5SOS Imagines

Lone Neon Nights (L.H)

Credit: hemmoan.co.vu

An hour. That's how long I waited for that stupid boy outside of the stupid party.
Luke had never been this late, in all of almost three years of dating. I continued to worry about whether or not he was okay and obsessively checked my phone. No calls or messages lit up the screen of the device, and as more time passed I grew increasingly paranoid.
It was cold sitting on the front steps outside of the house, where a wild party was happening within. I idly scraped the toe of my shoes over the stone walkway below my feet. It was slightly awkward waiting outside all by myself, but I was so worried about Luke that I knew there was no way that I was going to enjoy myself inside, so I just stayed and waited.
A little over an hour and twenty minutes had passed when my best friend Kara and her boyfriend Michael appeared at the front door.
"Emma? What are you still doing here, you should've left... an hour ago!" Kara said sitting next to me, Michael joined her sitting on the front step of his family's home.
Kara and I met in kindergarten and had been inseparable ever since. It wouldn't be a stretch to say she knew me better than I even knew myself sometimes.
"I'm still just waiting for Luke..." I said running my hands through my hair, pulling it off my face.
Kara cocked her head to the side and pursed her lips "He's never usually this late... Have you called him? Maybe he fell asleep" She suggested.
"Of course I called. I've called his cell and the house phone a couple times but no answer with either" I said, disheartened.
"Call Calum" Michael suggested, hand tightly wound with Kara's and I perked up. Why hadn't I thought of calling Cal?
I scrolled through my contacts until I found him. My hands shook as I raised the phone to my ear to hear the rings. I held out hope that maybe by some miracle Calum and Luke were together. Sure, I'd be pissed at him for forgetting me, but at least I would know where he was.
ring.....ring.......
"Hello?" Calum picked up on the third ring.
"Hey Cal, it's Em" I said biting on my lip.
"Oh! Hey Emma! Whats up?" He asked in his usual cheerful tone.
"Well, I was just wondering if you've seen or heard from Luke lately....?" I asked, mentally crossing my fingers in hope. Kara leaned her head over to me and I put the phone on speaker so that we could all hear.
"Yeah, actually. He was at home a half hour ago, are you at Michael's party? I'm just on my way now" He said, voice blaring out of the small device.
"Yeah, I am... But you're sure he was home a half an hour ago?" I asked him again, hoping maybe I had heard him wrong.
"Yeah, we hung out this afternoon, but I left his house about an hour ago. He texted me not too long ago and was still there. Were you supposed to meet up? He didn't mention anything to me" Kara and I exchanged confused glances.
"Yeah we were... But thanks Calum, I guess I'll go look for him at home..." I said confused
"Okay, I guess I won't be seeing you at the party then! Are you still coming to band practice tomorrow?" He replied.
"I guess you won't! But yeah, yeah I'll be there as usual. I'll see ya soon." I said hanging up the phone.
Kara and I sat in silence for a minute. "Maybe he's not feeling well....?" Kara suggested.
"Yeah, maybe" I said running my fingers through my hair.
"C'mon, I'll go with you to his house" Kara said standing up and brushing off her butt.
"You sure? I don't want you to miss the party.... Mike definitely wants you here" I said unsure.
"I'll be fine for twenty minutes" Michael laughed.
"Yeah, he's a big boy, he'll be fine" Kara said waving her hand dismissively.
"Alright I guess... I'm parked down the road, let's go" I said, standing up. And we made our way to where my car was parked down the quiet street.
x
We pulled up outside Luke's family's home twenty minutes later. The large house looked dark and empty. There were no cars in the driveway, and no lights on inside.
"It looks like no one's home, his car's not there" I whispered, unsure as to why I was even whispering.
"Do you think maybe he left for the party?" Kara whispered back. I felt my stomach drop, what if he got into an accident on the way there? Bad scenarios kept popping up in my head as we sat in the idling car.
"Call him, his car might just be in the garage" Kara urged, snapping me back from imagining all of the reasons Luke never made it to the party. I fished my cell phone from my purse for the umpteenth time that night, and dialed his number quickly.
...ring...ring...ring...ring
"Hello! It's Luke, sorry I missed your call. Leave me a message!"
BEEP.
I huffed and hung up the phone without leaving a message. This boy was without a doubt going to be the death of me.
"No answer" I said to Kara tossing my phone into the cup holder next to me.
She tapped her manicured finger against her lips. "Let's go knock" She said. I shrugged; it was better than just staking out his house.
We emerged from the car and made our way up the steps to the familiar front door of the Hemmings' abode.  I pushed the button for the doorbell gently and could hear it ring from inside the house. We waited patiently for a few minutes, but nothing happened. Kara then followed up with a sharp knock on the door, when nothing happened she huffed impatiently.
I stuck my hands into the pockets of my denim jacket and leaned gently against the door.
