My famous brothers

48. Back on set.

Luke's POV.

I drop Lucy off at school and make sure she's ok going back before I drive to set with Stacy. I'm not working today, just thought I'd go and clear the air so I wouldn't have to do it next week while filming.
"You okay?" Stacy asks me and I give her a weak smile.
"It's... weird. I've been inside for weeks and now..." I sigh.
"Luke if your not ready-." She says and I shake my head.
"No i... I need to do it. I can't keep hiding. Besides it's only our crew." I say. But when I pull in I find that's not quite the case. Paparazzi are swarming the entrance of the set entrance. I park up next to Jakes car to see him sat in it still thinking. I call him and he picks up.
"You look comfy." I say and he looks confused but when he sees me next to him he figures it out.
"You still going in?" He asks and I feel my stomach turn.
"I kinda have to face them at some point." I sigh and he gives me a nod.
"Your wearing sunglasses though right?" He asks.
"Oh yeah definitely." I say and he laughs.
"See you in there then." He says and hangs up. Stacy goes into the glove compartment and hands me my sunglasses. I thanks her and then slowly get out of the car. I join Jake at his side and Stacy goes to my other side and grabs my hand for support. They both shield me as best they can but I can still hear the questions that trigger the memories. Jake makes the path and I'm staring down following him. I used to be good with the paparazzi but now... they just make me so anxious. The second the doors to set open and close behind us I breathe a sigh of relief and shove my sunglasses on my head.
"You okay?" Jake asks and I just nod. I walk over with Jake and Stacy to the set their filming on today. They've been doing readings over FaceTime and practicing for hours just so we wouldn't fall behind on the schedule. I make up an excuse to go to my little campervan/ dressing room before any of the crew can see me fully. The paparazzi threw me off too much and j just need that moment to pause. Maybe this is harder then I thought it was going to be.

I manage to dodge anyone as I make my way there and then I lock the door behind me and focus on steadying my breathing and my shaking hands. Then for whatever reason I decided to open my phone and look at what the paparazzi had written about me and read until I ended up throwing my phone. It wasn't even that bad. It was just the memory of everything I'd pushed down since id been away. I walked over to the kitchenette and made a coffee, i'd barely slept last night thinking about today. I skip the milk and just down the whole mug and a second after.

There's a knock on the door and I just call for them to come in. I turn around and relax when I see steven.
"Bad time?" He asks.
"No. Want a cup?" I ask holding up the coffee pot before I pour another coffee.
"Sure why not." He says and I grab another mug and pour him a coffee. I hand it to him and then lead us to the seating area.
"So?" I ask and he smiles nervously.
"I just wanted to check on you after the paparazzi. I remember how they used to rattle you." He says and I stare down at my coffee.
"I thought it would be easier." I laugh weakly and he gives me a reassuring smile.
"You took a big step today okay Luke, don't loose sight of that." He says and I smile at him.
"Thanks." I say.

We sat there and just talked about everything I'd missed and things I'd be doing next week and what Steven had been up too and by the end of it I felt a lot better. Steven told me that Stacy and Jake both had late scenes and I still had to pick up Lucy from school to drop her off at Stacy's. I catch Stacy on her break and she tells me to go pick up Lucy and after 20 minutes of debating I leave. The paparazzi are gone now thanks to Stevens little call to security. I make my way to my car and lower my sunglasses again. I drive out and to Lucy's school just in time to pick her up when she came out.
"Hey how was school?" I ask mockingly and she laughs gently.
"Same old same old." She shrugs.
"Well I don't know about you but I want ice cream." I say and she looks at me.
"Yeah!" She cheers as I pull out. I take her to the little Cafe I took her to once. The owners know me and always offer me the loft area to myself since I'm a regular there and they know I get paparazzied most places I go now.

They lead us both up to the loft and we sit down. I order a coffee straight away and they nod and leave us to it.
"This place has great ice cream." I say pushing the menu towards her. She picks it and looks it over.
"I think I know what your order is." She laughs. She pushes the menu over to me and I laugh when she points exactly to my order.
"What can I say, I'm a sweet tooth." I say and she laughs.
"Well I'll see if it's actually any good." She says. The waitress comes back and gives me my coffee and Lucy orders the two sundaes. We talk till they arrive and then I wait to see how she reacts. Her eyes widen as she swallows and she gets bouncy in her seat and I laugh.
"That's so good." She says and I take a bite of my own and watch as she engulfs hers. When we finish I leave a large tip for them in appreciation and leave with Lucy. I drive her back to Stacys and hug her goodbye. I walk her too the door ans wait to hear it lock before I make my way back to my car. When I get back to it I sit down and sigh. I don't move. I just sit there and think. By the time I finally shake myself out of my daze it's been thirty minutes and I should be getting back. I drive back to mine but I continue down the road and turn into Jakes. When I knock on the door he answers. I don't even need to say anything for him to move out the way. He wraps an arm around me and I sit with all his roommates talking and hanging out. We have a few drinks but I walk away first with Jake. He leads me to the guest room and I say goodnight to him. I fall back onto the bed and lay on my side. Through the gap in the curtains I can see the dark outline of my house. It's not even the memories of that night keeping me away. The difference between me and Jake is he has roommates to keep his mind busy. I have a big house and the only thing that fills it these days are my thoughts. With Lucy I had someone to talk to when they didn't stop. Now she's moved out and it's back to being just me. I'm not quite ready for that yet. I close my eyes and sleep.