boxer ⋆ luke hemmings ✔️

14. Hug Her.

Luke half expected to wake up the next morning with his arms wrapped around somebody's waist. Only he didn't, and he wasn't greeted by anyone peacefully sleeping next to him at all; just the other side of the empty mattress.

Immediately, he shot up, worry taking over his rugged features. He had the stubble of a five o'clock shadow dotted around his jawline and he groaned, clutching his spinning head; a result of sitting up too fast.

He had a vague remembrance of the night before. He could remember Sophie, and the way that she tucked him in, and the way that- halfway through the night- she turned the TV off and snuggled in right next to Luke on the other side of the bed.

It wasn't hard at all to create space between them, judging by the size of her mattress. But he found himself silently wishing that she had crept just a little bit closer- not a lot, but enough. It sure would have helped keep him warm.

Shaking his head, Luke stood up from the mattress, stretching slightly before catching sight of himself in the large mirror opposite Sophie's bed frame.

He wanted to sigh- he looked awful. He had bags under his eyes, plump lips after lying down on his face for too long, and scruffy blond hair that stuck out in all directions. Luke wasn't so sure if he wanted to leave Sophie's room at all- at least when she came back, she wouldn't judge him.

Or she would, but she'd keep it to herself.

Luke also had no idea what he'd do if he accidentally ran into Calum while crossing the hallway. Granted, he knew that the dark-haired boy's room was somewhere on the third floor, so the actual event would be very unlikely. But knowing Luke's luck, they would, and he wasn't exactly ready to explain to his best friend how he'd ended up spending an entire night snoozing away in his little sister's bedroom. In her bed. With her.

In the most innocent, purest way possible, of course. All they did was sleep.

For some reason, Luke's curiosity grew as he thought about what Sophie's reaction was the very moment she woke up right next to him. Knowing the little girl, she probably forgot last night and gave herself a nice surprise as soon as her doe eyes snapped open; Luke decided not to put it past her. It would have been very likely.

Or, he thought, maybe she sat up, yawned slightly- pretty pink lips parting with a small space- before smiling down at him, shifting the covers, and leaving. Maybe. Possibly. He didn't know. Luke just couldn't get the image of her out of his head.

He had no idea what to do so he just stayed, sitting on her bed and surveying her bedroom once more. He picked up on a few more things, like how she kept her books in a size order of smallest to largest. How she already had an outfit set up in the corner for today, complete with a pair of polished shoes he had never seen her wear before.

He even noticed her strawberry flavoured lipglosses strewn across the vanity; each one the exact same flavour, just in different tubes.

He only had an inkling of an idea as to where Sophie could actually be, seeing as she obviously wasn't in her room. And due to the fact that Luke had nothing else to do, he decided to take his chances and find her. It also gave him an excuse to stop being so goddamn lazy.

Turning his head, he glanced at the clock and cracked a small, almost minuscule, smile. It was eight-thirty a.m exactly.

He pushed himself off of the mattress, carefully creaking the pink bedroom door open before poking his head out. The hallway was quiet, fortunately enough for Luke. There were no signs of life anywhere.

He quickly stepped out, shutting the door again. He also made a mental reminder to collect his gym bag, his snap-back, and his muscle tee from the floor of Sophie's room later on- Luke had somehow managed to wriggle out of it during the night.