The Yin Yang Equation || L.H

Before we've even finished our meal I've already gotten a notification from Twitter. The photo that Meg posted has Joel and I tagged.

"Me-eg," I fake whine as she laughs. "Why do you keep tagging me in everything?"

She gives me a look and rolls her eyes, her smile still unfaltering.

"Because," she says as if it's obvious. "I want everyone to know that I'm on tour with the greatest manager ever."

I scoff when she says that.

"Well I wouldn't say that," I tell her.

"Neither would I," Joel mutters from beside me. I turn to look at him with mock offence covering my face, and hit his arm playfully.

He gives me a cheeky grin in return. "I'm kidding," he says with a light laugh.

"You'd better be!" I shoot back as Meg giggles across from us.

Before I go back to eating I take a closer look at the picture. At first I hadn't realised that I was actually in the photo. I'd thought that Meg had only tagged me to say that we were out for lunch together.

But upon second glance I realise that I am in the photo, and so is Joel. She took it as I turned away, smiling; and right when Joel had looked down at me.

The two of us are smiling at each other, our eyes locked. If someone didn't know any better they might think that we were dating.

"Meg," I say with a wavering voice. She looks up with a mouthful of food.

"Hm?" She mumbles as she tries to swallow.

"Maybe you shouldn't have posted this," I tell her.

"Why not?" She asks, her mouth now empty of food.

"Because," I say and trail off as she takes a drink. "It kind of looks like Joel and I are." I pause, not knowing how to word it. "Well, together."

She all but spits out her drink in shock. Her eyes are so wide they look like they're about to pop out of her head.

"Why would anyone think it looks like that?" She asks after she finally manages to swallow her drink.

"Yeah, Ree," Joel pipes up. "Nobody would think that." He gives me a small, lopsided smile, but I can't help but feel uncomfortable by his use of Luke's nickname for me.

"Please don't call me that," I mutter. He shrugs in reply and goes back to eating. I can see Meg glare at him from across the table.

"I'm sure it's fine," she says, her ever present smile returning. I give her a weak smile and nod, then go back to eating.

We spend the rest of the meal in silence. When the waiter comes to collect our plates and payment I can see a look of sadness in his eyes, as if he can sense the air of awkwardness that has settled on our table.

Thankfully the bike ride back seems to lift our spirits, and we make it back to our buses in a somewhat better mood than before.

Sandi greets me when I return, and almost straight away brings up the photo.

"So are you and Joel a thing now, hm?" She questions me suspiciously.

"You saw the photo?" I say with a grimace, earning a nod in reply.

"We're not," I tell her. "Besides, I'm seeing someone else at the moment." She raises her eyebrows at me. I can't quite read the expression on her face, but I assume she must be wondering if he's seen the picture, and what he thinks about it.

I wonder too.

"I haven't spoken to him about it," I admit sheepishly, pressing my lips together and looking down at my feet.

"I think you'd better," she says knowingly. Sandi rests a hand on my shoulder, and then leaves to give me some privacy.

I take a deep breath as I pull out my phone, and dialling Luke's number.

The phone rings out with no answer. I try again, but this time it stops after one ring. I call once more, but the same thing happens again.

Is he ignoring me?

I don't blame him, I'd hate me too if I were in his position: not knowing the context a photo was taken in.

As a last resort I call Calum. To my relief he picks up after only two rings.

"Hey, Reegan," he says cheerily. I return his greeting, but immediately turn the conversation to Luke. Before I can speak I hear muffled voiced in the background, so I wait for them to finish before I continue.

"Have you heard from Luke today?" I ask. His voice sounds slightly angry when he replies.

"Yes I have actually," he stops talking to me for a moment. I can hear him trying to muffle the speaker and shout something to who he's with. "That was her calling before, and you hung up you bastard."

I don't know how to respond, should I laugh or feel offended.

"He's with me right now," Calum says loudly and pointedly, like he's trying to make sure Luke definitely hears Calum calling him out.

"I need to speak to him," I tell him. More muttering.

"Look, I'm sorry," Calum says, sounding genuinely apologetic. "But he is refusing to take the phone."

I sigh down the line. "It's fine."

"You can talk to me, though," Calum says, cheering up and trying to cheer me up as well. I smile weakly, despite knowing he can't see me over the phone.

"What's up?" He asks casually, but the thought of Luke is still gnawing at the back of my mind.

"Has Luke been acting, strangely, at all recently?" I ask, unable to keep my question to myself.

"A little," he mutters. I can hear the sound of him standing and walking away. "His eyes have started to seem really bloodshot all the time, and he reeks of liquor."

I bite my lip, knowing it has to be because of me.

"I've never seen him like it before," Calum says softly.

I stay silent for a long time, my breath shaking as I try to find the words to say. Eventually I decide that there's no way to apologise to him through Calum.

"Just keep an eye on him until I get back," I say in defeat.

Calum promises he will, and then wishes me well for the rest of the tour, before finally saying goodbye and hanging up.

The image of how Luke must be currently looms in my mind, taunting me.

A/n: I think I've finally gotten into an actual update schedule, wow!

So I'm trying to update every Wednesday and Sunday, but I might post some days late bc I'm very good at forgetting things. But I've usually got one chapter written in advance so updates should happen regularly!

Make sure to vote, comment and share!

- Belle xx