Cadences [cake au] ✔

// twenty-eight //

Chapter 28

Calum's POV

The atmosphere in the venue was so different in comparison to the concerts I usually went to and enjoyed – it was dark with a few strobe lights glaring down at us from above in different angles. Luke was unnervingly sweaty, and this was exhibited by his constant forehead swiping and hand rubbing. He'd helpfully decided to wear a hoodie too, and refused to take it off even though we were inside.

"Luke, are you sure you're okay? You're really hot and sweaty," I asked, dodging to let someone past us. He pursed his lips.

"I'm fine. Just don't let anyone on stage see me."

"Won't you at least take your hoodie off?"

"I said, I'm fine."

I cowered away and swallowed, knowing that it wasn't my place to keep irritating him, no matter what the situation. Part of me hoped he'd tell me, and the other part simply wished that he wouldn't faint from the heat. Instead of directly confronting him, I interlocked our fingers and squeezed his hand gently.

A small part of me was beginning to doubt Luke's appreciation of me again. The fact that he might only be hanging out with me because his mum made him, and how it was so unlikely for people like him to even be with people like me... I tried my best to suppress the thoughts.

The first support act came on, a three-person band from the local area, and sang four or five songs. They looked pretty awesome playing their instruments and singing on stage; and for once, I appreciated the sound of a modern electric guitar with its different dissonant noises and riffs. Another support band followed.

After a little while longer of waiting around in the crowd, the main act finally came on. I'd listened to the playlist Luke had given me a few times through so when the main riff of 'Kids in the Dark' came on, I immediately knew what the lyrics were.

My eyes scanned the stage and landed on a somewhat familiar person. Hey, wasn't the guitarist that guy... Luke's ex-boyfriend? Okay, now things were beginning to make a bit more sense. No wonder Luke wanted to leave – he must've known from the start!

Then my mind drifted back to Ashton, who said they'd only just got two new members. So what did that mean? Maybe Luke genuinely didn't know? In any case, I was too confused to think rationally. I turned to Luke and pulled his hood down, widening my eyes when I saw the enormous amount of sweat on his forehead.

"Luke! You're so sweaty, what's going on?" I cried, using my sleeves to wipe the liquid from his skin. His eyes had dark circles under them that were illuminated by the bright lights from the stage, but his mouth didn't open. "Luke, please tell me."

But he just yanked his hood back up, covering his damp hair, and no matter how hard I tried to get it back down again, he wouldn't give in. By now I'd forgotten about the show, the music and which song they were playing – my focus was on Luke and what the heck was actually going on with him.

Suddenly a loud voice shouted, "Luke! Glad you could make it!"

I turned my head away from Luke and saw Luke's ex on the stage, speaking into a microphone. Luke went even paler and I could hear his breath get heavier as the crowd became silent. A few faces turned to look at us.

"You know, I really didn't think you'd come but I guess I was right all along!" The frontman placed his arm on the guitarist's arm and told him to stop; as if that would do anything. He continued with a sly smirk. "It turns out, boys and girls, ladies and gentlemen, that this guy – Luke Hemmings – is still in love with me, Jack Barakat. You guys know us, right? From that lame-ass band, 5 Seconds of Summer – I left because he was too clingy. Even after we broke up he came round to mine asking for sex."

My heart sank to a new low, the blood in my veins boiling as they were forced around my body, making my fists tighten and eyebrows knit together. It seemed however, that Luke was in an even worse state than me.

"And you see that guy next to him? Luke's only dating him because his mum has a favouritism thing and wants them to date. They don't even like each other."

The frontman pushed him from the microphone with more force this time, and started apologising whilst tears made their way out my glossy eyes. Even if Luke didn't like me, he could've told me himself instead of using this Jack guy to do it for him... I bit down hard on my lip and pushed through the endless crowd of people towards the exit, running somewhere far, far away.

Luke's POV

"Jack, you fucking idiot!" I roared, climbing on the stage and landing a punch on his cheek. He fell back onto a guitar stand, collapsing and provoking a loud 'fight' chant from the audience. Alex took hold of me, dragging me back away from Jack and the drummer Rian came down from his stool to help Jack up. The new bassist who I didn't even recognise put his bass down and rushed to help him too.

"Hey, you can't come here and cause a scene like this," Alex said into my ear, making me even more furious. "I know Jack acted like a dick just now but you know him! He gets a kick out of this and you acting all mad is just gonna satisfy him even more. Calm down and leave – that's the best thing you can do right now."

I hated taking this sort of advice from my favourite singer but it wasn't like I had a choice. I was out of energy, I was hot and sweaty, and the only thing I wanted to do was sit in the shower with a cigarette between my lips.

"Just know that I've lost my respect for your band," I murmured, attempting to jump off the stage; on my way down, however, my foot got caught on a cable and I tripped, landing on an angle. A sharp pain began to spread through my ankle up to my calf and I gritted my teeth in attempt to even out the severe pain – then I stood up and forced my way through the lot of scared, excited and angry concert goers.

There was so much fury flying through me at that point, I could jump off a building. Jack, the person I once liked and dated, had humiliated me in front of so many people. He had brought shame to my band, and it would never be the same again after this – tomorrow, pictures of me would be spreading like a virus through Twitter, Instagram and Facebook – my career might even be ruined.

And what was even worse, was the fact that Calum had been wounded by Jack's meaningless words. I had no idea where he'd gone, or where to start searching. All I knew was that he left maybe five minutes earlier so he couldn't be that far away. I started by running through the nearby streets, trying so hard to catch a glimpse of the brunette with beautiful big brown eyes.

Ten minutes later, I was panting and had thrown away my hoodie – I reached into my jean pocket for my pack of cigarettes but then I realised I'd left them in Calum's dorm. A huge sigh left my lips and I leant against the brick wall of a random café, sliding down so I was sitting on the cold concrete pavement.

How was I gonna fix this? Was there even a way?

***

messy

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Kimmy xx