Between You & Me || Luke & Jai Brooks

Chapter XXVII - Back to LA

*Meghan pov*
It's so peaceful now. It feels unreal, how perfect everything is. As if something has to go wrong. It's a bad way to think, but I can't help it.

I'm playing the Xbox, Luke's laying asleep with his head on my lap. It's Fifa on the screen, which is my game. Jai and Mel are taking shots at it, and I usually make my move when Mel's playing. It's not that she's not good, it's just that Jai's better. Skip and Ali both have controllers, Ali's is resting on her slightly swollen belly. It's weird to look at my best friend of many years pregnant. It seemed to happen all at once; one minute she was crying over the phone to me, next she was happy and proud, her stomach ballooning.

Skip dealt with it surprisingly well I guess, or got over it quickly anyway. It didn't really drive a wedge between Mel and Jai either, because they weren't properly going out at the time. Plus, the six of us are so close anyways, we'll all always be together anyway. There's no reason for us all to be apart and away from the baby ever.

Suddenly, Luke's phone starts to buzz in his pocket and I pause the game to reach over for it. The caller ID reads Roberta Lewis and I feel my stomach drop a little. It takes a lot of effort to swipe the call to the right, instead of ignoring it. "Hello?" I try to keep the quaver from my voice.

"Hello? Is this Meghan?" Ms Lewis's voice questions and I nod silently before realising she can't hear a nod.

"Yes. Luke's sleeping at the moment, but I can wake him if you'd like?" His eyes are still closed, his breathing slow.

"No, no, it isn't urgent. I just wanted to give you a warning in advance. I got a call in from the LA office."

My breathing comes in shorter gasps. This could be the worst kind of message possible.

"The boys will be wanted in LA within a week or so, I've been told. They have more preparation time, this time!" She laughs airily but I can't even fake a laugh. "They'll be over there for longer this time, I'd assume. Maybe a year. They were lucky enough to get this little break for a few months, due to your... incident. But they really can't afford any more time wasted. They need to keep the publicity going while they're still in the spotlight."

My breath catches and tears prick at my eyes. Ever since I met Luke again, I seem to be crying all the time. "Just give me a second, please, Ms Lewis, I need to just tell Jai and Daniel." I put the phone down without waiting for a reply and cover the microphone. I work to calm down and even out my breathing. They've started the game without me, so I pause it again. Jai turns to me, annoyed, but instantly becomes worried at my expression.

"Meghan? Are you okay? Who was that?" He demands, jumping off the sofa to kneel at my feet. His eyes are earnest and concerned, his dark eyebrows pulled together. Mel leans over Luke to turn my face to hers.

"Who was that? What's going on?" She asks urgently.

"She's still on. It's Ms Lewis."

Jai's eyes widen in concern and realisation but Mel still looks confused. "Doesn't she work for the boys?"

I nod. "She's one of their management staff. She manages the LA office from Australia."

Then Mel gets it, and she falls silent for a moment.

"When?" Alicia asks, her eyes desperate.

"Within a week." I reply, my voice cracking, and the girls' expressions mirror mine. Last time the boys left, neither of them were in too deep. Now, we're in pretty much the same situation. "Jai, can you please talk to her?" I ask as the tears begin to fall, holding out Luke's phone. He nods sorrowfully and brings it to his ear.

I turn to Mel straight away, and she grabs hold of my hands over Luke. She's not a crier, but her eyes are sparkling under the light with a layer of tears that will probably never fall. Alicia on the other hand is sobbing onto Skip, both of their hands on her belly. He's whispering reassuring words into her ear and the whole scene is so strange. I feel in this moment that we can't be sixteen, this kind of drama doesn't happen to sixteen year olds.

Jai's nodding away, standing just by the sofa. His voice and expression are neutral, he never shows his emotions while on the phone. Usually it doesn't bother me, but I really want to know what's going on. Luke is stirring on my lap and it's surprising that he's still asleep through all of this. I feel like I've aged another year, and he's just snoozing peacefully. Just as Luke begins to sit up, Jai puts the phone down.

"Well." He says, and everyone turns to look at him. "There's good news, and there's bad news."

"Bad news first." Mel says, her voice quivering.

Jai nods. "Well, the bad news is that the house we usually rent has been rented out, so we need to buy a house."

We all exchange looks of confusion and, though we hardly dare, hope. Jai's starting to smile and we wait anxiously for him to continue.

"So, the good news... Well, the good news is the house has been chosen for us, so we don't need to do all that real estate shit. And it's big enough for us all, and mum." He adds.

I hardly dare to hope. "Us all, as in...?"

He gestures around the room with a spreading smile. "Us all!"

I catapult myself off the sofa, tears streaming down my face, and fling myself into Jai, sobbing. He rocks me from side to side, laughing as I cry my heart out in happiness, and the aftermath of the shock. Luke must be so confused right now. But all I can think of is my happiness at the moment. It's still hasn't really sunk in. Mel's sitting in exactly the same position as before, mouth open in surprise. Alicia's on top of Skip, and they're kissing. Well, everyone has different ways of dealing with things. It's so funny that within the space of a phone call, everyone's feelings could be turned upside down then completely reversed. Well, not Luke's. He's blinking blearily and looking completely disorientated. I laugh as I catch his eyes, and he throws his hands in the air.

"What did I miss?!" He calls, bemused.

I shake my head, grinning. "We're going to America!"

*authors note*
Okay let's be real no one really reads these but this time please do 😇
I've gone through the ENTIRE book today and fixed all the loose ends so that everything makes sense and it's all in the same tense bc tbh the book was a mess and I couldn't be bothered fixing it! But it's done and there's a lot of complete chapters and yeah ! So pls comment on this anything you want to happen in the book or if you wanna be featured and I'll try and work it in 😋 xx
And comment here if you ship Meke or Jaighan 😘 (and better ship names 😂)
xx