"We should just g-" I was cut off mid sentence when, to my surprise, I fell backwards and landed flat on my ass in the foyer of the Hemmings' home. I looked up at Kara, who was smirking, having opened the door.
"Oh" She looked at me with wide eyes and a smirk tugging at the corners of her mouth  "It was unlocked" She said innocently, stepping over me into the large house. She flicked on a light in the living room. I stood up and rubbed my sore butt.
"'Are you okay Emma?' Oh yeah I'm fine Kara thanks for asking" I mumbled bitterly. She laughed at me and winked.
I peeked around, looking in the kitchen and the living room, but there were no signs that anyone was home. I started to feel a little creepy. I mean sure, I'd been in the Hemmings' house alone before, like when Luke had something to do in the morning and I'd stayed over the night before, or if I'd gotten to his house before he got home from band practice or whatever. But  this time for some reason it felt different, like I was breaking and entering or something equally wrong.
"I don't think he's her-"
Kara and I both quieted down when we heard music coming from somewhere within the house. Kara and I quietly crept up the stairs. As we drew nearer to Luke's bedroom the music grew louder.
"Stupid idiot probably had no clue what time it was" Kara scoffed "That boy may be book smart but he doesn't use his brain much does he?" She said and I giggled, slapping her arm playfully.
I knocked on the door "Luke?" I called. No answer, though I thought that I could hear muffled voices. Kara pounded on the door.
"LUKE ROBERT HEMMINGS, OPEN THE FUCKING DOOR" She yelled. But even I could barely hear her because the music was so loud. But abruptly the music shut off. I went to open the door but stopped suddenly.
"Wha-" Kara said but I covered her mouth with my hand and pressed my finger to my lips, signifying to stay quiet. I listened quietly to what was going on behind the door. I heard some shuffling.
"What is it?" A feminine voice giggled.
I furrowed my brows, who was that?
"I thought I heard something" I heard Luke say with a hoarse voice. More shuffling.
"Come back" I heard giggles.
"It might be my parents" Luke grumbled.
"Lu-ukee, come back" The voice whined in a playful way.
I jumped back as the door opened suddenly opened and I came face to face with the person I'd been searching for all night.
The look on Luke's face was beyond words; it was a mixture of shock, mortification and fear. He had on no shirt and just a pair of boxers. Lips red and kiss bruised, and his hair was tousled in an incredibly sexy but incriminating way. His mouth opened and then closed. He was clearly speechless.
"Oh shit" Kara said.
My heart stopped and my head reeled. I became so nauseous that I had to press my hand against my mouth to keep from being sick. I suddenly felt like my head was being held under in a pool filled with ice water. My eyes stung, my chest was on fire, I couldn't breathe, I couldn't see, I lost all ability to form any kind of comprehensible series of words. But I just wanted to know was what the hell was going on.
"I cannot believe this" Kara growled.
I turned to her; her eyes were locked onto something just behind Luke. I looked past him into his familiar bedroom. On his bed sat Aleisha Mcdonald, a girl I'd been in the same class with since kindergarten. She was as (un)dressed as he was, and she didn't meet my gaze.
I felt a hot prickling feeling behind my eyes. I still couldn't breathe.
I wanted to say something, but when I opened my mouth to speak nothing came out. I wanted to yell, I wanted to throw something, but I couldn't. It was like I had no control over my body.
Luke looked at me with eyes full of panic. I didn't know what I wanted to see when I looked into his eyes, but I wasn't seeing it. I looked to Aleisha; she blushed in embarrassment as she scrambled to put her clothes on. The silence was deafening. I stood there, unsure of what to do. Kara however was enraged.
"You FUCKING BITCH!" She spat venomously. Aleisha flinched at the harshness of her words. "How could you do this? To one of your FRIENDS. Clearly that word means absolutely nothing to you" She screamed. She ranted on and on, Aleisha's face growing more and more red as Kara spoke. Neither Luke nor I moved a muscle.
"I'm not the only one to blame here!" Aleisha snapped defensively, near desperation. She was right, and we all knew it.
I closed my eyes and shook my head holding my hands over my eyes, willing everything to just stop. Even if just for a minute, so that I could catch my breath. Backing up into the wall behind me, a thick picture frame dug into my shoulder blade before falling to the ground and smashing next to my feet. At this point tears were slipping freely down my face, there was nothing I could do to stop them.
"How could you do this to her Luke?" Kara yelled, rounding in on Luke. He stood there stone faced, unmoving and unemotional. I just stayed where I was, sobbing pathetically. Kara quickly came to my side. She took me by the arm and began to lead me away. But I pulled back and turned to face Luke, taking two steps towards him and slapping him hard across the face. The loud noise of the smack echoed in the silent house and I turned without meeting his gaze and ran down the steps, with Kara close behind me.
x
Kara cooed comforting words as I drove. Trying to reassure me that everything would be fine. But nothing she could say was truly helping. The tears had stopped. I barely felt anything, I was so numb. The lone feeling I had was an ache in the pit of my stomach, that was slowly spreading to every inch of my body.
