“I fucking hate her. She promised me, Meg, she promised she wouldn’t do it again.”
Seeing Luke like this was breaking my heart. He was always the happy go lucky guy in the group and to see him balled up against a fence in the darkness of the Sydney streets was awful, to say the least. His cheeks were stained with tears and his breathing was laboured as he sobbed into my shoulder, dampening my denim jacket.
“I wish I could make it better, Luke,” I sighed, leaning my head onto his shoulder. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Ashton swing his beetle round the corner, blinking the lights as he pulled to a stop. Carefully I stood up, trying not to stumble in my ridiculous heels, and held my hand out to Luke.
“C’mon sweetie, Ash’s here. Let’s go home.” He took my hand and hauled himself up with a tremendous sigh. Pulling me into a hug, he pushed his face against my shoulder.
“I’m sorry I’m such a mess, Meg. I’m sorry you have to deal with me,” Luke murmured, almost inaudibly. “You guys would be so much better off without me.”
I pulled away, to see Luke with tears in his eyes again. We made our way back to the car, Luke climbing into the back seat and laying his head against my old hoodie on the seat, crying silently. As I sat down, Ashton laced his fingers between mine, resting our intertwined hands on my thigh and pulling away from the curb.
“It’s not your fault you know,” Ashton mumbled, rubbing his thumb across the top of my hand. It was as if this boy could read my mind. “I can tell you’re stressing.”
“I know,” I sighed, glancing over my shoulder at a sleeping Luke. “I just feel kinda responsible, you know? Like shit, she’s my roommate. Why didn’t I see it coming?”
His dimples appeared as he smiled weakly, bringing my hand to his soft lips and kissing my knuckles as we pulled into the parking lot.
“Luke,” ash called, shaking his knee lightly. His eyes shot open, arching his back before sitting up. “Were back?”
“Yeah mate, Cal’s already back in the room. I’m gonna walk Meg back, are you okay on your own?” I began to shake my head in protest, but Luke smiled at me as he unbuckled his seatbelt.
“It’s cool, I’ll see you guys tomorrow. Sorry it’s been a shit show tonight,” he sighed, before clambering out of the car and wandering across the courtyard towards his dorm.
I turned back to ash, who was watching Luke walk away. “I’m just gonna see he gets in the door, then I’ll walk you to your room babe,” he smiled, looking over my shoulder and out the window. I turned just in time to see a mop of blonde hair disappear behind the green door. “C’mon then, let’s go.”
