youngblood | lrh

▷ 18.

I tapped my fingers on my lap along to the beat of the pop song playing on the radio laying on my desk. Carolina, Luke, and I had all retreated to my room to discuss what we would say at dinner about the picture.

Luke and I were sat on my old bed, his arm wrapped around me tightly. Surely he could sense that the whole thing was stressing me, but I'm sure he's been through this before. I don't think his other girlfriends had as much as on the line as me though; my entire career was at risk because I was dumb and texted the boy with long blonde hair and the pretty blue eyes.

Carolina was sitting at my desk with her laptop. She was scrolling through Twitter trying to see just how far the picture had spread and based on the faces she was making, it had spread like wildfire. I closed my eyes and leaned into Luke and whisper, "What're you going to do? Your fans are going to be so upset." I never wanted to come in between Luke and his fans. I think some part of me knew that he would pick them over me.

"It'll be fine, don't worry," he said as he squeezed my hand in his. The small action made the ever constant butterflies in my stomach begin to flutter.

From across the room, Carolina slams her laptop shut and turns to us in my desk chair. "At least on Twitter, people are just confused. No one seems too angry but you have to be prepared Gabs, I think we should draft a statement," she said in all seriousness. I couldn't help but laugh. What do I need to draft a statement for? If Luke's get it in their mind they hate me, I highly doubt there's anything I can do to change it.

I'm more worried about what's going to happen at work when I go back. Sure, there's a chance they won't even know it's me in the pictures, but the second they find out I've been dating Luke these last couple months, they're bound to fire me. They're bound to fire the boys. "Oh my God, Luke. Your album is coming out so soon. This is such awful timing."

Carolina gives me a sympathetic smile. She sets her laptop down on the desk and joins Luke and me on the bed, engulfing me in a hug. I tried not to cry but I think a tear or two managed to escape my thoughts of happy times. I was so scared for everything bound to happen now, and I wasn't sure if I was going to be strong enough to handle it.

---

My mother knocked on the door, interrupting Luke in the middle of a story about his wildest tour adventure. "Your father is home. He wants to speak to you in his office," she said simply. Carolina got up off the bed but my mother shook her head at her. "Not you. Your sister." I took a deep breath and followed my mom into the hallway.

I was about to make my way down the stairs when she grabbed my shoulder, "We'll figure out how this happened. We'll press charges if necessary." She patted me on the back and sent me on my way. I know she was trying to be comforting but it only caused me more anxiety. I hadn't been sure if Carolina had told them but that was my confirmation that she had. I walked down the stairs and turned to the left, stepping into my dad's office.

He stepped up from his chair and walked around his desk to kiss my cheek. "How are you holding up?" I just shrugged and sat in the chair opposite of his. "We're lucky they didn't get your face or this could've been worse."

I knew this situation wasn't ideal but my parents were treating it like a jail sentence. I would end up losing my job over this, but I would find another one. My biggest fear with this coming out was that I would lose Luke.

"You know I love you Gabi, but you should've seen this coming. You're dating a pretty high ranking celebrity with a large following." He typed something up on his computer quickly, before turning back to me. "Sorry. I'm on call technically but I figured you needed me right now. I always figured you'd end up marrying River, you know? He's a smart kid and he'll make a mighty fine doctor one day. But looking at these pictures and the way I saw you with River for nearly four years, I don't think you ever loved him."

I sat there slack-jawed, unsure of what to say. My father had always been the one to make me feel better after a rough day at school or after my Grandpa Ed died. He wasn't great with words but he would make me a milkshake and let me watch my shows on the TV in his office.

"I think you probably love this music boy a lot. But I'm going to get my legal team on at least removing the photos with you in them since you have no status. Tell you boy I want to play him in a game of golf before you two leave." He smiled and I nodded, walking out of his office.

I ran back up the stairs to find Luke alone in my room, snoring softly. He'd told he had been staying up late trying to make sure every single thing for the album was perfect, I couldn't wake him up. I figured he was exhausted and after the day I had, I wasn't entirely against the idea of taking a nap.

He fell asleep on top of the comforter so I shook him gently. His blue eyes fluttered open and he looked up at me, a smile forming on his lips after he saw me. "Good morning, pretty girl," he said.

"Get up, you fell asleep on top of my comforter and I want to take a nap." He stood up long enough to get off the covers and then practically threw himself back into my bed.

"Are you taking a nap with me?" He asked, scooting to the side instead of the center in my bed. I nodded and grabbed a pair of shorts from my dresser, walking behind my changing curtain. "Hey, you didn't need to change. You looked great." He said sleepily.

I popped out on the other side of the curtain and crawled into my bed next to Luke. "I wanted to be comfy. We'll have to wake up soon. Dinner will be done soon." Luke just nodded slowly and pulled my closer to him.

"Goodnight pretty girl."

"Goodnight Luke, I-" I cut myself off before I finished my thought. Goodnight Luke, I love you.  

AUTHORS NOTE

this chapter feels really short compared to my other ones but oh boy, get ready for the drama that's gonna happen next chapter guys

i think i'm slowly getting inspiration back for this but i definitely still need to figure out a good plotline because my rough draft one just aint cutting it anymore

qotc 

where do you guys live? i was looking at the analytics for this book and it seems like some of you live in really cool places! i live the in the us, colorado more specifically!