White Diamonds / l.h ✔️

25

~Hera's POV~

On Monday morning I began to get ready for the dumb red carpet event that Ember and Jeffery were forcing Luke and I to go to. This time it was the Oscars that we were supposed to attend, even though he and I didn't really have anything to do with the event. At all.

After I took my shower, I sat at my vanity table and began to do my makeup, deciding on doing a rather simple cut crease eye look. I did a soft tan color over my lid and a dark brown mixed with a soft brown over my crease, with a sparkly silver below the brown. I had to do it so that it was still visible when my eyes were open, but luckily I managed to get it right. Then, I did black liner and put on a nude lipstick that was just slightly brown, but more pink than brown. Lastly, I applied a coat of mascara on my lashes and spritzed some setting spray on before I was finished.

Because I needed to be outside by twelve PM, I put on a pair of panties and headed into my closet to get dressed, as it was already eleven thirty now. The off the shoulder dress I pulled on was covered with silver sparkles and had a slit up the right thigh, showing off my leg. It had a train on it that fell behind me on the floor and showed off my cleavage nicely. I decided to put on a thin choker with crystals on it and a pair of dangly earrings that had little crystals in the dangling dove. After that, I slipped my feet into a pair of sparkly strappy heels and headed into my bathroom to brush out my hair, beginning to loosely curl it. I tied it up in a ponytail and let a few strands of hair frame my face, the curls falling neatly down my back.

Before I left, I put on some deodorant and a little perfume before heading downstairs and outside. Thankfully, I seemed to be outside right on time, as another limo came to a stop in my driveway with the engine still rumbling. I shut and locked my door before hurrying over to the back door, carefully climbing into the backseat.

My eyes met Luke's and I smiled at him, not even noticing Jeffery or Ember before I leaned over and gave him a happy kiss, slamming the car door behind me. It wasn't until Ember cleared her throat that I pulled away, freezing in surprise. I looked over and saw both her and Jeffery looking between Luke and I, their eyes lit with confusion. We still had not yet told them about us actually dating. "Oh. Hi." I said awkwardly, pretending like nothing had happened. However, Ember was not about to let this go so easily. She narrowed her eyes at me as I pulled on my seatbelt, avoiding her gaze as best as I could. "What's going on? You just kissed him." She said, confronting me.

Luke and I looked over at one another, our eyes meeting as we silently studied one another. After a moment, he broke our gaze and looked back at Ember. "We're dating." He blurted, causing me to hesitantly look over at both Jeffery and Ember, who were studying him and I closely. "Yeah, but you both know it's fake. There's no need to kiss in private." Ember said, not quite getting what he was trying to say. I shook my head and bit my cheek, intertwining our fingers when he slid his hand into mine. "No. Em, we're...we're actually dating." I explained, eyeing her closely for her reaction. She paused for a moment and narrowed her eyes, like she was thinking over my response. "Dating, huh?" She muttered, fighting a smile. I knew that smile. She was happy. "For how long?" Jeffery added in, curiously furrowing his brows.

I looked back at Luke again, meeting his gaze. "About five months now." I admitted, biting my lip.

The two of them stared at Luke and I in surprise, though Ember quickly formed a giant smile on her face that was actually a little unsettling. Slightly disturbed, I furrowed my brows, noticing that even Jeffery had a smile on his face now. "You guys aren't mad?" I asked, confused. Some part of me had expected for them to be angry, for some reason.

Ember laughed and shook her head, rolling her eyes at me. "Of course we're not mad. Why would we be?" She chuckled, causing me to pause and hesitantly shrug my shoulders. "I...don't know." I admitted, biting my lip sheepishly. Jeffery chuckled as well, crossing his arms over his chest. "We wanted you guys to fake date because we thought it'd be good for your careers. You know, publicity." He said, eyeing us with thought. "But now that we know you guys haven't actually been faking, well...that's just amazing. At least I don't have to feel like I'm forcing him into dating another girl he doesn't even like." He smiled. I felt like it was the first time I'd actually seen him smile before.

