Red String of Fate

April 2014

Luke's awoken by his phone continuously vibrating against his bedside table. He groans as it doesn't shut up, blindly reaching a hand out to swat at it – thinking that it's his alarm (that he didn't even remember setting), only to have it continue to vibrate. Luke groans again, finally cracking one eye open to reach out for his phone, not even bothering to check who's this fucker that's calling him an some ungodly hour (though it's probably already in the afternoon), sliding his thumb across the screen to pick up the call.

"Hmm?" He hums, because his throat's too dry for him to be able to even croak out a 'hello'.

"... Did I wake you up?" and then Luke's smiling at the sound of Kara's voice on his phone before he's groaning again, rubbing at his eyes only to have them shut again.

"Yeah," Luke mumbles, "What'd you want?"

"Wanna watch a film with me?"

"I'm tired," he whines childishly, pouting his bottom lip and kicking at his sheets in protest even though Kara wouldn't even be able to see his acts of protests against her calling him and asking him if he wanted to watch a film with her. And he'd probably be blushing and jumping around like a prepubescent kid getting their first date but he's way too groggy for that shit.

Plus, it's not the first time that they'd be going out together. After he'd bumped into her at the supermarket and they went for a walk to nowhere in particular, killing time till before Kara had to go to work, they'd still met up the next day. And since they'd already met and realised that just because they were in the physical presence of the other now, it didn't altercate the bond that they'd already formed years ago. They were still best friends. Though with one of them wishing that they were more but not having enough guts to do so just yet.

They'd spent the day talking and sharing stories over a meal, and then they walked around at the shops, and then they went to a park and played at the swings – because seventeen year olds or not, swings were still pretty bloody awesome things. Then a couple of days after that, Luke called her up and asked if she wanted to go for a skate and they did just that – having a grand ole time, really.

And it's been two weeks since they've been home and on break, and Luke's spent half of that time hanging out with her – and he's really fucking liking it. The other half is split between hanging out with his other mates and family and chilling and home, and hanging out with the boys. (Seriously – he doesn't even know why he's not sick of them yet. It's good, though, in a way, because then he's got more confidence in saying that 5 Seconds of Summer is going to stick around for quite a while.)

"Alright, then," Kara laughs on the other end of the line. "Go back to bed. Sorry for waking you, Hemmo,"

"No, wait," he manages to mumble out before she cuts the call. "What film did you wanna watch?"

"Brick Mansions,"

"Never heard of it,"

"Paul Walker's in it,"

"I wanna watch it," Luke says and Kara breaths a chuckle on the other end of the line. Luke slowly pulls himself up into a seating position.

"So go watch it!" Kara laughs again, "I'll see you whenever I see you. Bye – "

"Wait,"

"Yeah?"

"Thought you wanted to watch Brick Mansions?"

"Well... yeah, but you wanna sleep, so," Luke hears material shuffling in the background and he's pretty sure she's just shrugged. "I'll go see if any of my other mates are free. S'nothing to worry about, you can go back to bed, you lazy arse,"

Luke laughs breathily, rubbing at his eyes groggily, "If you're willing to give me, like, a half hour, I can meet up with you and we'll go watch the film together?" He proposes, a lazy smile crossing his lips at the prospect of spending another day with her. She's a fun person to be around. Conversation always flow easily between the pair and he's just always happy when he's with her.

"I can wait," she assures him, "But really, I can go with someone else."

"Shut up. I'll see you in thirty minutes, or something, 'cause I wanna watch the film because Paul Walker. Goodbye," Luke sasses and Kara's laugh is echoing in his ears, instantly making him smile.

"Bye," she sing-songs, dragging out the single syllable word, before she cuts the call.

And Luke's smiling at nothing (and the multiple texts she's sent him before she gave up and just gave him a ring), his phone still in hand as he stays in his seated position on the bed, completely oblivious to when his bedroom door is pulled open. His mum stands in the doorway, eyeing her youngest son with a raised eyebrows. "What are you smiling about?"

His head snaps to the doorway and his smile turns sheepish, one hand going to the back of his neck, "Nothing," he mumbles.

She eyes him dubiously, "If you say so..." she trails off with a minuscule nod, in no way believing what he's said. "I'm going to the shops in a while. Do you want to come with?"

"I've, uh, I've got plans,"

"Yeah? With the boys?"

