"Ah, Julie," Calum said, walking past my bunk where I sat, reading, like I did most of the time I was on the bus.
Since leaving DC this morning, we were en route to Philadelphia, a four hour drive with traffic. So, I had decided to pass the time reading, which I have been for the half hour we've been on the bus. It was eight-thirty in the morning now, and Cal and I were the only ones up. We'd hit Philly by noon, and have the rest of the day to do whatever while we were there.
"Whatcha need, Cal?" I asked him, not looking up from my book.
"Just the person I needed to see." he said.
"Why?" I asked, bookmarking my page and setting the book down.
"Rumor has it that you've become romantically involved with a certain Mr. Hemmings," he said, winking, and my eyes widened.
"What?" I asked, laughing. "That's ridiculous. Luke and I aren't dating."
"Could've fooled me." he said. "Check your Twitter mentions."
Grabbing my phone from where it sat on my pillow, I opened up my Twitter mentions, seeing that they all had the now popular hashtag #Juke and had a picture link on it.
AllAboutStyles: I totally called it that @Luke5SOS and @Julesss96 were dating! #Juke pic.twitter.com/sfhfgrhryhnitj
NotAFan: @Luke5SOS and @Julesss96 are the cutest couple ever! #Juke pic.twitter.com/sodifhergfih
LoveThatHemmo1996: Why is @Julesss96 stealing my Lukey? @Luke5SOS #Juke pic.twitter.com/sdgdfijppdfjgh
The picture was of Luke and I on the boats yesterday in DC. Sounds like a normal picture, right?
Wrong.
It was a picture of me kissing him on the cheek. My mind immediately began to think it was just really good photoshop, until I remembered...
"Just don't worry about it," Luke said, noticing my worried expression. "They'll soon learn that we're not dating, and if you're worried about Harry, it's like you said the first time people started shipping us. Harry knows you wouldn't do that."
"You're right," I said, smiling. "Thanks Luke,"
Without thinking, I absentmindedly gave Luke a quick peck on the cheek, before grabbing the camera from him and taking a picture of Michael, Calum, and Ashton on theirs. Ash and Cal were both giving a thumbs up to the camera while Michael, ever so classy, was flipping the camera off.
Great.
"Oh my God," I breathed, continuing to stare at the picture.
"Yeah," Cal said. "This is bad, isn't it?"
"Bad," I nodded. "What do I do?"
Cal shrugged. "Pray your brother doesn't see it. He gave us strict rules that we can't date you. Bro code."
"Bro code?" I asked in disbelief.
Calum nodded. "Don't go for your friend's sister. It's one of the main rules, Jules. Hey, that rhymed." he said, chuckling.
"Well, I wouldn't know." I said. "So, now, what? Do I just avoid Luke or whatever?"
Cal shrugged. "I don't know honestly. I've never had this issue."
"What time is it?" a tired voice asked, and Luke hopped off his top bunk.
Avoid Luke. That'll be my plan... I guess.
Getting up from my bunk, I pushed past Luke and Calum, sitting down on the couch in the back and just thinking, while at the same time trying to clear my head.
I didn't want to avoid Luke, he was already one of my best friend, but... I couldn't see another option. As much as I hated to think about it, if I avoided him, then people wouldn't jump to so many conclusions about us dating.
"Julie, what's wrong?" Luke asked, and I put my face in my hands, tears beginning to stream down my face.
From inbetween my fingers, I could see Luke start towards me, but Cal putting a hand on his shoulder, stopping him and shaking his head.
"What did I do?" Luke asked, confused and sad, which made my heart break even more.
Luke didn't deserve this. I just didn't want people thinking that we were dating, because I knew that with those rumors going around, it would just create more tension between us all.
"You didn't do anything," Cal said.
"Then let me talk to her," Luke said, shrugging off Cal and walking up to me. He sat next to me, putting a comforting hand on my shoulder, which only made me want to cry harder.
"I'm s-sorry." I said, and he put an arm around my shoulders as I cried into his shoulder, Luke rubbing my back softly.
"Sorry for what?" Luke asked, not knowing about the Twitter feed.
"Tw-tw-Twitter," I choked out, and he looked up at Cal, getting even more confused.
"Someone got a picture of Julie kissing you on the cheek while we went boating yesterday." Cal explained. "The rumors are everywhere."
"Shit," Luke sighed.
"Your fans are going to hate me," I said.
"No," Luke assured me. "They won't. But don't be upset."
"Luke, can we just stay away from each other for awhile?" I asked him. "So the rumors will stop?"
"Julie," Luke sighed. "Julie Julie Julie. Avoiding each other won't stop anything. People will just think we're having relationship problems. All we can do for now is just deny the rumors, and eventually they'll go away."
"You think so?" I asked looking up at him.
"I know so," he said, brushing away the tears that had fallen. "Do you trust me?"
"Of course," I told him.
"Good," he said. "Because I won't let you down."
****
Getting off the bus after Ashton, we were huddled in a group, and I looked over to see Harry glaring daggers at Luke. Harry would look at Luke for a few moments, then glance at me briefly then look back at Luke.
You've got to be kidding me.
"Harold Edward Styles!" I yelled, interrupting whatever Ashton was saying.
"Julie, I don't want you dating him!" Harry said, looking at Luke then. "You broke the code,"
"No, he didn't!" I said, defending Luke, but Harry wouldn't listen. No doubt he'd seen the pictures of me and Luke, along with the trend.
"Julie, you don't have to defend him." Harry said.
"Yes I do," I told Harry.
"Julie and I aren't dating, Harry." Luke said.
"But what about those pictures I saw?" Harry asked.
"You saw a friendly kiss on the cheek." I told Harry. "It was nothing, I swear. Luke and I are friends."
"Shit just got serious," Cal muttered, and the three of us turned to look at him.
"Not now, Cal." Michael said to Calum, patting him on the back.
"Sorry," Cal apologized. "Carry on,"
"You both swear there's nothing going on?" Harry asked.
"I swear," Luke and I said simultaneously.
"Alright," Harry sighed. "Luke, I'm sorry. We cool?"
"Yeah, we're cool." Luke said.
"Now hug it out, or whatever." Louis said, and Luke and Harry both smiled, doing the little man-hug, or whatever it was called.
"Now," Niall said. "We've got the whole rest of the day in Philly. Let's do something!"
YOU ARE READING
Stuck In Reverse (Luke Hemmings)
Fanfiction[Ongoing] He's shy, so is she. He spends every night up on stage, she's in the back prepping her older brother to do just that. Julie Styles has lived in the shadow of her older brother her entire life, and coming on tour with him was her chance t...