I pulled up outside Michael's home where the party still appeared to be going strong. Kara wrapped her arms around me tightly, awkwardly over the console of my car.
"Are you sure you don't want to stay? Or at least want me to go home with you?" She asked me while my face was buried in her long dark hair.
I pulled away, facing forward. "No thanks Kara, go try to enjoy the rest of your night" I whispered, my voice hoarse from crying. She nodded, and after a moment of silence got out of the car and watched me drive away.
Now there's something you need to know.
I had never been a fast driver.
I was always very conscientious, responsible, safe.
But as I was driving home my mind was wandering and I'd lose track of how high my speedometer was inching over the speed limit.
The tears had started only moments after I'd pulled away from Michael's house, but I was trying to ignore the pools clouding my vision. 
I didn't want to hear the the words playing over and over in my head anymore and I turned the radio on full blast to try and drown out my own thoughts.
I had wasted basically three years on a guy that I apparently meant nothing to. I was angry and sad and disappointed and scared and confused and just about everything that no one ever wants to be. Everything that I had built my life around, my entire future around, was just... over.
I sobbed, chest contracting sharply and painfully with every gasping breath as I drove.
I knew I was going too fast. I was driving faster than I had ever driven before.
I felt the car slam before I could register anything else.
I vaguely heard the crushing of metal and plastic, the sickening pop of a windshield breaking, glass hitting ground and the scraping of smooth paint on asphalt.
And then nothing.
x
Anna Irwin sat contently in the living room of her family's home watching Jeopardy with her husband Peter. She was curled up with her legs underneath her, and her husband's arm was wrapped tightly around her waist.
They spoke quietly as they watched the television, enjoying each other's company.
"Wow, it's really starting to pour" Peter noted and Anna turned to look out the window. The rain really was pounding against everything that was outside.
"Is the cat in?" Anna asked as an unsettling feeling crept upon her.
"Yes, Ashton let it in before he left for his date" Peter said.
Peter looked at his wife worryingly "Are you alright, love? You're looking really pale" He said. Anna watched as a black car pulled into the driveway.
"Someone's here" She whispered.
Anna and her husband reached the front door just as the doorbell rang. Peter opened the door to reveal a soaked Luke Hemmings.
"Luke! Get inside honey! " Anna said pulling the boy through the door.
"Is Emma here?" Luke asked; his voice uncharacteristically hoarse. His wet hair was flopping into his face and his clothes were sticking to his thin lanky frame. Anna and Peter looked at each other and then back at Luke.
"We thought that she was with you" Peter said, his voice suddenly more serious. He stared at the eighteen year old intently, and Anna squeezed her husband's hand very tightly as her heart sped up.
"We had a fight" Luke said, his voice breaking. He cleared his throat looking down. Anna's heart tightened at the sight.
"Michael told me that she dropped Kara off then drove home. Can I speak with her?" Luke asked almost pleadingly.
"We can assure you she's not here" Peter said sternly.
"It's just Harry home tonight" Anna said meekly, knees weak with worry.
Anna in her typical motherly fashion brought Luke into the living room to warm up while they awaited all anxiously awaited the arrival of the missing Irwin.
Anna was just bringing in a tray of tea when the phone rang. She set the tray on the coffee table in front of Peter and Luke, and hurried to answer the telephone.
"Hello?" Anna answered the phone.
Peter watched as his wife's face drained of colour and her knees buckled from underneath her.
Peter and Luke both jumped to their feet, Luke helping Mrs. Irwin and Peter taking the phone.
That was where he was told that a car registered under his name had been involved in a serious crash less than a kilometer from his home. And one victim was left in critical condition, a young girl, blue eyes, blonde hair, carrying ID identifying her as Emma Jane Irwin, his only daughter.
Luke helped Anna to the car, while Peter grabbed the youngest Irwin, Harry, putting him in the backseat with Luke before speeding off to the hospital.
x
Luke, Anna, Peter, and her 10 year old brother Harry waited in the waiting room of the hospital for any news. A tired looking woman emerged through the doors leading to the operating room and once again informed them that there was no news and that the doctors were doing everything they could.
Luke sat with a sleepy and terrified Harry while Mr. and Mrs. Irwin spoke with police. There were three or four police officers floating around, and they all wore somber expressions as they spoke to the Irwin family.
The doors to the ER burst open and Emma's older brother Ashton appeared.
"What's going on?" he asked frantically running to his parents. "Where's Emma?" he asked looking around the waiting room.
Anna started to cry, hiding her face in her hands and realization hit Ashton.
"No" he said shaking his head "Dad, no come on this can't be real. There's gotta be a mistake" His voice cracked and his dad pulled him into a hug, tears threatening to spill over.
