the hating game ; lrh

twenty-one

WHEN I WAKE, THE space where Luke lay when I fell asleep is cold and empty.

I reach out my hand, running my fingertips along the sheets where he was as if he were still lying there, perhaps fast asleep. The light streams in through my window and warms my face, alerting me instantly to the fact that I had forgotten to draw my blinds the previous night.

The previous night. All of the memories of the party, the fight, Ashton, Luke begin flooding my brain like a tidal wave, but the worst of all is the emotion that crashes in alongside it. My heart raises and drops with every memory, and I turn over and reach for my phone in an attempt to distract myself from all of the many issues at hand.

10:30 — fuck. I flip the covers off my bed and quickly leap out, not bothering to check my appearance or change my clothes as I leave my room and race down the stairs. Mum would be home in two hours and we likely still had an entire house to clean after the frat-sized party we threw last night.

However, when I finally make it to the bottom of the stairs, I am surprised to see Calum, Michael and Luke have made avid progress on the cleaning of the house — so that's where he went.

"Finally," Calum lets out a long sigh of relief when he finally spots me at the bottom of the staircase, causing Michael and Luke to look up, too. Luke holds my gaze for only a second before turning back to the spray and cloth he is using to clean the bench tops. "You slept for ever. I can't get the vacuum-cleaner working."

I tear my gaze from where Luke is far too concentrated on the kitchen counter to my brother who is fast approaching me, dragging our ancient vacuum cleaner behind him.

"I was tired," I respond bluntly, but take the appliance from him regardless and begin carrying it over to a power point nearby.

Calum scoffs. "I can't imagine why," he says, tone of disbelief. "I didn't even see you after we played our set. I was about to send out a bloody search party before Ashton told me you'd gone to bed."

I gulp at the name, but make no indication as to the events of last night. "Where is Ashton?" I ask, trying my best to sound calm and normal.

"Beats me," Calum shrugs, glancing at Michael who does the same as he picks up stray garbage. "He left pretty soon after I spoke to him — said he'd come back and help clean. Asshole."

"Hmm," is all I can think to respond, not wanting to give too much away just yet. I pull the handle of the cleaner out and inspect it to ensure there's no dust or dirt that would be affecting the suction. When I'm sure it's clean, I place the head of the vacuum on the ground.

"Can you call him and get his ass over here?" Calum asks me, his whiny voice reminding me of when we were little and he'd try nagging our mum for sweets right before dinner. "He won't answer any of us."

I flick the switch on the wall and watch as the vacuum cleaner bursts into life, the sound filling the room from corner to corner. "We broke up," I say, a little louder than usual so my brother might hear but not quite loud enough as I begin to vacuum the floor.

"What?" Calum's face scrunches together, confused as he strains his ears to try and understand me.

"We broke up!" I repeat, louder again, but still not loud enough because Calum shouts "What?" at the top of his lungs again. "We—"

I'm cut off when the vacuum suddenly turns off, and for a moment I think that maybe it really is broken this time, until I notice Luke standing by the now switched off power point. His expression is blank and emotionless; frighteningly resembling the Luke I had despised my whole life.