redamancy // l.h au

twenty-five

I sat on the floor of my bedroom, my back leaning against the end of my mattress. Luke had placed his head on my lap, twirling the ends of my long hair between his fingers. 

After the concert, he'd come back to Charlotte and I's apartment, and Dan had gone to Sam's apartment a few floors down. I leaned over Luke to change the song we'd been listening to on my laptop. 

He smiled up at me after the next song began to play, whose artist was some tall, blonde guitarist I knew. 

"You've bought our songs?" He tugs at my hair, teasing. 

"Of course I have. They're all on my most played list." I say, looking down at him with a smile. I thought he already knew that I loved the music he made, but I guess I didn't talk about it enough. "I especially love this one." I leaned over again, turning up the volume to the slow song. 

The song was about someone they've drifted apart from; long phone calls ended up being short voicemails, and constant 'I love you''s were replaced by 'I miss you''s. Close as strangers. 

"Me too," He whispered, grabbing my hand and pressing it against his chest. I felt his heartbeat; loud and fast. We sat in silence for a little while longer, but his eyes never left me. He let himself stare at my hair, my mouth, and my hands. 

"What?" I laughed, pinching his cheek, and he squirmed beneath my fingers. 

He sat up then, turning to face me, and pulling his knees into himself. He wrapped his arms around his legs, resting his chin on his knees. Luke looked up at me with a pout and shrugs, "I'm not sure what it is about you, Rhea."  

I cross my legs, leaning my head back. "What do you mean?" 

"No matter how much I know about you, I always want to know more. I always learn something new." 

"Does this mean I'm as mysterious as I think I am?" I ask, smirking. 

He nods, "Maybe even more so." Luke leans forward, giving me a kiss on the cheek. "Have you spoken to your dad lately?" 

"I called him a few times, but he hasn't picked up." I fumbled with the hem of my shirt, "He's probably busy." 

"He can't be too busy for you, though. He came here for you, didn't he?" Luke scooted closer, resting his head on my shoulder. 

"It's always been like this, Luke." I sigh, biting my lip. "This isn't something that a late night talk with him will fix. It's not some story that I can just rewrite an ending to, you know? It's a long time coming." 

"I know, I know," He mutters, "but what's the harm in trying? I mean, if you play your cards right, maybe he'll even take you to London. And, you could bring me along." 

I shove him, playfully, and he picks himself back up, putting his hand on my thigh and sketching patterns onto the material of my leggings. "You're incredibly beautiful." Luke whispers, almost as if he was talking to himself. 

"So are you." I whispered back, and Luke's cheeks reddened. 

"I mean it." He looks at me with those ocean eyes, and I'm lost. The hue of Luke's eyes were ones that I'd never seen before; so unique, so different, and mesmerizing. He'd set the standards up pretty high for blondes and blue eyes. 

"So do I." I tilt my head, smiling back at him. Luke leans into me, pressing his lips onto mine. He kisses me softly, almost as if he's afraid that if he holds onto me too tight, I'd shatter.

 His hands stay gripping my own in between us. His hot breath mixes with mine, and I'm lost in my senses. 

I feel everything at once, and nothing at all. His stubble brushes against my cheek as he tilts his head upward to kiss my forehead, my eyelids, and my nose. 

He kisses the corner of my mouth, lingering there as if to tease me. He pulls away for a second, "Rhea," His eyelids are half-closed, and his breath of ragged. 

The red in his cheeks had spread down his neck. His hands left mine, finding their way to my waist and pressing his fingers over the skin there. 

His eyes wander to where his fingers grazed; my top had lifted a little bit to show the skin above my leggings. He shut his eyes closed, taking a deep breath. My face blazed red, and so I pulled down the shirt a little more to cover the part of my waist that spilled over the leggings, but his hands stayed. 

I placed my fingers over his, and he slowly took his hands away from my waist. "I'm sorry-" I shook my head at him, silently explaining that my insecurities shouldn't come in the way of things. He gently leaned into me, causing me to place my head onto his shoulder. 

His hands played with the ends of my hair again, and he spoke so quietly I could barely hear him, "If you ever feel uncomfortable, just tell me, okay?" I nod, and curl up into him. "Everyone has flaws. I adore you too much to even recognize what you think yours are." 

We fell asleep like that; molded into each others arms. I felt at home when I was with him, and I didn't know how to describe it. 

I always thought loving and being loved were things that only happened in the stories I read. The princes and princesses received their happy ending, while I added another book to my shelf. It was something that happened by chance, or by luck. 

If that really was still the case, Luke Hemmings would be my winning lottery ticket. 

** 

A/N: heyyyo sorry for this short chapter but i wanted to give a lil snippet of whats to come. this story is going to end really soon :( ive been working on this for a solid year so im going to miss luke/rhea sO bad. 

ah i hope u enjoy c: x 

psa; FOR ANYONE WHOS EVER FEELIN BAD ABOUT THEMSELVES, UR BEAUTIFUL N GORGEOUS N DONT LET AN IDIOT BOY / ANYONE ELSE MAKE U THINK DIFFERENTLY x