration but I don't care. I need his kiss right now. I long for it. I can feel the metal ring on his lips touch my forehead. The cold metal soothes the frown I have. "You're the best." He parts his lips from my forehead. Kiss me a little bit more, I mentally say. But I have fears. We all have fears.

"Do you still love her?" I gather all the guts and ask him that.

"I guess so. I'm just afraid of losing her." He looks down at his hands.

"Is that the only reason you still want her? Why are you afraid of losing her?" I was the verge of tears. I hate seeing him like this.

"I'm afraid to be alone." He looks up at me and connects his dull eyes with mine.

Jesus Christ, Luke? Is that it? You're afraid of losing her? I am here. I'm here for you and always will be. When will you realize that? Even if you leave her, she's not coming back to you but you're not going to be alone. You have your fucking friends. (no pun intended) And you have me! God, Hemmings, when are you going to fucking realize that?

"If that's the case. Spare a day or two and think about it. Don't rush it. Be careful. Be cautious. Alright?" I pull him in for a hug and a tear shed. I wiped it as quickly as I could before he sees me. "And by the way. The newspaper's already printed." He smiles and it brightens up his eyes once again.

"No way." A big smile is plastered on his face despite what he's going through. He carefully reads every word and I watch him as he does. He flips through the next page and his jaw slightly drops in awe.

"You published your poem?" His jaw is still opened.

"Yeah, I did. Like what you told me." I smile and closed his jaw. He carefully reads and understands the poem.

There are people I will never know
and their lives will still ensue;
those that could have loves me so
and I'll never wonder who.

Of all the things to come and go,
there is no one else like you.

The things I never think about --
and the only thing I do.

"Is.. Is this for me?" Luke face lights up.

And before I could even answer his crazy question, he pulls me in closer to him. This time, not for a hug but this time for a kiss.

(a/n): WOAH WOAH HEMMINGS STOP EXPECTING THINGS!!1!

the poem is not mine ofc but im not good enough to write poems ugh

the poem is from lang leav's lullabies you should totally buy it bc it's super good

AND THEY KISSED!! AND OLIVIA AND LUKE NEARLY BROKE UP!! WE SHOULD MAKE A SHIP NAME WHY HAVENT I THOUGHT OF THIS BEFORE

EMILY + LUKE = EMUKE ?? EMILUKE ?? LILY?? MILUKE?? LYLUKE?? IDK YA'LL BE THE JUDGE ON THIS ONE BUT IM LOVE THE SHIP NAME LILY OK BYE