Red Roses [Luke Hemmings]

Two

The reception ended just an hour short of midnight. Luke was loosening his tie as Indiana filled her head into a conversation with Amy and Amy's sister Anne. They were talking about Indiana's magazine job and how they worked closely with a few publishing magazines as a photography group. Indiana promised to give word of them at the K offices. If anything, Luke just wanted to go home.

"Okay okay, we'll let you go. It was good to see you Luke, and great to meet you Indie," Amy said.
"Thank God," Luke chuckled, but half of him meant it.
"Wait, Rebecca and Noah are giving things out," Anne said, pulling on Luke's sleeve. The last thing he wanted to do was talk to Rebecca more than once tonight. He already congratulated her and apologised for being at the wrong place at the wrong time. Luke wasn't going to speak to her once again just to congratulate her again and have an awkward stare-down with Noah.

"I'll get it if you want. I'll meet you at the car," Indiana said.
"No," Luke said, "I parked a little too far for you to walk alone."
"Luke I'm not four."
"I don't care, no one should be walking alone at this hour."

Indiana sighed. Luke didn't know why he could've just insisted to meet her in the foyer of the museum but the thought didn't occur to him at the time. Instead, he walked toward the nearly-newly-weds with his best friend's arm wrapped through his as they both smiled and talked to a few guests. Soon, it was Luke and Indie's turn to get something.

"Aha, Luke," Noah said with a big smile. Luke nodded and gave a smile.
"Thanks for the invite," Luke said, not wanting to keep a long conversation. It was awkward enough.
"Thanks for coming," Rebecca said, avoiding eye contact with Luke. This bothered him; a part of him wanted to make eye contact with her to prove that he no longer had feelings for her but he knew he did. She was stunning and she was all the same as he remembered her. A part of Luke wanted her to look at him and fall for him but life simply wasn't like that.

"Oh, Babe I forgot to tell you. Luke said the band could play," Noah said with a confident smile. Rebecca didn't react right away. But when she did, it wasn't the reaction that Luke wanted. He thought she'd be at least grateful but she wasn't. She blew up.

"You didn't even consult me about this!?" Rebecca bursted out. Her face was red with embarrassment and anger. Luke thought it was amusing.

"Can we talk about this later?" Noah muttered, looking down at his fiancée. He looked over at Luke and Indie who seemed perfectly fine even though the two were about to argue.

"I'll see you guys at the wedding," Luke said, nodding at the two and placing his right hand against the small of Indie's back before walking out of the venue.

That night in Luke's bed, he rested his back against the wooden headrest just on top of his arm that curled under the back of his head, staring at his laptop just like the day he got the e-invite to Rebecca's wedding and engagement party. The only thing that was different about this time and the last was that Luke remembered he had kept old photos of he and Rebecca when they dated and he was staring at one that Amy had taken of them when they weren't looking. It was at the retro 70's café that Luke worked at prior becoming world-famous and in a band. The corners of Luke's lips slightly turned up at the sight of himself so happy in the photo.

He remembered that moment. Luke remembered the butterflies Rebecca gave him when she smiled. He remembered how she giggled at his stupid jokes that he heard from Calum or someone else. Luke remembered the way Rebecca gave him this shot of adrenaline that he longed for every time they weren't together. He remembered how her smile on her lips traveled all the way to her eyes and he remembered how wonderful Rebecca made him feel; Luke remembered Rebecca making him feel so special.

In the photo, Luke and Rebecca were sipping on the double chocolate fudge milkshakes that he had made for them, sitting down at a booth across from each other. He faced her, his eyes intently watching her sip on the delicious milkshake on the slight rainy day in Sydney. She faced him, smiling at the idiotic smirk on his face. They looked as if they were each other's love at first sight. They felt as if it were true too. But it wasn't.

"Luke?" Indiana's voice snapped Luke's thoughts about his time with Rebecca away. He closed the window on his computer screen and closed his laptop shut before running toward his door to open it and see Indiana in an apron. "What's up?"

"I need to head over to my sister's. There's dinner on the table, don't wait up okay?" she said quickly, walking around the house to fetch her bag, keys, phone and other things that Indiana always brought with her when she was going out. Luke groggily walked around into the kitchen to see some grilled fish and salad that was set out perfectly for him. If Indiana wasn't a journalist, she would definitely be a professional chef, he thought.

"Is she okay?" Luke asked, taking out a fork and cutting himself a piece of the fish before shoving it into his mouth and savouring the delicious taste.

"She should be," Indiana shrugged, "There was just a little mishap. I'll let you know if anything happens." Luke's best friend quickly ran up to him, pulling him down to her height before placing a sloppy quick peck on his cheek and bolting out the door. "Love you!" she yelled.

He was alone. Luke found himself alone quite often. It made his mother worried but Luke liked it. He could do things, make a big mess without having Indie yelling at him for being childish. It wasn't like he was going to live in a pigsty if Indie wasn't there anyway. Or maybe he was... maybe that was the reason Liz wanted Luke to live with Indiana instead of alone. She didn't just keep tabs on Luke; Indiana kept tabs on all the boys to make sure they cleaned their homes and did their washings. She even made sure they paid all necessary bills and everything. To all four boys, Indiana was kind of like a guardian angel. But now, his guardian angel wasn't around. Luke could do anything he want and what he wanted to do was cry at the fact at the age of twenty-two, his ex-girlfriend was getting married and all he had were lousy one-night-stands.

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poor lucas. Vote please! Leave a comment toooooo! :) xx