Chapter Text
“Come on, come on, come on - we’ve been waiting for this for forever - wake up!” I’m awoken to the sound of Luke’s voice sounding extremely elated because today is the day. Saying that we’ve been waiting for forever for this would be a lie, because it's only been about a week since I knew we were even going to France. But today is finally the day and I'm thankful that Luke pulled strings to get me my passport within the week. Today is the day I leave my life behind with no set return date. It's terrifyingly exciting.
"I'm up, I'm up. Aw, you're so happy today, I love to see it. How much sleep did you manage?" I ask Luke after noting his particularly joyous expression that just screams utter happiness beyond description. Sleep wise I can only imagine that despite his constantly beautiful appearance, he's definitely not slept well at all.
"I couldn't sleep - I didn't sleep because I'm fucking amped Michael, oh my god I'm beyond excited. You have absolutely everything, right? Because we're just having breakfast then leaving. I'm so excited," Luke says to me and I'm so happy that he's excited and I just reassure him time and time again that I definitely have everything I need. I'm not so glad that he didn't sleep, but there's nothing anyone can do about that now.
"Well I hope you can sleep on the plane, yeah baby? How're you feeling about everything? Won't be seeing Jamie for a while," I ask him, just making sure that this is what he really wants and he tells me that he'll be absolutely fine. Yesterday he spoke with Jamie privately, he went alone and I spent the day with Calum, Ashton and Fay because I'm going to miss my friends so much. Maybe more so than my parents. I've already said my goodbyes to my parents, they've had to work today, so I had to give my farewells yesterday and it was so emotional.
"I'm so excited to see my doggies - I’m just so excited to go back,” Luke explains, absolute happiness in his voice and he’s been a lot better recently. He’s really been looking forward to being back in France, and I’m glad that Luke’s found his happiness. France is his happy place, literally and it’s such a beautiful thing. I can’t wait to see how happy he is whilst he’s actually there. It’s going to be phenomenal.
“I’m so excited for you Lu, let’s get up. Are we doing anything before we go?” I ask him and although he already explained the plan, I still want to know if there are specifics. He just hums about it for a little, laying down beside me with a huff, running his fingers along my forearm and he’s been very lovey dovey in the past week or so.
The past week of exams was draining, but as soon as we finished any of those exams, we spent every other waking second together - and every sleeping second. He’s been all over me, in much higher spirits about life and I think he’s just so excited to go back to France. It’s so heartwarming.
“I want to play the piano until we leave, I think. I’m going to miss it here, but the piano in our other house is beautiful. I’m not having breakfast either, I’ll be sick on the plane,” Luke explains and I suppose that that’s a fair enough reason to not have breakfast. I’ve gotten far closer to his mother recently too, so when we both get up and Luke goes to the music room across the hall from his room, I just sit with Luke’s mother when she serves up a far too elaborate breakfast to me. Pancakes with fresh fruit and maple syrup.
“Are you excited for this? Luke is making the flight sound far worse than it truly is, he’s just not a great flier,” Luke’s mother asks me and I just nod because I’ve been waiting for this for so long. I’ve always wanted to go overseas and I’m just praying that it’s everything I’ve ever wished it was.
“Oh yeah, I’m sweet. I’m so excited, I’ll let you know if I feel sick or anything as well, I’m sure I’ll be fine. I’m fine on rollercoasters and things,” I say to Luke’s mother and she just smiles, saying that she’s sure I too will be fine. We sit here and eat together, Jack eventually joining us looking half asleep as light piano music can be heard down the hall.
“Sleep well?” Luke’s mother asks and the answer is just a little shake of Jack's head as he sits beside me, looking rather exhausted to be honest. I don’t know if leaving him here alone is a great idea, but he knows that he can always go to my house, he can always stay with my parents, and they are so open with that fact too. If Jack ever needs to talk to anyone, my parents are always there.
“Just kinda couldn’t stay asleep so I’m quite exhausted. But hey, today is so exciting, yeah?” Jack says, turning his mood around to almost celebrate what’s happening today and he still reminds me of his brother. He’s smiling, he really is happy for us all to go to France, even if it means that he’ll have to be here alone.
“Quite. Are you going to come to the airport with us? Then you can drive the car back? Or we’ll just get a driver,” Luke’s mother asks and Jack says that he doesn’t want to drive whilst he’s like this, which is rather responsible of him really. He however does want to come to say goodbye and Mrs Hemmings just assures him that it’ll be a see you later and not a goodbye.
“I’m really happy for you all, seriously,” Jack says, yawning a little before resting his head on my shoulder how his brother would and we too have gotten a lot closer in the past few days. Jack bullied Luke into creating an Instagram account so that Luke can post things whilst we’re in France, and so that Jack can keep in better contact and see what we’re doing.
Jack’s Instagram account is verified, he is the son of a dead billionaire after all, so that was kind of a give in. I spent most of Friday afternoon after our final exams teaching Luke how to use the social media app and he doesn’t understand why anyone would do this sort of thing, but he simultaneously understood how to use it after I explained the basics. He posted a picture he took of the Sydney Opera house yesterday after he spoke to Jamie and it's definitely a beautiful photograph. He's gotten back into using his phone's camera and I'm glad. I don't even want to know how many stupid pictures he's taken of me and me of him in vice versa.
Luke also went for his learners license for in Aussie this week too, let's just say it's been an eventful few days. He got every single question correct, so now he's technically allowed to drive with his mother in both Australia and France. The music leaving the room down the hall is beautiful and it's honestly just such a lovely thing to really think about. Just how far Luke's come.
"Will the language barrier in France be terrible? Like - is it super overwhelming?" I find myself asking and they both tell me that it's something to get used to, yet there are always people around who speak enough English to make everything easier. I will also have Luke with me all day every day, so everything should be fine. And so when we've finished breakfast and tidied up, we're off.
