Disconnected | Luke Hemmings

chapter twenty one

November was a month full of Luke and nothing else, except maybe for work and our friends. We developed a kind of routine, in which I would get up early to go to work from 9am-5pm on weekdays, Luke would be waiting at my house when I got home, and he would sleep in my bed only to grumpily protest each morning at the sound of my alarm.

"Stay here with me," he would grumble, sleepily tugging me in close to him.

"I have to go to work, Luke," I would sigh, and eventually pry myself from his grasp, but not before giving him a quick kiss. By the time I left my house, he would always have drifted off to sleep again, tangled in my blankets and sprawled out across the entire surface of my bed.

During our weekends, we hung out with Calum, Ashton, Michael, and Amy, and I would spend the night at his house instead.

It was a good stretch of uninterrupted happiness. I knew that their next tour was looming on the horizon, but thankfully the boys had been able to relax and spend time at home after returning from LA. They had met with the label a few times over the phone, and I knew that their tour manager was working tirelessly to finalize the plans for the upcoming adventure. The boys didn't know all the details yet, so of course neither did I, but whatever happened, I was ready to face it with a lot more confidence in myself and in my boyfriend. Luke and I had done it before, and we would do it again, and again, and everything would be okay.

With the release of their second album, I honestly couldn't be more proud of Luke and the guys, or happy with the way things were going. We hadn't really celebrated the release of course, since they were on the other side of the world in Los Angeles when it had dropped, but the music sounded incredible. It was fun, and honest, and some of their best work I had ever heard. You didn't have to be one of the guys' close friends to see how pleased they were, either. Their happiness practically radiated off of them, and it made it even more wonderful to be able to just enjoy our lives together in Sydney.

Luke was happy for me, too, in terms of my job. It wasn't hard to tell that I loved what I was doing, and that I was happy with my place of employment. He told me countless times how proud of me he was and how happy he was for me. I t made my heart swell knowing that we fit together so nicely in each other's lives while we each pursued our hopes and dreams.

Luke and I spent a lot of time to ourselves, relishing in each night spent tangled up in each other and each moment spent with our lips attached breathlessly, but we also spent a great deal of time with Amy and the guys. Amy and Michael's relationship had become just as normal and expected as mine and Luke's. I had heard all of the intimate details from Amy, of course, and it made me happy to know that she was happy, and that Mikey was happy. We were all, for the time being, encased in a happy bubble that I never wanted to burst.

We were all sitting around at Luke's house in his living room one Saturday. Calum was messing around with some different tunes and chords on a guitar, and Michael and Luke were deep into a game of FIFA. Ashton and Amy and I were sitting on the Hemmings' comfortable couch, chatting about the movie we had all gone out to see the night before. Luke leaned back into my legs and rested the back of his head against my knees as he focused on the game. I absentmindedly ran my fingers through his thick locks as I spoke.

Suddenly, Calum stopped playing guitar and broke in.

"So...we've got some news about the tour," he said slowly.

Michael paused the game and exchanged a glance with Luke that made the muscles in my stomach clench apprehensively. Ashton looked over at Calum, who nodded in his direction. Ashton was always the best at speaking collectively for the group of them, whether it be in interviews or online videos, or to their friends.