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Pretty Girls ⇼ Luke Hemmings

A Tongue That Won't Quit.

My anxiety was through the roof as we stepped into the bar. I made sure to stall our leaving by taking off my makeup and redoing it. I thought that maybe if we got there five minutes before they were supposed to perform, they wouldn’t have time to talk to us and I wouldn’t be left alone with Luke. By the time we sat ourselves in a booth, the boys were already on stage setting up. Michael waved to Lea and Luke followed his gaze, his blue eyes landing on me. A small smile played on his lips before he turned around to talk to Ashton.

Luke was wearing a white button down and I could see his tattoos poking through the fabric. His black skinny jeans and boots complimented his legs and I stared at him as he pulled on his always present leather jacket. Tonight, they didn’t introduce themselves. Instead they just started playing and I turned back to Mandy and Lea. I felt like if I watched him sing, the anger I felt for being dragged here would go away.

“How was your date?” Lea asked over the music.
“It was okay,” I plastered on a fake smile.
“Did you like him?”
“We had a lot in common,” I glanced back at the stage to see Luke holding the mic close to his face. I wasn’t listening to the words he was singing, but he looked so good pouring his heart into the song.
“Okay, but did you like him,” Lea repeated with a smirk. I merely shrugged.
“I think it’s too early to tell,” I told her honestly. “He was very cute and sweet. I guess I kind of liked him,” my face burnt up as I stole another look at Luke.
“But you like Luke more,” Lea teased and I glared at her.
“I do not like Luke!” I wasn’t sure if I was lying. She held up her hands in defense and laughed. We were all silent for the rest of the set.

For their last song, they played Valerie and my face turned red when Mandy and Lea looked at me with amused grins.
“What?” I asked, trying to get them to stop looking at me. “They’re only singing it because they feel bad about the dogfight,” I reasoned and Lea crossed her arms. Mandy laughed, busying herself in her phone.
“Yeah, and Luke only keeps looking at you to make sure you didn’t leave.” Lea rolled her eyes. I glanced over and caught Luke’s blue eyes with my green ones. I took in a sharp breath and tore my eyes to my lap.

When they finished the song, they left the stage. Ashton was the first to move through the crowd, but went straight to the bar and began talking to a tall girl with pink hair. Calum, Michael, and Luke met us at the booth.
“Mind if I slide in next to Mandy?” Calum smiled down at me and I held in a sigh as I got up to let him in. Michael slid next to Lea and Luke sat across from me. Luke and I both stayed silent as the four talked about the show and an after party at some guy’s house who always came to the bar. I didn’t care if Mandy and Lea decided to go to that, I refused to. I’ll just come up with some excuse like not feeling well to get out of it. Soon enough, Michael and Lea were making out and Calum was flirting with Mandy.

I was thankful when my phone started to ring and immediately excused myself to answer it outside. Once I was in the alleyway, I felt a huge load lifted off my chest. I sat on the curb and answered the call from my dad.
“Is everything okay?” I asked. It was nearly 11, and my parents typically went to sleep at 9:30.
“I just wanted to check in. I had to work late tonight,” he explained and I stayed silent. “I didn’t wake you, did I?”
“No. I’m just doing some homework,” I lied, wondering if he could hear the muffled music coming from inside the bar.
“You shouldn’t stay up late to do homework. You need to be responsible enough to do it at a reasonable time.” I couldn’t help but roll my eyes.
“I know,” I muttered. It’s just like him to call and lecture me about something so pointless. “How is everyone?” I changed the subject.
“Parker won an award at daycare for Best Sharing Buddy,” he laughed. “Gene was so excited about it,” I frowned at the mention of my sister. I heard keys jingling, followed by our dog Warren barking. I assumed he’d just gotten home.

“How are classes going?” I shrugged despite the fact that he couldn’t see me.
“Good,” I told him. “I have a story due this Thursday and I’m excited to get it workshopped so I can improve as a writer.” He sighed.
“Are you really sure that you want to major in creative writing? I just don’t see how you could possibly make a living with it,” I frowned.
“Yes. I’m sure.” I spat.
“Uncle Paul is here, do you want to say hi?”
“Why is he there?” I felt like my heart stopped.
“He needed somewhere to stay, so we put him in Gene’s old room.” I scoffed. Of course they did.
“I don’t understand how you could let him in our house after-” I began, but was cut off.
“Valerie, family is the most important thing we have. Moretti’s don’t turn their backs on their family,” maybe they should if that family did unspeakable things to them.
“I have to go,” I lied, hanging up before he could reply.

I buried my face in my hands and let out a loud sigh. I wanted to scream. I wanted to punch the brick wall behind me until my knuckles were bleeding. Instead, I started to cry. I don’t know how long I was crying, but my eyes were tired and puffy. I hadn’t realized someone was sitting next to me until they spoke.
“Valerie?” Luke’s voice was soft. I took in a loud gasp and whipped my head to him.
“You nearly scared the life out of me,” I scolded as he lit up a cigarette.
“Are you okay?” He took a drag.
“No,” I let out a dry laugh. Although I didn’t want to be here with Luke, he was the only person (outside of my family) who knew about Uncle Paul.
“Do you want to talk about it?” I nodded, but stayed silent. I didn’t talk for a long time, I was trying to calm my breathing. It was bad enough that it was obvious I’d been crying, I didn’t want him to have to console me if I started up again.