With both our carry on luggage and our suitcases each, myself and the Hemmings' get driven to Sydney Airport where the start of our journey begins. Luke is practically bouncing off of his seat with excitement and honestly, I'm extremely excited too. Jack sleeps the whole way to the airport despite the noise of Luke singing along to the song playing lightly through the speakers in the car, and honestly everyone is in high spirits.
When we finally get to said airport, there are cameras. There seem to have been cameras flashing in every public place where Luke and I have ventured since Luke's father's murder/suicide and Luke hates it more than anything else in the world. He always just puts headphones in and blasts music as he practically clings to my hand, trying to ignore his surroundings as he just keeps doing what he's doing.
We enter the airport, dragging the suitcases along with us, wearing our carry-on backpacks and really, everything is good. Calum and Ashton promised to come and say goodbye at the airport, so when the two boys, along with Calums girlfriend Fay are inside just standing and waiting for us, both Luke and myself light up. The blonde boy pulls his headphones out, shoving them into his pocket before wrapping Ashton in a hug and I just hug Calum.
"I hope you're going to miss us. You have to message us when you get there and then message us every day that you're away. We'll miss you two so much," Ashton makes me promise and of course I will. Our goodbyes, both to my friends and to Luke's brother are emotional and long, and eventually Luke's Mum has to tell us to hurry along so that we don't miss baggage check in. Everything feels rushed. Far too rushed. Yet it's organized chaos.
All of these concepts are just so foreign to me, but Luke helps with absolutely everything, the smile never fading from his face as he just explains each and every step, and eventually we say goodbye to our suitcases, practically praying that they get put on the correct flight. Luke tells me that it's happened before where their luggage didn't arrive when they arrived in their destination halfway across the globe. But it's the next aspect of this travel that I've found I love the most so far.
The security check. There's something about it - especially as we're flying first class and we don't need to wait as excessively long as those in economy class. Putting our bags through the x-ray, along with walking through a metal detector, this process is actually quite interesting. We all go through without a hitch, our bags being given back to us and we get taken through to what is definitely labeled the private lounge for pompous assholes like ourselves.
There's champagne and there's fancy food in the room and Luke is immediately drawn to the champagne of course. We're in here alone, it's overly lavish and far too fancy, but this is Luke's element. It's exactly what he needed. He takes a sip of the champagne, telling his mother that it's phenomenal and I don't doubt that it is. Luke's drinking on an empty stomach before a flight and I wonder for a moment if just maybe these are the dumb reasons he throws up on flights, but then again, I'm not going to say anything.
"How're you feeling Louka?" I ask the blonde boy, taking his passport from his hand to compare his photo on it to his face currently. He has a French passport, it's red compared to my blue Australian passport, and really the layout is so odd. Luke just frowns at me, a joking tone in the expression and I hate that his passport was renewed this year, because he doesn't look too different in the two photographs.
"I was feeling fine until you stole my soul form of identification. Now I'm a bit of a John Doe, Michael. I don't know who I am. I guess I'll go and sob," Luke explains and he's extremely sarcastic with his words, making me just laugh. He always seems to steal kisses whenever he can since everything happened with his father. I'm never opposed to it at all, because I know just how much love is behind every single peck.
"Hey Luke baby, maybe don't get tipsy before the flight," Luke's mother says to him, but Luke just toasts to the air, taking another sip and not listening to what his mother says. He's still stubborn, that's something that hasn't changed and he seems to think that he'll be fine. He knows his limits more than we do, and I trust that he'll be okay.
“Are we going to drink on the plane? You practically endorse this behavior, what’s changed now?” Luke asks his mother, upset when she shakes her head and I’m glad she’s being a semi-responsible parent right now.
“I’d rather none of us be hungover by the time we get to Paris, but I can’t force you not to if you’re going to be a prat, so..” She trails herself off as she speaks and honestly she’s quite a fun parent. I’ve been loving getting to know her, developing an almost mother and son relationship with her too in the same way that my parents are becoming rather key parental figures in Luke’s own life too.
“That’s practically my aesthetic mother. I’ll be right back,” Luke says, handing his glass of champagne over to me as he leaves the room without another word. He’s got his backpack with him as he walks over to the bathroom of this private lounge and at that he’s just gone. I have no clue as to what it is that he’s doing, but I don’t think I want to know.
“I don’t know how you voluntarily put up with him Michael. I kind of have to because he's my son, you don't have to put up with his shit," Luke's mother says to me and I want to tell her that there are many reasons why I put up with him, but I just kind of smile because she always takes small digs at Luke and I'm growing tired of it. I don't think she means for any of it to be hurtful, but it's definitely affected the blondes mental health over the years.
"Maybe - you know what, never mind," I go to say something about it, bring it up with her and tell her to stop saying those small things that really get to Luke when he hears her, but I back track because I don't want her to end up hating me. I don't want to start this trip on her bad side because I'll have to spend the rest of said trip being hated by her. I don't want that at all. But she questions my stuttered backtracking.
"You can talk to me about anything Michael. What did you want to say?" She asks and I just sigh because I don't want to say any of this, I know that parents don't appreciate when others tell them how t be a good parent, but some things really do need to change.
"I was just going to say, maybe stop making those snarky - harmless comments about Luke. I know that you mean for it to just be something he brushes off, but Luke doesn't brush things off. All of the little things you've ever said, they build up and he's convinced you hate him," I speak softly, rather scared honestly and I hate the way her face falls when I say that.
"Really? Why doesn't he tell me? If I knew that - if I knew what I said hurt him, then I never would have said it," She says and she took it far better than I thought she would. It's interesting really, so I end up just explaining to her why Luke says nothing.
