Project Publicity || l.h

Epilogue

Two years later

"Luke, is that your manager calling again?"

"Yup," Luke replies, looking down at his phone. "Sorry. Just a sec, I'll tell him I'm busy." He leans in and gives me a short peck. Then he goes back to his phone.

Luke has met his manager two years ago, about a week after Battle of the Bands. Calum, Michael, Luke and Keegan, had been mourning for days over their failed performance. They'd forgiven Luke for being a nervous wreck on stage, and had even progressed to joking about it. But a week later, there was a phone call from a solo manager who wanted to sign a band for his label...not as good of a prize as the winners of Battle of the Bands, but amazing itself. It's weird because, I've secretly been following the band that won the final round, and they still have a reputation of being the 'local band'. Meanwhile, Luke is leaving for his second tour around the world. And I'm coming with him.

On the other hand, I'm in my first year of art school, but Luke doesn't really know what to do yet. He wants to play music, but he also wants to study literature. He's going to University and I have no doubt he'll be a successful English professor. With both our busy schedules, we still make time to see each other. Especially today. Today is a special day.

A girl across the banquet hall catches my attention. She's grown taller than when I last saw her, (five months, to be exact) and her blond hair is cut short, to her shoulders. It gives her a more innocent, professional look. Hailey. She's studying journalism at Boston University. Her gossip blog has long since perished.

"Hailey!" I scream. She hears her name and turns around, and we meet somewhere in the middle, catching each other in a hug. Logan lingers next to her, and pulls me into a hug as well. He's completely quit smoking this year, and he's cut his hair short as well, for the military college he's attending. I can see the effort he's made to look fresh at the wedding. I can tell he shaved by the smell of mint aftershave as he pulls away. He no longer looks at me the same way he did before. He doesn't look at me the way that Luke does.

Now, Logan looks at Hailey.

Logan leans in and kisses Hailey, and she kisses back, wrapping her arms around his neck.

"Gross. Get a room," Luke says. He shoves his phone back in his pocket and stands beside me. He exchanges hugs with Hailey and Logan, as well. Except when it's Logan's turn, he kicks Luke in the shins and starts laughing while he jumps onto his back like an animal.

"You'd think a military camp would shape him up," Hailey says to me, shaking her head. Then she takes me in for the first time. "You look smashing, by the way." Today's wedding is a simple one, at a cozy banquet hall downtown, so I'd chosen a white lace dress and nude heels. Hailey's in her usual; bold, bright colors and tinted lip gloss.

Logan and Luke finally catch up to us, their last bit of laughter dying down.

"Double date when you guys get back from the tour?" Hailey suggests, taking Logan's arm.

Luke's hand encircles my waist. "Sounds great."

We move further into the banquet hall. Mr. Hemmings is here. His appearance itself proves how well the therapy's worked on him. His eyes are no longer bloodshot or drunk, and his clothes ironed and well-worn, he offers us a smile. My mother is here as well, sitting on a fold-up chair next to Mr. Lowry. He's asked me to start calling him Daniel. And he's moving in next year. Cam loves him, so I guess he's okay. Mr. Lowry-Daniel- has his arm around my mom's shoulder, and waves at me, pushing his horn rimmed glasses up his nose. It reminds me of when Luke used to do that.

...

"It's starting," Luke whispers in my ear.

Cam, who's twelve now, is the ring boy. He's dressed in a tuxedo as well, and walks down the path the way he was told. He stands by my father at the front, beaming.

The bride enters. Vows are exchanged. Words are spoken. And the rings are slipped on.

"What's with the face?" Luke asks me.

"What face?"

"That face," he replies.

"Nothing. I'm just happy."

He ponders my answer. But he grins, too, and says: "I'm happy too."

Together, we watch my father and his mother kiss, and Julia, as she waves towards us at the altar, her face streaked with happy tears. We wave back. My father beams at us, waving too, and a happy tear falls down my face.

"I can't wait until we get married," Luke jokes in my ear. I jab his side, and he pretends to double over in pain.

The crowd breaks into applause. My father and Luke's mother are finally getting married. And it doesn't bother us, not even a little. Luke has separated himself from his parents since he was eighteen, and he is officially, legally not born from Julia and Steven Hemmings. At least on paper. It doesn't mean he's stopped coming to visit them at least once a week.

"Watch out," Luke blurts, and I am snapped back to reality by a chorus of squealing girls. Luke and I both scramble in surprise as about twenty girls run towards us, and it's not until it's two feet away that I see the bride's bouquet flying towards us. As a protective reflex, I catch it before it hits me in the face. Everyone stares at me.

I look down at the flowers in my hand, my cheeks heating up.

Luke grins cockily. "What did I tell you?"

So you guys, I'm making a spinoff/sequel for Undercover Heart. (And no, I will not be writing a second story about Juke, because I'm fine with this ending :D)

Anyway, it's a story about Ashton after he left Cedarwood!!

Basically, yes, Cedarwood did get rid of it's biggest fuckboy, but as Ashton moves into this new town, he's like a pesky disease. He's still a player, no matter how much Jade had influenced him. No matter how 'nice' he may be now, he still sleeps around. And a certain person tries to transform him into Mr. Right. See how the theme is similar? This is why I had to change the title and the cover for Undercover Heart to Project Publicity to match. (Sorry, if you hadn't noticed already)

The pre-chapter for Project Fuckboy is out already, so go add it to your libraries <3

Finally, thank you for reading so many chapters of this story, and being so patient with me when I was lazy to update ;) (or just plain forgot to)

I'll miss y'all...but I'm not leaving Wattpad or anything, so... until next time!

-Kate :)