Fixing Us || l.h

Chapter Twenty-Three**

Luke and I head out of the private airport, his mom waiting beside a car. "Luke!" She calls, both of us walking over. She gives Luke a big hug and then turns to me, smiling. I give her a hug, not realizing how much I missed motherly hugs. I don't waste a second of it, feeling her squeeze me back, hopefully knowing how much I needed that hug. "It is so good to see you both again, how is the tour? I want to hear everything!" She gushes, opening the trunk for Luke to put our bags in. I get in the back seat as Luke gets in the passenger seat, beginning to tell her about the tour.

I listen, smiling softly as he tells her about the song mishaps, the broken drums, and messing around backstage with Nerf guns. My phone buzzes in my lap, Ashton checking in to see if we made it safely. I text back that we did and that when I have a minute, I'll give him a call. 

"Dylan, what about you? How's the tour going?" She asks, glancing at me in the rearview mirror. "Good, it's a lot at times, but all the boys are helping a lot. I will say, being the only girl does suck. Sometimes I just need some girl time and I've got no one." I laugh, Luke groaning. "I've done so many face masks with you, are you kidding? You get your girl time." He whines. I roll my eyes, smiling. "You complaining the entire time that it's too tight or too cold or hurts when it peels off definitely does not constitute a girl's night." I counter, and Luke glances back at me. "I will say though, your skin has never looked better after those face masks, I am changing your life babe." I grin as he rolls his eyes, turning back around.

"Well I'm glad you both are having fun, the pictures make it seem like you're having fun," Liz says, pulling into the house's driveway. Luke's Dad is out front waiting for us, waving as we pull up. Luke grabs our bags from the back, and we walk into the house. Andy gives us both hugs, and all of us sit in the living room. "How's the spotlight treating you two?" He asks, crossing his ankle over his knee. "Good most days, a little overwhelming sometimes but manageable usually," I assure him, and Luke wraps his arm around my shoulder. I get up to grab my water bottle from my backpack while Luke tells his dad about the tour, the front door bursting open. I jump, dropping the water bottle as two boys who look similar to Luke sprint into the house, tackling him on the couch. A girl walks through the front door and closes it, shaking her head at the boys.

I pick up my water bottle, watching Luke struggle under the two boys. "You must be Dylan, I'm Celeste, Jack's girlfriend." She gestures to the boy with longer hair, who looks a lot like Luke. "Nice to meet you." I laugh, walking over to the couch with her. Luke finally shoves his brothers off him, adjusting his shirt and sitting up. He stands, grabbing my hand. "Dylan, this is Jack and Ben, and it looks like you already met Celeste." Luke introduces me, and both boys shoot up. 

Ben smiles, wrapping an arm around my shoulders. Do you want to see Luke's baby pictures? I know mom won't pull them out this early, but I have no problem pulling them out early." He laughs, leading me to a small bookshelf.  "Ben." Luke snaps, pulling me back to him. I laugh, shaking my head. "I'll be sure to come find you during the trip, I might need a few baby pictures," I assure Ben, sitting back down on the couch with Luke. "How was the flight?" Jack asks, taking a seat on the loveseat with Celeste. "Long, but it gave us time to talk and catch up with me being gone the last week," I tell him, and Luke gives me a small squeeze. 

We catch up with everyone, Luke and I slowly growing more and more tired before Liz sends us to Luke's room to get some sleep before dinner in a few hours. I put my back down in the corner, Luke pulling the sheets back on the bed and crawling in, patting the spot next to him. I lay down, putting my head on his shoulder and he lazily rubs circles on my back, and before I know it Liz is waking us up for dinner.

We head downstairs and sit at the kitchen table, serving ourselves the enchiladas Liz made. Everyone throws out ideas for things to do while we're here, from the Harbor to a Garden, the Opera House, and the zoo. Luke and I debate for a while what to do, and decide to put the decision off until morning since we are so tired. I do want to see more of Sydney though, but maybe not all the tourist traps, I want to see places Luke went to often and get to know his past a little better.

Ashton texts me after dinner, making me frown. It's late for him to still be up. I excuse myself from the table and go up to Luke's room, facetiming Ashton. He answers quickly, still in the hotel room. "Hey, why are you still up?" I ask, frowning. "Stress, we see Kiera's parents tomorrow and she's terrified. My mom was mad but immediately started fussing over her, you know her. Kiera doesn't think her parents are going to react the same way." I sigh,  frowning. "Well let her know that all of us will be there for the two of you, you both have a whole tour to support you." He smiles, nodding. "What did you want to talk to me about earlier? And how is everyone?" He changes the topic, probably trying to get his mind off things. "Everyone's good, I met Ben and Jack and Celeste, they're all super sweet. Ben wants to show me Luke's baby pictures so I will be coming back with some gold." I joke, laughing a little. Ashton smiles, barely reaching his eyes. 

"We took a nap, that's why I didn't call earlier, but Luke found something he was never supposed to see." Ashton's eyebrows raise, waiting. I look around his room, trying to figure out how to say this. "I wrote goodbye letters to you all." Ashton's jaw drops slightly and he pauses, trying to figure out what to say. I take a deep breath, swallowing the lump in my throat. "I never thought anyone would see them, I was too scared to pull them out though, and get rid of them, I couldn't deal with the memories and emotions that came with them." "Dylan, wow, I don't even know what to say. I had no idea you wrote us letters. How did Luke find them?" "They were in a notebook similar to my songwriting notebook, he grabbed them both not knowing which was which and I grabbed the wrong one to show him a song, he saw his letter and then read it," I explain, running a hand through my hair. 

"You both talked things through, I'm assuming?" I nod, struggling to focus on the screen. I didn't want to look at him. "He told me how much he loves me and that he never wants to have to read a letter like that, I don't know, it was really eye-opening seeing the reaction first hand. There is a small part of me that wishes he had never read it, but it's probably for the best, I showed him a few songs that I wrote during the weeks leading up to the letters and what I wrote in rehab but still." My shoulders slump, Ashton giving me a small smile. "Hey, that kid is disgustingly in love with you, never forget that." I laugh, nodding. "I think it's good he saw it, it's a way for you both to become closer and learn what the other goes through. I think in the end it'll bring you both closer and help strengthen your bond and trust for each other." I nod again, smiling softly. "Thanks, Ash, keep me updated on your side of things, but go get some sleep, you have a long day ahead." He nods, hanging up.

Luke comes into his room, sitting next to me. "How's Ash doing?" He asks. "You little snoop." I tease him, bumping my body against his. "Not good, he's stressed. His mom wasn't happy but then went mama bear mode for Kiera, but they're worried about Kiera's side." Luke nods, frowning. "Hopefully they're worried for nothing." He shrugs. "I'm glad I did get to read that letter though, I hate that you ever felt like you needed to write it, but I do think me reading it has helped us to be stronger and more bonded like Ash said." He changes the topic and I give him a look. "You know not to spy on Ash-therapy time." I narrow my eyes at him, frowning. "But I am glad too, it's definitely brought us closer."