in the crowd • luke hemmings

11. the great gatsby

the sunlight was hurting luke.

the minute he blinked into consciousness, he closed his eyes tightly again, wincing at the sharp pain the light send through his head.

he rolled over until he felt the pain subside slightly, and allowed himself to open his eyes again.

a tiny stream of sunlight fell onto the floor where it had managed to creep in between the curtains - red curtains that tinted the whole room a slightly rosey colour.

and if that wasn't and indication enough that he wasn't in his own house, the small girl curled up in the armchair certainly was.

he was back in lola's house, and the warm feeling that overtook him when he realised that. the clock on the wall told him it was only quarter to seven; he had an hour and fifteen minutes until he had to be at the gym - he only hoped that would be enough time to shake the feeling of feeling absolutely dead.

luke shuffled into a more upright, seated position, and took in his surroundings, relishing the comfortability he always felt in her house.

he took in the books stacked on the coffee table; the plant she had hanging from the ceiling and it's tendrils dangling low enough for it to touch it head if he were on the opposite side of the sofa; he took in the picture frames on the cabinet beside the sofa and the vast array of painted mugs she had hanging in her kitchen. the magnets holding up polaroids on her fridge, the red rotary telephone on the cabinet with the photos.

everything in her flat felt so soothing and personal, he really just couldn't get enough of it.

something broke his trance; lola shuffled and grunted softly as she tried to find a more comfortable position while still asleep.

her neck was bent at an uncomfortable angle, her entire body folding almost in half to fit entirely in the seat of the armchair. her phone lay in her lap, making luke suspect she'd fallen asleep in the middle of doing something - she was tired at the end of the night, he remembered that much.

luke continued to push himself more upright, moving his legs out from under the blanket and  sitting up properly on the sofa - accidentally kicking the bucket that he hadn't noticed standing by the sofa before.

he winced; the abrupt sound causing a slight furrow between lola's brows. he'd feel awful if he woke her, especially after how she'd taken care of him last night - despite it not being her responsibility at all.

there was a glass of water on a yellow coaster and two painkillers placed on the coffee table in front of him and his chest tightened for a moment at the thoughtfulness of the gesture.

the last time someone had done something so sweet for him was when lola had cleaned him up after a fight.

he put both pills in his mouth, swallowing down a mouthful of the still surprisingly cold water to wash them down, before considering what he should do next.

he wanted to shower and change before he went training, but he had no clothes with him and he didn't want to wake her to ask if he could shower.

really, luke knew his only option to go home. but he couldn't leave her cramped up in the armchair in good conscience.

luke lifted himself out of the sofa, giving his legs a moment to steady themselves before walking quietly over to the arm chair.

lola was still fast asleep, her lips slightly pouted as she emitted heavy breaths between them. her hair had fallen over her face, and still looked slightly curly from the night before.

luke leaned over and picked up her phone, all his movements slow so he could be sure he wouldn't disturb her. he placed her phone on the coffee table, a sense of relief washing over him when he saw she still hadn't moved a muscle.