"Well, my Dad does it to me all the time and I know that it shouldn't get to me, but it really does hurt, but I never used to say anything because it made me feel like I'm a wimp if I just can't handle it. Luke feels similarly, but he connects what you say to what his Dad used to do , so he just let's I it really get to him more than it would for others," I explain and she understands. It's a simple concept. She says she'll make sure she apologizes later and at that, Luke re-enters the room - something noticeably different.
"Sorry, today calls for eyeliner. What were you chatting about? Will the dogs be at our Paris house?" Luke quickly changes the subject himself and so we narrowly avoid having to lie. Luke always knows when people are lying, he's got some kind of superpower for that.
"Of course, I called Colette and she's taken the dogs there so you can see them. I don't know how many people will be there, they'll want to be there for you and I because of your father, and definitely to meet your fiancé," Luke's mother explains to Luke and the young blonde just laughs - he actually laughs and the past few days have definitely allowed him to simmer down about his father's death. He's gone back to hating the bastard and honestly I think it's a good thing.
"Well I assume regular service doesn't end because my father killed himself. We will still have eight staff at all times, yes?" Luke asks and I don't know what exactly what he's talking about, but by the suddenly serious demeanor of the young boy, he's clearly worried about about this fact. He takes the glass of champagne from my hand once more, waiting for a reply from his mother before he takes another sip.
"Well, of course. Let's just say that Andrew would have been pissed to see that something he worked so hard for before everything happened finally doubled his net worth after he died," She explains and Luke's eyes just go wide before he takes a sip of the champagne, trying to mentally work this one out in his mind. I have no idea what's going on at all, but Luke looks very suddenly ecstatic.
"Like - in his pocket? So to me? Jesus Christ. And you're just - you're letting it go directly to me? Now?" Luke asks and Luke's mother just nods to each and every question and Luke's smug little smile just grows. Are they talking about money? Net worth. Surely they're talking about money - right?
"I don't see why not. He left his money evenly to yourself, it's only fair that you inherit his earnings," She explains and Luke just nods a little, taking another sip of the rose colored liquid in the glass he holds so delicately with his ring clad fingers. His style has practically evolved in the past week, more eccentric and more pop punk than ever whilst managing to be more stereotypically feminine than ever. The eyeliner is a great addition to today's look, a black satin shirt with grayscale, floral print, flared pants. It really is eccentric and attention seeking. I love it.
His shoes are boots really. They're all black like the rest of his outfit, except they've got about an inch platform on them so he's obnoxiously tall. He's also experimenting with jewelry, five rings on in total, along with a sleek necklace that's hardly even standing out at all with its small cross and other random pendant on it. It's become his go to necklace to throw on in the morning. He's still wearing his lip ring despite debate late at night with himself about whether or not he'll take it out. He never got around to it and honestly I'm glad it's still in.
In contrast, I'm just wearing what I always wear. A band shirt - today's pick of an Iron Maiden shirt that I happened to pack - along with a pair of black skinny jeans and some plain black converse. I dress for comfort, Luke dresses for style, and at the end of the day, we're both happy. I still wear the engagement ring every day, and telling Ashton and Calum about that was honestly hysterical.
They didn't believe us at first, but after a while of insisting it was true, they were both honestly shocked. It was a group sleepover in the middle of the week at my own house with the promise of study that was never even mentioned when we told them. Luke's been getting on better with Calum, greatly with Ashton and I'm just glad that this past week has really helped Luke.
But the blonde has developed a habit of scrunching up his nose and sniffling a little every now and again and although he tries to hide it from me, I know he's still doing some Cocaine. I knew that he wouldn't just stop all of a sudden, but it's disheartening to me that he's trying to hide it all from me. Maybe he's better, maybe in some ways he's worse, but when we get our boarding call hours after we entered the private lounge, Luke is just absolutely ecstatic and seeing him like this is the best sight in the world. It almost makes everything worth it.
Singapore Airlines, Luke explains that they're the most lavish, upper-class airline to fly with, and by the outfits of the staff, I wouldn't argue. Boarding the plane however is a terrifying experience to say the least. I never thought I had issues with small, enclosed spaces, but this experience has taught me otherwise. I feel like I can't really breathe, but Luke just holds my free hand, dragging me along to just keep me moving. We're being shown to our confines for the next God knows how long, and as it's explained to us - they're not just seats, but they're called first class suites. They're phenomenal.
They have two suites next to one another, each fifty square feet, which have an open area between the two, each suite having an almost lazyboy-like chair, with the most ridiculous thing ever connecting the two suits. This really is obnoxious luxury and I'm definitely ready for this. Luke and his mother are known by the airplane staff, and honestly I feel very out of place in what I'm wearing and in what I look, but I'm treated all the same. I'm asked by an air hostess if I've been in a first class suite before and I just nervously laugh a little as I tell her I've never actually been on a plane at all.
She spends the next wee while explaining everything to me. How to make the full sized TV work, how to swivel the chair with all of the far too technically advanced buttons and just how to do anything else that needs a proper explanation. The TV is controlled with a separate tablet and the woman explains that on the flight there are ten courses offered. Ten. She asks me if I'd like anything to eat or drink and seeing as Luke's been sitting and watching this whole interaction for the past ten or so minutes, he decided to to speak up when I just look over to him for permission.
"I'll take a glass of Champagne. Michael, you can get whatever you'd like," Luke explains and I just kind of stutter a little because I have no idea. The air hostess just smiles, pointing to the drinks menu across from me and I thank her, taking a look at what's to offer. Practically anything really, and I just skim my eyes over everything until I find something not so dreadful looking.
"Right, sorry I'll just take an apple juice," I say because I'm really just rather parched and I don't feel like getting drunk on a flight if I've never flown before. Luke just scoffs a little with a smile and I know he means all good and well. The woman tells us that she'll be right back with our drinks after take off and I think my heart starts pounding at that thought.
