Fire on Fire [L.H]

twenty-nine



I put my flat iron down and grabbed the splitting comb to comb out the strand of hair I just straightened. I heard a knock at my door then Crystal's voice. "It's about time. You ready?" I walked to the room door and opened it for her.

"Just about. Come in," I told her, walking back to the dresser mirror. It was Sunday and I was getting ready for the Aria Awards.

"Girl, you clean up real nice! Not that you don't always look nice but you know what I mean," Crystal said as she looked at my dress.

"Thanks," I said, laughing at her. I set the comb down and picked up my earrings to put them in. "Can you go to my bag and grab me a pair of black heels? I don't care which ones," I asked. Crystal hummed yes and began walking to my show bag. She went shuffling through my bag and pulled a pair of shoes out after I put my last earring in. I walked to the bed and Crystal handed me a pair of heels she chose. I sat down and began putting them on.

"Girl, if Luke didn't love you before, he's gonna love you now." I froze and lifted my head, looking at her slowly. She smirked before covering her mouth. "Sorry," she said behind her hand. I shook my head and looked back down to slip my foot into my heel as a small smile crept onto my lips. Something about that comment gave me butterflies and I couldn't help but want to smile. I don't know why either. We have literally not talked in the last five days. Friday night I guess counts since I had that breakdown. Yesterday morning, that was probably our first actual conversation the last few weeks. But after I left his room, I didn't really talk to him after that.

"I still don't get why you aren't going with us," I said to her after slipping into my last shoe.

"I don't walk the carpets. But I'll be in the dressing room when you guys get done."

"It's still not fair that you get an option and I don't," I said.

"This is your job, not mine," Crystal commented. I nodded in agreement. That is unfortunately true. I grabbed my phone and placed it in my black handbag. Once I was done with everything, we headed out of the hotel room. The boys were meeting us in the lobby so we headed our way down there.

By the time we got there, the boys weren't there yet, but I did see Devin and Terry. "Ladies, you look lovely," Terry said. We both thanked him. When we got closer, Terry and Devin pulled me aside. "How are you feeling about this?" He asked me.

"I mean, I have to do it so what difference does it make?" I asked him.

"Look, it's just gonna be simple, fast, and easy. All I want you to do is just walk the carpet, take at least one round of photos with him alone, and go into the theater. That's it. Nothing too crazy. I know you're not a big fan of mobbing paparazzi and large crowds so I don't want to make you feel any more uncomfortable. And I already know that the whole situation and being with Luke is the last thing you want to do right now. So let's not make it overwhelming for you." For the first time, I think Devin has actually understood me.

(Luke's POV)

We walked out of the elevator together and headed down the hallway to find the girls. "You good?" Ashton asked me.

"Just wanna get there and get out," I told him, hands in my pockets.

"Oh come on, you love award shows," Calum said with a roll of his eyes.

"I know," I said, sounding glum. We made it to the lobby and I saw Crystal scrolling on her phone before my eyes found Dani in the corner with Terry and Devin, having a conversation. For the first time in a while, she actually looked kind of relaxed and calm.