Hours passed, and no news came to the family anxiously awaiting any kind of reassurance that Emma was going to be okay.
Eventually most of the police went home. It was late, they had families, and soon only one was left.
"I don't understand what happened" Ashton said quietly in an uncomfortable plastic chair situated at the back of the waiting room. Harry had fallen asleep curled up on one of the sofas. Luke however, remained standing. "What did you say happened between you two?" Ashton asked biting his nails. Luke tensed, he knew that should he tell the truth, the outcome would not be favorable.
Luke however gained some time as everyone's attention turned to the door of the waiting room at the sound of the door opening. A disheveled Kara stood in the doorway of the waiting room, her dark brown hair was piled atop her head in a messy up do, she wore pajama shorts and two different ugg boots. She ran straight to Mrs. Irwin embracing her in a bear hug. Mrs. Irwin patted her hair. Michael and Calum entered the waiting room behind Kara. Michael was wearing sweatpants while Calum looked as if he had just come from a party.
"Is she okay? Where's she at? What happened?" Questions flew out of Kara's mouth at a mile a minute.
"There was an accident" Mrs. Irwin explained to her.
"W-what? Is she going to be okay?"  Kara's hand flew to her mouth and she looked like she was going to be sick. Her eyes were wide as the doctor and the Irwins spoke. She stumbled back a few steps once the doctor was done explaining and slumped into an arm chair. "I can't believe......she..." She broke off when she noticed Luke.
They both stared in silence for a moment before the screaming began. "YOU" She screamed. "THIS IS YOUR FAULT". Kara's voice was shrill and angry her eyes blazed wildly as she yelled. "YOU BROKE HER HEART. YOU BROKE HER"
Everyone watched in confusion as Kara screamed and Luke stood there stone faced. Kara drew her hand back and slapped Luke hard across the face, the second time that had happened that night, a loud smack noise echoed through the silence that followed. Kara sneered and drew her hand back once again but both Michael, the waiting Police Officer and Mr. Irwin stepped in to intervene. Michael grabbed Kara's wrist and wrapped an arm around her waist while Mr. Irwin stood between the teens.
"What is going on?" Mrs. Irwin said in a shaky voice.
"This JERK," Kara said clearly wanting to use a word stronger than jerk "cheated on Emma with a cheap hooker" she spat venomously struggling from beneath Michael's hold. Everyone turned to look at Luke. Ashton jumped to his feet
"You cheated on my baby sister?" He growled in rage "WITH A HOOKER?". His hands balled into fists and Harry tried to hold him back.
Everyone simultaneously began to yell with the exception of Mr. And Mrs. Irwin and the Police constable.
"You asshole!"
"It wasn't a hooker!"
"Kara you just bit me!"
"I'm going to kill you, I'm going to fucking kill youHemmings!"
"She's my best friend Luke! HOW COULD YOU DO THIS TO HER? After THREE YEARS!"
"Will you shut up for a few minutes and let me explain!"
"YOU DON'T HAVE ANY RIGHT TO SPEAK"
"Guys calm down, we're in a hospital!"
"Calum wake up! THIS IS NOT A TIME TO BE SLEEPING!"
Mrs. Irwin held up her hands. "Kids," She said in an extremely controlled and even way "You all have to quiet down. We are in a hospital, and it's the middle of the night. If you don't quiet down the patients will wake up".
All of the teens stopped talking and turned to look at the middle aged woman. She looked exhausted and the most disheveled any of the teens had ever seen her. She put her hand on Luke's shoulder and pulled him from the midst of the group she gently leaned forwards and whispered something in his ear. He was hesitant but he made his way towards the door and left the room quietly without any protests.
"You" She pointed at her eldest son "Look after your brother while your father and I run home to grab some of Emma's things and get some insurance documents. Kara, this police officer is going to need to have a word with you since you were the last person to see Emma" She turned to the brunette who was still fuming from the encounter with Luke "And after that, Calum looks pretty tired" Mrs. Irwin said gesturing to the lanky boy who was falling asleep standing up "You should take him home". Kara nodded solemnly; embarrassed at the fact that she'd had such an outburst in front of Mrs. Irwin. Anna kissed Kara on the forehead, Kara then turned to face the Police officer who escorted her out the waiting room door and helped Michael support Calum, who was more than a little intoxicated and help him out to the car.
Then the only people that remained in the waiting room were the Irwin Family. Anna hugged both of her sons tightly before turning to her husband and taking his hand. He had remained quite quiet throughout this entire ordeal and she could only imagine what was going through his mind.
"Mom, where did Luke go?" Harry asked meekly from his armchair.
"He went to the cafeteria to get food, when he comes back there will be absolutely no fighting" Anna looked at Ashton when she said the last three words of her sentence and he looked at his feet, abashed.