"Don't worry, take off and landing are fine, I promise. In the middle here, these come down and turn into a double bed between us so we can sleep together and cuddle if you're scared. I just might end up having to leave to throw up, that's all," Luke explains and everything about this is so overwhelming in every way possible. Luke just tells me to put my seat belt on, as does the familiar air hostess and I do as I'm told, just breathing and attempting to stay entirely calm as I look out the window.
The plane has been moving for a while, taxi-ing onto the runway and tears finally spring to my eyes obnoxiously. This is everything that I've ever known that I'm leaving behind. My parents are somewhere in Sydney, working, doing their jobs that they enjoy beyond words. My best friends, Calum, Ashton and now Fay, they're all waiting in that airport, telling us that they were absolutely going to stick around for hours to see us take off and it's so tear jerking to know that they're just so close, yet they're going to end up half a world away when this is all over.
"You alright Green? It's going to be fine, I'm right here with you," Luke speaks when I sniffle a little and he's been so caring recently. His voice holds empathy and his eyes hold love and I'm so thankful to have this boy beside me during everything. I look over to him at that and when he sees that I'm just crying, every ounce of happiness in him falls apart and I hate that I'm ruining things.
"Hey, you're okay - fuck - it's okay. Breathe, it's alright," He quickly tries to get me to calm down and I'm definitely overreacting. I just hold back my tears the best I can because I'm not upset, I'm just overwhelmed. Teary yet, not upset. Just overwhelmed.
"I'm alright. I'm just overwhelmed. I love you so much," I say to him as I look out the window once more and I'm just glad that he's allowing me to feel this way. He's not getting frustrated or upset, he's just patient and he's giving me the patience I always give him. At that a person speaks over the speakers and I completely zone out as I just watch out my window, taking a last look at the city I grew up in whilst still firmly on the ground.
Then everything happens. Speeding up, lift off, nerves fluttering in my stomach and then calm. It's all so quick and I got myself worked up for no reason. We're flying. Truly utterly flying and it's an odd feeling. I finally look back over to Luke at that and his eyes are on me, a certain level of pride in his eyes and I'm just so glad that I've bitten back my anxieties and taken this leap of faith with Luke. It's so surreal to think about what awaits us and I'm just so proud of myself.
"See, it's not too bad. You'll be fine. I already feel nauseous, I'll just curl up and try to sleep as soon as possible or I'll probably be throwing up and I'd rather this first flight be calm," Luke explains and I can already see it in how pale he's already gone that he doesn't feel amazing. He's got the cold sweats, where he's sweating but he's freezing both to the touch and in his own mind and that's my least favorite side effect of nausea. I'm just glad I feel absolutely fine right now.
"You alright? Maybe you should see your Mum? Can we take off the seat belts now?" I ask him and he just undoes his own seat belt so I follow suit. He tells me to wait here whilst he goes to the bathroom because he feels unwell and I wonder how much of this is a mental game, and how much of it is actually motion sickness. Maybe it's half and half, but I think he just gets in his own head and makes himself sick because of his nerves about getting sick. It's such a vicious cycle.
And the flights are both very calm, yet unbearably long. I sleep for practically all of the second flight, my arms around Luke's torso as we lay beside each other and I think his plan was just to drink himself into sleep because he had about seven glasses of champagne on the second flight and he was out for most of it with me. The first flight he spent half of gagging into a toilet and I hate that he's like this.
Landing in Paris however is nerve-wracking in the best way possible. Luke is ecstatic as he watches out of his window, watching as we get closer and closer to the ground which is just so surreal to me. This is France. It's the one place Luke has said he'd kill for, he'd die for - it's all of his hopes and dreams and when I look over to him as we land, I can definitely tell that that's true.
I'm utterly exhausted after over twenty four hours of travel and Luke is practically hungover and half awake but he's excited and that definitely overrides the other two feelings entirely when it comes to the blonde boy. As soon as we're allowed to undo our seat belts Luke is up and ready to leave but we have to wait a while and he just stands in my suite, holding my hand and practically bouncing up and down with pure anticipation and happiness.
Eventually were escorted out of the plane and into private rooms where security checks our bags with x-rays and ourselves with metal detectors once more and everything is very quickly overwhelming in a foreign language. Luke's mother does all the talking and Luke translates anything needed for me and it's all so quick and confusing, but Luke's happiness radiates off of him and I find myself smiling almost as brightly as he is.
Eventually we can collect our luggage, also privately and everything so far has been white walls and French speaking security and airport staff. Luke tells me that the security will follow us around until we get to our awaiting chauffeur and sometimes I forget how upper-class Luke's family really is. There has to be this security presence and this all has to be rushed. My adrenaline is practically pumping.
We're eventually taken outside, four security guards leading myself and the two Hemmings' to the car that looks more like a limousine that we are to take to their residence about fifteen minutes away. Everything is loud, there are a lot of orders thrown around by the security and Luke just holds my hand, telling me to keep up or I'll be left behind. And eventually we hop into the car, security taking our suitcases to the boot and everything was so overwhelming. It was so loud, now it's all so quiet and Luke just rests his head on me, a smile on his face and thankfully, everything went well. Better than well.
Watching out my window as the world goes by is beautiful really. It's chaotic but it's organized chaos in a way and it's indescribably different to Sydney. It's amazing, it's terrifying but Luke is beside me, his hand on my leg in a comforting manner as he observes my reaction to everything, rather than looking at his city himself. That's all this is. Paris is Luke's city, it's his domain and now that he's home, I know that everything will end up chaotic. It's practically Luke's brand at the moment.
