Selfish Appetite [5 Seconds of Summer]

[44]

"Unspoken words." 

- - 

The house buzzed with the laughter and chatter of familiar voices, the kind of noise that used to feel warm, like a blanket over Sloan's shoulders.

Tonight, it was nothing but static.

Alice and Tony's engagement dinner party was supposed to be a celebration, and a chance to welcome Luke back home after his year away, but to her it felt more like a cruel joke.

She had nearly forgotten what it felt like to have her heart pound every time she walked into a room where Luke might be. 

He was late, making her tremble with relief that he wasn't going to come.

So when the doorbell rings an hour after the party started, Sloan, with two glasses of wine already in her, opens the door carelessly.

With a giant grin on her lips over something Mina had just told her, that faded the moment she saw him nearly towering over her.

He looked... different. Taller, maybe, more put together. He had that LA vibe now—calmer, less urgent—but the same disarming smile was there. 

Sloan opened the door so quickly, Luke barely had time to catch his breath.

She looked beautiful. In a dark-green dress that he knew was going to appear in his dreams tonight.

Thin straps framed her bare shoulders, and the dress dipped just low enough at the neckline to make his pulse quicken. The fabric fell to mid-thigh, revealing long, pale legs, and he was helplessly aware of how perfectly the dress suited her.

But it was her face that left him completely undone.

Her lips, painted a dark, sultry red, were full and inviting.

It was as if she had dressed with the sole purpose of knocking the air from his lungs—and it was working.

He'd seen her in more elegant attire and make-up in the past of course, but tonight, she looked actually breathtaking. He had to remind himself to exhale.

She arches an eyebrow at him, her expression nearly challenging.

He sees the flash of something in her eyes—maybe surprise, or the smallest spark of the warmth he remembered—but it was quickly replaced by an unimpressed look that only made his heart beat quicker in his ears.

"Oh," she says, leaning against the doorframe, her arms crossed in a way that made his stomach twist. "You're late." she clears her throat, realizing her previous uttering wasn't exactly a literary masterpiece.

Luke feels a pang, caught off guard by the way she looked at him: distant, almost like he was an annoying relative she had to tolerate.

He'd never seen her this cold. Angry and sad, yes, but not this.

He could feel the walls she'd put up, each one a reminder that he'd hurt her.

"Yeah, I...got held up. Sorry about that," he manages, trying to play it off.

She doesn't soften.

Instead, she tilts her head with a humorless smile. "Held up? That's funny. I'm pretty sure after the last time we talked, you were also 'held up'—for about a year."

Her words hit him like a punch, and he struggles to keep his expression steady, nodding slowly, as he feels the guilt creep up his spine.

He hadn't expected her to be thrilled to see him, but this...