The Hearts of Lonely People [l.r.h one-shot]

THOLP

Natasha POV - 

"Alex, why can't you just let me be?" I questioned under his embrace. I learned to hate this months ago. I felt like I was on fire in his arms, and not in a good way. He was definitely drunk, very very drunk, and also very high. "I miss holding you at night Tasha, let me hold you tonight, let me show you I love you again," he struggled to get out under his slurs. "Fuck you, Alex! You don't fucking know what love is, and having sex with someone does not automatically mean you love that person! I'd be damned if I ever fucking laid in a bed with you another night." I was screaming. I was crying and my face was hot. I forced my wrists from his grasp and pushed his chest so he'd get away from me, and ran back into the hallway.

I opened the door to the first bedroom I could find, just to find no one other than Veronica and Dan, making out together on the bed. Veronica dated Dan before Luke, and I had always known something like this would happen. She just looked at me with horrified eyes, and before she could mutter a word from her vile mouth I slammed the door. I'd deal with it later. Now, I just needed to find a bed and get away from this mess.

I finally found an empty room and laid down on the bed. I cried and cried, trying to console myself, I felt so lonely. All I wanted was Luke, I'd treat him right, I already fucking have been for five years but he just doesn't seem to see me at all. Just then he stumbled in, drunk but not nearly as bad as he had been previous nights. 

"Stop crying, Natty... shhhh. Be quiet baby," he just sat next to me on the bed and whispered to me, rubbing my back. I curled up into him. Him comforting me while in whatever state he's in right now was just making me cry harder. He always called me baby, but tonight it really pulled at the wires connecting my heart and brain. After I had calmed down a bit, he turned to me. He looked different, almost like he was in a trance. But he didn't seem drunk.

"Are you lonely in this world Natty?" Yes. Yes I was, I hadn't had a boyfriend that cared about me in a very long time. Alex and I dated for two years, but he only loved me for half of them. Maybe not even that long. "I don't really think it matters if I'm lonely anymore, Luke. I think at this point, I'm just dealing with it." My voice was barely a whisper. The house was quiet now, like the whole party had stopped, we were in our own moment. 

There was a different tension in the air now. I had chills coursing through my entire body. I stood up to lean against the wall. "Are you lonely, Luke?" I scoffed under my breath, but not to be rude. Just the thought of the seven billion people in the world, and all of the lonely hearts they possessed. "I'm always lonely, Natty. I'm in love, but I'm lonely." At this point he was standing in front of me. I felt his warm breath on my neck as he touched my necklace.

"How can you do this every night but still be lonely?" I questioned carefully, not wanting to set off any mines if he really was drunk. "I wasn't lonely until I met you, and I didn't have you." He was close in front of me now. I felt his breath on my cheek as he traced my jawline with his index and middle fingers. How could he say that? How could he be lonely without me, he has Veronica...

I couldn't look him in the eye. He was running his fingers up and down my arms, across my collarbones, leaving goosebumps and gasoline wherever they traveled. "I saw Veronica with Dan." I didn't know what he was doing, I didn't know why he was so close to me, looking at my skin with such intent that my bones felt embarrassed. He had me trapped up to wall, and I felt like I could've suffocated, but I didn't want to be anywhere else. 

"Tell me what you know you need to, Natty. You're holding back," he caught me straight in the eyes and stole the breath from my throat. I had to do this. I had to take the chance.

"I think you're the one holding back, Luke." I said it powerfully and with venom in my voice, not to scare him, but to show him what I wanted.

With that, his lips were on mine. They fit mine and were soft and warm, and still soaked in alcohol. Even if they weren't, I could've gotten drunk off of them. My hands went around his neck in an instant, while he lifted my legs so they were around his waist. I bit his lip ring and heard a low noise escape the back of his throat, making me smile into the kiss. The feverish kiss soon turned into a slow and passionate one, while we tried to catch our breath. 

I looked out the window across the room once we took our foreheads away from each other. The owners of the house were shooting off fireworks to welcome in the New Year. "Happy New Years, Natty," he whispered to me. "Happy New Years, Luke." I didn't want this year to come because I didn't know what was in store, I don't know what this was. 

"Natty, what will tomorrow bring?" He whispered while taking a lock of my hair and twisting it around in his fingers. "Two less lonely hearts," I whispered back. "Let's get out of here." And with that, we left to take on the New Year, together.