Wanted- Luke Hemmings AU

Chapter Three

        After Gracie was done in the bathroom and we went back to the office, she immediately returned to coloring, but it wasn't long before she fell asleep with her head on the desk and the pen still clutched in her hand. I bit my lip as I looked at her, trying to figure out where I could put her to sleep. My eyes scanned around the room, landing on the old couch. I raised my eyebrows at Luke, motioning to it, and he nodded, shrugging. I gently picked Gracie up and laid her down on the couch. She shifted slightly in her sleep before curling into herself, and I covered her with the jacket I was wearing.

        When I turned back around to face Luke, I found him still sitting on the floor, his head tilted back and resting against the wall. He looked like he was sleeping, but I could detect the smallest of smirks on his face. I scoffed.

        "You're really able to sleep right now, Luke?" I asked as I began pacing back and forth in front of him.

        "And you aren't?" He retorted, still keeping his eyes closed.

        "No!" I cried. "Of course not! I mean, who knows how long we'll be trapped down here for?"

        Luke laughed, actually laughed, and opened a single eye. "Settle down, Juliette."

        "Julie," I immediately corrected him, "And no one knows we're down here, it could be days, weeks--"

        "Oh, for crying out loud," Luke groaned, crossing his arms over his chest and grinning at me. "My uncle knows we're down here, he knows exactly which station, so he'll call the police and someone will get us out. Don't worry so much."

        I sighed, sitting down next to him. A peaceful silence settled down around us, the only sounds being the clicking of the wall clock and the soft whirring of the plug-in electrical fan. Suddenly, the silence was broken by aa low growling noise coming from... Luke's stomach.

        "Hungry?" I laughed, nudging him with my shoulder.

        "Obviously. I haven't eaten since, like, noon or so."

        Shocked, I turned to face him. "Luke, are you serious? You told me you did. We could've split the sandwich three ways."

        "Juliette, it's honestly not that big of a deal."

        "Yes, it is," I grumbled, "You're starving now and I feel bad because Gracie and I ate your sandwich.

        Luke placed a hand on my shoulder, and a small jolt of electricity shot down my arm. "It's not a big deal, alright? I would've felt bad if you girls didn't have anything to eat and I did. Okay? It was my choice. And I'm not starving, anyways."

        I gave in, leaning back against the wall when my eyes caught on something across the room.

        "Is that yours?" I asked, lifting my arm to point at the acoustic guitar tucked in the corner between the desk and the couch, and Luke's face lit up.

        "Yeah... do you play?" He questioned, but before I could answer, he had already got up and grabbed the guitar, plopping down on the floor next to me.

        "No, but I always wanted to learn," I replied, my eyes trailing over the beautiful instrument. My eyes caught on letters carved into the base of the guitar, and I leaned forward to see what they were. "What does '5SOS' stand for?"

        Luke blushed slightly, looking down as he began to tracing his finger over the letters. "It's, uh, it stands for '5 Seconds of Summer', the name of the band me and my friends are in."

        "Really? What does it mean?" I glanced up into his deep blue eyes, smiling slightly at the soft red tint to his cheeks.
        Luke chuckled. "I don't think it really 'means' anything. Michael came up with it, and we all just kind of thought it sounded cool, I guess."

        I smiled at the way his face lit up when he talked about his band. "Tell me about your band."

        "Well, at first, it was just Michael and I posting covers and stuff on YouTube-- this was about a year ago. Michael's been my best friend since I moved here when I was fourteen. He's just-- he's great. He plays guitar, we both do, and it started with us randomly deciding to put videos online of us singing in my bedroom. Anyway, we started getting a lot of hits. Well, not exactly a lot, but, you know, more than most people usually get. Eventually, this guy messaged us offering a job doing gigs at his bar on the weekends, but we had to get a full band together first.

        "So, that's where Calum and Ashton come in. Michael and I were both friends with Calum, and he just instantly jumped on the chance of joining the band, even if he'd never played bass before. Ashton our drummer, and we found him through Facebook, where we messaged him asking if he wanted to do gigs at the bar with us. We didn't really know him at first, but it was weird how well we, like, all became best friends. It was instant, really. We started playing at the bar, and that's it. We play every weekend night, and not to brag or anything, but we usually get a pretty good crowd of people."

        "Luke, that's great. I'd love to meet your band mates sometime," I told him with a grin and a nudge to the shoulder. He chuckled, looking down at his lap, and I bit my lip before asking, "Do you think you could play me something?"

        Luke seemed hesitant at first, but he eventually nodded his head. "Alright... this is one of the first covers Michael and I learned, and I'll see if I can manage to do it without him. Also, don't think it's creepy or anything, it just so happens that your name is in the song."

        I crinkled my eyebrows in slight confusion, but gave him an encouraging grin, and he reached into the drawer of the desk for a guitar pick before starting to pluck out a tune. It took a few seconds for my mind to recognize the song, and soon enough, Luke was singing.

        "Check yes, Juliette, are you with me? Rain is falling down on the sidewalk, I won't go until you come outside. Check yes, Juliette, kill the limbo. I'll keep tossing rocks at your window. There's no turning back for us tonight."

        Saying Luke was a good singer would have been a huge understatement. He had the kind of voice that sounded like it just belonged on the radio, and he had a way of making this song sound like his own, and every time my name slipped past his lips, and every time he sang my name, butterflies erupted in my stomach. I leaned my head up against the wall, stifling a yawn as I closed my eyes and let Luke's soft voice envelope me.

        "Run, baby, run. Don't ever look back. They'll tear us apart if you give them the chance. Don't sell your heart, don't say we're not meant to be. Run, baby, run. Forever will be, you and me."

        Fatigue had overcome me, and despite trying desperately to stay awake, sleep-- combined with the calming, lullaby-like quality of Luke's singing-- eventually succeeded in pulling me into unconsciousness.

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The Check Yes, Juliette cover Michael and Luke did is over to the side for anyone that hasn't seen it. It's one of my favorite covers that they did. :)

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