The adults turned and left the room and moments later, the tired face of Luke Hemmings peeked in through the doorway. He surveyed the room and briefly made eye contact with Ashton before finally stepping through the doorway. He was carrying a tray with a coffee and two bottles of chocolate milk as well as a small brown paper bag. He sat in the chair next to Harry and handed him the chocolate milk and bag, which he gratefully accepted. Ashton was more reserved as Luke handed him his drink, dipping his head slightly and then leaving the beverage untouched in the seat next to him.
The bag Luke had been carrying turned out to contain muffins which all only Harry indulged in, never speaking a word. Harry finished his muffin and then curled up in his uncomfortable seat, dozing off almost instantly. That left the two teen boys sitting in a very tense, uncomfortable silence.
"It was Aleisha" Luke said, after some time.  "Not a hooker" He looked to the tiled floor.
"Why are you telling me this?" Ashton asked him.
"I... I just wanted you to know" Luke didn't know what to say.
"Good to know mate" Ashton said sarcastically.
"Look" Luke snapped "I'm sorry okay? This was by far, the dumbest thing I have EVER done. I get it. Believe me I get it. But I am SORRY. I don't know what else there is to do" Luke said in frustration "You're one of my best mates Ash....".
It was silent as Ashton stared at his lap, clenching and unclenching his fists. "The day you asked me if you could take my sister on a date I almost knocked you out, do you remember that?" He said in a low voice. Luke nodded, remembering the day very vividly. "After all of those times you'd been over to my house: band practices, afternoons in the pool, bonfires... I find out you had the hots for my baby sister. God I was furious" Ashton said jaw clenched.
"You didn't talk to me for a week... I thought the band was over for sure" Luke muttered from his seat.
"I was never okay with you taking her out, you know" Ashton interjected, dismissing Luke's comment "But every day I didn't talk to you, she wouldn't talk to me. She was gutted. So finally there was nothing I could do but let you two go off together" His jaw was shaking and he returned his gaze to his lap. "I'm her older brother. I protect her. From monsters in her closet, girls picking on her at school, and from boys who break her heart. And you better believe me Luke, if my baby sisters not okay, if I failed at my job of protecting her, you're going to need someone to protect you".
Ashton's parents returned to the hospital shortly after they left, and finally the hospital let only Mrs. Irwin back to be with Emma in the Intensive Care Unit. Peter spent a little while with the boys but then had to leave again to take his youngest sleeping son home, Ashton opted to also leave at that moment, seeing he was not going to be allowed to see his sister anytime soon.
Peter turned to Luke just before leaving. "Do you want a ride back to our house to get your car, son?" He asked. Luke blinked his bleary tired eyes but shook his head. "No thank you sir, I'm going to stay here" He said. Mr. Irwin hesitated but eventually nodded, and left with his two sons.
x
Luke sat in the waiting room of the hospital all night.
The nurses at the desk watched him sadly as the young man fought sleep. They brought him out a blanket which he accepted kindly but merely kept folded in his lap.
It was 7:30 the next morning when Mr. Irwin and Ashton came back to the hospital. They were both shocked to see Luke still there in the same clothes from the night before.
"Luke" Peter said putting a hand on the tall boys slumped shoulder "You need to go home, get some sleep, eat something".
Luke blinked his bloodshot, dark rimmed eyes. "With all due respect Sir, I'm not leaving until I know she's gonna be alright".
Peter looked at him for a long time, and then nodded, approaching the nurses station to hear any news of his daughter.
Ashton stood next to Luke looking down at the younger boy.
He breathed a burst of air through his nose and then passed Luke the coffee he was holding that he had purchased for himself.
Luke looked up at him in shock.
"Do you want it or not?" Ashton snapped and Luke accepted the coffee murmuring thanks.
Peter approached the two boys.
"They'll let us in now".
x
It was like one of Luke's worst nightmares.
She looked like she was dead.
She was hooked up to dozens of machines, with tubes and wires all over her.
Her face was scraped and she had stitches over her left eye. Luke could only imagine that the rest of her looked just as rough.
Mrs. Irwin sat next to her daughter, holding her hand lightly.
She greeted her husband, son and Luke with hugs.
No one said anything, but Luke was fighting the bile rising in his throat.
He couldn't believe how tiny Emma looked laying in the bed, being kept alive by all those machines. She looked so unbelievably small and utterly breakable.
Well, utterly broken.
"What's going on?" Ashton was the first to ask.
"She has a lot of internal bleeding" Mrs. Irwin said, still holding Emma's hand "The doctors still aren't sure what's going to happen, they were going to take her in for another surgery, but they just don't know if her body can handle it".
And so they stayed there all day.
There were other visitors too: Kara, Michael, Calum, Luke's mother and father, some of Emma's other family.
The small crowd in the hospital room was in constant rotation.
Peter was coming and going to deal with phone calls from family, and picking Harry up from school.
Harry didn't want to come into the hospital room, and cried when he saw his sister in her shattered state.
Ashton had to leave halfway through the day because Harry refused to speak to anyone but him.
