wrong number - lh

3.6

"luke, it's done. your relationship with samantha may not come out to the public. by the contract you four signed, you are to follow our instructions to a tee. we've already looked into someone — anyone else to hire as a public relations. the band needs to obtain a particular image, and samantha doesn't adhere to it." the executive spoke, creating a fury inside luke's chest. he knew if he did another public relations, he'd lose the girl he loved for good.

with a heavy heart and a wavering voice, he spoke up against the men in suits across from the four of them. "no." he responded, their eyes widening with astonishment.

"what did you just say?" one of them asked, luke's confidence falling immediately just at the few words.

"i-i."

"he said no. you will not mess his life up for the millionth time. he is in love with samantha, so either he gets to girl or.." michael trailed off, the executives narrowing their eyes at him.

"or what?" they dared.

michael glanced at the other boys, all of them nodding their heads with no hesitation while luke watched with confusion. "or we quit."

luke's eyes widened as his heart filled with love and admiration for the three friends that sat around him. they would all be willing to sacrifice their fortune, their dream, for luke to be happy. if that wasn't friendship, luke had no idea what was. his heart was full, pounding against his chest as he turned his attention to the men in suits who watched them with hardened eyes.

the room fell silent, luke's leg bouncing from his anxiety being the only noise. nobody dared to speak, all of them watching each other with a gaze to see who would break first. and judging by the boys' determination, they wouldn't be the ones giving in.

"fine," the man finally spoke, luke grinning wide at the newly found freedom. "but, you cannot reveal to the public about the relationship." he added, luke's smile faltering.

he furrowed his eyebrows as he met the eyes of the executive's. "wait, what?" he asked, astonished that they were so adamant on keeping sam in the dark. "why?"

the man sighed, pulling off his glasses and dropped them onto the table with a clatter. he rubbed at his face, aggravated, before looking back at the boys. "she's a fan, boys. do you even begin to understand how bad that would look on you guys?" he tried to reason, holding back the hateful tone as he looked at them.

"the fans would love her." luke argued, but the man just rolled his eyes, another from beside him deciding to join into the conversation.

"luke, do you really want your fans finding out and tearing her down?" he questioned, luke's frown appearing on his lips.

"they wouldn't —,"

"they tore arzaylea apart."

"can you blame them? look at her, she's an awful person."

"they tore sierra apart as well."

"well." luke didn't have an argument, considering him and sierra were still good friends after the public relations. "maybe they could see i didn't love her." he offered, the men all rolling their eyes.

michael decided to step in, resting his hand on luke's shoulder as he sent him a timid smile. "maybe it would be best if you kept it quiet, for now. the fans are extremely protective and won't like the whole 'i've got a girlfriend again' thing." he tried to reason, luke not listening as he shook his head in disbelief.

"wow." he mumbled, staring at the men in disbelief before sending his bandmates the same look. they had fought for luke to keep his relationship, but just so he could keep sam hidden?

he scoffed, mumbling something under his breath that no one quite could catch before storming out of the meeting. as he made his way down the long hall, his eyes caught glimpse of the girl of the hour at the end of the hall. his glare immediately lightened to a small smile, the sight of her immediate relief to his aching heart.

"lu? you're already done?" she quizzed, her eyebrows furrowing together in confusion. luke nearly melted at the sight. "what happened?" she dared to ask, his face grimacing slightly which gave her an answer.

"come on, we're leaving, babe." he muttered, grabbing her coat from the chair next to her, holding it up and helping her slip it on. he then took her hand and rushed out of the building, being sure to drop their hands before exiting. sam's heart falter a little but started to understand what exactly had happened at the meeting.

the two walked in silence to his car, him opening the door still for her and she quietly thanked him as she slipped in. he climbed in after, starting the car before he zoomed out of the parking lot, wanting to be anywhere but there.

the drive was silent and tense. sam didn't know what had happened, but judging how quickly luke took his hand from hers when they got outside, she was sure it couldn't be good. her eyes locked on the window, watching everything whizzing by from the speed luke was driving. the trees becoming little blurs of green, with slight silver coming in as they passed exit signs on the highway.

sam didn't know what to say, and luke didn't want to talk. he had too much on his mind to engage in a conversation, even one so simple as small talk. instead, he rested his hand on her thigh, her eyes dropping down to it.

the gesture was small, but it was very appreciated by the girl next to him. she smiled small before returning her attention to the world moving by fast out of her window.

—

sam threw her hands up, frustrated by luke's words. "okay, lu, we'll just keep it to ourselves! that's no big deal to me, the only thing i care about is that i get to keep you all to myself. i get to have you so i could careless about the world knowing." she tried to reason but luke was growing restless about the situation.

he placed his head in his hands, frustrated. "it's not fair, sam, i want to be able to take you to red carpets and public dates. i want to show off my beautiful girlfriend and make every man and woman jealous anytime we go out by having you on my arm." he tried to reason, sam's heart racing in her chest.

"lu, shut up and kiss me." she mumbled, luke's lips twitching up into a smile as he slowly made his way over to her.

he pressed his lips against her soft ones, getting lost in the feeling of falling in love all over again with their kiss. he gently cupped her cheek, using his other hand to grab her hip and tug her close. after a few moments of a breathless kiss, he pulled back and rested his forehead against hers.

he admired her eyes, taking in every single detail and color that was present in them. he took in her nose, her lips, the way she smelled like vanilla and expresso. he loved every piece of her that made her sam.

"i love you." he whispered breathlessly, her heart being swept away by the blonde with the to die for blue eyes.

"i love you more." she promised, wasting no time before reconnecting their lips.