Gray Area (sequel to White Noise)

Ch 17 - Use Me Anytime

"Oh my God, I'm freaking exhausted," I moaned as I plopped down onto the bed in my hotel room.

"You're exhausted?" Tori replied with a snort. "Try lugging around a two month old all day, and then tell me how exhausted you are."

Okay, she had a point. "Fine," I conceded, sitting back up. "I'm just decently tired. Better?"

"Much."

We had literally spent the whole day running all over Sydney trying to get everything ready for the wedding. It started off as a group thing, the six of us plus little Avery doing everything from watching Cal and Tori pick out their wedding bands to picking out flower arrangements and tasting cakes. Needless to say, that was the boys' favorite stop. Okay, mine, too.

After all of those details had been taken care of, our group split up. The boys headed off to get fitted for their tuxes while Tori and I met up with Mali and Ashton's sister Lauren, both of which Tori had asked to be in the wedding, at a local dress shop to pick out bridesmaid dresses. We were on a crunch for time, seeing as the wedding was now only three weeks away, but everything was falling into place perfectly.

"So, what are the plans for tonight?" I asked, changing the subject.

"Joy invited us all to her place. A lot of Cal's family is in town, so she's making a huge meal. You in?"

"You're kidding right? As if I would miss an opportunity to have Joy's cooking." Calum's mother was probably the best cook I had ever met. Every time she would visit Cal and Tori in Chicago, I would find a way to invite myself over just so I could eat her food. She always made sure to send me home with enough leftovers to last me for a month.

"That's what I thought," Tori laughed, glancing at the clock. "You better get changed, then. We're supposed to be there in an hour."

"What about the boys?"

"Cal texted and said they were finishing up a few things and would meet us there," she answered. "Now get up. If you keep sitting there, you'll end up falling asleep."

It took me longer to get ready than I'd like to admit, but once we finally got to Calum's parents' house, the rest of the gang were already there.

"Took you losers long enough," Michael commented, raising his beer in a salute. If Cal's mom hadn't been standing right beside me, I would have flipped him off. He knew it, too, because he gave me a cocky smirk and a sly wink. Jerk.

Once we had said our hellos and made our way through the crowd so they could gush over the baby, Joy took her from Tori so the six of us could relax and enjoy ourselves for a bit. We went down the massive buffet line Joy had laid out and piled way too much food on our plates, before situating ourselves slightly away from the crowd and digging in. Don't ask me how it happened, but I somehow ended up sitting on the ground with my back leaned against Luke's legs. He didn't seem to mind it much, and he gave me a wink when I smiled up at him.

We mostly ate in silence, mainly because we were all starving after a day of wedding planning, and the food was too good for us to stop eating long enough to get a sentence out. By the time we had all had our fill, I found myself with my head in Luke's lap and him running his fingers through my hair. My weakness.

"Holy shit," I moaned, feeling slightly miserable. "I'm stuffed."

"I can't even move," Ashton agreed, giving his full stomach a light pat.

"Pretty sure this is what it feels like to be pregnant."

Tori rolled her eyes from her spot next to Calum. "Yes, Michael. Being full is exactly what it feels like to be pregnant."

The six of us stayed where we were for a while longer, groaning and mumbling about how miserably full we were. Eventually, we found the energy to move and headed over to mingle with Cal's family a bit more. At one point, we found ourselves huddled around the fire pit talking to a group of Calum's cousins. It was a tight fit, so I decided to make myself comfortable in Luke's lap. Again, he didn't seem to mind, as he wrapped his arms around me. We had never really been as touchy as we were being that night, but I didn't really read much into it. He'd always seemed a little afraid of me before, so I was enjoying this new, more confident Luke.

After a while, the food, beer, and relaxed atmosphere started getting to me, and I leaned back into Luke and rested my head on his shoulder.

He gave me a little squeeze to my side before asking me quietly, "You getting tired?" I could only answer him with a little "mhm" as I snuggled deeper into him and my eyes drifted shut. He let out a soft chuckle and placed a tiny kiss to the side of my head. "Sleep, Lex. I'll wake you up if anything exciting happens."

That's the last thing I remember before being softly shaken awake what felt like only minutes later. I groggily opened my eyes to be met with the vivid blue ones of my blonde haired pillow.

"Hey," he whispered. "Wake up, sleepy head. It's time to go."

I looked around at our surroundings trying to get my bearings and realized that Luke and I were now alone around the fire pit.

"How long have I been asleep?"

"About an hour."

"Oh, shit." That caused me to wake up a little faster. I stood and stretched before turning back towards Luke and offering him a hand which he took eagerly. "Thanks for letting me use you as a pillow."

"Anytime," he responded with a grin.

We made our way back towards the crowd and began saying our goodbyes. I caught Michael giving the two of us some questioning looks, but I just brushed him off. I was too tired to deal with him.

Once we had made our rounds and Tori had Avery safely loaded into the car, I turned back to Luke with a smile.

"Thanks again for letting me nap. You make an excellent prop."

"Like I said earlier, you can use me anytime, Lex." There was a slight twinkle in his eye that I couldn't ignore.

I decided to be playful back, telling him, "Watch out, Hemmings. I might just take you up on that."

He laughed again, pulling me in for one last hug before I climbed into the car. I thought that was the last of our flirtation, but right before he released me, he whispered one last barely audible line into my ear.

"I'm looking forward to it."

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Luke and Lex sure do seem to be getting cozy. Kinda makes you wonder about that "blonde boy" Lex hooked up with in the prologue....

- T