AN: I'm shit at updating, I'm sorry.

Dedication: WhatTrueLoveIs_ [Made a book cover in the media c:]

I got zero sleep on the way back to the hotel, and I wasn't feeling any better even when I was able to breathe in fresh air. Luke carried me up to our hotel suite and Michael went back to his, muttering something along the lines of getting more sleep for whatever he had planned tomorrow.

Once Luke and I were in the bedroom, he laid me down on the bed and handed me two pills of Tylenol and the bottle of water. I sat upright and quickly washed the pills down, and then I went to lie back down. Usually, I'd sit and think about the day for a few minutes, but my head was hurting me too much for me to do that tonight.

Despite it being hot, I didn't feel like stripping out of my clothes. So instead I kicked the blanket away from me and curled into a human ball. I wiped my forehead with the back of my hand and pressed one side of my face into the pillow beneath me.

"Princess, aren't you burning?" Luke asked and I peeked one eye at him. I shook my head, even though my silent response wasn't entirely true.

I could feel the bed shift a bit as Luke climbed in beside me, pulling me into his arms and close to his chest. I grumbled and complained how it was too hot and that I wanted to strip to my boxer shorts.

And that was how I ended falling asleep, being nearly naked with Luke holding me close to him.

"I'm hoping whatever you consumed doesn't make you loopy again," Luke said. "You're weird when you're like that."

"Shut up," I grumbled, burying my face in the pillow.

"You get this child-like manner and become even more dependent."

"I said shut up."

"And even though you say you're a virgin, you get really thirsty when you're intoxicated."

"Shut up, Luke!" I snapped, shooting upright and glaring down at him. "What is it about you that makes me even like you in the first place? You're so annoying!"

"Hm, that's a good question." He started to sit up as well, criss-crossing his legs. "What makes you so attracted to me?"

"I—" I stopped myself from continuing, because I didn't know how to answer that question myself. What even makes me feel so drawn towards Luke? "I—I-It's not important right now. I have a headache and I need my sleep."

"Right. Beauty sleep for the princess." He chuckled and I rolled my eyes, going back under the covers and feeling Luke's arm around me once again.

After moments of silence, I remember Luke wanted to tell me something and I shook his gently, but he was already sound asleep.

I guess I could wait until when we're both awake. So then I decided to sleep, but the curiosity kept flooding my mind. It took me quite a while to go sleep, and I dreamed of the possibilities of what Luke wanted to tell me.

-

It was still extremely dark outside when I woke up, and I was feeling no better than before. In fact, I was feeling hotter—not in terms of how attractive I am. But it might be because of how close I was to Luke.

In my sleep, I somehow ended up on top of my bodyguard, my cheek pressed against his chest and my legs were on either side of him. My hands were underneath him and he had his arms holding me protectively.

I managed to get myself off of him and out of his embrace and then decided that I should take a shower. A quick cold one, preferably. So I got onto my feet and went towards where my clothes were, pulled out a white T-shirt and a pair of blue boxer shorts. Then I went to go take my shower, setting my clothes on top of the bathroom counter.

Once I finished my refreshing shower, I dried myself off and pulled on the two article of clothes I got and also brushed my teeth and fixed my hair. I stepped out of the bathroom when I was done cleaning myself up, seeing Luke was still asleep where he was but in a new position this time so that way he took up most of the bed.

I silently laughed to myself and went to pick out a pair of skinny jeans. I put those on and then went over to Luke's couch and put on one of his jackets. Then I exited the bedroom, going towards the balcony. Some light was starting to make its appearance in the sky, and I gazed in awe at the view. It was breathtaking and I felt like I was in paradise.

Leaning over the balcony, I peered down to see some cars driving by on the street below. A sudden cold breeze picked up and I shivered slightly, making Luke's jacket hug me a bit more.

My eyes wandered over to the park across the street and I wanted to go there, and I thought now would be a good time since it was still really early and not many people would be awake at this time.

After going back into the warm suite, I closed the balcony glass door and then went over to the bedroom, seeing Luke was in the middle of trying to wake up. As he was about to sit upright, I hopped myself right next to him on the bed.

He didn't seem surprised at all and just looked at me with sleepy blue eyes.

"Can we go to the park together?" I asked, a wide smile on my face.

"Sure, princess," he said. "We'll leave in an hour."

I frowned. "I was hoping we'd go now. It's still really early, and no one's really awake at this time."

"Oh." Luke thought for a moment before he nodded. "Well, um... Okay, let me go get ready and we'll go."

I nodded eagerly and sat there on the bed as I watched Luke gather up some clothes of his and go into the bathroom. I grabbed both ends of the blanket and wrapped it around myself, keeping myself facing the bathroom door as I waited for Luke to finish.

During the time of Luke still cleaning himself up, I was lying on my back on top of the bed, the blanket now draped over all of me except for my head that was still poked out.

Luke finally walked out of the bathroom now wearing black skinny jeans that were ripped at the knees, a shirt that said You Complete Mess, a grey beanie over his blond hair, and a black jacket. He went over to me and placed his hands on either side of my face. I smiled when he leaned down and gave me a quick kiss to the lips.

