"Use your lips to read between the line that forms from my own, and I promise that you will know all the ways you've made me feel."
- Connotativewords

***

"Try these on." I hand Luke a bunch of t-shirts and he takes off his current one on the spot, pulling one over his head again.

"I like this one better." He mumbles, looking in the mirror and brushing away the hair that has fallen onto his forehead.

"I like that one too." I agree.

"Ugh! It's not that hard Michael! Leave it alone." Montana yells at Michael who is back from LA. They have been grappling with a pair of skinny jeans for the past fifteen minutes.

"Guys, you're gonna tear it further." I huff and pull it out of Michael's hands.

"Okay miss 'I have my own label now.'" Michael laughs and grabs the jeans out of my hands again.

"Oh shut up Mikey." I roll my eyes at him with a little smile and sit down on the couch, stretching my legs out in front of me. I cover my eyes with my arm and lay my head back.

Dressing this band was stressful on so many levels. First, they don't take any instructions whatsoever. They will put you through hell before they try on at least one t-shirt and you would think being the ones that give them sex, it would make them a little obedient but nope.

"Sierra your phones ringing." Montana points at my bag. I lunge towards it thinking it must be important and I didn't hear it over the loud music.

The display flashes back with the words "Unknown number."

I slide the lock with a frown and step out of the room so I can hear. "Hello?"

"Aye, missy." A man says from the other side. He coughs loudly and I pull the phone away from my ear momentarily at the sudden ghastly sound.

"Who's speaking?" I ask politely.

"Is this Sierra McKinnon?" The man spits out my name like its slime in his mouth.

"Who wants to know?" I ask as the door opens and Luke steps out.

"Who is it?" Luke asks and the line cuts off at the other end. I look down at the screen wondering what just happened.

"I don't know. Some creep." I mumble, wondering who it was.

Luke raises an eyebrow. "Was it a girl?"

"No, it was a man. Must have been a wrong number." I shrug at him so I don't worry him. Telling him the man knew my name too will freak him out. Luke can be quite protective.

"Do you wanna go get lunch?" He asks and we move to one side of the corridor letting Freddy, our stock manager pass with a bunch of boxes in his arms.

"Lilian is asking for you." He says as he passes us with a wave.

"There is my excuse." I shrug at Luke and he takes a hold of my hands. "You rarely eat. You need to eat."

"I do eat!" I complain childishly.

"Yeah? What did you eat this morning?" He saw me sneaking a handful of berries this morning and rushing out the door.

"Fine fine." I huff and tell him to wait for me till I rush into Lilian's office and come back. I stuff my phone into the pocket of my pinafore denim dress and make my way to her office.

Lilian briefed me on the plan for next year just yesterday. She tried to ease my worry but it hardly worked. I sign the agreement, I take six months off to design a killer line and at the end of the year they put it out there for the world to see.

Seemed easy enough but I know it'll be far from that. My anxiety had peaked it's ugly head. Plus, I wanted to go back on tour with Luke. They had about two months left of touring.

I knock on the glass door and Lilian waves me in without looking up.

"Hey." I greet and sit down from across her.

"Your mother called." Lilian chuckles under her breath and puts her pen down.

"My mother? Why?" That cannot have been good.

"Oh she just wanted to thank me and I told her it was all your hard work," Lilian smiles.

"I thought she must have had something to complain about." I huff, relaxing.

"Nothing like that. But I did get another call. A young lady that had quite a lot of things to say about our new label idea. She didn't tell me who she was exactly but she told me and I quote "Maybe you shouldn't send your designers to screw rock stars and steal all their money so you can open new labels every day." Lilian laughs loudly after mimicking the girl but my eyes widen.

I move forward in my chair. "Rock stars? Who was she?" I ask, baffled.

"No idea. But I'm sure it was some jealous coworker right in this office. What I wanted to warn you about is—that—now that we have announced the label and there is a spotlight on you, you'll have to keep your relationship with Luke a little... On the down low?"

"But my relationship with Luke has nothing to do with this. This wasn't something I was even aware of two days ago." I complain.

"Yes. We know that. I know that and you know that but the world does not know that dear. I'm not telling you to break up with him. Just keep it quiet okay?" She asks, apologising with her eyes.

"We don't really do much outside anyway." I shrug and she laughs again. A very rare thing for Lilian. She has been surprising me a lot lately.

"Exactly why the two of you were in every tabloid in the past three months."

"I don't buy the papers." I wink at her and stand up to go.

"Just be careful okay?" She waves.

