mr. hemmings // l.h.

19 • luke

The next day, something felt off.

Madeline hadn't texted me as much, and I knew she had been wanting to spend the rest of the weekend with her mother, but it felt weird to me. I was becoming attached. It scared me.

I had a habit of becoming too attached.

I told myself I'd let her be. That didn't last long. I picked up my cell to give her a call.

"Hello?" She answered quickly, thank God.

I let out a small relieved breath, "Hey. How's your day?"

"It's good!" She sounded cheerful. "I'm sorry I haven't been too talkative. I've been with mom and-"

"I know, I know." I cut her off. "You don't have to explain yourself. I just missed you, is all."

"Aw." She giggled softly, "I missed you too."

"Any way I can come steal you?"

She laughed that time, "Not unless you're willing to come meet my mother."

"You know I can't do that."

"It's a shame."

I sighed, "Stop torturing me."

"I'm not," she said, "but I want this to be real."

She caught me off guard, I felt my heart in my throat. "Where did that come from?"

"I don't really know," she admitted, "I've just been thinking about it. Do you really like me? As much as you let on, I mean?"

"You're insane." I said. "Of course I do. What kind of question is that?"

"It's a valid one. I don't want to get hurt. I don't want you to play with my feelings."

"Those aren't my intentions. You should know that."

"I'm not trying to put you on the spot," she said, "I'm just giving you something to think about."

I shifted, nervously. "I feel like I'm in trouble."

"You're not, Luke." She said softly. "I just want to be on the same page."

"We are." I whispered. "Aren't we?"

"Are we?"

I was quiet for a moment.
"Don't stress yourself out for no reason, okay? I'm crazy about you. I want something real, too. My intentions aren't to hurt you. I'd never do that. I just-"

"Don't want to get in trouble." She finished my sentence. "I know. Don't worry. I won't be any trouble. And I wasn't too serious about you meeting my mom, anyway."

I snickered, "Oh, so now you don't want me to?"

She giggled. "You can't see me, but I'm rolling my eyes."

I laughed louder that time.
"Baby."

"Yes, Luke?"

"I want to kiss you."

"Mm..." She giggled again.

"I really miss that." I breathed. "When can I see you again?"

"Tomorrow in class." She said bluntly.

I groaned. "That's no help. I can't pin you against the wall in the middle of class."

She snickered, devilishly. "Well on that note, I'll leave you to your naughty thoughts. I have to get back to mom."

"You're going to leave me like this?"

"Yep."

"Harsh."

We said our goodbyes, and just like that, she hung up. I let out a long breath. She had really thrown me off with all of the relationship talk. I mean, don't get me wrong, I knew I wanted something serious with her. But she was still my student. I just wished she could be patient. I wished she'd realize I wasn't going anywhere. There was no need to rush.

It didn't help that relationships still did make me nervous. I didn't have the best track record. Commitment was scary to me, because I was easily taken advantage of. Like I said, I grew too attached, too easily. I put people on pedestals and let them manipulate me. I did far too many things for love. On top of that I was jealous, and wanted Madeline all to myself. Whenever I saw a boy simply look at her for too long in the school hallways it made my blood boil. But I didn't want to scare her off.

I knew I could be good for her. I knew I would be good for her. But I struggled with being vulnerable.

My doorbell rang, interrupting my self destructive thoughts. I reluctantly got up and opened the door, and my heart sank again.

What stood before me was nothing but trouble.
Trouble with angled blonde hair cut just above her shoulders. Trouble with a bronze tint to her skin and freezing ice in her blue eyes. Trouble with brows permanently arched, and a resting smirk on her lips.
She knew she was trouble.

"Nora?" I asked in disbelief. "What on earth are you doing here?"

Her smirk widened. "And here I thought you'd be happy to see me. Care to invite me in?"

"Not really. I'd rather keep this short."

"Ouch." She rolled her eyes. "I'm guessing you're still angry at me."

"We're not discussing this right now. I can't do this right now, I just-"

She put a finger on my lips, shushing me. "I'm coming in." She whispered, and pushed past me inside my apartment.

This could not end well.

(((( A/N: AHHHHH OH NO SUSPENSE.

Btw I always picture Nora's character as Anastasia Karanikolaou even though I looove her

comment for more updates! I'm sister shook that this has so many reads but hey I'm back now so if you'd like for me to continue the story let me know! It's getting real now y'all.)