somebody else. ❀ lrh

epilogue.

Three whole years.

It's been three years since Luke last laid eyes on Avery.

The day she left him in the visitation room of the jail unknowingly for him had been the last time he heard her voice, or saw her glossy pink lips he loved so much. He didn't know that the entire time she sat across from him she intended to leave him.

She couldn't handle it- it was too much. The trial, what Luke had done. Regardless of the fact that his crimes were committed before they were truly together, it didn't sit right in her stomach and left a sour taste in her mouth. How could someone she loved do something like that?

And sure, she definitely overreacted, there's no denying that.

Unfortunately, the realization came far too late.

The first year after abandoning Luke was filled with pleading voicemails she couldn't bring herself to listen to. The second year was when the hatred and resentment set in for Luke and his messages began to take a foul turn, reminding Avery of her promises and how much she had truly hurt him.

The third year was filled with silence.

Luke couldn't do it anymore. He wasn't going to chase someone who didn't want to be caught. Instead, he wrote every one of his thoughts in some tattered journal his cell mate bargained a few cigarettes for in the rec yard. What once were lovey messages dedicated to the blonde girl who had his heart turned into pure anger, passages filled with abandonment and pure heartbreak.

Counting down the days to his release, he just couldn't wait to feel like a regular person again. Sure, his company was now in the hands of his former partner, who all along wanted to push Luke out, but he was hopeful. People with far worse records than his own have been able to come back from their crimes, surely he could make a life for himself after this.

Luke spent the entire night wide awake, excitement flooding him from the sheer fact that in just a few short hours he would be a free man. He wouldn't have been able to sleep through Jason's snores anyways. He scribbled in the last few empty pages of his journal a plan to get himself a stable job and move on from his past.

His first obligation was to get rid of his penthouse apartment. Luke would never admit it, but he honestly hated it. It was gaudy, flaunty, he hardly spent any time there. It wasn't a home to him, just a place to sleep and fuck women, quite frankly. Parting ways with the fancy apartment would bring a sense of closure to him. Maybe even put a little money in his pocket.

Luke thought about potential careers he would look into when he was able to get his hands on his phone again. Charlotte was big, there was certainly some company somewhere who would look past his record and offer him a stable position. Right?

Just as he finished his lengthy list of getting his life back on track, a displeased and overly tired guard knocked on the bars of Luke's shared cell with a thick black baton. "Hemmings, get your shit."

The blonde scrambles, careful not to wake the burly man on the top bunk as he did so. He really only had a few items aside from his journal, so there wasn't much to be packed up. His valuables had been held by the jail, including the lounge wear he'd been arrested in.

As he's released from his cell, the door carefully locked behind him, a sense of relief floods Luke. It was truly happening. Just over three years of being stuck in this place and he was finally getting out. Standing between Luke and freedom were a few locked doors and a thin stack of paperwork.

Bidding farewell to the receptionist and clutching onto a small plastic bag filled with his personal items, Luke felt on top of the world. No longer clad in that itchy jumpsuit had him feeling much more like a human being again.