redamancy // l.h au

twenty-six

"Sleeping beauty?" Luke whispered into my ear; his warm breath tickling my skin. "Wake up." I felt a finger tracing circles down my arm as I came into my senses. Somehow, in the middle of night, we'd shifted onto the bed, laying peacefully atop the blanket and pillows.

"Mmm," I murmured, snuggling deeper into his chest. I cracked one eye open to notice the faint light in the room, coming through from the blinds. When I closed both eyes again, Luke tapped me on the nose. "What time is it?" I yawned, rubbing the sleep from my eyes. 

"Around 6am." Luke smirked, focusing on the circles he was drawing across my forearm. 

I groan, "What did you wake me up for?" I sat up, crossing my legs, giving him the best glare I could muster at sunrise. 

He turns onto his back, placing his hands behind his head. "I have to go back to the apartment." I pout, opening my mouth to argue, but Luke shakes his head, "We all actually have a meeting to go to in a few hours. With a record label." 

"No way." I whisper, quite loudly, but Luke doesn't bother to tell me to be quiet. He smiles at me; the usual dimples, and a dazzling grin. "You didn't tell me this was even a possibility!" I smack him in the arm, and he jumps in surprise.

"If I knew you were going to hit me, I wouldn't have told you." Luke rubbed his upper arm, pouting. He sits up, then, grabbing my hands in his. His thumb runs over the back of my palm a few times before he speaks again, "We've been writing more songs lately; a lot more. I've a feeling they'll like it. Well, I hope so. I'm a bit nervous." 

"You're going to kill it." I reassure him, biting my lip to keep from smiling. "I'll be there in spirit." 

Luke narrows his eyes, leaning in. "I think that might distract me." He kisses me on the cheek, and even now, after all this time, a blush rises in my cheeks. 

He scoots off the mattress, and I follow after him, tiptoeing through the apartment in hopes that we won't awake Charlotte. 

As we open my bedroom door, we find her sprawled out on the couch. She gripped the TV remote firmly in one hand, while the other held a box of Cheez-Its close to her chest. 

Luke slipped on his shoes as we entered the foyer; his clothes ruffled from the night prior. "Never thought I'd be seeing you do the walk of shame, Hemmings." 

He smiles, "And, it won't be the last time." He wraps an arm around my waist, tugging me closer. "Don't you start school soon?" 

I nod, "In a couple weeks. Mom says I have to move my stuff back home in the next week or two." The thought of sitting at a desk, writing notes, desperately awaiting graduation day made my stomach turn.

"I'll miss our sleepovers." He sticks out his lower lip, making me dangerously aware of his lip ring. 

"Mm, maybe this isn't the end of them." I suggest, "Can you climb up a fire escape?" 

"Well, yeah, if you want a crippled boyfriend, because that will be the end result." 

"Drama queen." I tease, pulling away from him, but he reels me back in. 

"Says the girl who cried when her pigeon died." 

"Low blow, Lucas." I shook my head, smiling. "You better go." 

"I'll tell you how it goes." He kisses my forehead lightly. Luke smiles at me before opening the front door, and leaving me with sound of Charlotte's snores echoing from the living room. 

______

one month later...

 I was sitting among a sea of students in AP Physics, copying down our teacher's chicken scratch from the chalkboard. The instructor spoke, explaining the lesson, but I was lost in thought.