break the heartbreaker : luke

petunia

8:50am

i sigh as i fold the paper back to the way it was, wanting to take a moment to recollect and take a breather before moving on to the next item.

i fidget with the small ziplock bag in between my fingertips, sighing once again, remembering the words vada wrote in her letter.

"real flowers aren't so bad, especially when they're from you."

"fucking hell." i mutter to myself, letting go of the ziplock bag before burying my face in my hands.

i stay there, with my face in my hands, for about three minutes before i hear michael's voice.

"oh shit." he says, his voice clear enough so i can hear him.

i lift my head up from my hands, staying still as i wait for another sound from michael, enough to let me know that there's something wrong.

he speaks louder this time, urgency more present in his tone. "no fucking way."

i stand up from my carpet and make my way out of my room, immediately spotting michael in the hoodie and sweats i lent him. his hair's a mess and his eyebags are huge, but what catches my attention the most is my door, which is wide open.

"michael," i say, walking towards the living room, "what's up, mate?"

"i-i'm sorry, luke," he says softly, his face still looking shocked, "it all happened so fast."

"what are you talking about?" i answer, starting to grow nervous as i walk closer towards the door, "we need to keep this closed mate, it's kinda chilly out there."

i push the door shut, and turn around to face michael again. he still has the same facial expression on.

"hey, michael," i say again, walking closer to him, "what's going on?"

he doesn't say a word, and i look around, trying to look for something that looks out of place.

the couch is still in the right place. the trophies in my shelf are all intact. everything seems to be right where i left it.

i stay quiet, waiting to hear any unusual sound.

and that's when i start to notice.

it's too quiet.

"where's petunia?"

i don't hear any paws walking on the floor. or the familiar sound of loud snoring whenever petunia's asleep.

"luke, i'm sorry," michael says again, as though he realized that i figured it all out, "my brain's still slow as fuck, and one thing happened after the other, and i couldn't keep up."

that's why the door was open. that's why i heard michael cussing. this was all probably happening when i was burying my face in my hands.

"c'mon," i say, since arguing won't make anything any better, "let's go after petunia. i'm sure she couldn't have gotten far."

false. that time vada and i were at her secret spot and she wanted to tell me something important, which i'm now realizing may have been about the mission, petunia was also being chased my michael and calum. it took us nearly two hours to find her.

i can't lose two hours again.

"i don't know, luke," michael sighs, looking as sleepy as ever, "maybe you can go without me?"

"suit yourself." i shrug, really not wanting to waste time any further. i start to make my way out the door again, when michael speaks.

"sheesh, now i'm starting to feel guilty," he exhales, starting to roll up the sleeves of his hoodie, "i'm coming with."