teach me to be innocent, l.hemmings

#17: other people's actions aren't a reflection of your worth

There was a clear, precise awkwardness that settled over the restaurant when everyone realised Luke was the waiter. To his credit, Michael seemed genuinely surprised to see his best friend working.

"Hey," Luke cleared his throat, before glancing down at his note-pad. "Ah, what drinks did you guys want?"

His question was met with a silence. Calum and Ashton were both looking at me as if I was about to break down in tears or something. That's when I came to the realisation that I was being slightly ridiculous when it came to this situation involving Luke.

He didn't cheat on me. Yes, he didn't tell me he had been fucking my best friend but I had a feeling they hadn't been together since Luke and I started hanging out. I wasn't about to forgive him and go back to making out with him in dark corners, but I wanted to be civil.

"I'll just have some water." I offered Luke a smile, which seemed to shock everyone at the table.

Was I being that petty before? Or did they all think Luke deserved my silence? I knew where Michael stood because Luke was his best friend. I think, in this situation, Calum and Ashton would just stand behind me no matter what I chose.

"Make it a jug of water." Michael added, before tilting his head. "I didn't know you were working tonight."

"Obviously," Luke laughed quietly. "Otherwise we wouldn't be having this awkward conversation."

I let out a quiet chuckle, having to agree with Luke. It had only been a week but I was missing him – not even in the sexual way, but in the friend way. I don't want to think all the things we went through had been fabricated because it felt so real.

"How long have you worked here?" Ashton asked, leaning back in the chair. "I haven't seen you before."

"I mostly work nights." Luke hesitated before giving us all a shrug. "I'll go get your water. Did you want anything else?"

"Nah, thanks mate." Calum murmured as Luke walked off. As soon as he was gone we all turned to look at Michael. "What was that about?"

"What?"

"Luke being all weird when I asked how long he had worked here." Ashton seemed confused but then again so did all of us. Luke wasn't known for being evasive or mysterious.

"Oh." Michael smiled sadly. "His grandparents own this place and a few weeks back his grandfather died. He started working more to help out his grandma."

I didn't know what to say to that. Instead I glanced in the direction Luke left. I had no idea about any of this. He wasn't the type of guy to let something like that affect his attitude but still. I felt bad that I didn't notice.

"That's... oddly kind of Luke." Calum struggled to say something positive about Luke and Michael noticed.