But Luke stayed.
Exhausted, overwhelmed, hungry, and so emotionally drained he could barely form coherent sentences, but he stayed.
Anna Irwin even let him take her seat next to Emma, and his hand quickly found her smaller, unmoving one, and didn't let go.
He vowed he would be there to see her wake up.
But she wasn't waking up.
Luke's older brother Jack showed up at the hospital around 6PM when Luke was the only one in the room and on the verge of an emotional breakdown. Peter and Anna had gone home to have dinner and see Harry and Ashton.
"Luke" Jack said standing above his brother "Ya gotta come home bro".
"I can't" Luke said quietly.
"Mom and Dad are worried. You need sleep, something to eat, a change of clothes" Jack said putting a hand on Luke's shaking shoulder.
It was shaking because, unbeknownst to him, he'd started crying.
"This is my fault Jack, I did this" Luke sobbed.
Jack pulled his brother to his feet and held him tightly while he cried. The Hemmings boys weren't usually so open with emotional displays, but Jack felt an immense amount of pain for his youngest brother.
Jack managed to convince Luke to come home, if only for an hour, and they left the hospital together, Jack's arm around Luke's shoulder, and Luke's mind still on nothing but the girl he was leaving behind.
x
Ashton returned to his younger sister's hospital room in the evening, to find that no one was there. His mother and father were at home with Harry and would be returning shortly, and it was strange to see the room that had been full of people all day empty save for the girl lying in the hospital bed.
There were more flowers in the room since the last time he had been there, Ashton noted as he took a seat next to his sister, where his bandmate had been all day.
He wondered where his friend had gone, and his hand went for the phone in his pocket, but then he realized he was supposed to mad at Luke, and let his hand fall to his lap.
He took his little sisters hand in his and was relieved to find unexpected warmth in it.
"Hi Em" Ashton said to her, even though he knew she couldn't hear him.
"Ya gotta wake up soon, kid" He said with a waver in his voice. "I don't know how I'd ever get along without ya" he chuckled a little and then shook his head. Tears were beginning to form, but Ashton wasn't stopping them. "Whose gonna help me pack when the boys and I go on tour? Or when I don't understand what some girl means when she says she's 'fine'? I need you here Emma. I need you here to see me and the boys make it big. And for you to laugh at my bad jokes louder than anyone else. To go for midnight drives with and talk about anything and everything with" At this point the tears were falling, but Ashton just kept speaking the thoughts that had been plaguing his mind. "I need to see you graduate uni, and walk down the aisle, and have your first kid and name it after me like you always told me you would" Ashton was sobbing "I need you here sis.... please wake up".
Then he felt it.
Emma's hand noticably contracted around his.
Ashton drew in a sharp intake of breath and look to his sister's face. Her blue eyes peered back at him blearily.
"Oh my god" Ashton said, Emma's hand contracted again.
Then her heart monitor began to wane.
"NURSE" Ashton yelled.
"SOMEONE" He called again "SOMEONE HELP".
The monitor grew slower and slower and Ashton's own heart nearly stopped he ran into the hall of the hospital.
His mom and dad were running down the hallway towards him as he yelled "SHE'S AWAKE SOMEONE COME HERE SHE'S AWAKE".
x
Luke opened his eyes and looked around his dark room.
Dark.
What time is it? Was the first frantic thought that crossed Luke's mind.
He'd come home from the hospital with Jack, eaten a little bit of whatever his mother had made for dinner, showered, and then passed out on his bed, still in his towel.
The alarm clock on his bedside table showed him it was 10PM.
He got up and dressed quickly, grabbing his car keys and heading downstairs.
His parents were still awake and sitting in the living room.
His mother had been crying.
"What's going on?" Luke asked, freezing at the front door.
Liz began to cry again.
Andrew Hemmings stood up and wrapped his arms around his son.
Luke was frozen on the spot.
"No" Luke said quietly.
He pushed his father's arms off of him.
"No no no no no no no" Luke said shaking his head, turning and running to the door.
He sped the entire way to the hospital, thoughts racing through his head faster than the Sydney scenery outside his windows.
When he got there he didn't stop at the nurses station where the nurses with the pitying eyes stared at him with an immense sympathy he couldn't handle.
He ran through the hallways until he got to her room.
Mrs. Irwin was crying while her husband stood by her, with fresh tears of his own on his cheeks. Ashton was sobbing into the arms of Calum. Emma's grandmother held Harry as his little heartbreaking sobs resounded through the corridors of the hospital.
The adults looked to Luke in sadness. Mrs. Irwin began to cry harder than before.
Luke looked into the room.
The bed was empty.
The machine's had been moved out of the room.
The only reminder that it was the same room was the flowers and cards on the tables by the windows, and the chair that he had been sitting in was in the same position it was when he had left.
Luke was frozen, unable to process everything going on around him.
He felt a hand on his shoulder.
