Who's Gonna Love You Like Me? [Brother's Best Friend!Calum AU]

Part 9

It had been two days, and Luke hadn't spoken to her.

Josie hated how nauseous his silence made her, but she wasn't surprised. Or, maybe, she was. Truth be told, she had kind of expected roaring anger, some yelling, a whole lot of glares. At this point, she couldn't help but think any of that wouldn't be better than absolutely nothing. Because that's all she and Calum had received from her brother. Nothing.

Maybe he was still processing the revelation of her and Calum's relationship, still adjusting to the idea before properly reacting. But Josie had the anxious feeling that Luke had processed it already and was punishing them with the lack of reaction. They'd withheld the truth from him, he was withholding the true extent of whatever he was feeling by completely ignoring them. He ignored Calum easily, given that he had moved back into his place just days before the truth came out, but no matter how difficult Josie made it for Luke, he still managed to stay firm in his silence. He left for work far earlier than she did, and played deaf to her greetings when she stayed downstairs to catch him entering the house. Because despite the nerves and guilt, Josie still wanted her brother to speak to her.

Honestly, Luke was the most talkative person she knew. She was kind of selfishly hoping this was killing him as much as it was killing her.

When Josie got home from work, she shut the car door with a sigh, hearing it lock behind her as she made her way towards the front door. She paused, however, when she heard a car behind her, turning to watch Luke pull into the driveway as well. Her heart gave a nervous jump as she stopped, not wanting to miss another opportunity at an attempt to get him to talk to her. Reasonably, Josie knew she should give Luke space, let him talk to her when he was ready, but like Calum had said—she was impatient. Not talking to Luke wasn't something Josie knew how to do; the thought of her closeness with Luke being in trouble, and it being her fault, damn near made her nauseous. She needed to fix this soon.

She couldn't keep the hopeful expression off her face as Luke got out of his car, expression carefully neutral as he walked up the path towards the door, expertly keeping his gaze past her. "Hey, Luke," Josie greeted softly, eagerly, as he neared her. Luke didn't even glance at her as he kept walking, Josie's gaze trailing after him briefly before she followed him. A small huff escaped her as he unlocked the front door. "Come on, Luke. You can't keep giving me the silent treatment forever," she begged as she shut the door behind her.

He only disturbed the silence by dropping his keys on the table behind the couch, the sharp clinking sound disrupting the silence of the house. Josie kept her gaze on his back, his broad shoulders rigid, and her stomach churned as the impatience won out and she blurted, "Luke, this isn't fair."

She knew that had been the wrong, and stupid, thing to say the moment those words escaped her mouth.

Her brother spun around, sharp blue eyes clashing with her own, and for the first time in days, Josie saw something other than blankness on Luke's face. He wore a scowl openly, looking at her in a mixture of incredulity, anger, and irritation that Josie had never been on the receiving end of. It was enough to expel the air from her lungs as her brother narrowed his eyes at her. "Are you seriously going to talk to me about what's fair?" he demanded, voice deepening as he cocked his head to the side. "Tell me, Josie—how is it fair that you know how I feel about you dating any of my friends, and still you went behind my back and got with one of my best friends? How is it fair that both of you took my trust and decided to shit on it without even considering how I'd feel about it?"

Throat dry, Josie parted her lips, feeling her lower one tremble as she gave a shake of her head. "That isn't—that's not true, Luke." She hated that even her voice was unsteady in the face of his anger. "We did consider your feelings—we do—but—"