"No," Luke shakes his head. And his cheeks are probably turning pinker by the passing seconds, so he turns away, shuffling his feet in his duvet and making a move to get out of bed, "With a, uh, a friend. Yeah," he nods to himself, "A friend," he emphasises on the word and okay, maybe his tone's a little bitter. He can't help it. Kara's someone unattainable to him because she's probably got a boyfriend and he's still falling harder and harder for her and he wants to stop because he doesn't want to lose his friendship with her because of a dumb crush but he can't help it.

"Okay then, I hope you have fun – "

"I don't like her like that," Luke interrupts before his mum's able to even finish his sentence. Then his eyes widen and he glances back her, and Liz is blinking at him with a knowing grin playing on her lips.

"You know..." Liz starts, "I didn't say anything about you liking your friend like that,"

Luke just blinks, biting down on his bottom lip. He doesn't really do well under pressure. (Which is a stupid excuse because Liz literally said nothing about his friend being a girl and him having a crush on her.) So he gets up, pulling his towel from where it's hung over the back of the chair, "M'gonna go shower. Have fun on your shopping trip, or, um, yeah. Don't know what time I'll be back. Might be late, don't wait up."

And while Luke rushes to the bathroom to get a quick shower, Liz is snickering to herself in amusement because she knows for sure now that Luke's 'friend' is a girl and that he's got a crush on said girl. And Luke's normally quite close with his mum but in regards to telling her about Kara, he's apprehensive about telling her because, well, they're best mates, yeah? He and Kara. And well, Kara's bound to come over soon enough and Luke would very much rather salvage the bit of dignity and pride he's got by not having Liz try to drop not-at-all subtle hints about him having a crush on her.

Luke just really, really, really doesn't want to lose Kara. He doesn't know what he'd do with himself if he didn't have her in his life anymore.

---

to Kara ♕
are you doing anything productive?

to Kara ♕
probably not

to Kara ♕
come hang out with me

to Kara ♕
???

to Kara ♕
KARAAAAAA

to Kara ♕
why are you ignoring me this is very upsetting

to Kara ♕
- image -

to Kara ♕
- image -

to Kara ♕
- image -

-

to Hemmo ♪ ♫ ♪
sorryyyyy i'm at work

to Hemmo ♪ ♫ ♪
stop sending me your face and just come here or smth if you wanna hang

to Hemmo ♪ ♫ ♪
also: do u not have a life bc you're wearing a beanie in one a snapback in another and nothing in the other

-

to Kara ♕
idk where the shop is exactly tho

to Kara ♕
stop judging me

-

to Hemmo ♪ ♫ ♪
call me when you're kinda near and i'll meet you or give you directions or smth

---

"S'cool," Luke grins as he looks around the little shop, taking a seat on the high stools and propping an elbow up on the metal counter, the other side of where he's sat at being the place where the workers would make the drinks.

"Yeah," Kara smiles, though her attention isn't fully fixed on him since she's trying to make an ice blended drink for the customers waiting for their drink.

Luke just watches her then, because she's not going to talk to him till she's done, anyway. And it's not like Luke wants to disturb her because if he does then her boss or someone might find out and he might get her into trouble. Or he might get banned from coming into the little coffee shop. Doesn't know if that'll actually happen but he doesn't want to take any risks.

She and this other bloke that's also making an ice blended drink elbow each other playfully out of the way, muttering things under their breaths about the other being an annoying fuck and taking up way too much space. The other bloke who's working is making a hot drink, so he's not making it at the same space that the other two are, but he's smiling to himself at the insults that the other two are throwing each other – as is Luke.

Kara puts on the plastic lid onto the plastic cup, putting it in a plastic and then walking to where the cash register's at, and where there's a teenage girl typing out on her phone waiting, "Iced Mocha?" She smiles and the girl looks up, smiling back at her, taking it with a thanks before she's walking out of the shop.

Then Kara walks out from behind the counter area, dropping onto the seat (that isn't the stool that's as high as his own so he's basically able to use her shoulder as an arm rest) next to Luke – back against the wall, turning her head to look at him. "Hello," she greets with a tired grin.

"Hi," Luke laughs lightly. "Tired?"

"Very," she nods, tired grin still in place. "Oh and that's Ian – " she points to the one that's handing the hot drink to a customer, "– and that's Ace, – " she points to the one that she was arguing with whilst making the drink.

"Okay," he nods.

