Swan Lake || Luke Hemmings AU

13. Visiting Day

(c) - Isobel (@BellaVanella)

You're shaking," Elle pointed out. "I'm not," I told her while flattening out my dress. "I'm not s-shaking." Elle shook her head. "It's normal, Jane," she smiled. "Relax." I looked at her and nodded. "Y-yeah," I said. "Relax. I-I'm just meeting m-my boyfriend's family. That's all." Elle gasped at the last part.

"Boyfriend!" she squealed. "When did this happen?" Right, only George knew about Luke and I. "Yesterday," I told her, blushing at the memory. "Cute," she said. "Well, we should go. The families are here." I nodded and followed her.

The moment we got out, Elle squealed and ran to a blonde middle-aged man and a black-haired middle-aged woman. I assume that they're Calum and Elle's parents since Calum was also running towards them.

"Babe!" Luke wrapped his arms around me from behind and kissed my cheek. "My family's over there. Come on." Luke held my hand and led me to through the crowd of reuniting families.

I tried to shake my nerves off, but it seemed to get a whole lot worse when I spotted a group of men and a woman waving towards Luke and he was doing the same thing. I didn't know what I was doing but I stopped.

"Luke," I said. He stopped walking as well. "What's wrong, babe?" he asked. "I-I can't do this," I told him. "What if your family will hate me? What if they don't think I'm good enough for you? What if they think this relationship is too fast? I mean, I only became your girlfriend yesterday."

Luke didn't reply. He just chuckled and pressed a kiss on my lips, slipping his tongue in my mouth for a split second before pulling away. I found it awkward. I hope his family didn't notice that part. We both kept walking towards them.

The woman, his Mom I bet, approached him and gave him a hug. I let go of his hand and stayed at the side as his family approached him, giving him hugs and kisses and laughter due to their reunion.

I'm not going to lie. I was jealous. I wished my Mom and Dad were here. Maybe I could also introduce Luke to them. I'm sure they're going to like him. He's a charmer.

"Mum, Dad, Ben, Jack," Luke started as his family pulled away and he approached me. "This is my girlfriend, Jane. Jane, meet my family. Mum, Dad, and my brothers, Ben and Jack." I smiled at all of them. "Nice to meet you all," I beamed.

"Ah!" Mrs. Hemmings clapped in delight. "An American. Lucas, you scored yourself a star-spangled banner!" I laughed. "Mum," Luke groaned. "Not with the Lucas thing." I held his hand. "It's cute," I told him. "Lucas." I winked and he rolled his eyes.

"Nice to meet you, Mrs. Hemmings," I said. "Oh, no," Mrs. Hemmings shook her head. "You can call me Liz and this is my husband, Andrew. Our elder sons, Ben and Jack." The older siblings waved at me while Andrew gave me a nod.

"Scored yourself a pretty one, huh, Lucas?" Ben grabbed the youngest Hemmings in a headlock. Jack following after. "Not with the Lucas thing, Ben," Luke groaned again. "Plus, don't freak my girlfriend out. She might dump me."

We all laughed as Ben and Jack released Luke. "Come on," Andrew said. "Your Mum prepared lunch, we're having a picnic in here." Andrew started to lead the way, followed by the other Hemmings. Luke wrapped his arms around me as we followed behind them.

While the Hemmings boys were bickering about how to set up a picnic table, I helped Liz unpack the food and put it on the picnic blanket. I smiled as I watched Luke play with his Dad and brothers. They seemed to have a strong relationship. I felt jealous. I'm an only child and I've always wanted an older sibling.

"So," Liz started a conversation. "Where are you from?" I smiled. "Manhattan, New York," I said. Liz nodded. "New York's a nice place," she remarked. "The city that never sleeps, right?" I nodded. "You could say that," I told her. "It's a big city, always busy."

Liz prepared a lot of food. I swear, it could feed an entire city if you portion it enough. "I had to," she said, as if she read my mind. "If you know, these lads are animals when it comes to food. Always hungry."

After the Hemmings males finished setting the table, Liz and I moved the food on it. We spent lunch eating, and getting to know. Luke and I talked about camp, and they were asking me about myself. I would answer as much as I can.

"Where are you studying this fall, Jane?" Andrew asked. "University of Amsterdam," I answered. "In Netherlands?" Andrew questioned. I nodded. "What are you majoring in?" Ben asked. "Literature," I told him. "Why not study in America?" Jack asked. "It's an English-speaking country, right? Didn't meet their standards?"

"JACK!" Luke hissed. I shook my head and placed my hand on his under the table. "It's okay, Luke," I said then turned to Jack. "Actually, I met the American standards. I got a 2177 in my SATS." Liz gasped. "Oh! Wonderful!" she beamed.

"So America wasn't good enough for you?" Jack asked. "Jack," Luke glared at his brother because he was interrogating me with academics.

I shook my head. "No, it's not that," I told him. "I did apply to some schools in America, but I just need to get away. Amsterdam has always been my dream place so why not study there?"

"Impressive," Jack said. "Luke, you scored yourself an Einsteiness." Luke laughed and squeezed my hand. "Yes," Luke agreed. "Yes, I did."

The conversation went on till the Hemmings lads decided to play around. They were playing some game by the lake while I helped Liz clean up the mess made during lunch.

"Thank you, Jane," Liz beamed. "What for?" I asked. "For making my son happy," she said. "I haven't seen him that genuine in a while so thank you." I nodded. "You're welcome," I told her. "He makes me happy too."

"That's good to hear," she said as we kept cleaning. "I haven't seen him act that way since Alice left." I froze and looked at her. "W-who?" I asked. Liz's eyes widened in realization. "Oh," she shook her head. "Some nobody. She doesn't matter. Thank you for making Luke happy."

I decided to drop the question and not ask anything further, as it might ruin Liz's image of me. Alice, I thought. Who was she in Luke's life, and what does she mean by not seeing him that way since Alice left?

"Jane," Liz tapped my shoulder. "Huh?" I asked with a smile. "Are you alright?" she asked. I nodded. "Of course," I told her but she didn't seem to buy it. "Okay," she said hesitantly. "Thank you for helping me." I nodded.

We cleaned up in silence as the Hemmings boys stopped playing and ran towards us. Luke hugged me from behind and kissed the side of my head. I gave him a slight smile then looked down.

"What's wrong?" he asked. I shook my head. "Nothing," I told him. He didn't seem to buy it but he knows that I'm not giving anything away, especially in-front of his parents. "Well," Andrew said. "That was one heck of a lunch! Now time for the tour, Lucas!"

"Yeah!" Luke said enthusiastically. "Coming, Jane?" I shook my head and his smile faltered. "I want to but I can't," I told Luke. "I promised my parents I'd call them overseas today." What a lie, I thought.

Luke hesitated but sighed. "Okay," he said. "I'll see you later, yeah?" I nodded. "It was nice to meet you all," I told the Hemmings' before I walked away from them.

I didn't know what to think, since my mind was flooding with questions that made my head ache. Alice. Alice. Alice. Alice. The name kept being repeated in my head. Who was she in Luke's life?

I didn't know what I was supposed to do, so I did the the only thing I could. Find George.