you'll never fade to me. - a Luke Hemmings story

3.

After coming home from my first day out with Luke, I couldn't help but notice how much my family adored him. My mum always gave him bright smiles and my dad called him 'son', which was a real breakthrough since most boys that Bev brought home led to dad screaming about buying a shotgun. The atmosphere in the house seemed to change when Luke was there.

Bev and Luke had their own apartment but the builders were doing renovations so they were staying with our parents until that was done. I found out that they had only been dating for a year, having met in a coffee shop when Bev was working there on the cashier; it surprised me that she would be so into a guy she had met not that long ago as she was always the cautious one, despite me being the older sister. Being 25 definitely had its advantages in the house though; I was always the last one they asked to do the dishes or clean the rooms.

Rolling out of bed the next day, I got up quickly to get to the shower before the hassle of a new day began. I picked out a cute yellow sundress for myself and brushed through my long, wet hair. I found myself thinking of London again; I wonder how Matt was doing with me. Matt was my assistant who averted every crisis we've had so far on tour and gladly agreed to not call me too much while I was here because he knew I needed a break. I signed, there I was thinking about work again; it's like I can't stop myself at all.

I hadn't realised I had gotten ready and was staring at myself in the mirror until there was a hesitant knock on the door. I shouted 'come in', expecting Bev to come in, but I was met with Luke's eyes, mildly shocked.

'Sorry, I didn't know it was you in here.', he said, looking down. His hair was ruffled all over, much unlike his usual quiff and he was holding a towel and boxers in his hands.

'Don't worry, I was just leaving.', For the life of me, I couldn't work out why I was acting so awkward. I'm rarely ever the life of the party, but I certainly wasn't this uptight bitch who mutters one word to someone and walks away. I shook my head, promising myself that I'll snap out of it soon enough. With a small smile to Luke, I walked out of the bathroom and went downstairs to grab some breakfast with the rest of my family.

However, I was met with silence and absolutely no food on the counter. How could they all still be asleep at 11am? Didn't we have a whole wedding to plan? I took some eggs out of the fridge, setting about making an omelette for myself and bacon for everyone else once they woke up. The domesticity of this whole process stunned me; usually I was on the road at odd times and whatever Matt managed to get from Starbucks at rush hour was what I had for breakfast and dinner. It felt weird to be back at home, living a normal stress-free life.

'Smells good.'

I almost dropped a plate onto the floor in surprise when I heard Luke's voice coming from the edge of the kitchen. He was wearing a simple white shirt and those skinny jeans again (did this boy not get hot?). He smelt like aftershave and hair product, his quiff standing at its full pride again; I pretended like it didn't fluster me a bit to be this close to him, despite spending a whole car journey with him just yesterday.

'Thanks, I made the bacon for you guys so piss off that omelette, it's mine.', I exclaimed, when his big hands started reaching for my food.

'Piss off? Wow, I see London has really changed a simple Australian gal like you.', he said with his mouth full, amused. Hold on, was Luke trying to be funny with me? This was starting to feel more like a relaxed, friendly conversation and I was really glad; I had started becoming worried that he thought of me as creepy or weird.

'Why are you up so early?', I asked, trying to change the subject.

'Big day today, couldn't sleep too well. How about you?'

'I'm sort of an early bird so I'm always up as early as I can. What do you mean big day today?', I asked frowning, hoping that my engagement yesterday was enough to get me off the hook for any activities today.

'My parents are coming over to have dinner with your family and I have a bad feeling it's going to be pretty awkward. The Hemmings aren't exactly a delightful bunch.'

'Why would it be awkward to see your parents?', I asked, intrigued.

'Well, for one, they haven't spoken to me since I announced I was moving in with Bev. I don't think they're thrilled about her or me getting married this young... or both.', he said with a laugh, but his eyes turned sad, instantly making me feel bad.

'Why wouldn't they like Bev? She's basically everything a husband would ask for, everyone always told our parents that.'

'I don't know, I think it's because they expected more of me. To be a success before settling down as a husband.', Luke said and at that my mum walked downstairs, already smiling at the food I cooked. Luke went silent and it almost looked like he was internally scolding himself for something but I couldn't give it longer than a second's thought before my mum started talking about lilies and chocolate cakes and dresses. I smiled through her whole monologue, nodding along at the correct times but I was wondering what tonight would be like. Luke's parents were clearly serious and successful people, and I didn't want them making Bev feel like shit with their dissaproval. They were coming at 7pm, giving me enough time to go to the mall and get some new clothes, seeing as I only brought like 5 outfits with me from London. I don't know why, but I felt the need to look good for tonight.

While my mum kept babbling on, I looked over at Luke quickly, just to find that he was already looking at me.