"Boys, this is Luke," she says, gesturing to him.

They look up at the same time, nodding in acknowledgement with small smiles on their faces at Luke before they turn back to whatever they were doing behind the counter. Washing out the blenders and cups and wiping down the counters, basically.

"What time are you working until?" Luke asks, nudging her lightly.

"Till closing," Kara sighs dramatically, her body falling sideways so that her head's resting on his arm and Luke chuckles.

In a moment of bravery, he moves the arm that she's resting her head on away, in favour of wrapping his arms around her shoulders (and head, basically) and pull her into him for a quick hug.

"Poor baby," he coos and she's laughing lightly, not making a move to push him away and Luke may or may not be biting down on his bottom lip to contain the large, cheesy grin that threatens to spill out onto his face because she's not pushing him away and it feels so great to have her in his arms, even if it is a bit of a weird hug. But she's still in his arms and it feels so great and he's hoping that he doesn't smell or his heart isn't hammering too hard in his chest.

Luke finally lets her go (with much reluctance) after he's sure that he's held her for far much longer than a friend hugging a friend very casually should last. He grins at her, one hand going to brush her hair out of her face because her fringe is all messed up and covering most of her face and she's pouting because of it.

"D'you want anything to drink?" She offers, pout turning into a smile that could break hearts because it's probably breaking his.

"Nah, m'alright," he declines politely

"Don't be shy now," Kara laughs. "What drink do you want?"

The blonde laughs, shaking his head in amusement, "Uh..." Luke trails off, "What's good?"

"I like the white cocoa. S'good,"

"I'm trusting you here," Luke warns with a little grin, wagging a finger in her direction.

Kara only laughs, rolling her eyes as she gets to her feet and goes behind the counter to start making the drink. And since there's no other customers in the shop currently, Ian and Ace come out from behind the counter, outstretching a hand towards Luke for the standardised 'bro handshake' or whatever the fuck it's called – in which they slap hands and then fist bump – and then Ian's sliding into the seat across from where Kara was sat earlier and Ace steps out of the shop in favour of going to the picnic-like tables, pulling a cigarette out of it's box and placing it between his teeth.

Luke turns back to look at Kara when the sound of a blender is being heard. She walks away from the blender, taking a wash cloth and wiping down the counter before going back to the blender, turning it off and then pouring it's contents into a plastic cup – putting the lid on afterwards. She sticks in a straw and then she's handing it to Luke with an adorable half-grin on her face.

He takes a sip of the drink as she slides back into the seat she was in before and grins, because whatever white cocoa is, he likes it. "S'good," he says with a little grin. "You should work as a barista," Luke whispers mock conspicuously, making her laugh. (And the sound of her laughter has got his heart racing and a strange feeling stirring in his gut and this feels scarily like falling in love and he's pretty damn terrified right now because he's not as scared of that feeling as he should be.)

Kara opens her mouth to say something but she's interrupted by Ace calling her name. She turns, as does Luke, and Ace gestures to a bloke in sunnies who is grinning and making his way into the shop. "There's a step!" She calls out before he reaches the ledge and there's a minuscule nod before he's walking into the shop.

"I am here," he says, stretching his arms out on either side of him in an obnoxious manner, "Love me."

And something clicks in Luke's mind as he pieces where he's seen this guy before. It's the douche bag who was wearing sunnies whilst indoors and had picked up the Skype call. That has got to have been, like, what? About a month ago? Luke didn't like him then, still didn't like him now. So he couldn't exactly help it when his face falls expressionless and his lips are pursed and he's almost glaring at the bloke.

"What if the shop was, like, super full?" Kara asks through a laugh as he leans against his side on the counter where the cash register is sat at.

"You wouldn't have acknowledged me," he replies evenly.

Kara nods, "Good point. How'd you get here?"

"Mum dropped me off," he shrugs his shoulders. "She's got stuff to do so she just dropped me off nearby and then I bumped into Sue-Ann, is that her name?"

"Yeah," Kara nods, then she's leaning back a bit to tell Luke, "Sue-Ann works at the clinic next door,"

Luke nods, "Oh, cool,"

"Who's that?" He asks, straightening himself out a bit.

