Rochester Avenue // Luke Hemmings

Chapter 29 - 'Drunk Words Are Sober Thoughts'

My first thought was that I was so hurt, so upset that I wanted to burst into tears there and then. My second thought was that I was very, very angry, and I wanted to follow them and give both Luke and Sasha a piece of my mind. And maybe my fist. My third thought was, fine. Fuck you, Luke Hemmings. I watched the last place I saw him for just one more second before turning back to everyone else. I tried my best to forget about him for the rest of the night, and I thought I did pretty well. I had a great time, and Jess, George and I finally left at around three in the morning. We'd already arranged a cab, thank god, because I was sure we wouldn't have made it home otherwise in the state we were in. We were all laughing uncontrollably in the back seat about pretty much nothing, and we barely remembered to actually pay the driver whose expression was a mixture of annoyance and amusement. We thanked him profusely, stating that he was our savior, before waving him off and attempting to stumble back to our rooms.

George ended up in our dorm, on the floor, and he passed out pretty immediately. Jess and I laughed at him for a good five minutes, practically tripping over his body as we went to and from the bathroom to take off our makeup and change into something more comfortable to sleep in. Jess collapsed on her bed and fell asleep pretty soon after. The sensible voice in me told me to down at least two glasses of water, and I listened to it, knowing I would thank myself in the morning. I lay down on my bed, face up, staring at the ceiling. I closed my eyes and tried to sleep, but my brain was completely awake, thinking about anything and everything. Unfortunately, including Luke. I couldn't stop picturing him leaving the party with Sasha on his arm, and the grin on her face. Surely there was a logical explanation for it. Maybe they just left the actual party together but then went their separate ways.

Face it, Noelle. They probably went back to his apartment.

I groaned and turned over onto my side, trying to sleep again. But I really, really couldn't. And I knew I wasn't going to be able to. By this time, I'd sobered up. That was how long I'd been trying to sleep for.

My phone suddenly started buzzing on my bedside table and I quickly grabbed it, squinting at whoever was calling me.

My heart dropped. The name on the screen was 'sexy penguin'. I'd never changed it back from when Luke had saved his number in my phone, and I didn't plan to. For a moment I just stared at the screen before sighing to myself and answering.

"Luke?" I whispered hesitantly, glancing at Jess and George to make sure they were still asleep. I got up and crept out of the room to stand in the hall so I could speak a bit louder. "Luke? Are you there?"

"Snowflake." His voice was low and soft. "My snowflake."

I frowned to myself. "Are you drunk?"

"Very. I want to – see you. I miss you."

I bit my lip, feeling a pang in my heart. "Luke, where are you?"

"Um." He began to laugh. "I don't know. I think I'm outside your dorm."

My eyes widened. "You're what?"

"Yeah. I think I recognize it. I have a really good memory, you know." He chuckled again. "I miss you."

"You already said that." I was already making my way outside to Luke. Only thing was, I was wearing a camisole and little pajama shorts, but I wasn't thinking about that right now. I was worried about Luke and how he'd possibly got to the university. When I got outside, I immediately saw his tall frame pacing, or should I say wobbling, back and forth, looking unsure. I immediately went over to him, softly calling his name and hanging up the phone. He turned towards me, and even in the dim light, I could see a grin on his face. He was suddenly right in front of me, and I thought he was going to try and kiss me, but instead he pulled me into a hug. I stood still in surprise for a moment before slowly wrapping my arms around his waist, hugging him back. His nose brushed the top of my head and I felt his lips skim my forehead. I suddenly remembered Sasha and I quickly stepped back, folding my arms across my chest, very aware of the fact that I was braless and it was kind of cold out here.