Thick and Thin [l. hemmings]

seventy

I can feel my heart pounding. I know I could have a panic attack at any second, so I knock, my knuckles quickly tapping at the door.

When the door swings open, my breathing hitches as Luke and I stare at each other.

"Kelsey? Wh-what are you doing here?" Luke questions, sounding confused yet excited.

"Honestly? I don't know. Things ended so badly last time and I don't know, I like, missed you? I just- I want us to get along like we were and I know we'll have such a hard time working this out at a distance and I just-"

"Hey, Kels?" Luke interrupts. "How about you come inside and we can talk, instead of you rambling in the doorway."

I nod, looking down at my feet in embarrassment.

Following him inside, he leads me over to the couch so we can sit and talk.

"So, you're here?" Luke asks.

"Yeah, I just- I don't know. New York just became a lot and I kept thinking about us so... I left."

"What were you doing in New York?"

"With Ashton, it's a whole thing." I reply, not wanting to talk about that right now. "Anyway. Uh, I don't even know what to say now that I'm here."

"I mean, I'm happy to see you."

"It's so crazy, I just, I've been overthinking so much. I know I want us to work but I know it won't with us being so far apart. I literally debated moving back to Seattle. But that's insane. I'm sorry, I want this to work, but I'm not going to come back here."

"Kels, don't move back."

"What?"

"Don't move back." He repeats.

"Oh..." I mumble, a little disappointed. I know Luke would never ask me to move back. I know he wouldn't want me to leave my friends. But, I didn't think it would be a reaction like that.

"No, Kels, it isn't like that. I don't want you to move back here, because I won't be here."

"What?"

"Those meetings I had in Los Angeles? They were for a move. We're moving the company headquarters to LA."

"Luke-"

"Before you call me crazy, my parents put this in motion years ago. Before we got married. Before you got accepted to UCLA. I always knew you wanted to move out there, and I was told about this a couple months after you started at UCLA. I mean, we had paused it for a bit, family stuff, but we started up again a little while ago. My meetings when I was in LA were to see new offices, since our team that's there will be expanding, like a lot. I'm being selfish here, but don't move back. I'll still be a few months, but it's happening. I'm moving to LA, Kelsey."

I don't stay anything, I just wrap my arms around him, waiting for him to hug me back.

He quickly tightens his grip on me, letting out a deep breath as he tucks his head into the crook of my neck. "God, I was so scared you were going to kill me for this."

"I'm just so- I really do want to give this a chance. It's really hard to when we live this far apart."

"A couple more months and I'll be out there. Then we can really try to work this out." He smiles, pulling away from me and cupping my face.

"I can't wait." I smile, though I move a little farther from him. We still need to take things slow.

"Something else about the move."

"Uh... yeah?" I nervously question, not wanting him to ruin this moment.

"Calum's coming too."

"What?" I exclaim, a smile forming on my lips.

"He wants to move to LA when school is done. He thinks it'll be the best place for him to be after he graduates from studying music for so long. He's just behind a couple credits. He's working on them now, over the summer."

"He always has been a songwriter. It does make sense. I'm so happy for him!"

"One of his profs has already connected him with somebody there. I hope it works out for him." Luke replies.

"What's his plan? Do you know?"

"Well, he's going to be my roommate, I don't know how well I'm going to handle that after living alone this long... but I want him to succeed though. I'll do whatever I can to help him."

"I can't wait for Calum to be in LA."

"You're more excited about Calum. You should be excited about me." Luke frowns, quickly smiling again, unable to keep up the joke.

"Really though, I am glad you're going to be close by. It'll really give us a chance, you know?" I tell him, looking up at him with a smile.

When Luke smiles back at me, my stomach flips as I think about us and our future.

"Another thing." Luke speaks up.

"What now?"

"Kiana doesn't know yet, about Calum leaving."

"She's not going to handle that well. He's her best friend."

"That's why he's having such a hard time telling her."

"Oh my god, I feel so bad for her. I don't want to be that far away from her. Now Calum being that far away from her too?" I tell him, starting to worry about her.

"Kels, hey, she'll be okay. She's perfectly fine."

"Yeah, I know she'll be okay, it just sucks."

"She's happily married now, she's going to be okay." He repeats.

"I know. It just sucks. I feel like we're all leaving her behind."

"She has her new friends. We aren't leaving her alone. Have some faith in her." Luke chuckles, seeing how concerned I am.

"I just miss her. It would be so cool if all of us were there, you know?"

Luke nods, some of his curls falling into his face as he does, focused more on his phone as he types.

"What are you doing?"

"Letting Calum know I told you. He's been dying to let you know. He told me he made a comment to you when you were here about how he should move to LA and he almost ruined the surprise."

"I really thought nothing of that. I'm so happy you two are moving. Oh my god, this doesn't feel real."

Luke just smiles as he puts his phone away, "I'm just glad this didn't freak you out or anything."

"No, I think this will help. I'm excited."

"So, question." Luke starts, a small smile on his lips.

"What now?" I exclaim, laughing at him.

"Wanna go on a date with me? Tonight?" He questions, nervously biting on his lip.

Slowly a smile creeps onto my face as the butterflies return to my stomach, "Of course, Luke."

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AHHHHH I HOPE THIS WAS OK anyway happy new year <3