My Life Without Her

-Him-

"How is she?" Dinah asked with tears in her eyes once I had closed the door behind me, I sighed deeply before shaking my head. She sighed shakily and her bottom lip quivered before a sob erupted from her chest and I reached out for her as I wrapped my arms around her, after she'd calmed down, she pulled away and wiped her tears hastily "I'm sorry." she said with a small laugh and I shrugged

"Don't worry about it." I said softly and she smiled up at me slightly

"Thanks for taking care of her, Luke." she whispered and I nodded "I can't imagine how hard that must be, but I imagine she wanted to be with you... because you understand."

"Yeah." I whispered "I'll leave you two alone." I said before stepping aside so she could go in, she grabbed my shoulder, causing me to turn around to meet her teary gaze

"Thank you, Lucas." she whispered "I know it must be hard for you to see her like that." I looked at her confused and she smiled slightly "It's written all over your face, Luke." she said as she nudged my shoulder playfully

"Oh, God." I groaned "Does anybody else know?" I winced and she shrugged

"Not that I know of." she said "Unless your friends know and I'm sure Dani knows as well, I mean, you two are like siblings." she chuckled and then sighed deeply "But it's cool." she said with a shrug "And just between you and me...." she said, inching closer to me "her love for you is still there; she just buried it under about a thousand bricks."

"W-Why are you telling me this?" I asked and she sighed with a shrug

"Because I know in the back of my mind, and so does she, that even if she marries Nate... you and her and destined to be together." she said smiling softly at me "I've always known, but haven't told her anything, because she needs to figure that out for herself." she added and I chuckled lightly, causing her to smirk "Thank me later." she winked before turning around and sighing deeply before opening the door slowly and walking inside, I stayed behind for a couple seconds, collecting my thoughts before walking back downstairs where everyone else was waiting patiently. The house was eerily quiet.

"How is she?" Andrew asked as soon as I entered the kitchen, they were all just sitting around not really looking at each other; Dani was crying and Jake was comforting her, but the guys were just... quiet. I shook my head and sighed deeply, I heard Dani's cries increase, causing Jake to immediately wrap his arms around her, shooting me a sad look "Has anyone called Nate?" everyone shook their heads, I grabbed Eleanor's phone and went into the other room as I dialled his number

"Hey, babe." I heard as son as he had answered the phone, I rubbed the back of my neck awkwardly "What's up?"

"It's Lucas." I said. Silence. "I... uh..."

"Where's El?" he asked worriedly and I Heard shuffling "Is she okay? Do I-- Is she--"

"Nathan, breathe." I said sternly and he stopped his rambling "It's her dad." I said "He... he had a heart attack." I heard a sharp intake of a breath, followed by a smashing sound, like something breaking "He didn't make it." I muttered

"Shit." he cursed, followed by a groan "How is she?" he asked softly "Goddammit, why did this have to happen when I'm not there?! Fuck!" he yelled, followed by another smashing sound

"Nate, you need to calm down." I warned "Look, how soon can you get here?" I heard him sigh deeply, followed by another low groan "You can't... you can't come, can you?"

"I'm crazy booked and the studio could drop my movie if I leave with so little to do." he breathed sharply "Can you do me a favor?" he asked and I crossed my arms over my chest

"Yeah, sure." I answered

"Take care of her for me? At least until I can cut a break and go see her." I blinked rapidly, at a loss for words "I know it must come as a shock to you, coming from me and all...." Wait, what? How does he-- "She told me about you two." he added "and I know you still love her, but I know you'll do whatever it takes to make sure she's okay. So, I'm trusting you." he answered and I sighed heavily "Don't let me down, Luke."

*****

"She's asking for you." Dinah said as she descended the stairs with red eyes and a puffy face, followed by Dani who had gone up to talk with them quite a while ago, also sporting the same appearance, their boyfriends immediately rushed to hug them. Once the girls were up there, none of the guys really said anything, I think we were all too in shock to say anything. "Does Nate know?" she whispered shakily and I nodded

"I called him." I said and she looked at me with raised eyebrows "I thought I should be the one to." I said with a shrug and she smiled sadly

"Please help her." she pleaded softly as she approached me "I know you can." I nodded stifly before turning around to walk up the stairs in direction of the room where Eleanor was, which was one of the guests rooms. I knocked softly on the door before twisting the knob and opening it so I could walk in, I saw Eleanor was not in the bedroom, but I saw she was on the balcony, I quietly walked up behind her and stood next to her, she flinched slightly before wiping her tears and then turning to me

"You okay?" I whispered and she shook her head as her lip quivered, so I outstretched my arms, pulling her close so I could hug her tightly

"I feel like I might break." she whispered as her grip on me tightened "I can't... I can't do this, Luke." she sobbed as she crumpled a piece of my t-shirt in her hand "I'm not... I..."

"Hey, shh..." I whispered as I wrapped my arms around her neck as she buried her face into my chest "Listen to me..." I said as I grabbed her hand and guided her to the bed so we could sit down "you are going to get through this, I know you can. And you want to know why?" I said and she shook her head meekly "Because you have so many people who care about you and are going to help you through this." I stated "Myself included." I added as I nudged her shoulder slightly, causing her to emit a sound in between a laugh and a sob, but she smiled for a second nonetheless "See? There's that beautiful smile." I said softly as I wiped her tears with my thumb "I called Nate." I said and she looked at me confused

"What?" she breathed "W-What did he say?"she added in a whisper

"He said he would try to fly back whenever he caught a break." I answered and she sighed sadly

"He's not coming, I won't let him." she said as she stood up to look for her phone "Where's my phone?" she asked

"Downstairs." I answered and she sat back down "You want me to go get it?" I asked and she shook her head "I think he should come." I said with a shrug and she shook her head "Why don't you want him to?" I asked

"I won't let him skip his movie... I just can't." she whispered "It'd be selfish of me to use my dad as an excuse to get Nate to come back." she muttered, her voice cracking slightly "The funeral's next weekend." she whispered, barely audible as she played witht he hem of her shirt, I heard her sniffle before she looked down "And I'm freaking out because... I just can't do it alone.. I just can't." she sighed before running her hands across her face "But my mom needs me, so I need to go." she buried her face in her hands before speaking again "Would it be crazy if I asked you to come with me?" she whispered softly before looking at me directly, her face was stained with tears and her eyes were bloodshot red "I know it'd be weird, but..."

"It's okay." I answered "It doesn't matter because it's not about me, it's about your dad." she merely nodded before sighing deeply and burying her face in my chest as I wrapped my arms around her waist

"Thank you, Lucas." she breathed "For everything."

"Anytime, Angel." I said as I kissed her head "Like I said, I'll always be here for you." she looked up at and tears filled her eyes again

"Thank you."