It was Mrs. Irwin.
It was the first time Luke ever truly realized how much Emma looked like her mother.
Before Luke could even register what was happening he was crying into the collar of Mrs. Irwin's pretty periwinkle blue blouse.
It felt like his world was ending.
His parent's showed up in their pajamas, having followed immediately behind their son.
He cried into his mother's arms as his father hugged Emma's parents as well as Ashton and Harry.
She was gone.
He hadn't even gotten to say goodbye.
x
The next few days were dark.
Ashton relied heavily on Calum in the days following Emma's death. He spent almost all his time with his friend, or with his younger brother. Ashton took many midnight drives by himself. Listening to the mixed tapes Emma had made for the drives they took together. He cried every time he thought of her those first few days.
Kara spent all of her time either with Michael, crying into his arms while he cooed soft words to her, or with the Irwin's doing everything she possibly could to help them.
Harry played video games quietly in his room all day. He barely spoke. He slept in Emma's bed every night.
Luke didn't leave his room.
x
The funeral was horrible.
Ashton was dressed in a brand new suit, hair combed back, and dark circles from lone midnight drives prominent on his face. He spoke about how no one would ever be able to organize his suitcase like Emma, or get his tea exactly how he like it quite like she could.
Calum cried the hardest.
Kara kissed her friend's cold cheeks goodbye, tucking the friendship bracelet they'd made each other as children under Emma's hands that were folded neatly on top of her beautiful white lace dress. Michael held her hand through all of it.
Harry struggled to jump up to see into the coffin. Ashton rushed to help him, and held him up. Both brothers stared down at their beautiful sister. "It's like she's sleeping right?" Harry said quietly. Ashton swallowed over the lump in his throat.
"Yeah bud, just sleeping'" Ashton said and watched as Harry tucked Emma's ipod in beside her shoulder.
"She hates to sleep without music" Harry said looking up at his brother, and Ashton held in his tears and nodded, while Harry leaned over and kissed his sister goodbye.
Luke spoke to no one. He sat at the back of the crowded church alone after he had slipped away from the rest of his family. The church was full of people there to say goodbye to the beautiful girl who god took away too soon. He was scared to go and see her, but knew that he couldn't miss out on saying goodbye to her again. She looked fake. Like a doll. The makeup covering the cuts and bruises was well done, but it was all Luke could see. He wanted to see the freckles that faintly colored her cheeks because she'd been getting a bit more sun lately. He wanted to see the small scar on her left cheek where Ashton had hit her with a sea shell when they were kids. Most of all, Luke wanted to see her eyes. The clear blue that he had looked into so many times. He could never find the right thing to compare them to. They weren't blue like the ocean, they were more gray, like a cloudy sky, but not like a cloudy sky Luke had ever seen. He leaned into her coffin and kissed her cold cheek, lingering for a moment to breathe in her scent. Someone must of sprayed her with her favorite perfume, because she smelled the same. For a minute Luke wanted to crawl into the coffin with her and never have to say goodbye, but then he pulled away muttered a quick 'I love you', slipping his ring on her ring finger inconspicuously and then tucking her left hand under her right, and then walked back to the back of the church right past the Irwin's without so much as a glance in their direction. He didn't cry once during the funeral.
x
The months following were hard.
Ashton listened to the CD's every day. One night, he woke Harry up and took him with him on a midnight drive. For the first time since Emma had died he didn't cry.
Kara graduated high school, and all of her friends and family were there to support her, except the one she always thought would be by her side. Her school had a moment of silence for Emma, who was supposed to be their classes valedictorian, but Kara read her speech on her behalf, and the school choir dedicated a song to her. The Irwin's were there and accepted a diploma on Emma's behalf from the school principal, who's son Emma used to babysit. Everyone cried, but they were mostly happy tears.
Harry stopped sleeping in Emma's bed, and started to laugh again at the dinner table, even though there was an extra empty seat.
Luke didn't speak to almost anyone. He mostly stayed home. Ate very little. And every day he said he would go and visit her grave but he never did. One night he went out with a few old mates from school. He got very, very drunk. He walked miles from the party he was at to see her. It was almost morning when he got arrived stumbling, with a nearly drained bottle of whiskey in his hand. He hopped the gate of the small cemetery without anyone noticing, and walked around until he found her. He laid above her, on the grass that would eventually grow to be older than she had ever been and looked at the fading stars in the rapidly lightening sky that were older than anyone would ever be.
"I should have come sooner" He said to her.
"You weren't ready" her voice said to him.
"And I am now?" he scoffed.
"No" She admitted with a light laugh "But one day you will be"
"When?" his voice broke, and tears slipped from his eyes, down the sides of his head as he laid back with his head on the cold ground.
"Whenever you choose to be" She said.
"Do you think it's that easy?" His eyes snapping open and he turned around to face her.
