Last Dance || 5sos

Chapter Eleven

I must have fallen asleep, because the next thing I know, Luke is whispering in my ear to wake up. I sleepily mumble, looking at the clock. It's almost eleven. "What's wrong?" I ask, rubbing my eyes. 

"Nothing," he smiles at me briefly, but it fades as quickly as it came. "I have to go," he tells me. Right, that stupid curfew. 

"Why?" I groan. I don't even realize how whiny and girly I sound right now, but I'm tired, and I don't care.

"I'm going to be late if I don't leave by eleven," he says. "I'll carry you upstairs, if you want." I nod, accepting his offer. My body doesn't feel like moving. Luke picks me up and moves me off of his lap briefly so that he can get up. He stretches his legs a minute, before bending down and scooping me up into his arms like I'm weightless. It's ironic, since when you sleep, you're supposed to be heavier. Maybe I'm just light in general. Or maybe he's stronger than I'm giving him credit for. Could be both, for all I know. I can't process it clearly right now. 

Luke brings me into my bedroom and lays me down, pulling back the covers for me. I slide under them, rolling onto my side. I have to force myself to open my eyes and look at him. "I have to tell you something," he whispers, kneeling beside my bed. "I'm not going to be able to see you for a bit." This shocking fact wakes me up, and I sit up instantly.

"Wait, what? Why? What did I do?"

"Nothing! Nothing, I promise. I'm just not going to be in school for a few weeks. I programmed my number into your phone while you were sleeping, so you can text me. If I don't answer, just trust me that I'm not ignoring you, and I will answer it, eventually. Just, promise me you won't call."

"What are you talking about, Luke?" I can't believe what I'm hearing. "I thought you came here to spend time with me. Now you're telling me not to call you?"

"I know," he looks to the floor. "I just... I can't explain it. I wish I could, I'm sorry. It's better that you don't know, either way. I promise, I'll call you as soon as I can. I just have to leave. Don't tell anyone, either. I'll be back in a few weeks. In the meantime, you go hang out with friends, get an A on that project, make the basketball team, be happy. Just forget about me, for a few weeks." 

"I can't believe you. You tell me you don't have a reputation, but here you are, telling me to forget about you. You show up to my house, buy me pizza, spend the night with me, basically take me on a date, and now you want me to forget everything that happened tonight and you entirely for a few weeks? Expecting me to wait around for you to call me? What the hell, Luke? You know, when you said you had a curfew, I didn't know that meant a curfew from me!" Luke's eyes widened, looking confused.

"You thought this was a date?" Shit. Fuck. Way to go, Noelle. Way to go. My cheeks flush, completely embarrassed.

"No, forget I said anything. Forget about me, for a few weeks, Luke."

"I can't," he tries to persuade me. "I don't want to."

"Yeah, well a few minutes ago neither did I! But now, I think we'll both be better off. You're gonna be late, so just leave," I hiss, pulling the covers over me and rolling over. 

"Noelle.." he pleads. I ignore him, and he's wise enough to just go. I wait until he leaves my room completely to allow the tears that I was fighting so hard to hold back fall from my eyes. I should have known. I should have just listened to Sadie, and stayed away from Luke Hemmings. What the hell am I going to say now? What will I say when Sadie finds out? Maybe I can keep Luke a secret. I've never had a secret boyfriend before... Well, secret date and breakup, I guess. Although, we weren't even technically together. Either way, I've never had a secret like Luke Hemmings.