Outside || Luke Hemmings

Chapter 82

'This is the last place we're going to stop' I mumbled.

We were in the car on our way to Milford sound, which was our last stop before we would go to the airport.

'Don't think like that' Luke said, softly squeezing my knee.

'But, it is. This is the last place we'll visit together'

'It doesn't have to be'

I looked at him and frowned.

'What do you mean?'

'Well, I mean...if you think you'll be able to leave this country behind the last stop will be my apartment'

I sighed 'Yeah, but I'm not sure if I can'

We were quiet for a second, my mind trying to figure out what I would do if I stayed here.

'How would I even get home from here?' I suddenly asked.

'I'll take you back if you want to stay here' Luke said.

'But then you'll miss your flight'

'Yes, but there's an airport in Auckland and flying back to Australia from there takes less time so it really doesn't matter.'

'You need to catch your flight Luke, there has to be another way for me to get home'

Luke hesitated for a second but then started talking anyway.

'There is.' He said 'You can get on a train and I'm sure you'll get back to Auckland. I can look it up later if you want' he sounded sad, as if me asking this, sounded like I made my decision.

'Yeah, I mean I don't know what I'm going to do yet but I know that you're going to be on that plane no matter what' I said.

Luke smiled sadly and nodded.

The look on his face told me that he had a lot more things to say, but he kept his mouth shut.

'I have another question' I said after another couple minutes of silence.

'What are we going to do if I decide to stay here?'

Luke sighed and took my hand in his, laying them down in his lap.

'Well, the thing is.' He started. 'We've spent about 2 months on this road trip. Which means once I'm back, I have one month left to spent with my family and you, if you decide to come with me. But after that month I'm flying to the other side of the world because we'll start our tour. So, whether you decide to come with me or not. We're not going to be able to see each other for months once I'm gone. We'll have to do with phone calls at ridiculous times of the day and skype conversations'

I nodded. I had no idea what skype was, but I understood what he meant.

And it made the decision that much harder.

I could go with him, but then I'd only have one month extra before he would leave anyway.

What was I going to do then? I didn't know a lot of the outside world here, but I knew nothing about it there.

But Luke was basically all I had now, except for my neighbour.

What was I going to do without him here? Last time I walked outside on my own I almost got run over by a car.

In a month time he couldn't protect me anyway, but if I would go with him I did have a month to get used to everything there.

'How long will you be gone for then?' I asked.

I didn't know why I asked it, I just felt like it was a relevant question.

'5 months' Luke said, softly squeezing my hand.

'But it'll be less complicated if you come with me. I know it might not sound like that right now, but if you come with me, it's easier to see you once I'm back. If you're still here in New Zealand, it's going to be harder because then I'm going to have to pick between being with my family and being with you'

I sighed and looked at him.

This suddenly got so complicated.

'But then again, even if you want to stay here we'll make it work. I don't know how but we will'

He looked at me, I couldn't see his eyes since he was wearing sunglasses, but he sounded determined.

Like he was nog ready to give up on us even if we would be living in different countries. Or even worse, on completely different sides of the planet.