Faithfully (A Luke Hemmings/McKayla Maroney FanFiction)

One

And if the earth ends up crumbling down to its knees, baby, we just gotta get out. And if the skyscrapers tumble down and crash around, baby, we just gotta get out. 'Cause I feel so damn lost and it comes with a cost of being alone...  

Thundering down the steps, Luke Hemmings shoved his hair out of his eyes and slid with perfect precision into the kitchen, his earbuds in his ears, the distinct beat of AC/DC's Thunderstruck pounding through the entire room. Wearing a Green Day t-shirt, dark gray boxer-briefs, and black socks, he moved his head to the music, mouthing the lyrics with intensity. As he spun around, he pulled out his Cinnamon Toast Crunch and a bowl, dumping it in and grabbing out the milk. Then, from behind him, someone yanked out his earphones. Spinning around with death in his eyes, he couldn't believe that anyone dared to mess with his music, and then he saw that it was his mother.

"Oh, hi," he realized that his voice was inappropriately loud, so he quieted. "What's up?"

"Well, it's your first day back from break. I was just making sure you were going to school," she folded her arms over her chest.

"Yes, I'm going," he mumbled. He hated his stupid school. Danvers Prep. Stuffed full of stuffy, stuck-up, snots that wouldn't know a bass line if hit them over the head.

"Good," she nodded.

Then, coming down the stairs in his bathrobe, was Walt, his mother's husband. They'd been married three years now, and Luke could never escape the feeling that his mother had married this man for the lifestyle he gave her. He hate to say it about the most incredible woman he'd ever known, but the minute she got engaged with a five-carat diamond, she had really stopped being that woman. Her youngest son recalled stories of his parents when they were wild college students following rock bands on their North American tours. He remembered the story of how his father had proposed, with a dented piece of aluminum he'd fashioned into a ring when he'd found it at a truck stop on their way to San Francisco to see Nirvana. They were married by a ship's captain in the bay when they woke up there with band and various other people with no memory of the night before. Liz had always cited it as the most romantic sunrise in the history of the world, watching the sun come up over the Golden Gate Bridge, marrying the man of her dreams, with Kurt Cobain as a witness.

Now, she dressed in power-suits and mom-jeans, attended PTA meetings, and listened to Demi Lavato and the Weekend. Luke shuddered. It wasn't like he hated these people, but to think of what she used to be, now reduced to pop music and vanilla suburbia...

"Hiya Sport," smiled Walt at Luke as the man planted a kiss on Liz's forehead.

Is this guy for real? That was Luke's go-to response for most things that came out of Walt's mouth. Instead, he went with: "I'm going to be late for school."

He ran back up the stairs, he barely-touched bowl of cereal still on the counter. His mother looked at it and sighed, her mind going back to the last morning that she felt like her family had been all together, the day of the circus. By the time she married Walter, Ben was already off at college, and Jack followed quickly after. Luke was the only one who had to stick around long enough to try and make their threesome a family, and despite Liz's best efforts, he didn't seem particularly interested. Then, he wasn't interested in most things after that day.

Luke jammed his earbuds back in as he peeled off his shirt and picked up a Nirvana shirt. With a heavy sigh, an image of his father's body, blood pooling around him, and Luke was hit with the familiar nausea that always accompanied memories of that night. So he cast aside the Nirvana shirt and picked up a Metallica one. He was feeling a little less Teen Spirit and a little more Nothing Else Matters anyway. Yanking on his favorite, over-worn pair of jeans, he ran his fingers through his hair and put in his earrings and lip ring, much to his mother's chagrin. And she didn't even know about the tattoo.

Shrugging on his leather jacket and grabbing his backpack that was light from a lack of books with the new semester, he slung it onto his back, music still playing, as he ran out so fast his mother's head spun. She shot a look at Walter, who didn't even see her over the paper.

Flying down the steps and out the front door, he unlocked the beautiful, bright red, brand new Mustang he had gotten for his sixteenth birthday. The perks of having a stepdad desperate to buy your love. He slid into the leather interior and pulled out his earbuds, turning on the stereo with the Sex Pistols blasting. A smirk tugged across his lips and he screeched out of the driveway and onto the road toward Danvers Preparatory Academy. One of the not-so-perks of the stepdad thing. The man insisted that his stepson go to the best school in San Francisco.

When he drove into the parking lot, his car was the only thing about him that fit in with the others. Then he stepped out. A couple of girls looked at him, but that was all they ever did. These perfect, pristine, society girls loved the fantasy of a new money bad boy, but they wouldn't condescend to talk to him.

"Hey there stranger," came a sunshine voice that could only belong to Rhae St. Cloud.

With a wincing smile, he turned around to her. "Hi."

"You ready for Hatred High?" she raised an eyebrow.

"As I'll ever be," he stared to walk and she fell into step beside him.

Rhae was a five-foot-two, currently blue-haired pixie with a devilish smile. She was the one other person in this place who believed in anything progressive. San Francisco was a city that belonged to people like Luke and Rhae, but their school was a far cry from their town. As soon as the two of them stepped inside, they were swallowed up by a sea of well-dressed teenagers. Dropping his head, Luke put his headphones back in and tuned out the rest of the world, even Rhae.

She tapped him on the shoulder and smiled at him as she moved in her own direction, toward her math class. He continued on straight down the hall, sliding into his desk in Mr. Carpenter's Biology class just as the bell rang. His teacher gave him a look and he turned off his music. Taking a breath Luke sunk down in his chair and kept his eyes straight forward. And, to his shock, he was staring at the back of a head he didn't recognize.