Foreign Exchange // Punk Luke Hemmings

Emotions

<Luke's POV> (You're all welcome ;D)

"As you wish, your majesty," I said, infusing each word with as much sarcastic venom as I could possibly muster. "It was nice talking to you again Grace," I flashed a smile to the innocent looking girl in the bean bag chair. I then walked out of the room , trying to look as confident and cocky as I could.

As soon as I reached Danny's room though, I collapsed in on myself. Thankfully he was at some practice for one thing or another. I really didn't care though. As long as no one saw me like this I was perfectly happy.

I closed the door quietly behind me, though it did little to block out the happy tones of All Time Low blaring from Haylee's room. I did it strictly for privacy purposes, so as not to be seen.

Locking the door, I slid down the wall, sitting on the carpeted floor feeling drained. I let my head fall against the wall, my eye cast down of my inked knuckles. I saw them without really seeing them, as I was lost in thought.

This girl, whom I had no idea existed until I came here, stole my breath away. Ever since I walked into the chorale room, I couldn't take my eyes away from her. I couldn't remove her from my thoughts long enough to do anything useful, and I couldn't stop saying her name in my head.

Haylee.

A beautiful name for an even more beautiful girl. Her eyes pierced into me like daggers, and I tried not to mind that they were usually filled with hatred. Her cheekbones were high and sharp, and her cheeks were always dusted light pink with blood. She was perfect and she hated me.

No surprise there. She was terrifying. Or rather, she just terrified me. She consumed my consciousness and thoughts like a fire does kerosene. She made an appearance in every single dream I had, and in most, she rejected me.

I found it harder than anything I'd ever done to show how I really felt about her. Emotions had always gotten me punished, so I didn't show them. All I knew how to do was make others miserable, and it seemed to be working with Haylee.

I blinked, tears coming to my eyes as they had been open too long. I looked around Danny's room, searching for something. But I had no idea what I was looking for.

Unable to find the strength to stand, I just sat there, my mind racing. Haylee brought up so many emotions that I had learned and trained myself to suppress, and that was the worst part. I had no idea how to feel about her because I had no idea how to feel the way I needed to.

So I acted the only way I knew how to. I acted like a cocky bastard who didn't need anyone, because that was how I was raised to act. I was taught that I could never let anyone inside, so I built up a fortress, and over time, after intense heat and pressure, the walls slowly turned to diamond. No one could hurt me, and I kept the walls up so no one could hurt me in the future. But I hadn't anticipated that the walls would only hurt those who tried to get inside.

Then, I cherished my safety. I loved that no one could get inside my impenetrable shield. Now, my problem with these diamond walls I had constructed was that I was also trapped inside, breathing stale air while the world around me changed. I hadn't aged at all inside, and that terrified me because now I needed to change, but I was imprisoned behind these invincible windows to the outside world.

The door handle was the first thing to shatter my thoughts. Then it was the insistent pounding, then the sound of Danny's voice.

"Luke?" he called. "You in there man? Lemme in."

I scrambled to my feet and quickly unlocked the door, throwing it open for him.

"Sorry Danny," I said, concealing my previous, weak state with a grin. It felt wrong, but until I knew how to get rid of my walls, I would have to keep the act up. "I was just changing."

"Right," he winked and entered. What else would I have been doing?

His hint suddenly clicked, and I scoffed. "Yeah right. I'm not that kind of guy," I laughed, shutting the door behind him.

"Say whatever you will. I won't tell Haylee. Promise," he chuckled as he sat down at his desk, making my heart skip a beat. He turned the chair to face me. "Speaking of my sister, she really seems to hate you. Why? I swear, as much as I dislike her, she's still my twin so if you've done anything to her-"

"I don't know why she hates me Danny," I cut him off. "I may have been a bit sarcastic to her or whatever, but I don't think I've done anything else." I knew that was a lie, but I wasn't going to tell him that.

"You'd better not treat her badly or I'll deal with you personally before my parents find out and deal with you as well," he warned.

"I get it," I nodded. "It's not like we're dating though..." My voice trailed off as I shrugged.

"And you won't be either. Not if I have any say."

"Got it." I nodded and leaned back against the wall, crossing my tattooed arms. The Arabic script on my my forearm stretched and twisted, and I closed my eyes. He wouldn't have any say because if I decided to open up to Haylee, or rather if I find a way to, I won't be willing to share that with anyone else. And I sure as hell wouldn't go back inside the diamond jail cell I built for myself so many years ago.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A/N

Hey peeps!! (I need to come up with a cute nickname for you guys.......)

I hope you all enjoyed that little view into Luke's world. It took me a while to write, actually, because I wanted it to be really good and I felt like I needed to justify his actions a bit. I honestly really enjoyed writing it, despite the difficulty, because I just have so much planned for Luke and Haylee (Laylee??? ;D I kinda did that on purpose...)

I plan on doing every fifth or tenth chapter in Luke's POV, depending on where I am in the story. So if the chapter is a multiple of ten or possibly five, it will be in his perspective.

II'll try to get the next chapter up soon. Sorry I haven't updated in a while and thank you all for so many awesome comments and reads and votes. I love you all!! <3

~CC