FIFTH HALF ― luke hemmings ✓

#3

"How in the hell would we get inspired by playing pool?" I asked, still not seeing the sense of what we're doing in an attempt to get the juices flowing out of our brains. Mikey only innocently shrugged as he plays alone on the other pool table, while Ash and Calum at the one beside it. I only stood there, hands over my chest as I watch them play like we didn't need the time to create more tunes.

I turned behind me and was actually still surprised that Luke isn't late—although his presence didn't seem to matter as his head is somewhere else while he stares blankly at the notebook he's holding. "Please make it fast, guys." Ash gave me a nod with a little apologetic smile as we both knew Calum wasn't still in the best mood possible ever since their little fight yesterday, and we're kind of tolerating it just for the band.

For the undying love to something we worked so hard for.

I went back to the booth we're at, sitting right across from Luke as he got back from sanity and look over me with a straight façade. I grabbed my own notebook and started writing off rambles that I knew wouldn't make it to the cut. But I just have to. Just to get words flowing. Just to get at least one song successfully made.

"Such a sentimental love, in a cynical world." I mumbled under my breath as I wrote down, hearing a low 'what' right after. I looked over to Luke and I raised the notebook, showing it's all lyrics that I have stuck in my head.

"You're working too hard for this." He says with amusement laced on his tone.

I look at him and got lost along his eyes, mindlessly mumbling the words, "My feelings get the best of me." It always does.

"I'm sorry?" He asks and I shook my head, raising the notebook once again and writing it off. "I said you're working too hard for this."

"It comes with being the fifth-half." I pulled up a smile and made a mental note to continue adding more to the previous lyrics I just crafted.

"What happened to us, Lace?" My hands suddenly slipped and it made a rather messy line along the words written. I gulped and turned to him with a frown on my face. "We used to be so... close."

"Bold of you to ask me what happened." I didn't have the chance to stop myself and blurted it out, knowing he knew exactly what I meant-and still having the audacity to act like he didn't know. "Can you stop asking me questions you and I both know we'll never hear the end of?" He pursed his lips and look at me intently, and after the long eye contact, he looked away and wrote to his notebook. Letting me breathe heavily as he did. "This isn't my fault, Luke. You know that."

"I know." He says gravelly, taking a long swig at the bottle and tucking his left leg on the booth. I watched him and I could still feel it. Could feel the ache in my chest that doesn't seem to go away no matter how hard I try to forget about it.

After a little while, the boys finished their small game and took seat at the booth, with Ashton knowing how I didn't want to get pushed to seat beside Luke so he took the initiative to make me stand up first and get in between him and Calum instead. "What's that you got there?" Calum seemed to chill out and I appreciated his efforts to go level-headed, knowing the process of writing could wear us out so fast.

"Just a few scrabbles. None of which could really make sense." He scans the notebook and hums.

"Some have potential, here let's try this." He started writing on his own small notebook, copying a few of the lyrics and I did the honor of helping him out with a few.

"And all the things that we dream about, they don't mean what they did before. I just wanna get back to us, 'cause we used to have more." Mikey mumbled out and we all look at him as he carried Luke's notebook, and him looking away with face all flushed. "Hey, this is good, Lukey." He only nodded and snatched the notebook back, his usual mannerisms of biting the back of the pen coming back and I could say it made me smile briefly. Only briefly—not until I could remember the pain again.

I got exhausted after a while of writing, surrendering once I've poured a lot of what I got today. Packets of chips and bottle of beers scattered around the whole table as we stayed over for hours in the almost empty restaurant and pool place. Only few notices the boys as they were not on their best looks, all with hairs longer than the usual and all wearing hoodies and sweatpants. I could easily tease them about looking like caveman's but thought twice when I saw them all into what they're writing.

Just then, Ashton started drumming both pen on the table as he makes tunes. "Why... won't you love me?" The tune matched the lyrics perfectly while he hums at the same time, and just then, letting them play pool might have been the greatest idea ever. At least we're getting somewhere.

"I really wanted a song about Japan." Mikey mumbled as he had both his legs tuck on the seat, playing with his pen at the table and looking like a child as he did so.

"Go write about it." I encouraged him and he smiles, all white teeth out and I laugh. "Stop being adorable, I might throw you out of the building." I replied sweetly with a much toothier grin and he pouted, the rest of the boys except one, laughing.

I feel a pinch of guilt though. I might hate him for something he did to me but he was once my best friend-he meant the world to me even after what happened. And even if I could move out of this dilemma, he's still going to be a part of what we formed nine years ago. Both friendship and a band. "Don't just gawk there, little one. You've got a lot of writing to do." Luke stared at me dumbfounded, as if asking if I'm talking to him and I raised my brow, the rest of the boys looking like they're waiting for either a rainbow or a storm.

"In due time will I make a masterpiece, Jedi Master Lace." He bowed his head and everyone erupted in small laughter as they throw crumpled paper at Luke, appreciating the clearing vibe of nothing but friends goofing off and having the time of their lives.

A little while, the rest of the band we're just as exhausted as I was and we started packing up. With Ashton helping me clear out the table as much as we can, and the rest paying the bill and booking a ride home for each of us. We reached the bin and before we could get back, Ash pulled me to the side with a pursed smile. "Hey, thanks for doing that back there, Lace." I frowned, confused at first when I realized what he's talking about.

"What I did is what everyone would've done. We're all friends and I didn't want to lose a family." Ashton was the only one who knew about everything, and yet he's the one who tried to make it all civil. I just had to thank him for knowing when and where am I not comfortable about having Luke around.

"That's why you're part of us." He pulled me into a hug and I hugged back, my heart easing just by the thought that I could fix things from the past one by one, even if only a little.