Naturally ↠ lrh

13. Sorry

*Hayley's POV*

"I'm sorry."

Luke broke our eye contact and looked back down.

I gently grabbed his chin to make him look at me before replying, "What are you sorry for?"

More tears were streaming down his face. Suddenly, he removed his hand from mine and pulled me into a tight hug.

"I'm so sorry, Hayley. I'm so sorry," he said again, more sobs coming from his mouth.

"Luke, just tell me," I cooed, bringing my hand up to lace it into his blonde hair.

He pulled away, grabbing both of my hands and interlocking it with his. "You'll be mad. You'll hate me and never want to talk to me."

"Luke, I promise you. I will not be mad," I replied, rubbing the back of his hand with my thumb again.

He sighed, his eyes connecting with mine. He let go of one of my hands, and started pulling me to the rock that slightly overhung the lake. "Do you have time to stay here? It'll take a while to explain."

I checked my phone to see what time it was. 8:13. "Yeah, I have plenty. Unless it'll take like twelve hours."

"It won't," he said as he sat down on the rock, hanging his legs over the edge. He pat the space next to him, inviting me to take a seat. I sit down, looking up at him.

"Well, I drove to Liverpool to talk to an old friend," he said, turning his head to look back at me.

"Who is?" I asked, swinging my legs back and forth.

He took a deep breath before saying, "Dylan."

"Why the hell do you need to talk to Dylan? I told you to stay away from him," I replied, anger laced through my words.

"Hayley, I needed to talk to him. Just hear me out, okay? I told you that you would get mad, but you didn't listen," he answered, breaking eye contact and looking out onto the lake.

"Okay, I guess you have a point. Continue then," I looked out to the bright blue lake, a small family of ducks swimming around in the corner.

"I visited him at the jail in Liverpool, where he was taken after we last saw him. I had to talk to him about what happened around a year ago," he placed his hand on top of mine, looking back at me.

"What happened a year ago?"

Luke put his head down, sighing again before looking back up at me. "Are you sure you want to know?"

"Luke, I'm 100% sure," I said, giving him a gentle smile.

"Well, a y-year ago I did something really bad," he started, a tear falling onto his cheek. By now, his eyes were extremely red and puffy.

I patiently waited for him to continue. "I was at this restaurant, with this girl I met at our gig in Liverpool," he added, sounding a little hesitant.

"I was messed up at the time. My mom had died from a car accident, my dad left my brothers and I because he said we were the cause of her death. I thought I was alone, like there was no escape. I thought there was no point in living if no one even cared about me. Sure, I had the boys, but I didn't have the strength to tell them. They know now, but at that time, I couldn't tell them. I went to clubs and drank until I couldn't walk. My brothers didn't want to deal with me, so they left me too," he sighed, looking back down. He paused for a minute before looking back at me.

"That night, I met a girl that I thought was finally going to be the one person that would be there for me. She was so genuine and honest, and she could relate to everything that had happened," Luke explained, removing his hand from mine and brushing it through his hair.