Disconnected | Luke Hemmings

chapter one

The bench at the airport felt like a prison. My legs felt heavy and weighted down as I tapped my toes anxiously, looking in every direction. I looked at the arrivals and departures screen impatiently for probably the hundredth time in the past five minutes. One by one, people passed through the sliding glass doors, carrying luggage or being greeted by family members. But none of them were who I was looking for.

The coffee I had purchased at the little convenience store inside the airport terminal had gone cold, but I took a sip anyway, hoping that it might wake me up a bit. Caffeine typically didn't help ease the jittery feeling between sleep and awakeness I was experiencing, but I just wanted a pick me up. Not too many people wake up at three in the morning to go sit and wait in the airport.

Of course, not too many people have boyfriends who just finished a world tour, either.

It took a fair bit of convincing for my mom to let me wake up and take the car to the airport in the middle of the night, but she knew how much I missed my boyfriend, Luke Hemmings, and she loved him almost as much as I did, so eventually she caved. The weight of lack of sleep threatened to pull my eyelids shut, but the anxious feeling of anticipation in my chest kept me wide awake. The flight that carried Luke and the rest of his band, 5 Seconds of Summer, would be landing any minute now. Then it would only be a matter of moments before they had their bags and would walk into the lobby where I would be ready and waiting.

Four and a half long months had passed since I had last seen Luke and the boys. Well, in person that is. There had been many Skype calls, Facetime sessions, text messages, and phone calls. Luke and I shared most of those between the two of us, but I missed the rest of the band—Calum Hood, Ashton Irwin, and Michael Clifford—as well, so I kept in touch with them, too. I was so proud of them for doing what they loved and for all of the success that they had earned, but it was so hard without them here. They were some of my closest friends, and Luke...well, I loved him more than anything. Being apart from him for such a long period of time was awful, and every night my heart ached for him. We had communicated in some way or another every day that he was gone on tour, and as much as I had appreciated it, it wasn't the same as having him here with me.

I looked up at the large screen in the airport that displayed the listed arrivals and departures and felt my breath catch in my throat when I saw that the boys' flight had landed. They were so close and it was all I could do to sit on the bench and wait until they were through security and had their bags in hand from the luggage claim. Every passing second felt like a lifetime. I didn't even need the coffee anymore; my anticipation had me on full alert.

It didn't take long though, and there they were. All four of them looked exhausted and were flagged by their tour manager and a couple of regular security guys, but all I could focus on was Luke. He was wearing a black hoodie and black skinny jeans and had his favorite backpack thrown over his shoulders, dragging his suitcase behind him sleepily. He was talking to Ashton and therefore didn't see me, but I couldn't see anything but him. Immediately, I leapt off the bench and darted across the tile floors to meet him.

Luke only saw me seconds before I slammed into him, almost knocking him over in the process. I flung my arms around his neck and inhaled the scent of him, hardly believing that he was actually there, that it was actually him. It was only when I pulled back just enough to look at his face that I realized there were tears in my eyes.

Luke placed his hands delicately on the sides of my face and looked into my eyes, as if trying to memorize the way they looked. Clearly, I had surprised him. Mission accomplished.

"Hi," he breathed, wide-eyed. He looked like he didn't believe I was real. "You're here. I didn't expect...oh God, I missed you."

He leaned forward and pressed his forehead against mine, then closed the space with a kiss. It felt so good to kiss him, to feel the pressure of his lips on mine and to feel his hands slide down to my waist to tug me in closer. It was like we had never been away from each other in the first place.