"Hey Michael? My father's business has kind of - tripled since he died. I thought that it would go to Jack and I and I have no idea what to do with forty-five billion dollars. And that's just going to increase. I'm scared," Luke explains quietly and I immediately look at him because - what? It's terrifying really, Luke's inherited more money than his father had whilst he was alive and it all immediately goes right into his bank account. He can do anything. That makes Luke one of Forbes richest people in the world and he's merely seventeen. He continues on.
"But it doesn't go to Jack and I at all. It goes to me. All ninety billion fucking dollars and I can't - that - I don't think you understand what that means Michael. The richest person in the world right now has seventy billion dollars,” Luke explains and I just freeze up.
We’re going into the 2014 new year and Luke is the richest person on the planet, purely because his father died. His father would have done it - he would have been the richest man in the world, but he pulled an evil and cowardly move that just set up his youngest child to be the center of all attention. It's one of the worst things he could have done and I think that it was his goal.
Luke and myself stay silent, it’s a good thing really and he just calls out something to the driver in French and eventually the burley looking man who Luke spoke to throws something into the back for the blonde and he thanks him sincerely. I’m not entirely surprised to see that it’s a packet of cigarettes, but I am a little confused because I’ve never seen him smoke cigarettes before, but I suppose when I think about it, it’s a very - Luke thing - to do.
He’s clearly allowed to smoke in the car because a lighter is also tossed back to him and he just thanks the driver again before taking one of the cigarettes out and lighting it up, offering me one, to which I just shake my head. I hate the smell of smoke, I always have and it’s honestly overwhelming in an enclosed car. So the window is opened, and fuck - I forgot that it’s winter in France over Christmas. It’s definitely chilly - but we’re on top of the world right now. It’s beautiful.
It’s pitch black outside, some ungodly hour as we drive, but it’s all so beautiful. I’ve also learnt that you drive on the right side of the road in France. It’s a small difference that’s just mind boggling but I love everything about this. The night lights, the beautiful boy beside me, the whole atmosphere is wonderful.
The drive to the Hemmings residence is short, but security is tight to get into their property and it’s overwhelming, yet absolutely perfect. It’s a French Chateau, it’s massive and I don’t know how Luke, myself and his mother will occupy this whole place practically alone. It’s got three stories and countless windows as we drive up to it. Round pillared rooms on either end of the house, it’s crazy. It’s a beautiful mansion, it’s insane.
Luke is ecstatic to be here. As soon as we can get out he’s out of the car, practically dragging me out of the car and his smile is contagious. He tells me that someone will grab our bags, we don’t need to grab them and I just follow him almost involuntarily because he’s just dragging me toward the front door and I look backward to see his mother just smiling proudly. I suppose this is how he always behaves when he’s back here.
“Come, come, I need to introduce you to everyone. We have some English speaking staff, but I can just introduce you, yeah?” Luke asks me, smiling at the man in the black suit who opened the front door for us. It’s crazy to think that he grew up with this luxury, someone paid to open the front door, someone paid for practically everything.
The entrance room is grand. It’s lit brightly compared to outsides pitch black night sky and a chandelier hangs in the middle of the ceiling, perfectly placed so that the grand staircase lines up with it from the front door. The interior is all ivory, it’s phenomenal and very clearly one of the poshest houses that would ever be on the market. It’s the eight people inside, four females and four males dressed in all black standing professionally in the entrance room, waiting, just beaming and clearly glad to see Luke that make me realize how insane this all is.
“Bonjour, thank you all so much for being here, it really means a lot to see you all once more. I wanted to introduce you all to my fiancé Michael,” Luke introduces me to the group in English before saying something similar in French and this whole thing is just so odd but Luke is so professional about the whole thing.
He takes me around to each of the staff who I’ve now realized are cooks and butlers, introducing me properly and allowing me to ask my own questions.
“Michael, this is Florin. Florin, voici mon fiancé Michael,” Luke introduces me to a very young looking man, he must be in his mid-twenties and he offers his hand to me like the previous people have, except he’s far more inviting and less-professional about everything compared to the others.
“It’s nice to meet you Michael. I like your hair, it's very bright. You chose well with blondie, he’s definitely the best person you could have gone for,” He speaks and his accent isn’t very distinct at all but his English is perfect. I have no idea what I expected his English to be like, but I wasn’t expecting him to be perfect, yet still have the accent he has.
“It’s nice to meet you too, where are you from? You’ve got a nice accent, that’s all,” I ask him, maybe overstepping but he just laughs lightly before giving me an answer.
“I’m from Romania, and you’re from?” He asks me and I explain. He’s rather friendly and Luke is practically clinging onto my arm as we chat, making it very clear that we’re together as if he needed to make it clear. Luke eventually pulls me away from him, dragging me up the staircase, thanking everyone once again, saying goodnight to them all and he’s behaving very oddly all of a sudden.
“How much does it cost to have eight people here all the time?” I ask him as he guides me through the hallways, explaining to me that he’s taking me to his room before he gives my question a thought, trying to determine how much all of this would cost. He hums and ha’s about it all for a while before he gives me an estimated figure.
“Well, a personal butler costs a varying amount depending on their experience and how often they’re here. We handpicked them a while ago because they suited our particular needs more than others. They earn hmm, five grand a week, so about two hundred and sixty thousand dollars a year,” Luke explains to me and I think my mouth drops agape because they’re earning so much money to do this. That’s mad.
“And why was Florin chosen, hm?” I ask him and he just stops walking, looking rather mad for no particular reason. I don’t know what it is that I said, but whatever it was, it annoyed Luke beyond words and he’s very upset by it all. I don’t ever want to upset him.