"Ready?" he questioned and I nodded, shuffling out of the blanket and standing on my feet. "Oh, you're wearing my jacket?"

I glanced down and blushed, sheepishly gazing back up at him. "I-Is that okay?"

"Of course, princess." He took hold of my hand and pressed his lips to my cheek. "Let's go." Luke put his phone into his pocket and then we left for the park.

-

We were now in the park and just walking around the lake, our hands still held together. One or two ducks waddled past us and I just glared at them, moving closer to Luke.

"You still don't like ducks?" Luke asked and I shook my head. "Yet for some odd reason you wanted to come here."

"Coming to the park doesn't mean I want to see the ducks," I snapped as we stopped nearby a wall that only went up to my waist. "I like parks, and ducks just so happen to waddle around the area."

My eyes looked skywards and I saw that there was more sunlight in the sky now. While I was admiring the view above me, Luke scooped me into his arms and I shrieked, my arms going around his neck.

Before I could yell at him to put me down, he set me on top of the wall, pulled out his phone and typed something on it. When he handed it to me, I took it into my hand, slightly confused with what was happening, but then Stacy's Mom by Fountains of Wayne started to play. I glanced up at Luke and saw that he took a few steps back before he started jumping in circles.

I raised an eyebrow before a smile broke onto my face and I was laughing at his ridiculous prancing. I set Luke's phone down beside me and brought a hand up to my face to hide my wide smile.

Luke made a few more spins before he was facing me. He hopped over to me, took my hand into his, and pulled off of the wall. I yelped in surprise before fits of giggles left me and then we were both jumping around.

I noticed from the corner of my eye someone coming our way and I told Luke to stop, which he did. I hurried over to his phone and shut off the music and then glanced over at the stranger who was giving us a weird look, muttering something along the lines of 'kids' before walking off.

"Pfft, adults," Luke mumbled back.

"Um, I'm twenty," I reminded him.

He blinked at me before saying, "Pfft, old people."

I rolled my eyes, smiling as I took Luke's phone and put it in my pocket. "That was enough fun for one morning."

"That was only the beginning of fun," Luke said. "Fine. What do you want to do?"

I grinned, grabbing his hand and we were back to walking around the lake.

"Ugh, this is so boring," he groaned. "Can't we do something more exciting?"

"We can stop walking for a bit and admire the beauty of the lake," I suggested, shrugging. Luke frowned at that idea, but we went to do my suggestion anyway.

Once we were looking out at the lake where the stupid ducks were swimming around in, I slipped my hand from Luke's and admired his face that looked in awe.

"This is nice," he said. "Even though this is really boring, at least I get to spend some time with yo—"

He didn't get to finish what he said before I pushed him forwards and he was sent flying into the water, a huge splash following him.

Apparently we were at the deeper side of the lake, because he was completely swallowed into the water. By the time he went back up to the surface, my arms were clutching my stomach as I was laughing, falling to the ground and onto my back.

"Oh, my God!" I shouted, eyes squeezed shut as more fits of laughter left me. "That was so great!"

"Okay, I wasn't expecting that," Luke grumbled. "You distracted me, princess."

I sat upright and was catching my breath. I shook my head. "As my bodyguard, you shouldn't be distracted. You should always be aware of your surroundings."

Luke's eyes glanced upwards before he nodded. "Touché." Suddenly he gasped. "Shit! Where's my phone?!" He looked as if he was frantically searching his pockets, and as he did that I pulled out his phone from mine.

"Looking for something?" I said and Luke looked over at me.

He frowned. "Okay, you had your fun. Now help me out of the water."

"Um, no." I pushed his phone back into my pocket and started walking off as Luke called for me to come back. I took a seat on a nearby bench as I watched my bodyguard groan and pull himself out of the lake instead. He shook his head to get the water out of his hair, running his fingers through his hair. He twisted himself around to look back at the water, groaning.

"What's wrong?" I asked him, slowly standing from the bench.

"My beanie's gone," he said, going back over to the water.

I walked towards the lake with him and saw his hat floating closer to us. I got on my knees and reached over for it the best I could.

"Princess, don't fall in," Luke said as I felt his presence behind me and his hands holding my hips. I kicked him away, or at least tried to since he avoided me. I managed to get his beanie and picked up the drenched hat, standing up and handing the item back to my bodyguard.

"Here's your hat back," I told him.

"You know, I could've shoved you into the lake, too," he said, "but I didn't."

"I'm glad you didn't," I said with a smile.

"Same. You have my phone, and I wouldn't want that to get ruined."

I glared at him, aiming to kick at his shin. I only missed, but I guess that was expected since he somehow was able to read into my every move.

Luke wrapped his arms around me and I shrieked, pushing him away and grumbling 'ew' a million times.

"What?" he asked, frowning at my rejection of his embrace.

"You're dirty! You were just in a lake that many ducks swim in!" I yelled, shivering and brushing myself off.

"Hey, it's not my fault my princess just pushed me in the water!" Luke retorted. "Now I can't hug you, and that makes me sad."

"You can hug me after you shower." I began walking away, but something grasped my wrist, pulling me back towards Luke, but only so our bodies were almost pressed together.