"Remember that time you picked up the Skype call?" She asks and he nods, "Yeah, this is the guy,"

"Ohh," he drags outs the word, nodding as he does so. He walks towards them, outstretching a hand, "Hey, man. I'm Ryker,"

And Luke's not that rude to the extent that he's going to completely ignore Ryker's handshake. It's just that, well. Ryker's offering the hand to the empty stool next to him and he's seemingly not noticing it. Luke's brows knot together lightly but there's a friendly smile on his lips and he's about to move so that he can shake Ryker's hand before Kara halts his movement.

"Little to the left, mate,"

"My left or your left?"

"Your left," Kara says with a little grin and Ryker's turning to his left so that his hand's offered to Luke this time, as it should be.

Luke's eyebrows arch in confusion but he slides his hand into Ryker's and shakes it, anyway. 'Bro shake' it, or whatever. The one that ends with a fist bump again. "Luke," he introduces, when he realises that Kara hadn't introduced him by name.

"Thought it was something that sounded like homo?" Ryker asks in a confused tone and really, Luke should be offended, but it's kind of funny because he's never really associated the name 'Hemmo' with 'homo'. He's going to unintentionally start, though, since Ryker's put that thought in his mind.

"Hemmo," Luke clarifies, "It's a, uh, nickname, I guess."

Ryker frowns, "Well how the fuck did you get Hemmo from Luke?"

"Hemmings, Ry," Kara chimes in with a laugh. "Last name's Hemmings."

"Oh," Ryker nods after a moment, "That would make sense, yeah. Sorry. Brain's working a bit slow today."

"As opposed to it working perfectly fine any other day?" Kara snorts, getting to her feet to go behind the counter to make the drink for the customer's whose just placed an order with Ian. She brushes past him, gently tugging on his elbow and then pushing slightly down on his shoulders so that he's sat at where she was sat earlier, beside Luke.

"My brain works great, okay," Ryker huffs in offence.

"Sure,"

"It does!" He protests, and Ian chuckles, shaking his head as he gives the customer her change, and even Luke can't help but chuckle.

Kind of pains him to admit to it but Ryker and Kara are actually pretty fucking adorable together, though he's still hanging onto that little piece of hope that's telling him they're just a set of close friends, maybe they're even cousins, or something. Just as long as they're not boyfriend/girlfriend, then he'd be happy. Very, very happy.

"Ian! Defend me!" Ryker calls out, bottom lip pouted.

Ian shakes his head with a chuckle just as Ace walks back into the shop, "Wouldn't want Ian to lie for you, mate," Ace chimes in with a shit-eating grin on his face and Ryker's gasping, bringing a hand to his heart.

"Why are you all so mean to me?" He fake sobs, using his hands to make a motion of him wiping away imaginary tears even though his sunnies are still shielding his eyes.

Kara shrugs, looking up from where she's been concentrating on making the drink that she's making with her teeth biting on her bottom lip and tongue fiddling with the lip ring. Luke hasn't been watching her the whole time. Nope. Not at all. "It's because I've known you for longer than six years, I'm allowed to be mean to you."

"Fair enough," Ryker nods, "So that means Ace and Ian have to be nice to me,"

"Nope," Ian protests as he walks out from behind the counter area, "We've bonded enough for us to be allowed to be mean to you, too,"

"This is unfair," Ryker huffs. "I'm disabled. You should all be, like, ridiculously nice to me."

Kara snorts, "Didn't think you'd ever pull the disabled card," she says as she places the lid on the plastic cup and walks over to the person who's ordered it, handing it to her. Then she turns back to walk towards them, sliding onto the high stool that's next to Luke and shuffling closer because it's kind of blocking the way to behind the workers only area thing. She crosses her leg over her other knee and her sneaker's pressing gently into Luke's jean-clad legs. And Luke may or may not have stared at her legs a little longer than necessary.

"Well, I am, so be nice to me," Ryker huffs, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Disability or not, I'm your best mate and I'm still allowed to be mean to you," Kara grins, laughing lightly as she leans forward to ruffle Ryker's hair, and Luke's lips split into a grin.

They're not a couple. They're not together. They're not boyfriend/girlfriend. Luke Hemmings is happy. He is very, very happy. (And also feeling like an asshole because there are only two people who use sunnies indoors and they are douche bags, and blind people. It didn't take a genius to figure out from the little actions and stuff that Ryker is blind, so he's literally allowed to wear sunnies indoors. So basically, Luke Hemmings is simultaneously happy and feeling like an asshole. Wouldn't trade those feelings for anything else, though.)