“Can you just - we've been here ten minutes Michael and I'm introducing you as my fiancé and you start flirting with another guy. If it's his accent, if that's what turns you on, then I can speak to you with my French accent or whatever you want me to do, but if it's something else, I want you to tell me," Luke explains and I just do a complete double take because is that what he thought that was? Not at all.
"What? I wasn't flirting with him baby, my heart is loyal to you and only you. I love you, you know that," I say to him and he just gives me a look when I place my hand on his arm, trying to comfort him, give him some physical affection to prove my point, but he just shrugs it off, continuing to walk to wherever he's leading me, he's pissed off already and I really don't want him to ruin this for himself. He can't let his mind play tricks on him.
"Luke, what's wrong? Something beyond this is wrong, what is it?" I risk asking and he just gives me a look before he sighs out in frustration, explaining somewhat.
"Nothing is wrong besides the fact that I just fucking introduced you as my fiancé to the people that I grew up knowing, and you made me feel stupid because you started flirting with someone else. I'm sorry that I'm upset, just fucking forget about it," Luke explains and he's getting worked up over nothing. He's reading this all so wrong.
"Hey, get a fucking grip, Hemmings. Listen to me when I say to you, I love you and only you, I didn't mean to make you feel that way. I promise you," I say to him and he just nods a little, admitting verbally that he definitely overreacted and he actually apologizes. Wow. That's a first. He kisses me before he carries on down the hallway, guiding me to his room.
It's lavish, really it's as crazily posh as the rest of this house but Luke views it as home. He goes straight over to the bed, a light blue satin duvet with gold accents - it looks like the queen belongs here rather than Luke. He just starfishes out onto the bed, clearly in heaven and I'm glad at least that he's happy. I take the time to look around his room, everything is gold accented in here, the walls are textured and patterned with just pure royalty-level features that have me utterly speechless.
There are seats in his room too, but they're not simple enough to be labeled as seats simply. They match the duvet, and the coffee table in the middle of the room too matches everything. The room seems to just be this hue of blue like the duvet, all accents in the room golden, just like his bed and this is far too fancy. If people at our school would have known that he lives like this, everyone would be trying to get in his pants. God.
"Ooh, Michael - we're getting black out drunk, come on. We're getting whiskey drunk," Luke says, clapping with excitement and I'm not going to tell him not to, but I won't be joining him. He grabs a hold of my hand, leading me over to that coffee table which does regrettably have a stereotypical, Jack Daniels bottle of whiskey on it along with two glasses and a note. Luke tells me to sit, so I listen to him, observing as he sits down, one leg over the other, definitely far too posh for me.
He reads the note, smiling a little before placing it face down on the coffee table. He opens the bottle of whisky, expertly pouring some into each glass, grabbing one for himself and telling me to take the other one. I just sigh a little because I really don't feel like getting drunk at all, but I listen, knowing that this much won't hurt. He raises a toast and I play along despite being deathly tired, just wishing to curl up in that bed beside Luke to sleep the rest of the night away. We've been in France for barely an hour outside of the airport and Luke's already planning on getting drunk. What have I gotten myself into?
"A toast, to being where we need to be and to being the richest couple on the planet. Drink away Michael, we've got all the time in the world, let's get wasted," Luke says to me, drinking his glass dry in one motion, not affected at all by how strong straight whiskey is. I just sip at mine, hating it beyond words yet not saying anything to Lu because I just want him to be happy. He pours more for himself and by the time I've had all of my first glass that he poured, Luke's had about seven times as much and I'm concerned that he'll end up dead before the night is over if he keeps going like this.
"Lu, maybe ease up on the whiskey, hm? I don't want you to end up with alcohol poisoning," I say to him and he just scoffs a little, pouring more of the toxic liquid into both of our glasses, flamboyantly waving it around as he speaks.
"Well, your new best friend Florin out there is a qualified doctor as well as everything else, so that's why we have him here. I've spent so many nights crying on his shoulder after downing half a bottle of spirits, alcohol poisoning and all. He keeps me safe whilst allowing me to still have fun. If you're not going to get drunk then go and hang out with him or something. Talk about your parents being paramedics or whatever, I don't really care," Luke explains and he's being stern and quite an asshole. I don't know what his problem is all of a sudden, but I'm sick of his shit. I may love him, but he's an asshole and I'm never going to tolerate something like that.
"Can you stop being a fucking dick? Look Luke, I'm all for having fun, really - I am, but I don't think drinking until you can't stand up is a good idea. It's possible to have fun and not be drunk or high and I know you're still doing coke, believe me - I know - and I'm kind of really worried for you. I'm fucking scared that you're going to over do it and you'll end up dead," I say to him and he just crosses his arms across his chest, attempting to just brush it all off as not a big deal.
"I'm not going to fucking die Michael. Jesus Christ, I know how to have fun without killing myself, I've done it for seventeen years without you, stop trying to turn me into someone else all of a sudden. Look, if you don't want to be here then I can book you a flight right back to Sydney or to wherever you want to go, just don't stay here and tell me what to do. I've done this for years, nothing's changing any time soon," And by the slight slur in his voice I can tell that he's only saying this because he's tipsy already. Luke would never say anything like this.
"I'm sorry, I'm being stupid. Just - be careful, okay? I love you, I'm just really tired," I say to him, choosing to take his side on the whole matter and it very much pleases the blonde. He stands up at that, awkwardly turning around a little, looking between the bed, then the door, then me, then turning around once more to do it all again as he curses and debates on whether or not to put the glass he's holding down or not. He goes to put it down, but he decides against it, an uhh escaping his lips before he finally finds the words he was looking for.
"You can sleep here? Or in any of the other rooms if you want to? I didn't mean to get bitchy, I'm tipsy. I didn't mean what I said," And I had assumed that was the fact, I just stand up and hug him close to me and he's very clearly confused, not returning the hug for a while before just giving in to it all, hugging me lightly and quite literally not really comfortably at all. He's confused as to why I'm hugging him so desperately, but it's simply because I love him. I still don't think he realizes just how much.
