Shattered: Broken Series // Michael Clifford (book 2)

Chapter 8

My hand slowly sits against his stomach, rubbing the smooth skin that has engulfed me in a hug. My head rests against his chest as he cradles me, his strong grip holding me tight against him as my eyes slowly flutter awake. I am quickly shocked into reality as the face I see above me isn't Michael, it's Luke. His big blue eyes look down into mine as he gives me a nice smile, and kisses me on the forehead. My mind seems frozen in time, trying to remember just what happened last night. Then it all comes flooding back, the drinks, the talks, the dancing, the kisses. The sex. I jump up from the couch, and look at Luke wide eyed.
"Fuck, did I just have sex with you last night?"
"Yep." Luke groggily replies, rubbing his sleepy eyes. He stares back at me from the couch, and for a second I forget he is only in his boxers. My eyes seem to slowly travel down, but not before my mind brings me back. Kate! You are loosing it! You have to get Michael back! I push that thought aside for now as I ask Luke something.
"Do you know who Michael likes?"
"I'm sorry, Kate I don't. Honestly. He seemed pretty hooked up on you last time, but I guess since you are here with me, that has changed a bit."
"Yeah. Just tell me if you do okay?" Luke nods slowly, and as I begin to get dressed, he stops me.
"Hey, put this on maybe?" He throws me his flannel, and I grip the soft material in my hand. I quickly abide, slipping on the fabric over my black bra. The shirt smells of him, like honey and strawberries. My hair is a mess, but at this point, I honestly don't care so I throw it in a quick bun before grabbing my things and begin to head out the door. A strong hand stops me, just as I'm walking out. I quickly turn around, only to see Luke up close next to me, his icy blue eyes focusing only on me. His demeanor changes as he speaks in soft tones.
"Kate, if you need me, please just text me whenever. Okay?"
"Okay. By the way, how can I text you if I don't have your number?"
"Oh but I have yours." Luke gives me a quick smirk before clashing his lips to mine, and instantly last night races back to me, and my worries seem to melt under the touch of his soft lips and the metallic taste of his lip ring. He pulls away after awhile, but the subtle taste of him still lingers on my lips as I step out from the room. The smell of his flannel engulfs me, and for a second I wonder if I really could forget about Michael. I mean, he likes someone else, and Luke seems to have taken an interest in me. Why not? It could be fun with Luke.
"Hey! Wait!" Luke quick jogs out to me, surprisingly clothed. His shirt is now a simple black one, with his usual black leggings and dark converse. Luke put his hair in a beanie, and I am seriously wondering where he got all of these new clothes from.
"Yeah Luke?"
"Do you um... Wanna get a coffee?" He lets out an adorable little giggle as he finally catches up to me.
"I guess... Do people usually do that after one night stands?"
"First of all, I'm not just any one night stand. I am Luke Hemmings." He gives me a smirk, but not before I can shove him.
"Wow, fiesty in the morning are we? And second of all, your one night stand question implies that you haven't had one before. Is that true Ms. Miles?" I give my head a little nod, and as I look at him, his eyes grow wide.
"So you... Haven't. You didn't... How in the hell is that possible? Man you were really something last night. And your telling me you haven't done a one night stand before?"
"Um... No Luke I haven't. Some people like to stay loyal to their partner." Before I can say anything more, Luke turns around, facing me with a degree of anger.
"I would never cheat on Rachel. Before her, I guess you could say I was a bit... Sad. So that was simply how I stayed happy. But then Rachel came along, and it was different. But now, well you know." His tone has changed from furious, to sad, and I can't help but feel bad for him. I know he's still hurting.
"Hey, I'm sorry okay? And by the way, I wasn't even trying last night." I give him a wink, trying to change the subject. Luke's eyes are now practically popping out of his head.
"Well shit Kate, I can see why Michael liked you so much."
"Hey!" I smack him. "Don't talk about him. This is an ex free talk time. Got it dipshit?" He laughs while gives me a nod, and before we know it, the coffee place is just around the corner. I'm so glad that this is a different shop then me and Michael went to, because honestly, I can't take that pain right now. Me and Luke order, then sit down and chat for awhile. It feels good to talk about happy topics, rather than touchy ones. Me and Luke talk about bands, which we have surprisingly similar tastes in, and guitars as well. Turns out he plays too.
"Man! You gotta show me sometime!" I state as I slowly grip my coffee, the heat of the cup spreading warmth throughout my hands.
"Yeah! Definitely. You know, your pretty cool Kate. Friends?" Luke slowly holds out his hand, and I hesitate before shaking it.
"Friends. Now dipshit, I better get going. Got some stuff to take care of."
"Okay!" He slowly gets up from the table, stabilizing himself on the back of a chair.
"Hey, incase that "stuff" is a murder, I had nothing to do with it." Luke gives me a quick wink as we part our separate ways.

