Naturally ↠ lrh

12. Disappear

*Hayley's POV*

Luke. Luke was all that was running through my mind. Nothing else. Not Dylan, not my mom, not myself. It was all Luke.

He had kissed me the night we went to the small lake. I haven't seen him since.

He hasn't shown up at school. I even checked his house, and there hasn't been a single light in there for two months.

It's been so long I don't even remember what he smells like. That sounded really creepy.

Why would he just leave for two months? Especially after he kissed me.

I don't understand what could've gone wrong, because after the kiss, we told each other how we felt and he brought me home. Nothing bad happened.

Why would he just disappear?

I asked Michael. He hasn't seen him. I asked Calum. He hasn't seen him. I asked Ashton. He hasn't seen him either.

Hell, I even asked our teacher to see if he told him he was out of town and just didn't tell me. Nothing.

I would go to his house and check to see if his parents are there, but again, I didn't see anyone there the last time I went. I can't think of anywhere else he'd be for two straight months.

See, he left you. Just like the rest of them.

I hope not. But what I don't understand is that he kisses me, and just runs off. Does he not know the meaning of "I like you"?

I try really hard to think of another place that he possibly could've gone. Still nothing.

I don't think he'd go to the lake. Why would he go there? If he was trying to run away from the fact that he kissed me, he wouldn't go there. Plus, it's been so long.

I decide to check anyways, just to be sure. Because of the fact that I can't drive there myself, I go next door to ask Ashton to drive me.

Knocking on the door quite loudly, I check my phone to see what the time is. 7:34 am.

My mom asked me to be home by 8 for dinner, so I have plenty of time.

Ashton answers the door, slightly opening it at first to check who it was. Once he realized that it was just me, he fully extended the door to talk to me properly.

"Hey, Hayley, what are you doing here?" He asked, brushing his fingers through his curly hair.

"Oh, I was wondering if you could drive me to this lake? I've been trying to look for Luke, and I think I might know where he is. It's about a five minute drive," I explain, fiddling with my fingers as I talk.

"Of course. Why would he be at a lake for two months though? I'll take you anyways, but I'm just kind of confused as to where you're going with this," Ashton replied, licking his light pink lips.

"I just had an idea. It doesn't really make much sense to me either, but checking wouldn't hurt, right?" I smiled.

"Sure, I really hope we find him soon, he's been missing for a while, and I've been really worried," Ashton says, going back into the house to put on his shoes.

He finishes tying the laces on his shoes and quickly walks over to me. "Let's go?"

"Sure," I replied, a spark of hope slightly showing through my eyes. I could tell Ashton could see it, because he gave me a small sympathetic smile back.

He closed the door to his house, pulling out his keys to lock it. "My parents aren't home, so they won't know I left, but they honestly don't care where I go," he said, chuckling slightly.

We walk to his car and he opens the door for me.

"Just tell me where to go."

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Ashton and I arrive at the entrance to the lake, which is a small opening in a chain link fence, shaped to fit a human body. I guide Ashton through the fence, which continues on to a countless amount of trees.

"Are you sure there's even a lake in here?" Ashton said, grabbing my wrist.

I turn around, replying, "I'm sure, Ash. I've been here before. I found this place around three months ago, and Luke happened to show up saying that he went here all the time when he needed to think."

"Alright, just making sure," he said before letting go of my wrist.

We continue walking through the trees before we finally get to the lake. I look around for Luke, but I don't see him here.

"I don't see him," Ashton said, a look of disappointment covering his face.

"I don't see him either."

"Don't see who?" The familiar voice speaks from behind me, causing me to jump.

"Luke!" I turn around to see Luke leaning against a tree, holding an apple to his mouth.

Running to him, I immediately pull him into a tight hug. He doesn't hug back.

"Dude, why the fuck have you been missing for so long?" I hear Ashton say from behind me, his voice coming closer as he speaks.

"I needed to fix a few things back in Liverpool," Luke replied, trying to pull me away from his body as he threw the apple aside and on the floor.

I let go of Luke, turning around to face Ashton again.

"What the fuck do you need to do in Liverpool? Do you know how worried we all were?" Ashton asked, scratching the back of his head.

Luke shrugged and looked down at his feet before picking his head back up and running his fingers through his hair. "It's complicated."

"What do you mean it's complicated? Luke, you can tell us anything," I said, grabbing his arm, slowly rubbing up and down to comfort him.

"I don't know," he said, grabbing my hand and pulling it off his arm.

"Alright, Hayley, you deal with him. I don't know what the fuck he did in Liverpool, but it's probably something bad if he's this hesitant to talk about it. If he's going to be telling any of us here, it's going to be you," Ashton said before making his way back to the entrance. His figure slowly got smaller as he got closer and closer.

As soon as he was gone, I spoke up.

"Luke, what did you do back in Liverpool? Just tell me, please. It can't be that bad," I asked, bringing my hand to his, intertwining our fingers.

He stayed silent.

"Luke? What did you have to do back in Liverpool?" I ask, this time, my voice stern.

"If I told you, you'd leave me," he replied, looking into my eyes. His bright blue eyes were now a dull dark blue, a single tear falling out and onto his cheek.

"I won't, I promise Luke. I won't leave you for anything," I smiled, bringing my free hand up to wipe the tear off of his cheek with my thumb.

He opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out. He closed it again, tightening his grip on my hand. "I can't."

"Yes, you can, Luke. Whatever you might have to say won't make me leave you," I replied, rubbing the back of his hand with my thumb.

I looked back up into his eyes, more tears falling down onto his cheeks.

"I'm sorry."

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Oh my god sorry for not putting out an update in so long, I've been on a slight hiatus and ya know writer's block is a bitch

But wow I'm so surprised people are actually reading this because my writing's shit but whatever

Thanks for reading ;)