Cancer Perks || Luke Hemmings

Eleven

I peered around the room for a few seconds, regarding each small detail carefully. Although messy and unorganized, I felt as if the area embodied Luke and the rest of his band so well. The space was messy and somewhat hectic but still managed to contain all of their creative abilities. The boys poured their heart and soul into their music here and being in the space was somewhat humbling.

Turning halfway to face Luke, I stuttered, "Luke this - this is."

"A mess. I know." Luke interjected, picking up a few loose scraps of paper and half empty water bottles, attempting to shove them into an already overflowing trash can.

"Well yes," I chuckled, gently running my fingers over one of the nearby guitars, "but it's also beautiful."

"Well I'm glad someone thinks that." He chuckled, giving up in the trash, allowing it to spill out onto the floor.

"Michael can pick that up later." He joked.

"We'll see about that." I laughed apprehensively, highly doubting that any of the four boys would be doing any amount of cleaning in the coming days.

"Soooo" I began, continuing to peer around the dirty and dimly lit space, "at the cost of pointing out the obvious, why here?"

"Well the motel had the cheapest rate in the area." He said shrugging his shoulders.

"Yeah, getting that", I laughed, picking up and examining a pillow from the bed that was all but limp, "but like, why here? Why Ohio?"

"Why not?" He cheered, throwing his hand up in a joking fashion.

"I mean, seeing as Akron is the closest 'big town' in a country mile, I think it's a fair question." I retorted.

"To be completely honest with you, we threw a dart at a map and went where it landed."

"And you ended up here, in practically the middle of nowhere." I stated plainly.

"Exactly!" He laughed, his checks flushing just the slightest shade of pink.

He fidgeted with his hands, seemingly nervous for some reason.

"I know it seems silly but we really thrive off of the sense of adventure. It's what we founded the band on and it's one of the main reasons we've decided to keep going even as everything got crazy." He said, glancing up at me at the end in order to gauge my reaction.

"Well I think that's great." I smiled, giving him the positive response I so knew he was hoping for. "You know, I'm eighteen years old and I've hardly seen anything this world has to offer."

"Oh well I highly doubt that." Luke said.

"I'm serious", I said turning my back to him and gazing into the nearby mirror, "I'm eighteen years old and I've only ever left the state once, and that was for a doctors office.

Admitting that fact to someone as famous and interesting as Luke Hemmings was difficult, in fact it was hard to admit that fact to just about anyone. My family had never had the excess money available to go on vacations, so I had been stuck in the same small town for almost all my life. I knew the situation was out of our control, but deep down inside I was ashamed of this fact and angry with myself for being such a contributing factor to the problem. Some much could be different in my life if this stupid cancer had never come along. Maybe I'd be traveling the world right now, living my best life possible. Maybe my mom would get more sleep and have a chance to worry about herself from time to time instead of constantly having to look out for me. Or simply, maybe my dad would love me and not abandon his family like a traitor.

All at once, the weight of the world came crashing down around me. I was dying, and I was going to burn a blazing path of destruction behind me as I left.

"How selfish am I?" I thought to myself, "How selfish."

Luke could sense my quite rapid change of demeanor and came closer to my side.

"Is everything alright Audrey?" He asked, peering into the mirror from beside me.

"Yes Luke." I replied shortly, trying desperately not to sour the moment any more than I already had, "I really appreciate you bringing me here, it's not every day a fan gets to see something like this."

"You're more than a fan at this point you know?" He said smiling and bumping into my shoulder in a joking manner.

I smiled and nodded in reply. The expression was kind and I took it as a sign to fix my attitude in an instant. He was trying, genuinely trying for me and I had to admit that was the most any boy had done for me in a long while.

"So then," I said, putting a more cheerful tone in my voice, "where are the others?"

—————————————-
Holy snickeys! I found this book again after years and I am so very sorry! I doubt there is anyone there at this point but if you are... I may be updating more in the future.