dopamine : luke

luke

luke wants to disappear for a while.

being in the spotlight 24/7 was fun, yes. don't get him wrong, he loves his job. he's in love with every aspect of it. all the fans, the lights, the singing, and the song writing. he loves every part of it, it's everything he's ever dreamed of.

however, he does get tired.

constantly being in the spotlight means that everyone's watching his every move. it means that he has this constant pressure on him, to always look and feel his best. being famous has its pros, yes, a lot. but some days, luke can't help but feel suffocated.

he wants to be able to walk around in his own space, and to do things without anyone watching his every move.

he wants to do the things he used to do before he got famous, just so he can find himself again.

luke's been feeling so out of touch with himself lately, and he's desperate to go back to his old self again.

"yeah, adam, i'll be back first thing tomorrow." he grumbles over the phone as he speaks with his manager.

"alright, luke," adam sighs, "you're already there, so i can't stop you anymore."

luke runs a frustrated hand through his hair as he stares out the window.

"i won't do anything stupid," he says frustratedly, "i just need to do a few things to get me back to my usual self. that's it."

"mhm," adam says, "and are you sure you're alright at the place you're staying in? you can stay at a much better place, luke."

"this place is just fine, adam," luke deadpans, "i just need a place to keep my stuff. i'll be out and about the whole day, anyway."

"okay," adam answers, "are you sure you can take care of yourself? i can have a bodyguard sent down there, luke, just say the word."

"i'll be fine, adam." luke answers cooly, just wanting this whole conversation to be over.

"alright," adam sighs again, "i'll call you from time to time."

"mkay," luke says simply, "bye."

he ends the call, not waiting for adam to say another word.

luke needed this. he made a list of all the activities he needed to do to keep his soul alive. he aches to do these things, to keep the dopamine in his system running.

luke brings his phone back in his pocket, and places his hands on the window sill as he stares at the city out his window.

"beautiful paris." he mumbles to himself, taking in the sight of different infrastructures.

there were a lot of different beautiful places he can go to, but paris always seemed to be the best option for luke. he already has a list of things he wanted to do in paris, to help him feel like himself again.

he takes his phone out from his pocket again, and walks to where his luggage is placed across the room to grab his charger.

his phone's still at 91%, but he always has this constant need for it to be at 100%.

he plugs his phone in, but furrows his eyebrows immediately since it doesn't charge.

he removes the plug, then re-plugs it, but it still didn't make a difference.

"the fuck?" he mumbles to himself.

he walks towards the nearest light switch, flipping it up and down as he stares at the lightbulb.

the lightbulb, however, showed no signs of it lighting up any soon.

it's only nearing towards 4pm, which is why the natural light coming from the windows were enough to light up the room. luke didn't know until now that there's a blackout going on.

"guess my adventure's going to start earlier than planned." he says, shoving his phone back in his pocket.

he walks towards his luggage again, opening it, not needing to rummage through it to pull out his black leather jacket, which was neatly folded on top of everything he brought.

he grabs his wallet and walks out of the room, passing by a lot of angry tenants as he does so.

he walks in a fast pace, thinking that if he walks fast enough, no one will be able to recognize him.

he steps foot outside the apartment, and whips his phone out, opening the notes app to check what's the first thing to do on his to-do list.

#1: have a chat with a stranger at the nearest café.

luke shuts his phone off and shoves it back in his pocket. upon looking up from his phone, his eyes focus on a small, minimalistic café right across the apartment.

"perfect." he smiles to himself as he starts walking towards it.

he enters the café and starts looking around, looking for a possible stranger to start up a conversation with.

he's aiming to look for anyone who looks interesting, or for anyone who can remain calm as they talk to him.

he can easily take this out of the list, though, so as not to attract attention. but he wants to do it. he likes the thrill.

his eyes focus on a girl about his age, seated at the corner of the café. she's staring down at her lap as she fidgets with her sweater.

luke immediately knew that she was the stranger he wanted to start a conversation with.

he didn't know why, but the second his eyes landed on her, he felt attracted to her instantly.

he walks slowly towards her, feeling more and more excited at what he's about to do.

luke already had a conversation starter in mind, as well as possible questions to ask for the conversation to keep going. he feels so excited to do this, knowing full well that he's famous and this girl may freak out.

but he's up for all the suspense.

he stands firmly in front of her table, and she's still fixated at her sweater as she fidgets with it.

he's not sure if the girl in front of him is french, so he decides to speak in english.

"is this seat taken?" he asks softly, so as not to startle her.

he shoots her one of his award-winning smiles, and the girl stares at him in complete shock upon looking up.

"uh." she starts, then continues to stare at him.

luke keeps the warm smile on his face, praying to god she doesn't see him as some kind of creep.

"no," she says softly, making luke almost sigh out in relief, "it's not taken."

without another word, luke takes a seat, his warm smile never leaving his face.

–

forgot to mention that luke's a solo artist here ! so no 5sos in this au :-(

BUT the rest of the boys are bound to come up in the later chapters so watch out for that :>

- au