Becoming Us || l.h

Chapter 21

Luke stands there, rocking back and forth on his feet. "Can we talk?" He finally asks, looking down at me. I nod, stepping out of his way so he can come into my room. He walks in, looking around. I wrap the blanket tighter around me, watching him. "I saw the bracelet." He says softly glancing over at me. "I thought so." I sit down at the end of my bed, Luke sitting in my desk chair. "Were you in the hospital?" He asks, playing with his fingers. "A few months ago, yeah." "What happened?" He asks, looking back up at me.

"Luke-" I let out a sigh, not sure if I was ready to discuss this with him. It was his fans that caused this. His eyes soften, pleading with me. I take a deep breath, looking down. "I attempted suicide again," I mumble, not looking at him. "I just got back from rehab." I finally look up at him, his eyes glistening with unshed tears. "I'm sorry." He wipes his eyes quickly, looking down. "I made you a promise and I let you down. I'm sorry." He continues, playing with his fingers again. "Luke, you didn't do anything," I promise him. "I wasn't in a good place and with the fans telling me to kill myself, it got to me. My mom put me in a giant house alone with my brother only able to check on me so much. She's more to blame than you ever would be." "Still." "Don't Luke. I'm okay now though. Rehab helped a lot." I say, changing the subject. "That's good, I'm glad you're doing better." I nod, smiling softly. "How are you doing?" I ask, gauging him.

"Better, I got a therapist on tour and he helped me. It was nice being able to talk to someone about everything." I nod in agreement, not sure what to say next. "I just want to say sorry for how things ended up. I feel like I could have tried harder." "Luke," I cut him off, shaking my head. "We were halfway across the world from each other. It was hard. A breakup was bound to happen one way or another because of it. Long-distance is hard." He looks down, not saying anything for a while. "Still, I'm sorry." "Me too." He looks up, giving me a small smile. He stands, looking down at me. "I'll see you later." I wave, watching him leave. Once the door is closed, I let out a breath I didn't even realize I was holding. My door opens again, Blake peeking in with closed eyes. "Safe to come in?" He asks. I chuckle, "Yeah." He opens his eyes, walking in.

He sits next to me, bumping me with his shoulder. "Luke knows?" He asks, looking down at me. "Luke knows," I confirm with a sharp nod. "How do you feel about that?" I shrug, not sure. "He was going to find out sooner or later, I'd rather it be sooner with me than later with someone else." He nods, wrapping his arm around me and pulling me into him. "You'll get over this bump. Do you want to go into the studio with me tomorrow? We can mess around with one of your songs you wrote if you want." I smile, nodding. "I'd like that." "Great," he pulls himself backward on my bed, leaning on the headboard, "what movie are we watching tonight?" He asks. I laugh, shaking my head but climb in next to him, grabbing the remote.

»»»»»

I move the mic down to reach my height, looking through the window to Blake. "Ready?" He asks. I give him a thumbs-up, taking a deep breath. I hear the instrumental in my headphones, bobbing my head until I start singing.

No, I can't control this
High on my emotions
You can make me feel brand new
This is hard to cope with
Find someone to smoke with
'Cause nothing really feels like you

All we have is on the phone
All we have is all I know
When you hang up, don't let go
Don't let go

It's the kind of love they say is wrong
It's what I've been waiting for so long
Feel you on my body when you're gone
We go back to the start when you're back in my arms
Like back when we were lying on your floor
Hoping no one opens up the door
Feel you on my body, wanting more
We go back to the start when you're back in my arms

Saw you in that red dress
Doing so much damage
Fuck me up, no, I don't mind (Don't mind)
You're something that I can't forget
Like inhaling a cigarette
Hit me and it's so divine

All we have is on the phone
All we have is all I know
When you hang up, don't let go
Baby, no

It's the kind of love they say is wrong
It's what I've been waiting for so long
Feel you on my body when you're gone
We go back to the start when you're back in my arms
Like back when we were lying on your floor (On the floor)
Hoping no one opens up the door (The door)
Feel you on my body, wanting more (And I'm wanting more)
We go back to the start when you're back in my arms

When you're back in my arms, yeah
When you're back in my arms, ooh
When you're back in my arms, yeah
When you're back in my arms
All we have is on the phone
When you hang up, so let go

It's the kind of love they say is wrong
It's what I've been waiting for so long
Feel you on my body when you're gone
We go back to the start when you're back in my arms
Back when we were lying on your floor
Hoping no one opens up the door (Ooh)
Feel you on my body, wanting more
We go back to the start when you're back in my arms (Yeah, yeah)

It's the kind of love they say is wrong
(When you're back in my arms)
It's what I've been waiting for so long
(When you're back in my arms)
Feel you on my body when you're gone
(When you're back in my arms)
We go back to the start when you're back in my arms
Like back when we were lying on your floor
(When you're back in my arms)
Hoping no one opens up the door
(When you're back in my arms)
Feel you on my body, wanting more
(When you're back in my arms)
We go back to the start when you're back in my arms, arms

Blake smiles when I finish, finally getting it right. "That sounded amazing, Dyl. Ready for the backup vocals?" I nod, hearing the song start again. We work on the backup vocals, finally happy with it the fifth time around. "You're a natural at this, Dylan." I smile, looking down. I put the headphones back, stepping out of the recording booth. "Can I please send this to someone here?" He pleads. "I don't know, I don't think I'm ready for something like that yet." "You've got the skills for it though." "Do I actually have a chance, like a really solid chance?" "Absolutely." "I don't know, let me think about it." "Dylan, you have talent." He says, shaking me by the shoulders. I roll my eyes, pulling away. 

"What'd you do?" I ask, having a feeling he pulled some strings already. "I need you to say yes first." "Blake, what did you do?" I demand, staring up at him. "Say yes." "Did you already send it?" I ask, staring him down. "Say yes." "Why did you already send it without my permission?" I was trying to stay calm, but this infuriated me. I didn't have a good track record with fame. This scared me. "Say. Yes." I stand in front of him with my arms crossed over my chest, waiting. "Yes, I sent it to Tom." I deflate, sinking into the couch. "Blake, I'm not ready for fame yet. You saw what the last year did to me." "This will be different." "How?" "The people will be a fan of you, rather than who you're seen with. You're incredibly talented. You can seriously go far, maybe even farther than me." I give him a look, cocking an eyebrow at him. "I'm serious."

His phone rings, interrupting us. He shows me the screen, Tom Adams is calling him, his producer. He answers it, putting it on speaker. "Hey, Tom." "That was your little sister?" He asks, sounding stunned. "Yeah, she's almost eighteen." "Phenomenal. Have her set up a meeting with me, I would love to meet her. She's definitely going far and I want to get her before any other producers get her." My brother gives me an I told you so look, making me roll my eyes. "I'll see what I can do," Blake promises, hanging up. "I told you!" He says in my face, grinning down at me. "You're good!" "Stop gloating," I say, shaking my head. "Meet with Tom." Blake pleads. "I don't even know the first thing about being a music artist." "I'll help you! I've been doing this for a while and Tom is one of the best. He wants you to succeed. He's not completely in it for the money and will seriously help you skyrocket."

"You promise?" I ask, holding out my pinky. He locks his with mine, nodding. "I promise." "Fine, I'll meet with Tom."

The next chapter is info on Book 2, Fixing Us