"Or a better idea," he said in a low voice. "We can shower together."

My face turned red and I began to laugh nervously. "Sucks for you, because I already showered this morning. I don't need another one today."

"Who said I cared about whether you showered already or not? Let's just go back to the hotel." Luke sent a wink my way and started walking in the direction of the hotel. I gulped before I slowly started to follow him, staying as far from him as possible.

-

"You know I was just kidding, princess, right?" he said once we got back to the hotel and entered the bedroom. "We're not really going to shower together."

"You better be," I grumbled, "because I'm not going to get in the shower with you."

"Not even after I asked you to be my boyfriend?" A pout formed on Luke's lips, but I pinched them together with my fingers.

"Never."

"Are you sure? I feel like in the future you'll change your mind and would want to have some shower s—"

I shooed him towards the bathroom, closing the door and going over to the bed.

By the time I sat down, something vibrated in my pocket, surprising me slightly, but then I remembered that I still had Luke's phone. I pulled it out and saw that Michael sent a text.

My heart dropped at the text I read.

Luke, I was able to reschedule my flight along with Cal's and Ash's so we'd be staying in California a bit longer, but I can't seem to reschedule yours. The agency just wouldn't let me, so you'll be leaving in three days.

I just kept staring at the bright screen, rereading the whole thing over and over again. My grip on the phone grew tighter, and I felt the urge to throw the device across the room, even though it was Luke's phone and not mine.

He's still leaving to London. I should've expected that, but it still hurt to know that I might not see him again. I mean, I could fly over to London myself, but how would I find him?

Was this what he wanted to tell me about his plane ticket? That he still planned on leaving me? After everything, he still wanted to go to London?

Instead of chucking the phone across the room like I wanted to, I slammed it against the pillow and buried my face in another pillow.

My chest hurt too much to think about it, and I was trying so hard to push the thought out of my mind, but nothing was working at all.

All I could think of was Luke leaving me.

After a couple of minutes of me sulking into the pillow, a blanket now draped over my entire frame, I heard the shower shut off and I didn't bother to move. I was too upset at Luke to move.

Few minutes later and the door opened and I heard Luke say, "I'm clean, so I can now—princess?"

I still didn't bother moving. I sensed his phone vibrating again, and I was getting mad at it, but more at myself since I dared to read the text and that made me fall into this negative mood.

"Princess, what's wrong?" Luke asked, but I didn't respond. "Talk to me. What happened?"

"Go away," I grumbled into the pillow, but it came out muffled.

"What?" He probably didn't understand me.

I turned my head to the side and shouted, "I'm mad at you!" and then my face was in the fluffy cushion again.

"Wait, why? What did I do now? Was it because I joked about showering with you? Princess, I wouldn't force you to do something like that, you know."

Without uttering another word, I searched for his phone and handed it to him. Once I felt his hand take his phone, I quickly hid my arm under the blanket again, curling into a ball and squeezing my eyes shut even more.

A moment of silence passed, and then I heard Luke say, "Oh..."

No response came from me. We just remained where we were, neither one of us saying anything.

I opened my mouth to say something, but I couldn't form any words, so I ended up staying quiet.

"This was what I wanted to talk about," Luke finally said.

"Yeah, no shit," I snapped.

"But it's not what it looks like, princess."

"Oh, so you're not leaving me for London in three freaking days?!"

"I—I'm not going to London."

My eyes widened and I turned my head around, moving the blanket off of me so I could see Luke. His eyes looked a bit sad, and his face almost looked hurt.

"I was going to go with you to Sydney," he continued, "but I guess I can't now, since my flight can't be postponed."

"What?" was all I said.

Luke bit his bottom lip. "I want to be with you, so I told Michael that I didn't plan on going to London anymore. I'd rather be with you. And don't mind the only family I have. I probably wouldn't be able to find them anyway."

I glanced down at the bed sheets, feeling slightly bad that I was mad at him despite not knowing the full story. My fingers played with the blanket awkwardly, since I didn't know how else to respond.

My bodyguard moved closer to me, wrapping his arms around me and kissing the top of my head. "I'm not leaving you, princess."

To be honest, I was more than happy to find out Luke was going to go to Sydney instead of London, but he was still leaving earlier than the rest of us. I couldn't take his place, because Michael didn't trust me being by myself. Calum obviously couldn't, since he's still stuck at the hospital. I don't know about Michael, but he probably wouldn't want to take Luke's spot for the flight in three days.

But then I remembered what Luke told me yesterday morning, how he just wanted to go home after fourteen years. Normally, I'd be extremely happy that he chose me over his family, but...

... I couldn't help the guilty feeling inside me.

-

AN: Ashton actually feeling guilty? Shocker.

Random fact: I didn't know whether beanies floated or not, and I couldn't find an answer on Google, so I took my beanie and chucked it into the pool. Beanies float.

I was going to make this more, um, smutty? But I'm saving that for another time c; sorrynotsorry.

Anyway, thoughts? Comments? Predictions?

This was just some filler chapter. The more interesting stuff will happen eventually, I promise.

I hope this chapter was worth the read (: Until next time! x