stepbrother ➼ luke hemmings (REWRITING)

10: Are You Getting A Boner?

"Sophie, please. I'm sorry," Luke sighs sadly.

I don't listen to him. Instead, I walk straight ahead, my arms folded and my eyebrows furrowed.

He's behind me, reaching his hand out to grab ahold of my arm. Everytime he does so, I yank it away; there's one look he can give me and I'll lose all ability to do anything other than melt and I think he knows that.

"You can't be mad at me forever, Soph," he says.

"Watch me," I mumble, walking down the steps of the pier and onto the sand below.

My feet sink in and I frown; I'm small enough already, I don't need any more inches knocked off of my height. Besides, it's very difficult to be annoyed at somebody when you're half of what they are.

I know I'm acting like a child, but I can't help it. Luke interrupted something between Calum and I, and even though I don't know what I would've done if it had actually happened, it still bothers me.

It would have been forgivable, too, if Luke had just stopped there. But no, he went the extra mile and pinned Calum to the ground.

"He's fine, Sophie. Please don't ignore me," he begs.

"He's got a busted lip! And a broken arm!" I call back.

"It's not broken!" Luke defends. There's not that much distance between us, making me resent my short legs all the more.

"It might as well be!"

"Goddamnit Sophie, can you just listen to me?!" he says, latching onto my arm.

"No," I say stubbornly, about to walk away.

But Luke doesn't let go. Instead, he spins me around to face him, slightly knocking me off my feet. His arms wrap tightly around me as he rests his chin on top of my head.

"What are you doing?" I murmur unhappily into his chest.

"Loving you," he mumbles.

"I don't like this," I lie, but I can't help slightly relaxing into his arms. "Let me go,"

"You can't stay mad when you're being hugged, Sophie. It's against the rules."

"Says who?"

"Says me."

"Well, you suck," I tell him, and he chuckles; that wonderful, deep raspy sound that I know I'll never get tired of.

"I know I do."

"You shouldn't have hit Calum." I say.

"I know." he says back.

"Then why did you?" I ask, now fully giving into his embrace.

He tightens the hug and I sigh, resting my head on his chest. Well, just about- the height difference between us is so prominent that even standing on my tip-toes does very little to help.

"I don't know," Luke responds lamely.

"You've been really snappy with Calum, lately," I mumble. "It's really weird. I don't like seeing you so tense,"

"I'm sorry about that, Fifi."

"Well, can you stop?" I plead him quietly, tilting my head up to look at him.

His eyes are shut, but they flicker open once he feels me move.

"Soph-"