Ellie's Garden // luke hemmings au

Chapter Fourteen:

I walk silently down the street, avoiding the dark alleys the make shivers blow down my spine. The sun is just beginning to set as I enter the small market I once ventured to once a month or so. The darkness of the night leaves doors shut and lights lingering in the windows.

A familiar store catches my eye, a small candy shop I used to drag the boys with to get the one peppermint candy my dad permitted a month.

"No, Mikey it has to be today." I squealed tugging on his rolled up sleeves. We had just left from primary school. I begged Michael and Niall to come; Niall agreed immediately saying his mother gave him a few coins to go spend. Michael, however, didn't wish to join.

"Don't be a party pooper, Mike." Niall scoffed, dragging me away to skip with him. I turned down my road and bid Niall a goodbye as I headed down the road to get a coin for the peppermint.

I felt a hand on my shoulder and saw Michael standing there with a shy smile on his face.

"I'll go." I smiled and wrapped him up in a hug.

"Good!" I giggled and skipped further down the road. Michael laughed and followed me to my house.

"Wait here. I'll be right out." I said commandingly. He just shrugged and leaned against the post by the front window.

"Father!" My small voice bounced around the house. I heard a thump and followed the sound into my fathers bedroom. He sat lazily against the bed and threw back a quick swig of whatever poisonous content laid in that jar.

"What!" He growled pointing his dirty finger at me. "You better not be asking for time off your chores."

I shook my head slowly, and watched  him stumble up to a standing position. I stared absently at him, unsure of what he was doing when he undid his belt.

"Father, Are you okay?" I asked hesitantly. He just threw the bottle to the ground, letting the contents spill into the floor boards. He then winds up and let's the belt smack against my cheek. I stumbled back in horror, my eyes large and wide.

I screamed and ran out of the room and onto the porch. My throat tightened at the sight of Michaels worried expression and his hands onto my shoulders.

"Ellie, what happened?" He whispers. "Ellie? Ellie?"

"Ellie is that you?" My head snaps from the memory, the first time my father beat me. The first time he hurt me. The first time I lied to everyone. Everyone except him.

I finally look away from the store to see who called my name. It's Niall. I squeal and run towards him, enveloping him in a hug.

"Oh my!" He chuckles and wraps his arms around me. I feel tears beginning to well in my eyes as I pull away.

"Niall. How have you been?" I gush. He looks older, quite handsome actually. Besides the smudge of dirt on his face, his face is clear and his blonde hair is tossed to perfection. He laughs running his hand through his hair.

"Good. Really good actually. You remember Daisy from secondary?" He chuckles awkwardly. I giggle and nod, his face blushes. "Well we are engaged."

My jaw drops. Daisy was never nice to me, but I didn't care. I still remember Niall's giggles as she talked to him and them hugging for a second longer than usual. I congratulate him with another hug.

"My nialler is all grown up!" I coo petting his hair like a child. He just rolls his eyes.

"So palace life huh?" He whispers quietly beginning to walk further down the road and away from the market.

"It's not as thrilling as you may assume." I laugh nervously. "It's actually quite horrid."

His blue eyes look over to me in worry, he doesn't know of my fathers past so he must be wondering why I left. He doesn't ask, however so I ignore the glance he gave me before.

"How so..." He mumbles. I just look over and frown. I can't respond, I can't speak of any of this. "It's not the boy is it?" I shake my head and let out a loud sigh.

"No it's not Luke. But I don't think I'm supposed to speak of it. I honestly don't even think I'm supposed to know." Niall goes silent at my side, reminding me again of the boys in the woods. I make them feel inferior, like I hold some sort of power over them. I look over and see he has the same slack expression that Caleb did when I left with the guards.

"You don't want to know anyways." I mumble. This only makes the expression on his face worsen, so I shut my mouth and continue down the road.

"I need to speak to Michael." I say stopping our walk. Niall nods and looks down the path. He lives the opposite way and I see him fighting to reason with himself.

"Well I'll see you around Ellie." He says giving me another hug, a light kiss on my cheek, and then he's gone. Like all the people I've ever cared about are gone. My mother, my brothers, and Luke...I think I've lost him to this situation. I've lost our relationship, the love and caring I thought I saw at the beginning was never there. I've lost our friendship, hell even the mutual respect  acquaintances have is strong than what we have.

The real question is can I fix this? Can I make him love me or is he doomed to drown in sorrows and bitterness of his fathers shadow?

Honestly is Luke even worth it? I don't know what else is needed in a relations besides the basics: attraction, trust and harmony. It's not that difficult, but if getting along with Luke is like pulling hair, what's the point?

I'm not one to love for looks, although Calum is extremely attractive, I try to find something that we find in common. With Calum it was school work; we both hated to work and it was a equally hilarious and frustrating relationship. With Luke it's the loss of our mothers; who wants to be with someone who reminds you of your missing or dead mother.

I stop dead in my tracks when I see Michaels house. The light is glowing softly in the window.

Can I talk to him again? Is he going to be angry for me walking off with a prince, but I need help. I need to talk to him. I need to have someone sit me down and say everything is going to be okay; and not a sad excuse of one.

So I step into the porch and press three quiet knocks on the door.

>><<

I'm sooooo ready this about to get gooooddddd Lego *wiggles around like a spaz* oopise.

Love all of you !
Sorry this chapter is kinda short but I'm kinda really tired. Stayed up hella late lol. Okay thanks for reading babes
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