"Little Girl" - lrh

32

With the way Luke was acting, you'd think I'd never see him again. I had almost all of my things that I kept moved out to the new apartment and almost all of Luke's unnecessary things there, too.

"Do we really need to leave at separate times? Can't I just come with you now?" He whined, getting ready to climb into my car with the other boxes.

"Mr. H., respectfully, you're acting like a baby," Michael had very generously offered to help me move in since he knew the area better. He had been hanging out with us a lot more since the trial, mostly because he said he's been worried about Luke.

"I just have never been away from her for more than a workday," Luke pouted. I had become immune to his protests of me taking off for MUU without him, even though we both agreed to this arrangement. Meaning, I have been ignoring him a lot and it made things worse.

"It's only for a few weeks, right? I think you can manage," Michael was trying to stuff the box in his hands into the trunk of my car. "Plus, it's not like she won't still visit you."

"Michael's right," I huffed, finishing securing a few boxes in the back seat. "I have been reassuring you for days that I am going to be coming to and from until you get up there." Luke groaned, being every bit of the drama queen he accuses me of being.

"I'll spend the night with you. Will that make you feel better?" Michael had the trunk closed at this point and leaned against it, folding his arms.

"As much as I enjoy your company, I might have to decline," Luke thought for a second then nodded his head. "Actually, I might get back with you on that."

"I think he was joking," I looked at him with a bored expression before rolling my eyes.

"No, I was one hundred percent serious. Your daddy-boyfriend and I are besties," Michael grinned, lightly pushing Luke's shoulder.

"Don't call us that."

"Gross," I grumbled, walking back into the house while they started their bickering on what is the definition of being best friends and how he needs to 'get with the slang'.

That was roughly two weeks ago, and I must admit: I cannot handle living on my own like this and I do regret leaving without him. Making meals on my own just to give up on the grocery list and order pizza; making sure my laundry was done because I had run out of underwear; having to repeatedly go to the BMV because I never have the right documents just to change my address. It made me realize that Luke had taken care of so much and I am shaking with anticipation of him moving in with me.

I am standing in the middle of our living room, surrounded by the empty or half-empty boxes of our stuff. I started putting away the mundane things a few hours ago, getting through half of them to suddenly get so overwhelmed, I froze.

The sound of knocking slowly pulls me back to reality, sighing heavily. "Come in!" The door handle jiggles, followed by a muffled voice. I huff, marching over to the door and unlock it before pulling it open. Michael was in front of me, holding a plastic bag with what I'm hoping is food.

"Hey, sorry, I left the spare upstairs in one of the rooms," he steps inside, taking in the mess I created earlier before he left. He had been spending the night here with me instead of Luke, much to my boyfriend's dismay. Whether it was because Michael chose me over him or because a boy was sleeping in our apartment before he was, I'll never know.

"No problem, I thought I left it unlocked," I make my way back to the middle of the room, doing my best to rearrange everything so there's a clear path from the door to the kitchen. Michael made his way to the kitchen anyway, ignoring my mess. He was use to it by now, anyhow.