Perfectly Wrong || Luke Hemmings

8

When my alarm goes off at 8:30, I throw back the covers and walk into the hallway, steering myself toward the bathroom. I sigh when I see that the door's closed and the light's on. "Luke!" I call, banging on the door. "Hurry up, I have to get to class!"

Living with the exiled member of my friend group hasn't been as bad as I'd thought. Admittedly, it had been two days, but still. Luke helped me with my math and I got an A on my test. He pitched in on this month's rent and the groceries, which was good because I'm discovering that that boy eats a lot. So far, he hasn't brought any girls home but he had gotten drunk on the sofa last night. He also puked on the floor, which I had to clean up.

The bathroom door swings open and Luke walks out with a towel wrapped around his hips. My eyes widen in surprise and he smirks, dropping one of his eyes into a wink. "Take a picture, it'll last longer," he teases as he saunters by. "The bathroom's yours, Williams."

I shake my head back and forth as I close the bathroom door behind me. I turn on the warm water, shucking off my pajamas and hopping into the shower. I frown at the new shampoo Luke must have bought or brought from his old place. My old one's completely empty, so I shrug, squeezing the unfamiliar shampoo into my hand. It's been an interesting two days. Luke hasn't acted like a complete dick to me, which I guess is a plus. But he hasn't been all tentative politeness and teasing the entire time. He has his mood swings, and I do my best to keep up and try not to make things worse, but it's not always enough. That's what last night's episode was, of course.

I step out of the shower, using my towel to squeeze all the water out of my hair. Humming softly under my breath, I wipe the fog off the mirror and almost scream. Wrapping the towel tightly around myself, I throw open the door and storm into Luke's room. He's lying down on his bed, fully dressed in his usual attire, looking as effortlessly gorgeous as ever. He lets out a surprised laugh when he sees me.

"Did you do this?" I demand, pointing towards my newly colored hair. My simple brown locks have been dyed a bright blue, thanks to that "shampoo".

Luke doubles over with laughter. "I must have accidentally brought some of Michael's hair dye instead of shampoo," he wheezes. "Oh this is priceless."

I stride over to his side of the room, punching him in the arm. "Dammit, Luke, now I have blue hair!"

Pretending to be hurt, he rubs at his shoulder. He clamps down on his laughter, grinning up at me. "If it makes you feel better, the blue looks hot on you."

Rolling my eyes toward the ceiling, I scowl and slam the door to my room shut behind me. Cursing him under my breath, I throw on my best pair of ripped black skinny jeans and a gray tank top that's tighter than I'm used to. But nothing else that's decent is clean so I don't really have a choice. I blow dry my now blue hair in the bathroom and let it hang loose for today. Shoving my school stuff into a bag, I walk back down the hallway and lean against the doorway to Luke's room.

"Can you do the laundry while I'm gone?" I ask, crossing my arms over my chest. When he makes a face, I add, "It'll be your punishment for dying my hair blue. Do it and I'll forgive you."

Sighing, he gets to his feet, throwing the clothes scattered across his floor into the laundry basket I bought yesterday for him. He plays with the lip ring pierced through his lower lip, holding up the basket. "Happy now?"

"Go get mine and then, yes, I will be." I smirk just to taunt him and he scowls fiercely. He drags his feet on the floor as he walks into my room, picking up the clothes arrayed across the floor. Flipping my key ring around on my finger, I say, "I have to get to class now. I'll be back around noon. You have your mechanic apprenticeship thing at two, right?" When he nods, I add, "I can make lunch today, but you're gonna have to learn how to make a few things because I'm not doing it every day. I'm not your mother, Luke."

He grins as he picks up the last of my clothes, leaning against my doorway. "No, but I could be your daddy."

I scowl and he just grins even wider.

"Finally, a sexual reference you understand," he taunts, tilting his head to the side. "How can someone be in college and still be so innocent is a mystery to me."

"Shut up and just do the laundry, Hemmings."