Disconnected | Luke Hemmings

chapter five

When I woke up in the morning, I immediately wished I was sleeping again. My head ached and my stomach felt hollow. Just opening my eyes seemed to hurt. I was no stranger to the evil beast known as the hangover, though admittedly this one didn't seem too bad. As I laid in bed staring up at the ceiling and breathing deeply, I didn't feel like I was about to puke, which was a very good sign. Mostly, I just wanted to be asleep.

I rolled over and tugged the sheets in close to my naked body, expecting to snuggle close to Luke but instead finding only an empty side of the bed. I sat up and frowned, then winced as the sudden jolt of movement caused my head to hurt. I sighed and fell back into the pillows, then noticed a folded piece of paper resting on the pillow that had been Luke's. I unfolded it to find a note scrawled in his narrow, angular writing:

Good morning, beautiful girl

I'll be downstairs if you need me. You looked so peaceful and I didn't want to wake you up. I love you.

Luke xx

P.S. – Last night was incredible.

I smiled and refolded the piece of paper before setting it on the bedside table and dragging myself out of bed. I looked on the floor to see my outfit from the night before discarded in various areas of the room. I sighed and wrapped the bed sheet around myself like a dress. I poked my head out the door and checked to make sure the hallways were vacant before sneaking over to Calum's room to retrieve my bag that contained my clothes.

Hesitant, I knocked quietly, praying that the room was empty.

Of course, I don't always have the greatest luck.

Calum swung open the door a moment later, rubbing his eyes and looking irritated at having been woken up. Then he realized that I was standing in front of him in nothing but a bed sheet. My cheeks burned as he grinned at me evilly.

"Um...hello," I said as calmly as possible. "I just need to get my, uh, bag. With my clothes."

Calum couldn't hold back his smirk as he shook his head in amusement.

"Wild night, Danielle?" he asked.

I rolled my eyes. "Just give me my stuff, idiot. My head hurts too much to put up with you at the moment."

Calum chuckled and reached around the door for my bag, which I gladly accepted. "Yeah, I hear you on that one. Today's gonna be a brutal one, but last night was definitely one for the books."

"If you don't mind, I'd much rather continue this conversation when I'm fully clothed."

He grinned widely. "As you wish."

I sighed heavily in frustration and hurried back to the guest bedroom where I changed into black leggings and an old Sum 41 t-shirt. I looked in the mirror and wiped away last night's makeup before applying a light coat of foundation and mascara. There was no covering up the very obvious hickeys on the side of my neck, but I didn't really care. I brushed my fingers over the marks and smiled at the memory of last night. Then I threw my tangled hair into a low ponytail and decided that that was more than enough effort to put in for the day. Besides, I wanted food.

I made my way down the stairs and was surprised to find the house practically empty. With the amount of people who had been here last night, I had figured that there would have been more stragglers, but obviously only the boys, Amy, and myself had spent the night, as was the original plan. I side-stepped clusters of red plastic cups and empty bottles that were everywhere to be found. The stairs, the hallway, the kitchen floor. They were everywhere. To be fair, it had been a great party. Now was the time to begin to discover the shenanigans that had taken place. When I looked at the clock on the wall, I realized it was half past noon.