two worlds // luke hemmings

8.4

a/n: I haven't reread it to check on spelling mistakes, so if you find some just ignore them, I'll correct it all later. enjoy your reading!

*Luke's POV*

Staring at the crowd, I look for a familiar face. Considering the size of this place I know it's almost impossible to find one single person out of God-knows-how-many-thousands. Also, this is just me assuming she came; nobody said she would.

Besides, even if she is there, what am I supposed to do? Say her name on the mic for everyone to hear it? No, thanks. They wouldn't even allow me to anyway. "This is job, not personal business" and blah blah blah.

By the end of Wherever You Are I had to hold back a couple tears. First because, after all these years, fans still know the lyrics by heart, which is awesome. Second, well, I guess it's pretty obvious.

We get off stage. Ashton and Calum are ahead, laughing at something I don't know, while Michael walks by my side, holding his guitar.

"Are you okay, man?" He asks me, patting me on the back.

"Yeah" I smile. "I just, I don't know, I thought she would show up."

"At least you did what you wanted, didn't you? Do you feel better?"

"I feel like I just dropped hundreds of kilos of pure guilt and regret off my shoulders. I guess now it's gonna be easier to move on; I mean, I literally rubbed it on her face. If she gets to see it, of course she'll get the message, right?"

"The way I see it, yeah" He nods. "Are you ready for next concert?"

"I'm just not sure what song we should cover" I puff, finally getting to our dressing room.

"What about I Miss You?" Ashton suggests, taking his jacket. "Remember when we sang it for BBC? It was good, wasn't it?"

"That's a good idea, I like that" Calum chuckles. "But for now, all I need is a hot bath and some sleep. Where's the pup?"

"Jeff said he was going to take him to the hotel" I roll my eyes. "Calum, I'll never understand you. Couldn't you just wait and get a new dog in LA?"

"Nope"

Michael chuckles, grabbing his stuff. I head towards the toilet. Turning on the faucet I cup my hands and fill them with water, washing my face. I then look myself in the mirror, thank God the bags under my eyes are gradually disappearing. Tonight I'm gonna collapse onto bed in the second I take the first step inside my room.

10 minutes pass after our security calls us to leave. As we are walking through the corridors I hear John talking to one of our bodyguards.

"Honestly, those girls are crazy" He says. "And they think we are gonna believe them"

"Oh, I know that" John agrees. "But in reality they just want a chance to get near the boys, no big deal"

"She was desperate, I swear. I had never seen someone that confident, she could've fooled someone. She even told me to ask anyone in here about her, claiming she knew the boys"

Michael quickly turns to me, and I know he's thinking the same thing. He checks his phone and frowns.

"Shit, this place has no signal." He curses, looking back at me.

My heart beats faster, my hopes up. I walk faster to reach John.

"What are you talking about, Dave?" I ask him. "A girl?"

"Yeah" He laughs. "She was here about forty minutes ago, claiming she needed to talk to you. She even said her name, it was--"

"Laurel?!"

Dave looks confused at me.

"Um, it actually was, sir, but what--"

I stare desperately at my friends, and they all have the same expression in their faces. I drop everything and start running towards the door.

"Luke! Wait!" I hear Dave yelling and I know he's running after me.

"Are you crazy?! Luke! It might not be her, just another girl who knew her name!" John screams.

"Luke!" Ashton calls out.

But I don't stop. I quickly open the door and the cold night air hits me hard.

"Laurel!" I shout, looking everywhere. I can feel my nerves on the edge. Heaving, I turn the corner, shaking my head like I've just gone insane.

"Laurel!" I call again, louder. "Laurel!"

I come back, dodging everyone coming after me.

"Laurel!"

"Luke, stop with this bullshit now!" John tells me off, reaching my arm. I yank it back and glare at him.

"Don't follow me. I'm sick of this. I'm not a fucking child!"

"Anyone could show up, you know you're not like everyone else!"

"And why not? Huh? Just because I can sing?! I have the same rights, such as walking on the street! This whole madness ruins everything to us all! It destroyed my relationship! I'm not giving in, just... leave me alone. I can find my way back!"

I didn't realize I was yelling until this moment, when they are all quiet. John is about to respond when he spots something behind me. I look over my shoulder and recognize a shadow I haven't seen in a long time.

"Luke?" I hear her voice.

My entire body shakes as I ignore completely the five men waiting for me, about to force me to get in the van. I look into her eyes for the first time in 8 months. She hesitantly approaches, her arms crossed against her chest.

"Hi" She greets me, really close.

"You came" I whisper, joining our foreheads.

"Of course I came, I... we need to talk" replies Laurel, sniffing. I gently touch her arms and she's shaking.

"Are you cold?" I ask her, and she small nods. So I take off my own jacket and give it to her. "Here."

She accepts it and smiles thankfully at me.

"I have so many things to tell you" She starts. "And I've practiced it so many times in my head but now, it's like I can't find the words"

I'm standing in front of her, unable to look to anywhere else but her eyes. I know John, Dave, Calum, Ashton and Michael are all watching, but I could care less about them.

"These past 8 months have been the death of me" She whimpers. "I can't stop thinking of us for a single minute, the way all fell apart and, just everything."

She hides her face on her hands, while I listen to her small crying. I want to hug her, touch her, run my fingers through her hair like I used to do, but for some reason I can't move.

"Uh, Luke?" John calls. I impatiently look at him.

"What?"

"If you and, um, Laurel need to talk, why don't you go somewhere more private? We are gonna wait for you in the van. Just don't take long"

I nod and they hesitantly step away, leaving me alone with her.

"Let's get inside, they haven't locked the dressing room yet" I tell her, and we walk side by side in silence.

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I was writing a single chapter but then I realized it would probably be a 4000+ words one so I decided to divide it.
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