"Do you know where my bag is babe? It's kinda freezing and I want to grab out my track pants," I ask him and he just looks around the room before he walks over to his door, clicking a button beside it that I hadn't noticed before. It's about the size of a light switch and I don't know what it does, but Luke just walks over to me once more, telling me that he'll find it.
"I would light the fire, but I've accidentally set things on fire before whilst drunk so maybe it's not the best idea?" Luke supplies and I definitely agree with that fact. He swallows down the rest of his glass, finally now making a face at the intense flavor of the drink. That's the equivalent of shot number eight or nine and I just know that he's going to end up a mess after a while. He's not even done either, he pours himself another round but he leaves it on the coffee table, because one of the staff here enters the room and Luke looks very happy.
One of the female staff, Éloise, Luke introduced me to her downstairs and her smile now is just as bright as it was then. She speaks English fluently, although her French accent is rather thick, and I just wish that I was bilingual. Her hair is a rather stunning ginger, slicked back and tied up neatly in a low ponytail, minimal makeup on with silver sleeper earrings in. She's dressed professionally, all eight staff were, but there's something about Éloise's professionalism that seems unmatched.
"Éloise, I hate to ask you for things like this, but do you happen to know where our suitcases have disappeared to?" Luke asks her and she just smiles once more before speaking.
"Master Louka, it's my job to do these things, don't fret. I shall ask Monsieur Beau to retrieve your bags. Can I be of any more assistance?" She speaks and Luke hums about it for a while, trying to wrack his mind for any other things that he might need right now. I find it so crazy that Luke grew up with this kind of luxury, that this isn't something new and it's beyond unnecessary really.
"Please, just call me Luke, I don't want you to bother with any of that bullshit with me. We're equals, I'm no better than you are, if anything you're far better. Can I maybe have some water? I'm just a bit tipsy," Luke explains and she just laughs lightly at that final comment because even she can tell that he's a bit more than tipsy.
"I'll bring you a glass of water. Ice, or no ice?" She asks and Luke just says ice, so she tells him that she'll be right back with that and that our bags should be up soon. Luke thanks her sincerely and I can tell that although he's very grateful for everything, he also hates that he's treated this way. He wants to be normal, if the past few months have taught me anything, that's definitely true, and as far as Luke's concerned, eight butlers adhering to his every request is not normal at all.
Luke flops down onto his bed again and he's honestly exhausted, that much is true, so when he starts dosing off, I just run my fingers through his hair, keeping him calm and lulling him off to the land of unconsciousness. Really he's just half awake, somewhere in between awake and asleep, and when Éloise comes back to his room with the drink in hand - a glass with water, ice and a slice of lemon on the side - I just thank her for everything. She's extremely nice, maybe overly so, but I'm glad everything has turned out alright.
Mine and Luke's bags are brought to the room mere minutes later and I thank this Beau fellow before he leaves with a slight smile and I don't think he understood what I said, but it doesn't really matter anyway. I immediately grab out my track pants, slipping them on before getting into the bed after spending far too long trying to locate the light switch which was just by the main door all along.
At that I slip under the bedsheets and duvet, finally snug and happy beside my fiancé who's already asleep on top of the bed, drooling a bit little onto the pillow he lays on. He's a bit mess when he's like this, but he's also adorable and I don't think I'd change him for the world. I guess I'd rather he didn't get drunk or high whenever he wanted to, but then again it's the chaos of Luke's life that really keeps me on my toes, so maybe it's a good idea.
Waking up in the morning to the sounds of birds chirping outside is beautiful. Luke is still fast asleep beside me, still laying on his stomach on the duvet and he's snoring lightly. I don't recall ever hearing Luke snore, yet it's rather cute and I find myself just laying here for a while before taking a look at my phone to see the time. It's midway through one in the afternoon. Great.
"Wakey wakey baby. Morning precious, how're you?" I wake up the blonde, speaking as I I run my fingers through his hair and he just blinks into wakefulness, stretching a little to wake himself up a bit more and he just smiles all dopey at me, filling my heart with happiness. We're ten hours behind here, it's 1:32pm here in Paris, whereas back at home it's 11:32pm. I have a plan.
"Do you mind if I video call Ash and Cal? I forgot to message them and tell them we arrived alright," I ask Luke and he just yawns before answering me.
"Do I look like shit? If not I'd like to see them too," Luke asks and he never looks like shit. He looks a little sleepy, maybe a bit hungover if you really stare into his eyes, but otherwise he's perfect. His hair is perfectly curly and blonde, eyeliner still on yet not smudged at all and I've always wondered how he keeps these things so perfect all the time. He just smiles at me when my eyes linger on him for too long and he's still kind of out of it, because he just gets under the covers and rolls over so that I can be the big spoon.
"Why haven't we don't this before? I'm so excited to explore Paris, Lu. Are we going to go out today?" I ask him and he just tells me that we can do whatever I want to do. It's already afternoon so we'll have to do something quick, yet I have no idea what exactly we should do. I want to see the Eiffel Tower, maybe we could do that.
"Hey Michael? I've been thinking a lot about money because - you know - and I've been thinking about what to do with it. My father had some of the best financial advisors in the world and now I have them, so I can't exactly do anything stupid and they handle taxes and whatnot, but I can still access the money and make large purchases. I think I want to start up something, like a business, just my own little side thing. What do you think?" Luke asks me after explaining everything and I think he's definitely capable of that.
"What do you wanna start up? I think you can do anything," I say to him and he just stays silent as he thinks about it for a while.