I stop back at my house and decide to do something different today. My heels make noise against the hard floor of my basement stairs as I head down to look for something that I should have gotten out long ago. My hands search through countless boxes until my fingers rest upon a smooth surface, then quickly grip the neck of the instrument. Slowly, I pull out my guitar from when I was younger. The dark brown finish still gleams perfectly against the dim lights of the basement. As I hold it in my hand, memories seem to come back to me. From the first time I held it, to the last. My arms wrap gently around it as I run up the stairs, racing to my room. As I close my door, I slip onto my chair, and rest the guitar on my legs. My fingers simply hover over the strings, desperately looking for some kind of inspiration. I think back to Luke last night, and I begin to play one of my favorite songs.

You were dancing in your tube socks in our hotel room,
Flashing those eyes like highway signs.
Light one up and hand it over, rest your head upon my shoulder.
I just wanna feel your lips against my skin.

As I come to the end, I find myself more connected to this song than I have ever felt. The same feelings, the same emotions, the same situation.

I'm sorry but I fell in love tonight.
I didn't mean to fall in love tonight.
You're looking like you fell in love tonight.
Could we pretend that we're in love?

As I set down my guitar, my mind is going in a million different directions. Do I like Luke? Would my feelings vanish with one more touch of his lips? Would he make Michael fade away? For those short minutes I was playing again, I felt carefree just as I had in the past. So I didn't get depression, I played. So I didn't hurt myself, I played. That's all I would do. Music understands me when people can't. Music is my escape, but it seems like nothing can help me escape from Michael. He invades my every thought, my every action. Michael's like a drug. I need him in my life, but without him holding me, telling me it's okay, he's only hurting me.

Michael's POV:
They let me out of the hospital today. Penny helped me move my things, while Kate is nowhere to be seen. God, I mean I didn't do anything that bad did I? It's not like I meant to loose my fucking memory. I can't seem to shake what I said from my mind, considering I know it probably help her. As we say goodbye to that hell hole called the hospital, we head back to my house, and I have never been happier. As I arrive, this place seems a bit foreign, but I will quickly get used to it. The house smells of pine and that fake febreeze shit people spray in their homes, as if it's going out of style. My dad greets me at the door with a quick hug while Penny brings some of the stuff up to my room.

As we finish up with hauling the boxes, me and Penny decide to go to on a walk and just talk. The beautiful trail takes us all over town, and to a house I vaguely remember. It suddenly hits me when I see the car. This is Kate's house. As we are talking, our voices go to hushed tones as we hear a voice coming from what seems like her bedroom window. There are some simple chords that I recognize, but then everything changes when I hear her voice. It's beautiful. She seems so lost in the music, just like I would be. I can vaguely see her silhouette in the window sill, and part of me wants to run to her front door and tell her how beautiful her voice is. But Penny is telling me we need to get going, so I follow her request and start walking faster. But for some reason, I look back.

(OKAY SO MANY EMOTIONS AND MIXED FEELINGS WOAH I FEEL BAD FOR KATE LIKE HUN YOU NEED TO GET YOUR CRAP TOGETHER BECAUSE YOU NEED TO PUT ON YOUR BIG GIRL PANTIES AND MAKE SOME CHOICES! Okay but this was a little bit of a filler so sorry for it being really boring... But anyway! I feel I am going to make this book a bit shorter than Broken because I honestly am kinda in the dark for ideas atm. But make sure to check out my Luke fanfic if you get time!! ALSO! HUGE SHOUTOUT TO 1d_5_4_life BECAUSE SHE IS SO SWEET AND TELLS PEOPLE ABOUT MY STORY AND HER WRITING IS AMAZING SO YALL SHOULD GO FOLLOW HER! XX I will also try and post updates on Fridays :) so until next week, bye! Lub chu guys <3 Callie (also, if you knew what song Kate was singing, you da real mvp because I love that song and she is queen))