Apartment 17B ◈

Twenty

EMMA

I woke up with a hangover and a pounding headache. And naked? Why was I naked? I slightly panicked, but then I saw Luke next to me, who was also naked and the events of last night came flooding into my brain. I bit down on my lip and shook my head.

I wasn't necessarily mad that it happened. I had always thought of the day Luke and I would actually end up having sex, for there was an enormous amount of sexual tension between the two of us, just like Naomi had mentioned to me the prior day. I wasn't mad that it happened, I'm just mad that it happened the way it did. Drunk and careless.

Luke was sleeping soundly and I admired him as his chest moved up and down with every breath he took. He was beautiful. And I couldn't help but giggle quietly at how amazing he was in bed. Even drunk.

Before he could wake up and catch me staring at him like a creep I hopped into the shower. The water was warm and washed away the remains of my hangover and the sex. A shower was exactly what I needed. And maybe a cheeseburger would help, too. I turned the water off and rung my hair out, it smacked the floor of the shower loudly and I hoped it hadn't woken Luke up. I dried my body off and wrapped a towel on my head so my hair wouldn't drip down my back.

I wiped the mirror free of fog and was shocked to see my appearance. I had hickeys, love bites, whatever you want to call them, up my neck. I blushed slightly, even though nobody was around to see them. But I'm sure Naomi will see them and have something to say. She always has something to say about everything. Which wasn't particularly a bad thing. That is just what made Naomi, Naomi.

I searched my overnight bag for my small makeup bag, hoping to cover up the hickeys as best as I could, but I cursed myself silently for not bringing it. I knew I was forgetting something. I would just have to be cautious to not let my hair move and show the world my bruised neck. Sighing, I got dressed into a pair of leggings and a hoodie that I had stolen my Michael a year ago. It was way too big so I cut the bottom of it- poorly might I add, and now it was just below my belly button instead of the middle of my thighs.

After making myself as presentable as I could, I hung the two wet towels on the rack and walked out of the bathroom. Luke was awake and sitting up, typing something on his phone. It was probably Calum.

His head shot up when he noticed me and a small smile took over his face. "Hi."

"Hello,"

It was almost awkward. I knew it would be, but I didn't want it to be.

"How are you feeling?"

"Good. The shower helped a lot." We both laughed and then it was silent. Neither of us having a word to say. I rocked back and forth on my heels because I wasn't sure what to do. It was awful. "Well it's close to noon, so we should probably get going. I'm going to get my stuff together and go inside to say goodbye to Naomi. Are you going to shower?"

"Yeah," Luke nodded his head, his voice raspy and sexy. "I'll meet you inside when I'm done."

"Great," I awkwardly smiled and grabbed my overnight bag, my purse, and slipped on my Vans before making a beeline for the door.

Everything was weird and awkward now and I didn't know how to fix it.

I made my way up Naomi's tile walkway and let myself in though the side door that led me right into the kitchen. I had been to her house so many times when we were younger I could do it with my eyes closed.

"Em!" Naomi cheered when I entered the kitchen. My reaction was not the same, so her smile faltered. "Are you okay? You look terrible."

"I'm fine," I sighed. I absentmindedly gathered my hair and put it up into a messy bun.