Deadline≫hemmings a.u

2.2

The next morning, I was surprised to find that I even woke up because I didn't even remember falling asleep. It couldn't have been long go because the sun was up when I dozed off the tw shadows had barely moved when I opened my eyes. But enough time had passed for Luke to materialize on the couch across from where Michael and I lay, his blue eyes watching me intently.

"Morning," I said hoarsely, my eyes widening slightly at the sound of my own rough voice.

"You've been crying." Luke stated quietly, turning the coffee cup he had in his hands around.

I sat up on my elbow, still keeping my other arm on Michael as I brought my hand to my face, my fingers feeling the grainy salt trail my tears left behind. I looked from my fingers to Luke, who still turned his mug around his hands without actually drinking from it. "I'm okay."

"You slept out here?" he asked, cocking his head to the side.

"I don't think I slept for longer than twenty minutes," I confessed quietly so as to not disturb Michael whose breathing was now calm and even like his body.

"You need more than twenty minutes of sleep, Mel," Luke scolded, his voice bland.

"All of us need more sleep here, Luke. I'll take a nap or something." I shrugged, noticing the dark circles under Luke's eye as I lowered myself onto my side to curl against Michael again.

Luke looked down at Michael for the first time. "How is he?"

"He didn't sleep well either," I sighed, running my thumb over Michael's soft cheek. I frowned, noticing how the skin under his eyes was still puffy. "He shouldn't drive today, Luke. Can you? It's not far to Alabama from here."

"I - um, yeah, sure," Luke said, his voice a little shaky and his body waking up as if an electric current shot through him. "I can do that. You need sleep too. Yeah of course I can."

I gave him an odd look, furrowing my brow. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, of course I am," Luke answered quickly.

"Well, you're acting weird," I said, giving him a long look.

"It's the coffee," Luke muttered almost inaudibly, hiding his face behind the mug as he finally took his first sip.

"Yeah, okay," I said slowly, returning my attention to Michael, who was beginning to wake up.

"Ugh," he groaned, squinting against the light and hiding his face back into the crook of my neck. "I feel like someone played Bop It with my brain."

"Morning sunshine," I chuckled weakly, smoothing his hair off his forehead.

"Sunshine bad," he grumbled, his hair tickling my nose.

"Luke do we have any aspirin?" I looked up to find Luke, who was no longer on the couch but already returning from his room with a little white bottle suspended between his fingers.

"Here." He tossed the bottle to me and set a glass of water on the coffee table in front us.

"Thanks. C'mon, Michael, sit up," I encouraged him, putting my hands on his shoulders to bring him up with me as I sat upright.

"Motherfucker," Michael groaned, taking the glass off the table and accepting the two tablets I held out to him.

"How much did you drink?" Luke asked, sliding his coffee cup over to me. "You can have this."

"Can't even remember," Michael shrugged, popping the pills into his mouth and taking a swig of water.

"Well you get to sleep in the car," I told him, wrapping my fingers around the cup to warm my hands up. "Luke's going to drive."