She was perched on the stone behind him, wearing the same beautiful white dress she'd been wearing the last time he saw her. Her face was free of the makeup that had been covering her up, and she looked as painfully beautiful as he remembered her. She looked at him with her cloudy-sky eyes and frowned.
"Do you think I can just get up in the morning and say 'Wow, I'm totally fine now even though the love of my life is gone and it's all my fault'"  He said to her.
"It wasn't your fault Luke" She said quietly, looking down and playing with the braided bracelet on her right wrist.
"If I hadn't been so stupid that night, you'd still be here" He said to her.
"If I hadn't been speeding, I would still be here Lucas" She said looking up at him.
"I still love you so much it hurts" he said quietly. "I can literally feel how much I love you in my chest. It's always sitting there. Like a constant reminder. 'Hey! You love her! And you can never have her!'" He imitated his heart in a fake jovial tone.
"I love you more than anything else in existence Luke Robert" She said.
"Don't tell me that" Luke shook his head, turning away from her.
"You need to hear it" She stood up, and walked towards him.
He felt her hand on his arm, and he turned to face her.
"I'll love you until those stars stop shining Luke Hemmings" She said to him.
"Most of the stars we can see in the night sky exploded billions of years ago. They're dead" He said to her.
"And so am I" She said, a little smile tugging at her lips "doesn't change anything".
He leaned down and kissed her.
Her mouth tasted the same, like cinnamon gum and vanilla lip balm.
She smelled the same.
Her body curved into his the way it always had.
When he finally pulled away he looked down at her.
"I miss you" He said.
"Yeah, you're probably always going to" She said "and I know it's gonna be hard, but you've gotta let me go Luke" She said, lacing their fingers together.
The sky was rapidly growing lighter and Luke could feel the ring he'd put on her finger digging into his hand as he held her's tightly.
They both laid back on the grass together.
"I love you" He said looking at the starry sky.
"I love you too Luke" Emma said.
"I'm so sorry" He said turning to look at her.
"You're more than forgiven. Remember that" She said, turning to face him, her blonde hair splayed out around her beautifully.
"Is this real?" He finally asked.
"Is anything?" She replied, and he let it go; he didn't want to know the answer anyways.
They laid together in the grass, fingers entwined, until Luke's eyes couldn't fight sleep any longer.
When he woke up he was alone.
But the pain that was in his chest wasn't like it had been before.
It was better.
Not gone.
But better.
Luke looked at the dawn sky, that wasn't quite dark and wasn't quite light, and for the first time in his life, he saw the same colour as her eyes.
x
The next few years were better.
The boys started rehearsing again, released their first album, made it big. Everyday the remembered the first fan they had, sitting in the Irwin's basement, promising them they sounded good (even though they didn't really).
Kara started uni, met new people, made new friends. Her and Michael broke up, but she still spoke to the boys every once in a while, and began dating other guys here and there.
Harry visited his sister every week, reading off yet another article/review/blog post about the boys. How they sold out their world tour, made it to number one, were living their dream. He almost never cried anymore.
x
The band eventually retired.
They'd had their run. Eight albums and non stop touring could really take it out of you. The boys all remained very close, and love reminiscing about their glory days.
Ashton met an amazing girl and settled down, they had a daughter and named her Emma. He became a music teacher for disabled children, and loved everything about his job and the joy that he could bring to the kids he was helping.
Calum became a song writer, helping other young bands like his idol's had when he was young. He eventually got married but never had any children.
Michael moved to the US when he was still young and took advantage of the fact that none of the boys ever really had to work again, spending his time playing video games, vacationing, and dating beautiful women while he lived lavishly. When he was older he finally moved back to Australia after gaining an even larger fortune developing his own video game, where he ran into a recently divorced Kara again. The two married within a year, and grew old together.
Harry grew up to be as smart as she'd been. Graduating Valedictorian, with his mom and dad sitting front row center, going a little gray but still grinning proudly. And if you asked him he would have lied, but he could have sworn that he saw Emma standing at the back of the room while he gave his speech, where the light was streaming in through the windows of the large auditorium. She was smiling her best smile, the one that was too big for her face, and Harry nearly messed up his speech. When he cried, they were happy tears, because she'd kept the promise she made to him when he was little: that nothing would ever stop her from seeing him walk across the stage at graduation. He never cried about her again, only smiled when he tought of her.
Luke stayed in Sydney and became a maths teacher, like his mom. He met a girl at Uni and they eventually got married. They had twin boys and a baby girl. Luke thought about Emma everyday, and never forgot how much he loved her. When he was younger he visited her grave a lot, but as he grew older he had less time to do so, and eventually stopped going all together. But every once in a while, he'd wake up before his alarm and slip outside into his backyard to see the sky that reminded him of her eyes and he'd be the sad 18 year old he had been, full of love and anger and loss. But only until the sun crawled over the horizon and lit up the sky with beautiful pinks and oranges, and then a new day would begin.