JATP One-Shots

3- The Fight Pt. 3

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Summary: The night after the fight from Luke's perspective

Setting: The Studio 1994

Warnings: Language, Fighting

Words: 1,359

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Luke spent the night after the fight freaking out. After Claudia stormed out he immediately began pacing back and forth across the studio. A move he learned from Alex. He knew his sister well enough to know that she would likely find herself somewhere safe but he couldn't stop himself from running through the horrible possibilities in his mind. His first thought was to check his parent's house. It wasn't likely that his sister would return home without him, but it couldn't hurt to check. He placed his guitar in its stand and ran out of the garage.

When he got to the house, he made sure to hide in the bushes and trees outside the living room window. He did his best to get a look inside the house and see Claudia in order to prove to himself that she was right and that they would accept them back, but she was nowhere to be seen. Luke hastily backed up into the bushes more when he saw his mother approach the window with a picture in her arms looking longingly out into the yard. After his father ushered her away from the window, Luke figured it best to leave. He walked around trying to figure out where his sister was most likely to seek refuge mentally kicking himself for the fact that she even needed to in the first place. By the time he made it back to the studio he had internally berated and yelled at himself for the way he acted. He could not think of one excuse for what he did. Claudia had always been there for him no matter what emotions he was dealing with. He had no right to yell at her like that. He didn't mean a single word he said and he hated himself for ever letting them slip past his lips.

He walked into the studio and his eyes landed on the phone Bobby had his father install once the twins moved in. Of course! Why didn't he think of it before? He hurriedly raced to the phone and dialed the first number to pop to his mind: Alex Mercer. Surely Claudia would run to her best friend's house. The phone rang a couple of times before someone picked up.

"Hello," The voice of Mr. Mercer cut through the speaker.

"Hi Mr. Mercer, is Alex there? It's very urgent that I talk to him," Luke stated quickly and as confidently as he could muster.

"I think he's asleep," Mr. Mercer responded matter of factly.

"Could you please wake him up? This is very important," Luke said, starting to bounce on his toes.

"If you say so."

Luke then heard the receiver being set down on the counter and he anxiously paced as far as the corded phone would let him. After a few minutes, he heard the receiver being picked up and Alex's voice cut through.

"Hello?" He asked groggily.

"Alex, hi! So umm...Claudia and I got in a fight and I may have caused her to hit her face on the table and now I think she has a black eye and she stormed out of the garage and I can't find her is she with you?" Luke let the word vomit flow before pausing for Alex to answer.

"You did what?!" Alex answered quickly, not catching Luke's final question.

"I said, I think I gave her a black eye, and seeing as you were surprised by that I am assuming she is not with you?" Luke responded, brushing him off once again.

"Oh. No, she's not with me," Alex answered knowing Luke well enough to know he wasn't going to talk until he knew his sister was safe.

"Dammit!" Luke shouted, kicking the stand the phone was sitting on. "Where the hell is she, Alex!"

"Did you try Reggie's?" Alex asked, trying to calm his friend without being there.

"No..." Luke said scuffing his foot on the ground, embarrassed that he forgot about his other band member, "I'll call him now."

"Sounds good," Alex said with a yawn, "Call me when back after you talk to let me know what he said."

"I will," Luke said right before hanging up. He quickly dialed the phone number of his friend and waited as it rang. A couple of minutes passed before Luke hung up since no one was answering. He called Alex back.

"He..." Alex started before Luke cut him off.

"No one answered! Why didn't anyone answer? Alex where is she? I'm scared." The final words left Luke's mouth at barely a whisper.

"I'm sure she's fine dude. You know her, she can protect herself," Alex said, getting more anxious himself.

"Yeah, I know...Do you think I should go over to Reggie's and see if she is there?" Luke asked

"You could but it's late. He's probably asleep. Oh, wait I'm getting a call. Let me answer it, I'll be right back."

Luke stood there stunned as he heard the tone meaning Alex had hung up. Did he really just take another call while Luke was trying to find his sister? Luke was furious. He threw the phone down and once again started pacing around the room. Why would Alex take a call in the middle of his crisis? His best friend was missing for Christ's sake you'd think he'd be a little concerned, right? Suddenly the phone rang snapping Luke out of his thoughts. He ran to answer it.

"Hello!" He shouted into the receiver.

"Hey dude it's me," Alex's voice came back, "That was Reggie, Clau's with him. She's safe."

"Wait really!" Luke responded jumping up and down. "I need to go over there. I need to apologize!"

"No," Alex said matter of factly, "He specifically told me not to let you go over there. He said Claudia didn't want to talk tonight."

"Oh..." Luke said slightly heartbroken that his sister didn't want to talk to him.

"Look dude I'll meet you at the studio tomorrow at like 9 and we can go over together, but give her some space tonight and let her handle her emotions, and that goes for you too, before either of you try to work this out, okay?"

"Okay fine. 9 am though. I am leaving then if you aren't here then that's on you." Luke stated, trying to be intimidating.

"Damn okay, I'll bet there," Alex said with a chuckle. "Can I go back to bed now?"

"Sure. See you tomorrow." Luke responded with a chuckle of his own.

"'Night."

"'Night."

Luke hung up the receiver and walked towards the couch. He laid down, not bothering to pull the bed out seeing as he was the only one sleeping there tonight. After reaching over and setting the alarm clock that rested to the right of the couch for 8:30, he rolled back over and tried to sleep. Plenty of thoughts were running through his head. Why didn't Claudia want to talk to him tonight? Why didn't Reggie answer when he called? Did he really hurt his sister? He tried his best to force these thoughts to the back of the mind as he focused on the fact that his sister had made it somewhere safe and was with someone he knew cared about her. He closed his eyes tightly as a wave of exhaustion washed over him. Between the fight and the stress of trying to find Claudia that came afterward, he knew he really needed sleep. Before he could realize what was happening he drifted off into a restless and anxious slumber.

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It is currently 3:15 in the morning but I wanted to write as much as possible in one sitting in order to not lose my train of thought so yeah! I really hope you enjoyed the look into what was running through Luke's mind in the time after the fight.

Pt. 4, where Reggie confronts Luke and the twins make up, will be posted tomorrow! In the meantime, please Vote and Comment!

Requests are open and greatly appreciated so leave a comment on the first Author's Note in the book.

Until Tomorrow Fantoms!