Connected [Luke Hemmings]

• Chapter 06 •

• Chapter 6 •

I scroll through my phone and look through the photos Luke and I took at the aquarium. There's something about Luke that I don't get. We can talk for hours, about clearly nothing and still have a great time.

"Whatcha doin'?" I look up to see Calum smiling at me. I move over so he can sit next to me.

"Just scrolling through photos," I say.
"Ooh! Can I see?"
"Sure."

I turn my phone to Calum and we look through them together. "You guys had a good time huh?" he teases.

"It was fun," I say.
"He's a fun guy... if you get pass the awkward stage."

I never knew Luke had an 'awkward stage'. However I knew that he was always a very shy person. It was probably never showed to me because Luke never bothered to show me his 'shy' persona.

"Are you ready tomorrow?" asks Calum.
"Yeah, I mean my stuff doesn't really go anywhere. So I'm always packed," I say.
"True. Well we're gonna miss you."
"I'm going to miss you guys too. But I mean, we've done this whole long distance thing before."
"Right. It's just different now, because Luke will hug you when you leave."

A part of me is excited to be in Luke's arms at a time other than in bed. But then, I'm nervous. Will it be awkward? Will it be long?

"You don't like Luke that way... do you?" Calum looks at me, sceptically.
"Why would you say that? Of course not."
"Well I mean... you guys went out and-"
"We're friends Cal, just friends."
"Okay okay. Just making sure. Come on, I'm sure he's out of the shower."

Then and there, Luke walks in without a shirt. Okay. Okay.
"Hey guys," he says.
"Morning," I say.
"Are we stopping for breakfast?" asks Calum.
"I sure hope so. I think I've grown tired of toast and vegemite," says Luke.
"I think Michael ate the last of it yesterday," says Calum.
"This is why we're stopping."

Calum locks Luke and I together as soon as he puts a shirt on and we stop for breakfast at a local McDonalds. I'm not too excited about greasy, fried and grilled food. I sigh as Luke begins to move his left hand around, annoying me. "Luke," I say.

He doesn't stop, he just continues to annoy me.

"Luke," I say a little louder.
"Yeah?"
"Stop please."
"Sorry. Sorry. So um... are you excited to go back home?"
"I miss home, but I don't want to leave."
"Because you'll miss us?"
"Because the only reason I'm going back is because someone I love died."

Luke smiles at me, sadly. "Something good always happens when a tragedy occurs," he says. "Like when my granddad died, I really started to obsess over music. I wanted everything to do with it. I even tried to memorise one of my speeches in a song."

I laugh. Luke is just like everybody else. He has a passion, and is fulfilling it. We act like we've been friends forever, but in reality, it's like meeting a new person.
"Do me a favour when you're there?" asks Luke.
"Anything," I say.
"You see my sister-in-law gave birth a few months ago to my niece. I finally found something to give to her, and I was planning to give it to them when I come home. But maybe you could do it?"
I look at Luke like he's crazy. I don't know his brothers, let alone one of his brother's wife. "Um... sure," I say. Friendships take two right?

"Great. Maybe you can tell me what you think," he says. Luke goes into his bag and reaches out a little blue box. It's a Tiffany box.
"It's a little silver heart," says Luke, opening up the box to reveal a little silver necklace with a silver heart pendant.
"It was that, or a bracelet, but I didn't like the bracelet," he says.
"It's beautiful Luke, she'll love it."
"Good, because it cost a lot."