I couldn't help but to just sit there silently and look at them, taking in their responses. They weren't mad. In fact, they were happy about this. My lips twitched up into a little smile and I squeezed Luke's hand, looking down at our intertwined grasps.

**

When we all arrived, the limo rolled to a stop in front of the red carpet that was rolled out in front of the large building, large guards in front of the doors. Before Luke and I could get out of the car, Ember scooted over towards us and leaned in. "Okay, you two are going to get some pictures taken and then go inside. You'll probably be asked questions by a few people, so be sure to answer." She instructed clearly, her eyes looking back and forth between Luke and I.

After he and I expressed our understanding, we got out of the limo and the cameras began snapping pictures immediately. Luke slid his arm around my waist and pulled me into his side protectively as the limo drove away with Ember and Jeffery inside, leaving us together. I had a little hope that maybe Luke and I could slip inside unnoticed so as to avoid having to talk to anybody from the press, since there were so many other celebrities already on the carpet talking to people, but we weren't so lucky.

Luke and I attempted to slip past everyone, but we didn't even get halfway to the front door before we were being bombarded by a small group of people, all of them clearly apart of the press. There was a tall man holding a microphone and a large camera man following him with a shorter woman. "Hera Fox and Luke Hemmings!" The man with the microphone exclaimed, his eyes locked on me. I gave him a small smile and felt Luke's arm tighten around my waist as he hesitantly did the same. "Hi." I greeted kindly, not wanting wanting to be rude. This was just a part of going to events like these, and I knew that by now. No point in being mean to them for doing their jobs, after all.

That was what I thought, anyways, until the microphone man smirked at me a little and said, "You're looking rather beautiful tonight." He grinned, lowering his voice slightly when he added, "Maybe I could sample the goods later."

I blinked in shock and disgust, staring at him with wide eyes. Unsure if I had actually heard what I thought I'd just heard, I silently gaped at him until Luke spoke up. "Watch it, buddy." He scowled, glaring harshly at the man and tightening his grip around my waist. The man's lips twitched up. "My apologies." He said insincerely, still staring down at me. Thankfully, the woman behind him harshly hit him on the back of his head, causing him to flinch and roll his eyes. "So," The man began to speak as if he had not just said that to me, "How are you dealing with the thing with Tracy Burnett?" He asked me, causing a wave of confusion to strike my body.

"Who?" I asked, furrowing my brows. I had never heard of someone named Tracy Burnett.

Microphone man furrowed his brows and stepped a little closer, now moving completely to this topic. "Tracy Burnett. You haven't seen what she's been saying about you?" He pressed, cocking his head to the side when I slowly shook my head. "No." I said, confused yet very intrigued. What was being said of me? I knew I shouldn't concern myself with it, but I was only human. The curiosity got to all of us sometimes.

The man seemed more than ecstatic to spill the beans, grinning like crazy as he peered back and forth between Luke and I. "She's not your biggest fan, Fox. Apparently, she's had a thing for Mr. Hemmings here for a while and she's started this uproar over you not being attractive enough to be a model. Says you're not thin enough." He explained and, I admit, his words hurt my feelings. I was used to hearing that from people, yes, but it never got easier to hear. It always hurt just as much as the first time I'd heard it.

Unable to respond, I just stared at Microphone Man, a frown on my lips while Luke reassuringly slipped his hand into mine and softly squeezed. My heart swelled with love and appreciation for him.

The man in front of us nodded his head when he saw the look on my face, probably able to tell just how taken aback I was by his revelation. "Yeah, I know. She's an aspiring model and has actually gained quite a lot of followers, mostly ones coming from him. Jealousy is a disease, I guess." He shrugged, gesturing to Luke. It was Luke's fans going and supporting this woman, who was evidently talking bad on me. They must've not liked me much more than I had originally thought. Some of them were nice, but generally the lot of them commented hate when I would look in the comments of a picture of us together.

Luke began to lead me inside when Microphone man hurried off to someone that arrived, his blue eyes scanning his surroundings. I knew I shouldn't have been so upset about it, but I found myself continuously thinking about the information I'd just been given during the award show. It wouldn't leave me.