Staged and Confused | LRH

you complete mess. 16

Luke's Perspective

I laid on the sofa with my eyes half shut, as Michael did the same across from me. Ashton was sitting beside Michael, scrolling through his phone as the sound of Lex sick in the bathroom echoed through the tour bus. She'd drank a little too much at the party tonight and was definitely reaping the percussions at the moment.

Calum was with her in the bathroom, undoubtedly holding her hair back and making her feel a little better about it all. She felt embarrassed on the Uber ride home where we had to pull over for her to get sick on the side of the road. But hell, we'd all been there. Nothing to be embarrassed about.

"I know this is probably going to sound so wrong of me considering how it ended," Michael spoke, grabbing Ash and I's attention, "But I'm really glad Alex came out with us tonight." There was a sadness to his voice that we both knew the cause of. It had been too long since we'd seen Lex let loose. She'd been careful, and tight about the decisions she made. It was nice to see her have a good time, even if her night ended like this.

"I think being on tour is going to be really good for her," Ashton concluded and I couldn't help but nod my head in agreement. "It's gonna give her the space to get out of her head for once and get her mind off of that dick she used to call her boyfriend." I snorted out a laugh at that. If Cody had a hate club, I would surely be president. Yet the guilt still eats away at me for being the cause of her breakup. I know Lex would have been strong enough to break up with him on her own, but I had to go ahead and get involved. She can never find out. She'd hate me. More than she already does. Or at least pretends to.

"She sounds like she's fucked," I pointed out, the heaving sound prominent, even from out here. To put it in perspective, the bathroom is at the very back of the bus and the couches are at the very front. So, you have to be pretty loud for the sound to travel that far.

"Cal's been in there for an hour," Mike pointed out, "one of us should probably go in there and give him a break." Him and Ashton exchanged a look, seemingly deciding who would go. Michael began to sit up, deciding that it would be him. Before he could stand I groggily mumbled from my spot on the couch,

"I'll go."

A laugh passed Ashton's lips as he replied, "Good one, Luke." Michael didn't even halt his movements as he stood, both of the boys chuckling at my seemingly funny joke. Although it wasn't a joke at all, I just wanted to give Calum a break and check on Alexia. I stood up to Michael's level when he realized I was serious and asked,

"Luke, when have you ever held Lexi's hair back?"

I thought about it. It wasn't like Lex was sick often, so I'm sure there wasn't many opportunities for me to hold her hair back. But in hindsight, I guess I hadn't really been one to volunteer my help to Lex when she was sick. Now that I think of that, she was always there for me when I was any kind of sick, no matter how much I pissed her off. She'd always make me soup, or be there to rub my back. And I would always tell her it was too salty, or that she shouldn't pursue a career as a masseuse. I loved pissing her off.

"No better time to start than the present," I shrugged, leaving the room before I gave them the chance to protest any further.

The walk across the bus was short, but I stopped in my bunk grabbing a tee shirt of mine for Lex. I knocked on the door out of courtesy before Calum called me in. There wasn't much room for me in the tiny bathroom, especially in addition to the two bodies already occupying it.

"Hey," Calum greeted, glancing up at me from where he sat beside Alexia. She looked tired and worn. She laid her head against the wall from where she sat right next to the toilet seat. She was still in her party dress, and her face was flushed. Quite the contrast from the way I saw her jumping around the club earlier.