Imagine A World (Luke Hemmings a.u.) [in editing]

24 Here

Madeline's POV

My heart flys up to my throat when the plane stops. I'm in another country. Luke's country.

Once my pulse stops beating through my skull, I allow Luke to take my hand and guide me out of the plane, the boys following close behind. We pass by Riley, who hasn't gotten out of her seat yet, and the two of us glare at each other, but her startlingly green eyes overpower my bland brown ones. I look away and try to push her out of my thoughts. It doesn't work.

The five of us hurry through the airport, grabbing our luggage and going through customs, the boys tapping their feet impatiently the entire time. They're obviously incredibly anxious to see their families and other friends.

I can't say I can blame them.

We see four women surrounding one large sign that reads, "Our famous boys," on it, and Michael, Ashton, Calum, and Luke rush over to them. I follow them, not knowing what else to do.

I recognize the women as their mothers, from that 60 Minutes interview they were in. It feels weird, meeting these women in real life, after I've obsessed over their sons for months, and am now dating one of them.

"You must be Madeline! It's so wonderful to finally meet you! I'm Anne Marie, but you can just call me Anne. Ashton's told me all about you," one of the ladies, Ashton's mother, exclaims, pulling me into an unexpected hug.

"So has Calum. I'm Joy, it's lovely to meet you." Calum's mom holds out a hand, which I hesitantly shake. I don't know why I'm so nervous. Maybe because I'm just realizing that Luke hasn't actually met my family yet.

"I'm Karen, Michael's mum," Mrs. Clifford says, then returns to scolding Michael about his hair, which he'd recently managed to dye a sort of tye-dye rainbow pattern.

"I mean, honestly, it looks like a unicorn threw up on your head!"

The other boys and I have to suppress our laughter, but the moms chuckle openly about it.

"I'm Liz. I hope Luke isn't being too hard on you." Liz winks at me, and I feel my cheeks heat up. Luke and I laugh nervously, then all of us travel out to the various cars that each mother came in. I go home with Luke, of course, but not before giving each of the other boys a good bye hug, even though I'll be seeing them in a few days.

I had thought the ride back to Luke's house would be silent and awkward, but it's filled with laughter and stories about Luke that even he enjoys adding on to.

"And then he tripped over his guitar!"

Luke starts blushing a little, then adds, "But we must account to the fact that I was 7."

"Like that makes any difference! Luke, you're 18 and you still trip over your own feet," I say, my chest hurting from my cackles.

"We're here!" Liz exclaims in a singsong voice when we pull into the driveway. Luke smirks in my direction, then helps me to exit the car, even though I don't need him to.

We go in, and I don't know where to put my stuff.

"The guest room is right down this hallway, Maddie. Luke's room is right across from it." Mrs. Hemmings winks at me.

"Mom!" Luke yells, blushing crimson, and I attempt to suppress a smile.

She holds up her hands in defense. "All right, all right, I'm going to leave you two to do whatever it is kids these days do. Keep it somewhat clean, though, okay?"

"MOM!"

Liz laughs loudly, then turns and goes to the kitchen to prepare dinner. Luke turns to me, rubbing the back of his neck, trying to hide his bright red face.