aisle five » hemmings a.u.

thirty-three

d e a d

shoutout to rach bc she's a cool cat but not that much of a cool cat ju feel she's that cool cat with the sunglasses but not the bow tie yeah get on my level

you guys are gonna punch me in the face but here goes 8==D (that's a penis) (I named it after rach) (cus she's a dick) (ha ha ha)

»

Luke's hair was uncooperative.

Maybe it was because he'd completely obliterated any volume he wished for by anxiously running his fingers through it all day, because all he could think about was how he was settling and Emma didn't deserve him and oh fuck, what was he going to do. He gelled it up and didn't even care if it looked like a grease trap from Macca's, he gave up. It wasn't a good day.

"God, mate, what's your issue," Calum asked as he pulled a tank top over his broad shoulders. Luke scowled. "Sorry. You look like walking baby oil, though."

He faked a smile. "You won't be able to tell in the dark," he grumbled, pulling a white tee on under a red and blue plaid button down. It reminded him of Em, god damn it. He changed to a Vans shirt. "I want a drink."

Cal frowned. "It's only three," he said and Luke shrugged, seemingly not caring. "I don't know what's wrong, but you need to sit down or take a nap or something until you chill out." Luke rolled his eyes and sat down on his bed, crossing his arms over his chest and pouting like a small child. "Good boy." The patronizing tone made Luke scowl more, such a sour puss.

The hours until the party started went by agonizingly slow, and finally the boys were packed up in Michael's shitty van, on their way to James' house. On the way, they played nose goes for whoever was the sober designated driver. Mikey lost, claiming it was because he was driving. Nobody cared.

Music (a remixed version of Titanium by Sia) thumped through speakers and Calum excitedly wooh!d as they stepped into the house. Luke and Ash went to the kitchen to find a drink, while Michael split off to find some friends ("You don't have any." "Shut up, Calum.") and Cal went into the living room with James. It wasn't long before Luke downed a shot of hopefully vodka, and if not, something that'd fuck him up and probably make him regret taking. He didn't care.

Ashton didn't try to stop him either, knowing that he was for some reason stressed and needed a release.

In a few, maybe ten, minutes, he was shit faced. Absolutely, stumbling-around-the-kitchen, asking-for-pot, adorably-desperate-for-attention, drunk. This was good. This was nice. Emma was nowhere on his mind and that is what he needed. How fucked up was that?

You know what else was fucked up? That he went into the living room, started grinding with a girl he knew as Avery, and let her take him to the bathroom.

They did some very fucked up things in there.

»

"Have a nice night!"

It wasn't a surprise when the man blatantly ignored Emma as he left, pizza in hand. Okay, so manning the cash register in a semi popular pizza joint didn't seem hard, but for a girl who hardly had to empty the dishwasher every so often, it was terrible.

Sweat was forming on her forehead from the stupid pizza oven making the place hot as frick. She'd managed to mess up a total of three orders, got cussed out by a very angry scary man in weird pants, and then fell in the kitchen. If that wasn't enough, her coworkers laughed at her and patted her back, saying, "You'll catch on, newbie," before letting her figure things out. It was rough.

Not to mention the fact that she regrettably checked her phone every five minutes for a text, even a hello, from Luke. There was none.

At the end of her shift, she was taking off her visor she was forced to wear and fixing her ponytail, when her phone rang. Luke's name shone on her screen and her heart fluttered, so she wiped her sweaty palms on her khaki shorts and answered.

"Hello-"

"Em, please. I love you. I fucked up, I fucked up. Don't leave me, please. Please, Emma," his voice begged on the other end and she slowed her gait on the way to the back door, where her truck was parked behind the building. "Are you there?"

His words were slurred and his voice seemed sleepy and deeper. "I'm here, Luke, what's wrong."

"Can I come to your house? Like, now. I'm not far, I'll walk."

Emma furrowed her eyebrows before agreeing and hanging up, hurrying home and waiting in her kitchen for Luke to show up, obviously drunk.

So that's how Luke ended up stumbling up her driveway, a hot mess, tears actually falling down his face, and knocking on her glass sliding door. Em stood immediately, rushing over and bringing a finger to her lips to make him not wake her mum up. She raised one finger, signaling him to wait while she checked to see if Robin was still asleep.

Em opened the door and waved him in, guiding him tumbling through the house and up the stairs, into her bedroom.

When the door was closed he started crying and freaking out and she grabbed his hands, bringing him to the floor with her. They sat criss-cross-applesauce on the rug and when he finally stopped crying, he began wailing out incoherent sentences. "I didn't mean to and it was a mistake," he exclaimed. "It was a mistake." Em frowned.

"What was, Luke?"

He looked at her before he said it. "I fucked another girl."

And then it was silent, as Emma stared at him in confusion. She was sure she heard her heartbeat (maybe it was his) in the room and she dropped his hand. The color in Luke's face drained, and he tried to grab it again, but she flinched away. Em stood up. Luke stood up. She turned away so he wouldn't see the tears.

"Get out."

He let out a loud wail and she winced, now also crying. "Please, baby, I'll never do it again, Em, please. Don't- Don't leave me," he said, his voice thick.

Emma whipped around. "You said you weren't like that, Luke," she mumbled. "You said you changed, and you also said you loved me, and I guess everything you say is a lie, huh? You lied about everything?" He shook his head desperately. "Leave, now. I don't want to see you again, or hear from you. Just- Get out of my house."

Luke tried to touch her but she backed away like he was some stranger. Like he would hurt her.

He let his tears flow freely and he was sniffling awfully, a proper mess in front of the best thing that ever happened to him, but it seemed that thing was also leaving him. He turned away and left without another word. Emma followed him down the stairs and slammed the door behind him, not caring if she woke up Ms. King or not. She collapsed onto the kitchen floor.

How could he do this to her? Back in the store when he said I'd never do it again, for real, because I swear to god it meant nothing, right? That's what he was. He was a fucking liar and all he used Em for was a bit of kissing here and there and he was done with her. She never wanted to see him again, and she couldn't let him get to her. Emma King was strong, and she didn't care that her only love ever just broke her heart.

So she collected herself off the floor, she went back upstairs, and went towards her room, but she was stopped. Nicole was standing in her bedroom doorway, sleep in her eyes and her hair messed up. "I hate to say I told you so, but," and she paused to examine Em's tear stained face, "I told you so."

And that was it. That was the final little spark that ignited the flame started in Emma, and she snapped. She got right in her sister's face, nose to nose, stomach to stomach, and looked her dead in the eye.

She said, "Fuck you, Nicole," before going to her room and slamming the door.