The Jacket Snatcher

Chapter 61- The Volcanic Eruption

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After our fill of fun at the club, we get back to the tour bus at around 3:30 in the morning. Calum and Ashton are still wired, preparing snacks in the kitchenette while listening to music. Michael seems to be in a mood to chill as he heads straight for his bunk and pulls out his personal gaming system. And I find myself somewhere in-between. I'm not quite ready to go to sleep, but I am also done with loud music for the night.

After changing into my pajamas in the bathroom, I grab a book and head for the back lounge, pulling the door shut behind me. But before I can even sit down, it slides open again, revealing Luke in only a pair of sweatpants and a beanie.

"You know," I say, glancing back down at my book, "we're in the middle of fall in Chicago. Don't you think it's a little cold to be walking around without a shirt?"

He sinks down into the cushion next to me and leans around, putting his head between my face and the pages of my book.

"That's what the beanie is for," he says, pointing to the hat with a smirk.

In response, I move my book over to continue reading and use my other hand to snatch the beanie off his head and toss it across the room. He clicks his tongue as he goes to retrieve it.

"You know, if you wanted to wear it, all you had to do was ask." He sets it atop my head, pulling it down so that it smushes my hair in front of my eyes, effectively ruining my ability to read.

With a huff, I place the book in my lap and start to pull the hat off, but his hands stop me. One circles both of my wrists, holding them down in my lap while the other goes to my face. With gentle fingers, he lightly sweeps my hair away, tucking a few strands under the brim of the beanie. Once he's finished and I can see, his fingertips drag along my cheekbone down to my jaw before dropping to his side.

His eyes glance at my forehead, surveying his work, before finally resting on mine. I freeze as we stare at each other. I can feel my pulse spike in my chest at the look in his eyes. I suddenly realize how close we are sitting, and a magnetic pull tugs at me to move even closer. My eyes involuntarily flicker down to where his hand still holds mine.

But then, with a small smile, he lets go of my hands and sits back. The tension in my stomach flows out to my fingers as I clutch the book in my lap tighter.

"So what are you reading?" he asks, relaxing into the couch as if that feeling of longing and electricity between us didn't exist a second ago. And just like that, the moment passes.

The next few weeks pass with intense encounters between Luke and I becoming even more frequent. He's flirty and cocky, just like in the beginning, which is easy to laugh off. But then there are those moments where our history seems to surround us from all sides, shoving us together like the walls of a shrinking room. It can happen when we unintentionally encounter one another in a deserted hallway backstage, or if we get shoved practically on top of one another in one of the vans. Every time, a beat passes where I think Luke might kiss me, but then he says something cheesy or ridiculous, or completely off subject, and the edginess between us vanishes.

I'm becoming more and more frustrated because, once again, I am faced with the dilemma of not being sure what I want. It's obvious to me, and probably to him too, that I still have feelings for him. But is getting back together with him really that simple?

It's this question that runs through my mind as I watch a VIP meet-and-greet backstage at the Boston show. The beautiful fans are hanging on every word the band says, looking at them as if they created the actual universe. Wasn't this one of the biggest problems for us as a couple before? Luke's adoring fans mixed with my insecurities. And it's not like this is just going to go away...