moodswings, luke hemmings

jack, ben, and andy.

This chapter is for someone who said they wanted Jack, Ben and Andy's reaction to Clover's shit eating boyfriend. You ask, and you shall receive.

Nothing— and I mean nothing— will ever amount to the comfort Clover felt the second her head hit the bed she used to sleep in each night.

She slept through the entire day. She had her body so comfortable against the bed. Clover never slept on planes unless she was extremely exhausted. It was uncomfortable for her and she didn't like it—so the entire 15 hours, not one single shut eye.

Conveniently, she woke up around 12 pm the next day.

She trudged down the staircase to where Luke was standing, smiling and laughing with her parents.

"Hi Clove," Her mom was the first to greet her, coming around the kitchen island and wrapping her arms around her daughter. "How did you sleep?"

"Like a baby." Clover mumbled into her mom's shoulder.

"I'm glad." Liz laughed softly.

Luke had slept through the night as well—but he'd been with Ben, Jack, and Andy when they first arrived. Clover slept from the afternoon they arrived yesterday to now, but he'd slept at 12 am and woke up at 9 am.

The topic of Clover's shit eating ex-boyfriend came up and it was brought up how each one found out—which Luke had never really thought of before.

"Oh," Jack mumbled, leaning back in his chair. "I was literally in the middle of cooking dinner when mom called me, literally crying her eyes out. I thought something had happened to Clover, or dad."

Luke had his arms crossed as he listened.

"I couldn't even get the words out of her," Jack said. "She calmed down a little and told me. I remember freezing, literally watching as the water boiled from my pot, and not wanting to believe it. You sort of feel like... stupid. I mean, how could I not realize? I was around Gavin a lot."

"You were?" Luke's eyebrows went together.

"Oh yeah." He nodded. "I teached Gavin's younger brother to surf and he was always sort of there. I never picked up on the signs. I mean, there were signs, but I just— I kept telling myself there was no way Gavin would ever do that. I kept telling myself he loved Clove. But I ended up being very, very wrong."

"It's not your fault." Ben quickly said. "I mean— I never picked up on the signs ever and I told myself the exact same things."

"I went on a rampage, though." Jack said. "I turned off the burner on the stove and drove home so fucking fast. I thought I was going to get pulled over. I arrived at home and went inside in a frenzy," He let out a small laugh. "I don't even remember thinking anything other than 'I'm gonna go to jail', cause I wanted to beat up a 17 year old so badly."

Luke let a small smile on his face as the humor struck through. He too had wanted to beat up a 17 year old— very badly.

"Mom was crying." Jack nodded. "I comforted her to the best of my abilities. I asked her questions over and over—I wanted to know more. I was so upset. Mostly, I wanted to hold Clover and tell her that I was sorry."

"Again," Ben frowned. "It's not your fault."

"I know." Jack said. "I just— as an older brother, I just—"

"I get it," Luke interrupted. "I was a fucking wreck. When I found her in the bathroom, trying to ease the bruise pain, I swear to god I could've broken down. As a 26 year old man, I could've cried a whole fucking waterfall."

"I didn't know that was how you found out," Ben said.

"I had my suspicions." Luke nodded. "I sent her to America with me because I saw a bruise correction kit on facetime once. Then, I just noticed things. She was just not herself. Around 2:50 am, I was finishing writing a song and I heard her crying and went to the bathroom. She had a shaky voice, so I knew something was wrong.

"And I just.. I walked in and I saw the biggest bruise on her back and nearly freaked out. She cried so hard and I also let out a couple tears. It hurt a lot."

"I'm sorry, Luke." Ben frowned. "Has she... been doing okay?"

"She's a lot better." Luke nodded. "But the shit eater called her a few weeks ago and It set her back. He literally got a whole new number for her. I was not happy."

Andy shook his head. "I always hated him."

"You did?" Luke's eyes narrowed.

"He was a bitch. He always left his dishes on the coffee table, never even offering to clean them up. One time, he told Clover to clean it up and I got pissed and told him to clean his own shit up."

Luke looked down at the ground and exhaled.

"What about you, Ben?" Jack asked, meeting his brother's eyes. "I never knew how you found out."

Ben pursed his lips.

"I was..." Ben inhaled slowly. "I was at home, as well. But sleeping. It had been a long day. I woke up to the sound of my phone ringing, and it was mom calling. I answered it and she was a mess. I kept asking, you know, 'what's wrong, what's wrong?' and she told me and the only feeling I had was very intense rage.

"The thought of my little sister being hurt like that. The feeling that someone, who was supposed to love her unconditionally, hurt her." Ben mumbled. "I cried. I left the house. I cried some more. It was a very, very long cry session. I just felt.... So horrible. I was extremely close to buying a plane ticket and flying to Los Angeles just to hold her."

Luke frowned.

"We should take our little sister out." Ben nodded. "Take her to the beach. Get her surfing again. We should bring her to our old favorite restaurant we used to go to every Sunday night."

"I couldn't agree more."