somebody else. ❀ lrh

better her than me.*

AVERY.

"Luke.." my voice is soft against Luke's back, my cheek lazily pressed against the array of freckles dotting his skin. The boy barely stirs, somewhat of a hum escaping his parted lips between gentle snores. I repeat myself again, my hand nudging at his bare waist in further attempts to wake him.

The buzzing of his phone on the nightstand had woken me from my peaceful dream, a small stream of early morning sunlight casting across Luke's bedroom. His phone was insessant, whoever needed him was quite diligent this morning.

"Hm?" Luke murmurs, shifting himself onto his back, a rough hand rubbing at his sleepy eyes. His hair was an utter mess, blonde strands sticking in all directions, his lip ring crookedly tucked in the corner of his mouth.

"Your phone," I tell him lethargically, adjusting to his movements and resting my head on the pillow beside his own, "Been goin' off for like, ten minutes."

"Shit," he curses, seemingly becoming wide awake in a matter of seconds, hurriedly snatching his still vibrating phone from the bed side table. "Hello?"

I couldn't hear who was on the other line, but based on Luke's shift in body language, it wasn't good. "Yeah, fuck- sorry. My phone was on silent. Let me shower and I'll be right over, okay?"

Hanging up, Luke tosses his phone back on the nightstand before releasing a small sigh, shuffling back into bed beside me. "Everything okay?" I ask quietly, a sense of deja vu washing over me.

Luke's tired eyes meet mine, softening almost instantly. He's quick to wrap a hand underneath my bare waist and pull me towards his chest. "I was supposed to meet Chels twenty minutes ago to go over final statements before I go in today."

"I'm sorry," I blurt, attempting to remove myself from Luke's grip but his hand fastens me in place. "I should've tried to wake you earlier-"

"Shut up," he chuckles lightly, playfully rolling his eyes. "It's fine, I'm not late for court, that's the important shit."

"Okay." a soft sigh falls from my mouth as I settle into him, fingertips trailing along the short whisps of hair on his upper chest. "You nervous?"

Luke releases a huffed breath, "I mean, yeah. Potentially losing everything I've worked for in the last four years isn't really ideal but Chels says we have a good case."

Ashton and Calum's distressed words ring through my ears from a few days before, making the lump in my throat much more apparrent. "What if- what if you don't?"

His finger hooks underneath my chin, forcing me to meet his eyes, narrowing slightly as he searches my face, "What do you mean by that?"

"I wasn't-" I break his gaze, attempting to carefully choose my next words, "Michael's just- not a good guy, and I'm- worried. About you."

"Avery," the blonde's tone softens as our eyes meet again, "Don't be worried about me, okay?" the edges of his lips slowly turn upwards, but by the swirling storm in his eyes I can tell he's worried deep down, too. "I'll be okay. Chels is the best of the best, I promise."

Not that I doubt Luke's confidence in his lawyer, as he's talked so highly of her. I mean, her reviews online are overwhelmingly positive, I'm sure she'll do a phenomenal job. But something about Ashton and Calum's conversation really rubbed me the wrong way.

And sure, I could be misreading everything. I didn't even know the he they had been referring to. Of course, my mind believes it should be Michael, but for some reason I have a deep suspicion it was Luke.

But how could that even make sense? Why would Ashton want to see Luke lose everything? Wouldn't Ashton lose the company too? Nothing is adding up and that's what bothers me.