alumni ➢ luke hemmings [DISCONTINUED]

3.2 ➢ Crush.

SOPHIE HAYES

I tell Luke that we don't have to go, of course not, not if it'll make him uncomfortable. But obviously we do anyway, and the short drive there fills my stomach with an uneasy, sickly feeling that I find harder and harder to surpress as the minutes pass by.

He doesn't look too happy, but then again neither am I. Going to a party hosted by my semi-ex best friend wasn't really on my bucket list of things to do today.

"You okay?" he asks me, which is funny seeing as I should be the one to ask him that. But I nod and fake a smile and place my hand on the handle that opens my side of the car, mentally preparing myself to face somebody I haven't spoken to in weeks.

"I'm good. Are you?"

Luke doesn't answer me, opting to get out of the car instead. He makes his way over to my side and opens it, but it's clear there's something else on his mind. He won't stop looking over at the frathouse and there's a distant look in his eye.

"Luke?" I raise an eyebrow, waving a hand in front of his face. It takes him a while, but he shakes his head and looks at me.

"Hm?"

"Are you okay?" I repeat, and just like that his expression changes. It baffles me how he can go from one mood to another so fast, because now there's no trace of the overthinking, slightly worried man that opened the car door for me just seconds ago. Now he just looks like Luke, normal Luke, and I've come to realise that that Luke is slightly terrifying.

"I'm okay," he assures me, and it doesn't take long for us to start walking up the gravel path that leads to Sigma Chi.

The music is so loud that it resonates in the air outside, the clutters of beer bottles and soda cans littering the front lawn proving that the party itself isn't just inside of the white marbled building.

"After you," he says coolly, and I don't argue. instead I place my foot on the first step and as soon as we reach the top, the front door wrenches open.

"Welcom-" the person starts, before locking eyes with the blonde behind me and stoppig mid sentence.

"Oh."

Oh, indeed. "Hi, Cal," I say sheepishly, giving the most pathetic wave I think I have ever given to another human being. He gives me a slight smile, but I can tell it's distracted.

"Soph," his nod is slow, and I watch as he turns to Luke hesitantly, "Luke,"

"Calum."

"Hi," Calum says back. There's a pause. An awkward, unbearable one. I'd been so worried about seeing Michael that I'd completely disregarded his best friend- somebody who probably isn't too fond of Luke Hemmings, either.

"Oh! Right," he says suddenly, before stepping off to the side to make way for us, "Come in, come in. Uh, drinks are in the kitchen, bedrooms are upstairs and if you want to mingle, just follow the music."

We nod- or rather, I nod, and Luke just trails behind me. Not like a lost puppy or anything- I don't think he could look anywhere close to that comparison ever- but like he knows he doesn't belong here. Obviously not in the bad way, not like how I felt at the first party he hosted that I attended. In the 'good' way; the, 'I could buy this entire building and everyone in it' kind of way.

"Oh! And I forgot," Calum says, shutting the door behind him, "If you're here to, y'know," he raises his eyebrows suggestively, making me blush, "Every drawer in the bedrooms has a bunch of different condoms- willy warmers, if you will. Be smart with it though, it's only like a 'take one and move along' sort of thing."