Wasted Opportunities

Chapter 38

Luke's POV

It was dark when Ashton shut the door, and I fumbled around trying to find the light switch. As my eyes adjusted, I noticed a faint blue light in the corner of the room, like that from the screen of a phone.

“Hello?” I asked, looking over and trying to work out who was there.

“Luke? Is that you?” came Emily's voice. My heart dropped. I wasn't ready to talk to her yet. I tried the door handle, and when it didn't open, I finally realised what had happened, and mentally cursed Ashton. “Yep, it's me,” I sighed.

“Have you got this text too? The one from Maddy and Ashton?” she said, and I got out my phone to see a new message sent from Maddy's number. 'sorry, but you guys need to talk. We'll let you out in an hour, if we're satisfied. mashton xx' I leant my head back against the wall, and it made contact with a clunk.

“Ouch,” I said, rubbing it. Feeling along the wall, I finally found the light switch, and flicked it to see Emily standing in the corner, leaning against a speaker.

“Hey,” she said, putting her phone away.

“Hi,” I said, sitting on the floor and crossing my legs.

“So... what do you wanna talk about?” she said. I looked at her, slightly confused. “I want lunch,” she said. “If we want them to let us out, we gotta talk.”

“I think... I don't think just any conversation will do. They want us to talk about... what happened.” I avoided eye contact with her. She buried her head in her knees and sighed. I waited, thinking that she should probably speak first.

“I made a huge mistake, Luke. What I did was unbelievably stupid, and I understand if you don't ever forgive me. But I want you to know that I'm sorry, and I regret it completely.” I nodded, trying to be open-minded. I wanted to forgive her, but I couldn't forget the pain I had felt when I saw her kissing Michael, and the way it seemed she didn't care about me any more.

“I like you so much it's ridiculous,” she said, a small smile creeping onto her lips. “I just never believed I was good enough for you. I understand now there were other reasons for us not kissing, or talking, but that evening with Michael, he just made me feel wanted, and I didn't feel like you wanted me. I know it sounds like an awful excuse, but I was exhausted, and I got caught up in the moment. And I've always liked him as well as you. You two were always my favourites, when I was a fan. I could never choose between you.”

“I want to forget about it,” I said. She looked up at me, hope shining in her eyes. “But I have a problem. If it happened once like this, how can I be sure it won't happen again? If I'm on tour, or busy, and I can't spend time with you, are you just going to get “caught up in the moment” with some other guy you like?”

“Luke, no, I'm not like that!” she protested, tears filling her eyes.

“When you're in a band like I am, having a girlfriend is difficult. You can't spend a lot of time together, she inevitably gets some hate, you're both put under a lot of pressure to be a certain way. You have to make sure the girl you choose is really worth it. I thought you were, but...” I trailed off, shaking my head.

“Please,” she said, struggling to hold back her tears. I could see that this really did mean a lot to her. “I know I don't seem worth it, but I'll try my best. I really like you Luke, and I really do want things to work out between us. If you do as well... surely it's worth a try?” I sat silent for a moment, thinking, and she said nothing more, wiping her tears away with the sleeve of her jumper.

“Okay,” I said, my decision made. “Some parts of me are screaming that this is wrong, but I care about you too much to refuse. I guess... I fell in love with the girl I knew at the start of the tour, and what she did that night with Michael seems so out of character that I have to believe it was a mistake. I guess what I'm saying is... let's try again.”

“Luke, thank you so much!” she said, throwing her arms around my neck. “After this, I don't think I can ever believe that you don't care about me; this really shows you do. And now that I know that, I won't need anybody else except you.”

“Maybe this will make up for the other evening,” I said, pulling her head gently towards mine and bringing our lips together. I felt her smile, and I did too. Even though I was still upset at what she had done, I knew that this was the right decision. We had formed such a strong friendship in a few months, and I knew that dating would only make us happier. The door burst open, interrupting my train of thought and the kiss.

“At last!” yelled Ashton as Maddy cheered. “Do you know how long we've been waiting for this?” He turned round and high-fived Maddy as me and Emily smiled guiltily.

“Guys, you'll never guess what we just found!” Ashton called down the corridor, presumably talking to the other boys. “Luke and Emily, sitting in a tree, k-i-s-s-i-n-g!”

“Except they were in a cupboard...” pointed out Maddy. I stepped out of the cupboard, holding Emily's hand as she followed me. Calum and Flavia were grinning along with everyone else, but I couldn't help but notice the crushed look in Michael's eyes that he was failing to hide.

A/N

So I hope this was okay since I know lots of you were hoping this might happen :)

Thanks for reading, please vote and comment if you liked it!

How do you feel about this? Happy for Emily and Luke, or sorry for Michael? I'm feeling a bit of both at the moment :/

Love you xx