---

Luke's Point of View

"What do you mean you can't find enough purple roses?"

"We can find a few but not enough to decorate an entire place," John complains.

"I don't fucking care if you have to spray paint them purple. They better all be purple. You do what I pay you to do, no questions asked." I hiss into the phone and cut off the line.

I breathe deeply and lean against the wall waiting for Sierra. Everyone else has already left for lunch and it's quiet. The large circular room is pristinely clean but also messy. Cut up pieces of cloth litter the tables and floors underneath them. Clothes hang from rows and rows of racks. Shoes littering the floor, spilling out of their boxes.

Snow falls over the busy city outside and I look around the room, taking in her world for a second. This was a part of her, a large part of her. She had a lot of talent for seeing every single detail, things a lot of us did not notice. I see the way others look at her, everyone rushes to her to finalise ideas and to get her opinion on things.

The door opens and Sierra steps in. She's in a short dress that she taught me this morning was called a pinafore or something. She's wearing one of my striped t-shirts inside and her brown hair is falling all over her shoulders.

My heart lurches in my chest and I put out an arm to catch myself on the wall so I don't fall onto my knees.

You're falling in love.

"Are you okay?" She asks noticing the sudden movement.

"Yeah." I clear my throat, blinking my eyes rapidly. Sierra walks over to me and wraps her arms around my waist, laying her head on my chest.

"Guess where we're going for New Years?" I ask her, wrapping my arms around her body.

"To watch the ball drop with everyone?" She answers.

"No. Fuck the ball dropping. We're going on our first official date."

"A date?" She looks up at me, eyebrows raised.

"Yes. You know, you and me, fancy clothes, dinner." I explain awkwardly.

"Luke, I know what a date is babe. I just can't believe we're going on one." She grins.

"I know, I know. I'm sorry I haven't been in the right mind to take you on one. You deserve a hundred dates and more." I whisper into her hair sadly.

Sierra pulls her head away from my chest. "I don't want a hundred dates. I only want you. Four months ago we couldn't even stand each other. So this is progress really." She chuckles.

I grab her face in my hands and kiss her until we both run out air and her scent surrounds my senses completely the way it tends to do. "God, I'm so in love with you," I say before I can stop myself.

Sierra's eyes widen a little but she keeps her expression neutral. "I love you too. Very much." I feel her pulse quicken under her ear where my finger is and my heart lurches in my chest again. I might die if we stand in this room a second longer.

"Let's go get lunch," I say quickly and pull her out of the room behind me.

---

"I'm so in love with you." Luke's words rang in my head over and over again as we got in the car and came to a restaurant nearby. It rang in my head as we got down and came in and it's still ringing in my head as we sit across from each other in a red booth.

His head is bent over a menu and I'm staring straight at it. I can't pull my eyes away for the life of me. He has been quiet all this time and he orders when the waitress comes to us. Her eyes widen a little when she recognises him but manages not to have a meltdown.

"What do you want babe?" Luke asks me after placing his order.

"Hmm?" I blink at him.

"What do you wanna order?" He asks again.

"Just get me the same thing," I mutter and the waitress writes it down. Trying to make sense of a menu right now is too much for me.

"Are you alright?" Luke asks and reaches for my hands over the table.

"What made you finally say it?" I ask. I just wanted to know why he was falling in love with me, now of all times. Even if it pains the both of us a great deal. I wanted to know right at this moment.

Luke looks away for a second and then looks back at me. He opens and closes his mouth a couple of times and fidgets. I stay quiet so he can find his words, communication wasn't our strongest suit and I had a feeling we will need it a lot.

"I—just being in that room with all your designs and here in New York, your city. There is just so much of you here. Staying with you, your house. Everything has a little part of you and I can sense it so strongly. I notice all the little things you do and I have never with anyone else. It's so rare for me to pay attention to someone this way." He admits.

"It's all over me and I love it. I love the feeling of being surrounded by you. I love you." He says quietly and finally looks up at me. His eyes are shining with tears, mirroring mine.

"Fuck lunch. Let's go." I croak and we both stand up, quickly shrugging on our jackets. Luke shouts over his shoulder to the waitress to cancel the order and we walk out of the restaurant.

I drag Luke the opposite direction from where my car is parked and he looks at me confused.

"Where are we going?" He asks.

"My favourite spot in the city that never sleeps."

A/N:

The boy's new album Sounds Good Feels Good is out and I'm so in love.

What are you favorites? I love Vapor so much and all of it but Vapor mostly haha. *ear heart emoji*

Vote and comment!

- Rhythmwithlove