"Maybe - well I could do anything, right? I could make nail polish or my own brand of tequila or wine. Heck, I could do whatever we want to do," Luke explains and I find it funny that he always refers to everything being done as us doing it. Whatever we want to do. He's doting on me, he always has and he'll continue to do so because he's so in love and it's honestly ridiculous.
"Well, we have all the time in the world to think about it. Do you wanna get up? I'm starving, surely you are too?" I ask him and he just nods a little, pushing back the duvet and sheets so that we can get up. He goes to a set of drawers in the room, sifting through everything with a smile on his face. He pulls out a few items, tossing them onto the bed that I'm still sitting on and he looks overly excited.
"This is the part of living between multiple houses that I don't like. I've missed these clothes so much, my god," Luke says and he's grabbed out a pair of purple, velvety pants and a long sleeved button up shirt to get changed into. I always feel so underdressed when I'm with Luke, but I get up to find something in my suitcase that will be suitable, both for the cooler weather and for some level of style because although Luke will always outshine me, I don't want to look completely awful.
"Have you got anything for me to wear? I forgot that it's winter over here," I ask Luke and he just tells me to take whatever I want as he unlocks his phone and looks at it inquisitively. He's reading something, he's confused yet simultaneously amused and I just wait for him to explain. He scoffs at whatever he's reading and he's really confusing me now.
"Jack just sent me this article and it's kind of funny. It's about myself and you and him - it's just about this whole thing really, but it's worded so oddly," Luke explains and he just shows me it before reading it aloud.
'New Richest Person Alive; Louka Herlaimont at merely seventeen years old has become the richest person alive after his father, Andrew Hemmings, CEO of Hemmings INC tragically murdered a police officer in Sydney Australia last Sunday before taking his own life. Herlaimont, who is also known to go by the alias Luke Hemmings , has been seen travelling outside of Australia with his mother and rumored partner Michael Clifford. The two have been seen together on numerous occasions, holding each others hands as they go about daily activities.
Hemmings, who has inherited a whopping 90 Billion US dollars after his father's death and businesses breakthrough, now puts him atop of the Forbes Rich List. Born and Raised in Bordeaux France before moving part time to Sydney Australia, the Herlaimont Brothers, [Louka, Jacques and Benjamin] were raised by their father and mother [Andrew and Elizabeth Herlaimont] in very upper-class living situations. Discussions have come up regarding Loukas mental state recently, some believing that he's not currently in the right state of mind to be the soul recipient of his father's wealth.
Hemmings, who is known for his partying behavior and controversial antics has kept his life rather private, especially his relationships over the years despite attending public school. However his very close relationship with Sydney schoolmate Michael Clifford has sparked up conversation regarding the youngest Hemmings' sexuality. Hemmings is also known for his flamboyant fashion style when he's spotted out and about, and the young billionaire has been photographed on numerous occasions wearing both nail polish and eyeshadow. Louka has finally created an Instagram account, following very clearly in his older brothers footsteps.'
Luke reads out and it just goes on and on. He can't do anything without the world watching and now I've been dragged into this whole thing. Luke just laughs at it all and he decides to just let all hell break loose. Honestly, I'm absolutely supportive of the whole thing, I'm all for a little bit of controversy, so when he proposes the idea of posting a photo of us both, the idea sounds brilliant.
Luke has too many photos of us both on his phone from the past week, most of which however I took because I'm better at the whole selfie thing than he is. I only use his phone because the camera is far clearer than my own. He finds a good one, just a picture of us both, Luke looking phenomenal, myself - looking like myself? - looking rather emo and I think it's a nice picture. He too does because he captions it in a very Luke way.
Muke. Love. Travel.
It's cheeky, it's an immediate bite back at that article and he tags me in the post. To say that my own Instagram blows up almost instantly shows just how much influence Luke has on strangers that don't know him in the slightest. He's reached celebrity status, with a million followers in a day, purely because people want to be him. People who would have shit talked him at school. People who honestly don't know the slightest thing about Luke, they follow him because that's what society says to do. What a bunch of sheep.
At that Luke tells me that I should call Ashton and Calum now before it gets too late over there and it's a good idea. I message Ash first on Instagram and I get a reply, so I call him, the older boy picking up immediately with a beaming smile. It's nice to see someone familiar, it's great to see my best mate and I'm just beaming too.
"Mikey! How was your flight? How are you?" He asks, sitting down and - oh he's already with Calum. The younger boy also greets me and I just miss them so much already. It's stupid and ridiculous, but just knowing how far away from them I currently am, it's all so upsetting that I can't be in both places at the same time. Technology makes it all the more bearable however. Staying connected to the people I love the most.
"I'm good, we just woke up. Lu is here - we both say bonjour . How're you holding up without us?" I ask them and they just both look so happy to hear from Luke and I. My hair looks so green on camera, it's really crazy and it makes me wonder what the butlers thought of me when Luke introduced me to them as his fiancé.
"We aren't coping without you - we're never able to cope without your chaos. We already miss you both, was the flight awful?" Calum says and I tell him that the flight was rather pleasant really because it was. Although I was exhausted by the time we finally got to France, I did manage to sleep on the flight far more than Luke did. He spent most of the flight over the toilet, either throwing up or just waiting to do so. He managed some sleep after drinking too much wine, but he eventually threw that up too and now he's running on empty again.
"It was most certainly not pleasant. I threw up the whole way here. I'm just glad we're here now. I'm probably going to take Michael to Catacombes de Paris, maybe the Musée du Louvre? We're about to have breakfast," Luke explains and I'm excited to just get out and about.
"Well, we're just about to go to sleep, I'm staying at Cals tonight and it's quite late. It's been nice to hear from you, we love you both so much. Have a good day, you both deserve it," And it was a quick chat but it's just what I needed right now. We both say goodbye to them at that and now our day really begins. Good morning Paris.