The Brightest Star - Luke Hemmings

Chapter 19

Alaska was way too tired to bother to look nice when she left her apartment at 5 o'clock in the morning to go to the airport. She dragged her suitcase with some difficulty through the airport until she met a freakishly large crowd of photographers and reporters. Damn, she should have brought security.

Luckily for her, the boys weren't that far away and spotted her. Luke came quickly to help her with her bag while their two security guards came to block out the photographers. Alaska followed Luke towards the other boys, all of them sleepy, with messy hair and sweatpants.

"Hey guys." Alaska smiled at them, receiving groans from the half-asleep boys.

She plopped down on a chair and Luke chuckle at her. He had to admit that she looked incredibly cute. Alaska was wearing an oversized grey hoodie, some black leggings, a fluffy pair of uggs and a beanie over her wavy hair.

"You are definitely not a morning person." He said.

"Fuck off." Alaska chuckled, linking their arms together so the photographers could take a nice shot of them being 'couplely'.

After a while of waiting, Alaska was almost falling asleep on Luke's shoulder when she felt her phone vibrate. It was a text from Zoe.

'Take your first selfie together. Don't forget about writing something about going to Australia on the caption'. It read. Alaska chuckled and showed Luke her phone.

"She's kidding right?" she asked, receiving a laugh from Luke.

Luke took out his phone and Alaska snuggled closer to him, both of them smiling to the camera while Luke snapped the picture.

"Okay, it looks cute." She smiled, looking down at the picture. Luke had a goofy smile on his face while she had a soft one; her face snuggled up to Luke's shoulder.

"Post in your account, you have more followers." Luke said, smiling at the picture.

"Oh, boo hoo. Lukey is upset because I'm more popular than him." Alaska teased, receiving a pout from him.

Alaska posted the photo with the caption, 'watch out Australia, we're coming for you! #needsomesleep @lukehemmings'

"Flight 139 now boarding." A voice spoke on the intercom.

"Let's go lads." Calum said, lazily standing up.

All of them walked slowly towards the gate, Luke helped Alaska with her suitcase and they made their way into the plane sitting in first class. She sat beside him and instantly melted into the cushioned seat. A dull ache tugged at her temples – curtsey of last night's drinking – and a nervous excitement fluttered in her stomach – curtsey of what awaited her in Australia. She had no idea how Luke's parents were and if they would like her or not.

She ordered a vodka soda to calm the nerves in her stomach, ignoring the frown she received from Luke. Two more of these and I won't even remember what I was nervous about, she told herself and put on a smile.

Alaska had read somewhere once that smiling tricks your brain into thinking you're happy, so it was something she did often.

"Are you excited about going home?" She asked Luke.

"Yep and nervous." Luke said.

"Yeah. I am too." She said.

Their conversation halted for a moment, as the flight attendant announced they were prepared to take off. When the plane picked up speed down the runway, Luke's hands reached across the seat and clutched Alaska's for just a few seconds. She looked at him, and had to stop herself from laughing. His eyes were pinched shut and the color had drained from his face. Once they had ascended completely, he relaxed.

"Sorry," he mumbled. "No matter how often I fly, I can't get used to the take off."

"I see," she said, amused. "Does one of the boys usually let you hold his hands?"

"Yeah. Calum usually does." He said, making Alaska chuckle.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Alaska spent the whole flight sleeping on Luke's shoulder and watching cartoons with him. She quickly changed in the plane bathroom so she wouldn't look terrible when meeting Luke's parents but fell asleep the minute she went back to her seat. She woke up as the plane began to descend. Inconveniently, it was the very moment that Luke decided to lean over her to peek out the window.

"If you wanted to look down my shirt, Lucas, all you had to do was ask," she said with a smirk, her voice raspy form having just woken up. She was just way too cool.

Luke was going to give her a snappy remark but stopped speaking as his stomach dropped. The plane was descending to make it's landing, and Luke felt his insides turn all wobbly. He really hated landing. It was worse than take off.

Before he had a chance to grab hold of Alaska's hand, she slid hers underneath the palm of his and he clutched onto it tightly. He gritted his teeth together and shut his eyes for a second but that only made it worse. As the aircraft sped down the runway and eventually began to slow to a stop, Luke groaned in relief.

"We're here." He sighed.