“My uncle is staying at my house,” I finally explained.
“The bad uncle?” He asked and I nodded. “Well-” he started, but stopped to take another puff. “At least you’re here and not there. You won’t have to see him for a while and maybe he’ll be gone by the time you come back.” He was right. The short three hour drive to my house now seemed miraculous.
“What if he isn’t gone, though?” I asked, fearing the possibility. Luke put an arm around my shoulder and took another drag.
“Then you can stay here all summer and hang out with me. I don’t go home and it gets pretty boring on campus when all my friends are away.” I couldn’t help but lean into his touch and set my head on his shoulder. He stilled for a second, but tightened his grip on my shoulder. He let his hand dangle down and graze my arm. When his fingers began to slowly create patterns in my skin, I got goosebumps.

“Why don’t you go home?” I asked, trying to forget the tingling sensation shooting through my arm. His fingers stopped moving for a second, but then he picked the pace back up.
“There’s nothing for me there,” he replied. I didn’t know what to say to that, but it made me sad. How could someone feel like there’s no reason to go home and see their family. Well… Unless your uncle who ruined your innocence was there. I began to understand his reluctance in going home, but I didn’t say anything. “Do you want to get out of here?” Luke finally broke the silence.
“Don’t you want to go to that party?” I lifted my head from his shoulder and stared at the passing cars on the street as he stomped out the butt of his cigarette.
“Not really,” he pulled his arm away and stood up. “Come on,” he held out his hand. “I have something that might make you feel better. She’s got four legs, super soft fur, and a tongue that won’t quit,” I giggled and took his hand, allowing him to pull me up.

Once I was on my feet, he didn't let go of my hand. Instead, he led me to his car and opened the door for me. The drive from the bar to the frat house was shorter than I remembered and when we walked in, Petunia was lying on the couch in the living room. When she got a glimpse of Luke, she stood up and followed us up the stairs. She immediately took a place on the bed and I sat next to her, scratching behind her ears. She stared up at me with tired eyes and I drew my hand back, looking up at Luke. He was watching our interaction, biting his lip, and tore his eyes away when I looked back at him.

“Val?” He asked, sitting on the other side of me.
“Yes?” I looked at Petunia, who set her head on my knee and closed her eyes.
“Did you kiss that guy?” His voice was so quiet that I hardly heard him. When I looked at him, his gaze was focused on the ground.
“No.”
“Are you going to date him?” I didn’t know why he was asking me, but he seemed upset.
“I don’t think so,” he lifted his head to look at me, and I was the one to stare at the floor.
“Do you want to stay here tonight?” His question caught me off guard. “I mean… You just seem exhausted and… I don’t know, I can take you back if you want,” he rambled.
“You’d have to take me back in the morning so I can get ready,” I told him before I could think it through. I didn’t really want to be alone, and I doubted that Lea would be back tonight.
“Bright and early,” he promised, standing up and walking to his dresser.

He pulled out a plain white shirt and gray sweatpants, handing them to me before grabbing out a pair of athletic shorts for himself.
“I’ll-um-I’ll give you some privacy,” he mumbled before exiting the room and pulling the door shut behind him. I was quick to peel off my clothes and change into Luke’s. I folded my skirt and top, setting it on his dresser and sandwiching my bra in between the articles of clothing. A knock at the door made me jump. “Val, can I come in?” Luke asked. I called out a yes and sat on the edge of the bed, where Petunia was softly snoring. Luke entered, wearing only athletic shorts, and tossed his clothes on the floor. I couldn’t help but stare at his broad chest and miss the feeling of lying my head on it, listening to his heartbeat as I fell asleep.

Luke peeled back the covers and I climbed into bed with him. As soon as my head hit the pillow, I let out a sigh of relief. I’d had such a long day and felt like I’d never lied on a bed before. My eyes fluttered closed as he shut off the light.
“Hey Val?” He asked quietly. The bed shifted from his weight and I hummed in response. “What was Catholic school like?” I forced my eyes open to look at him. He was laying on his side and his blue eyes were beaming into me and I couldn’t help but smile. “I heard they’re the wildest place a kid could go to school,” I laughed, nodding.
“Some of them are,” I admitted. “But mine wasn’t. The nuns were so strict that you couldn’t leave your room past eight without them demanding to know where you were going. We needed escorts to go to the bathroom at night. Usually the nuns would take turns wandering the halls during the night shift and followed us to the bathrooms. They didn’t trust us one bit,” I smiled at the memory and Luke playfully rolled his eyes.

“Were you angry with your parents for sending you away?” My smile faltered.
“I was at first. But, you just get used to it. It made going away to college a lot easier,” Luke nodded but didn’t say anything. He shut his eyes. “Luke?” I asked and he flung them open. “Can… Nevermind,” I chickened out, my nerves getting the best of me.
“What?” He insisted.
“I’m just a little upset and I was wondering if-” I stopped and he smiled, pulling my body closer to his. In this moment, I was glad that he could practically read my mind. I turned around in his grip and pressed my back against his chest. His arm snaked around my waist, but I pulled it up so it was lying across my chest and wrapped my hands around his wrist. Within seconds, our breathing synced and I drifted off to sleep.

Notes

Comments

I've just read this story in about 24 hours and all I can say is Oh My God! How have you written something (and someone) so perfect?

urgh I love this

@Alisha_PArrish101love
Arrogant Boys!!!

Can you tell me what the next One will be called please?

@Prinny1321
I promised I would finish it, and I'm finishing it!