Perfectly Wrong || Luke Hemmings

13

It's late when I pull up to my apartment complex and sneak back inside, hoping not to interrupt Luke and whatever girl he must have brought home. I sigh, throwing my keys down on the counter, turning to walk down the hallway. The door to Luke's room is open and I see him sitting on his bed all by himself, staring at the floor.

Frowning, I knock on the doorway, popping my head in. "Hey, where's that girl from the party?"

"I told her to go home," he murmurs, looking up at me. I shiver slightly as his eyes lock on mine. "I saw you leave the party early," he states matter-of-factly, returning his gaze to the floor.

"Yeah, parties aren't really my thing." I turn to leave, but he calls out after me, making me stop in my tracks.

"I saw you leave with Ashton." His blue eyes bore into mine and I shudder. "Did you two... ?"

"No," I say, crossing my arms over my chest. "But he asked me out."

Luke leans forward intently, a strange expression on his face. "And what did you say?"

I sigh, running a hand through my hair. "I said yes. What's with all the questions? You hardly talk to me, and when you do, you're a jerk. And now you're suddenly nice to me? I can't keep up with all your mood swings, Luke."

Dropping my gaze, I watch his mouth twist into a slight scowl. "If you'd rather just hate me, go ahead. I'll stop confusing you."

Scowling myself, I throw my hands into the air. Turning around to head to my room, I call over my shoulder, "This isn't worth my time, I'm going to bed." Just before I shut the door behind me, I say, "And I don't hate you." My words almost get lost in the slamming sound the wood makes and a part of me hopes he doesn't hear them. Because I didn't know until now that they were true.

*

After I'm finished studying for my test on Monday, Ashton meets me at the diner just around the corner from the university for our lunch date. He looks nice in black skinny jeans and a faded blue T-shirt, a pair of glasses perched on his nose. He impatiently brushes back a curl, his face lighting up when he spots me, waving me over to the booth he saved for us.

"I'm sorry about the glasses, I lost one of my contacts," he says, blushing slightly.

"No, no, I like them," I say quickly, causing him to glance up at me in surprise. "They're cute."

He turns even more red, smiling in that impossibly sweet way of his. Ashton's literally the cutest thing ever; I wonder how he didn't already have a girlfriend. Out of the four boys, Luke is easily the hottest, but Ashton is so incomparably adorable.

Ashton takes me to the candy shop just a block down and I greedily fill up an entire bag of dozens of different kinds of candy. Ash smiles as he dumps almost all of the licorice into his own bag, earning a mean glare from the mother of a two year old screaming for the sweet. I stifle a giggle as we stumble out of the store, nibbling on our goodies. Since Michael's out visiting Tori for the weekend and Calum's at his sister's place in San Jose, Ashton invites me to his apartment. Not in a sexual way, just to get a little more time to ourselves.

He flops down on the couch, throwing an arm around my shoulders as he flips through movie options on Netflix. I rip off a piece of licorice, pointing at one that looks good. He rests his head on my shoulder and I play with his hair. I fall asleep in his arms before the movie's even over, waking up to see Ashton still passed out next to me.

I glance at the time on my watch lazily. Cursing, I slide out out of his grip. He frowns as he blinks sleep out of his eyes, murmuring, "Where are you going?"

"It's three am, Ash, I have to go home." I shove my feet back into my shoes, muttering an apology as I stumble out the door. I rush down the stairs, hopping into my car. My brother is coming to visit me tomorrow and I don't want to be exhausted when he arrives. It's already going to be chaotic enough between him and Luke.

I kick the door shut behind me, running a hand through my hair. The light in the kitchen's still on and I glance at the couch to see Luke looking at me. "It's three in the morning, Isabelle," he says slowly, an emotion that looks a lot like concern on his face and a scowl on his lips. "Where have you been? You said you'd be back before dinner. I called you. And texted you."

I glance down at my phone screen to see all the notifications that I missed. Sighing, I say, "I know, I'm sorry." Frowning, I say, "You waited for me?" Glancing over at the kitchen, I spot the dishes stacked in the sink. "And you made dinner?"

A slight blush colors his cheeks but he scowls to cover it up. "It doesn't matter," he mutters under his breath, getting to his feet. His tone turning bitter and angry, he spits, "Did you have fun with Ashton?"

"Don't tell me you're jealous," I throw back sharply, crossing my arms over my chest. "You've been nothing but an asshole to me. Now you're making dinner and waiting up for me? It doesn't make any sense, Luke. Make up your mind."

He moves so quickly that I barely see anything. The next thing I know my back's against the door and his body is pinning me there. I shiver at his sudden closeness as his eyes linger on mine. "What is it about him?" Luke leans in so his lips just barely brush the soft skin of my neck just under my ear. "I can make you feel better than he ever could."

"Why do you even care?" I say, unable to inject venom into my tone when he's this close. My knees feel weak.

He pulls back slightly to lock eyes with me, a fierce intensity shining in them that surprises me. "I don't know," he says softly. "I have no idea what you're doing to me, Izzy. I've never felt like this before."

His lips trail over my jawline and I shudder as I tilt my head to give him a better angle. All I can think of is him, all I can see is him. He brings his mouth up to just brush mine, his touch gentle to let me know that I can pull away if I want to. But I don't. A spark of electricity runs through me as his lips meet mine and I press closer to him without thinking, tangling my hands in his hair. Luke kisses me harder and I melt into his touch. His lip ring is cool against my skin and I tug lightly on it with my teeth, curious. He groans against me, a hand slipping down to my waist as he draws me closer. I don't think of Ashton, of how wrong this is, how Luke's been nothing but a jerk to me. I don't think at all.

The thrill of doing something dangerous runs through me and I gain more confidence. Luke presses me into the door, kissing me desperately. His hands slip down to lift me up and I lock my legs around his waist as he stumbles backward to the kitchen island. I savor the feeling of his hands on my skin as he slips his tongue into my mouth.

He sets me down and I grip the front of his shirt to drag him down to me, feeling his slight smirk as our lips move in sync. It feels so good, so right yet so wrong. My back slams into the wall of the hallway as Luke's finger makes slow, hypnotizing circles on the exposed skin of my hip where my shirt rode up a bit. A little moan escapes me and he jumps into action at the sound. The next thing I know I'm lying over top of Luke on his bed and he's muttering my name as I straddle his hips. I reach down and pull his shirt up over his head, my hands moving like they've always known exactly what to do. I run a hand over his toned muscles, admiring him, while he closes his eyes. When my hand comes to a stop at his shoulder, he opens them and looks directly at me.

"Do you want to keep going?" he mutters. "It's up to you."

I blink, coming to my senses. Did I just... ? With Luke?

Panicking slightly, I slide off of the bed. "Oh my god," I say, pressing my hands to my temples. "What am I doing? I just cheated on Ashton."

Luke sits up swiftly, reaching a hand out to me. He opens his mouth but no words came out.

"I have to go," I mutter, rushing across the hall to my room, Luke calling my name.