fixed // luke hemmings

thirty five

"Dude, I was just about to call you," says the red-haired boy as he enters the room.

"Well, here I am," Calum responds, as Michael notices me and his mouth drops open.

He freezes, one foot in front of the other, and his phone comes crashing to the floor. Ruby, still seated on the sofa, looks from Michael to me again and again. I don't say anything. Neither does he.

A few awkward moments have passed, until Ruby screams, letting it all out. This catches our attention.

"Shit, you sure do have some lungs on you," Calum chuckles, before taking Ruby through to a different room.

When they're gone and the screams have died down, Michael makes an attempt to pick up his phone, but with his eyes still on me, he fails once or twice.

"Hey," he says finally, as he takes a step forward.

"Hey," I echo, unsure of what to do next.

"Do you wanna sit?" he asks, gesturing towards the empty sofa.

I nod as I sit down, so close to the edge, I'm almost sitting on the arm of the sofa. 

"You don't have to be scared of me, Alex. Am I such a bad guy?" he asks.

I can feel his eyes on me, although I'm looking straight ahead, nervous.

"N-no, it's not that. I know, I mean, you're okay. I'm not scared, not really," I say, stuttering. 

"Are you sure?"

"Mhm,"

"Then look at me," he says, lifting my chin up and moving it so I'm looking directly at him.

Michael laughs when he sees the anxious look on my face.

"Don't worry, I'm not gonna hit on you this time,"

"Are you sure?" I say, feeling more comfortable.

He raises one eyebrows, "Pretty sure,"

I let out a deep breathe that I've been holding in since he entered the room. He's here. This is real. I can't tell if I'm nervous or excited, maybe a bit of both, to see Luke. What if he doesn't even notice me? He might think I'm just another crazy fan (sorry Ruby).

"I'm sorry, okay. For, like, everything. If I could change what happened between us then I would. Alex, I was an asshole, but I realised it all too late," Michael says, moving closer to me.

I shake my head, "We all did things that we didn't mean for to happen. You're not the only one who made mistakes,"

He goes quiet and looks down at the floor, "Er yeah, Luke told us. About you two,"

"He did?" is all I say.

"Yeah. It was, like, a week after we last saw you and he completely fucking broke down. I hadn't seen him get so worked up over something before. But he lost it. Honestly, he cried so much that day that we had to cancel a stupid meeting because he didn't want anyone to see him in the state he was in," Michael says quickly. 

I smile, not because I wanted Luke to be miserable, but knowing that I wasn't the only one.

"Did you ever - um, talk about me?" I ask.

After hesitating, he says, "Mmm, we did a little. I mean, anything that happened, like any stupid little thing that reminded us of you, we would smile a little and think of you, but no one really brought up your name, even though we knew each of us were thinking of it. I think we did it for Luke. He really did miss you, it felt like a crime to bring you up in a conversation, because it would hurt him so much,"

Wow. I really had no idea that Luke felt like this. All these years and I had just assumed that he was happy, or at least not sad, because he was achieving his goals, making a career out of it. 

"Damn, I hope the little shit comes in soon. We've wasted a lot of time," Michael says, changing the subject.

I check the time on my phone, "Go," I say.

He stares at me, startled and unsure, before jumping up off the sofa.

"What? No, why? Are you sure?"

I smile a little bit, "Yeah, just get back out there,"

"But what about Luke? And, like, we didn't even get to talk properly!" he says, his voice rising slightly.

"Why don't we meet up? I don't know, um, you could visit my hotel?"

Michael shakes his head and sits back down, "No, no. We've only been gone for 15 minutes. A little longer won't hurt,"

"Michael, honestly, it's fine,"

"It's not fine! I want to talk to you,"

"But-"

"Wait!" he says as an idea comes to his mind.

He grabs his phone from a desk and chucks it over to me. I catch it, just about.

"Put your number in," 

I raise my eyebrows slightly, before typing my number into Michael's phone.

"There," I say, handing it back to him as he walks back over.

"Okay then," he smiles, "I'll call you,"

I step closer to him and he holds his arms out, a great big smile on his face.

"Thank you, Alex," he says, as he wraps his arms around me.

"For what?" I ask, resting my head on his shoulder.

"For coming back," 

I smile to myself, happy that I came, as Michael strokes my hair softly. His arms are wrapped around me so tightly but carefully, making me feel safe and wanted.

Just as I take a step back, when the hug is over, me and Michael turn our heads towards the door. 

It all happens so fast.

There are voices, two; one talking and the other one laughing - giggling.

I could recognise that giggle anywhere.

The door opens and I don't say a word.

They both walk into the room and I hear Michael take a deep breath.

At the same time, Calum pokes his head around the other door, "You guys finished talking?"

Luke is still talking, laughing a bit at his own joke.

Ashton looks at me like I'm a ghost. I still don't say anything.

He nudges Luke, who stares at Ashton, a look of confusion on his face.

Ashton then moves his eyes in my direction and Luke looks over to me.

I swear I stop breathing.

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

ok ok ok ok sorry this is a kinda short chapter but omg ok

basically im listening to fetus 5sos right now and i cant cope so here you go im an emotional wreck love you