the kink club • luke hemmings ✔️

21. the one where luke unzips.

chapter twenty-one:
the one where luke unzips.

"Can we change the song?" Luke asks, furrowing his eyebrows at my choice in music. I resist the temptation to roll my eyes; we've been driving for a little over an hour now, in complete silence, and this is the first thing he says to me.

"But I like this."

"I'm not saying I don't. I'm just saying I want to change it," he tells me, monotonously, before reaching towards the random selection of buttons in front of us. He clicks one button twice and the song stops.

"Luke," I frown. He frowns too.

"What?"

"I liked the song before."

"I didn't." he replies, causing me to slump further into my seat as I stare out at the open road ahead of us. In the backseat are all of the group's suitcases, and I'd be lying if I said I'd rather be here than in the Volvo with Calum.

"I can't be in there with Luke," I'd told Bailey, just before we left and right after we saw Luke sitting impatiently in his pick-up, twirling his car keys carelessly around his pointer finger.

"You'll be fine," she said, hauling her suitcase up to pass to Michael. "It's you and Luke. He can't stay mad at you for too long,"

"He's still mad at me, though." my eyebrows furrowed as I leant against the wall, nauseous. "I think I've really pissed him off this time."

"He shouldn't have been eavesdropping," she reasoned.

"It doesn't change what I said," I quipped.

"You didn't even say anything bad,"

"Yes, I did."

"You said things would be weird and complicated,"

"Exactly."

"That's not bad. That's facts," she stated. I bit my lip. "Don't feel bad for not liking him back, Soph. He's a big boy, he'll get over it."

"You ladies coming, or not?" Calum called, sticking his head out from the driver seat window of the Volvo. "Time is money, people!"

"Alright, chill out," Bailey rolled her eyes. She then turned to me, a weak smile on her face. "It's four hours with his eyes on the road and his hands on the wheel. You can do this."

"I don't-"

"Bailey, come on!" Ashton shouted, hopping into the backseat of Calum's car. "Soph, Luke's waiting for you, I think."

"We'll see you at the airport?" she gave me a quick hug, a warming gesture considering how much Bailey hated human interaction more than anything.

I nodded, somewhat uncomfortable. Then I watched as she ran over to the passenger's side of the Volvo, sent me a wave, and climbed in.

The one thing wrong about Bailey's statement is the fact that I don't have zero feelings for Luke. I like him, as much as a friend can like a friend, but there's always going to be that one extra thought I have to shut down and try to forget every now and then if I want things to stay as they are.

It's not that I can't like Luke back, regardless of what I tried to convince Bailey of a few hours prior. It's just that it would be so much easier for the both of us if I didn't; emotional attachment has the power to ruin any type of friendship, even if that friendship is one that's been around for as long as ours has.