Love To Hate You | 𝙹𝚊𝚌𝚔 𝙷𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚎𝚜 ❈

Thirty One

I snuck into the lake house, wanting to avoid everyone who was seemingly sitting outside by the pool, music playing and drinks still flowing. I covered my neck, where there was an obvious bruise forming, and make a direct bee line for the bedroom I was sharing with Jack. If I was quick, I could grab my clothes and get back outside again within minutes, where my mother would eventually be to pick me up.

I'd made a mistake, a colossal mistake, one that I needed to run from, and if I was smart, I could avoid Jack entirely until he left, and never have to face him with my mistake.

It wasn't entirely my fault, I guess, if you think about it from technical standing. Jack had been keeping a pretty big secret from me, and I wasn't even sure how long for. When did he find out he was leaving? A week ago? A month ago? Six months ago? I had no idea, and I found out through friends, not through him. My heart was broken, the feeling of Jack inevitably leaving settling deep into my bones, and, I was drunk.

I had no interest in Luke Hemmings, but, he was there and I was angry. He could have pushed me off, told me to stop, but, he hadn't.

I shoved my clothes into my bag, tears falling freely over my cheeks. I wanted Jack, wanted to hug him, to kiss him, to tell him I loved him and I was sorry.

Luke didn't speak to me, only made his was towards the crowd of drunk teens by the pool, wanting to join in, and needing another drink.

JACK
________________

Luke just got back, his eyes cast to the floor and his chest heaving in a way I didn't quite understand. Was he nervous?

It took me all of two seconds to realise Lyla wasn't with him, and I began searching for her from my place on the lounge chair with Michael and Z.

"Luke?" I shouted, upon realising she was no where to be found. "Where's my girlfriend?"

Fear shot through the blondes eyes, his face paling in a way I recognised as panic. I stood to my feet, taking three large steps towards him, my brows furrowed and beer being placed on a nearby table.

He wouldn't look at me, and he looked guilty as hell. At first, I thought maybe Lyla had just gone home, and he was scared to tell me. But upon further inspection I noticed something pretty fucking odd.

Lyla's lipgloss—on his lips.

"Hemmings," I growled, the alcohol heightening my feelings and making the anger that was pooling in the pit of my stomach feel a million times bigger. "Where the fuck, is my girlfriend?"

"I don't know man," he told me, shaking his head as he continued to avoid my gaze. I grabbed him by the shoulder, forcing him to look at me.

"Who kissed who?" I seethed, face burning with white hot rage. I almost wanted to cry, how the hell could this be happening?

"I swear, man," he breathed, hands up in defence. "She came onto me, I didn't—"

Crack.

The sound of my knuckles colliding with his jaw echoed over the lake. Loud. Luke doubled over in pain, spitting out blood as he looked up at me, not willing to fight back.

"Don't speak to me ever again, man," I growled, before storming back into the house, determined to find Lyla and find out what the fuck had happened and why she was out hooking up with my best mates.

It took a while, but I eventually spotted her, out the front on the street, her bags in hand and hugging her knees to her chest. If I was sober, maybe I would have been in my right mind, and maybe I would have been able to think straight before flat out accusing her. But when I approached her, wanting to ask a million questions, the first thing my eyes spotted was a dark bruise on her neck.

My girlfriend's neck.

A fucking hickey, and not one from me.

"Are you fucking kidding me?" I seethed, watching as she jumped to her feet, alarm on her features. I got a little too close, and I realised she was scared.

"J-Jack," she stammered, eyes wide and heart beating out of her chest. "I-I-I—"

"Fucking save it, Lyla," I snapped, shaking my head as I watched stray tears fall from her pretty eyes and down the skin of her flushed cheeks. "We're done."

Her face dropped, and suddenly she was crying harder. "And what about you, then, huh?"

I glared at her, frown so deep it hurt.

"How long have you been keeping that from me?" She cried, a sob racking through her body. "What did you expect? That I would just happily accept that you were keeping something like that from me? What was your plan, Jack? Were you just going to leave without telling me?"

I sucked in a breath. She had a point. So, we'd both made shitty mistakes, but in my current state I was too blind to see reason, and didn't know where to place the anger I was feeling.

"What, so you go and screw the first guy who shows you interest?" I spat.

She recoiled, shocked at my words. "I made a mistake, Jack. I regret it. At least I'm being honest with you."

A car pulled up, and I recognised it immediately as Lyla's Mom's car. Her gaze flickered to it, before settling back to me, her eyes burning with an emotion i figured was heartbreak.

"Jack," she breathed. "Good luck with your career. I'm proud of you, truly."

She turned to get in the car, and the weight of everything hit me like a tonne of bricks and sobered me up so quickly I had head spins.

"Lyla," I begged, taking a step to her and reaching for her cheek, she turned her face away, stepping back from me. "Baby, please."

"I'm sorry, Jack," she whispered. "But, I can't do this. Not tonight."

"Baby—"

She got in the car, slamming the door closed and looking straight ahead as her mother drove them off, never once stopping or turning back.

"Fuck!" I shouted, gripping at the roots of my hair. I was too drunk for this, and I couldn't handle it. I was going to lose her, I was going to lose Lyla and it was all my fault. Tears burned in the corners of my eyes, stinging to the point I had to blink rapidly.

Stella ran outside, panting. "Jack? Jack? Where's Lyla?"

And that was it, I was a mess. I collapsed to the sidewalk, Stella crouching down to check on me, and without thought I threw my arms around her waist, crying into her hair, hard.

Quinn came outside next, but I didn't notice, staring at Stella and I with wide eyes. The blonde girl shook her head, clueless as to what had happened and what to do. I sat there for what felt like forever, sobbing into my friends neck, crying out Lyla's name.