Deadline≫hemmings a.u

4.3

"Melanie, get up! Get up!"

"Huh?" I mumbled into my arm, rubbing my face with it as I tried to snuggle further into the sheets for warmth and sleep.

"Melanie, now! Get up!" There was a hand on my shoulder, shaking it roughly.

"Luke," I groaned, rubbing my eyes and shaking him off. "What is your dea - "

"He's gone." The voice quickly cut me off. "Luke is gone."

My chest seized and my eyes snapped open. On instinct, I blindly reached out for him, catching only air and empty sheets instead. "No..."

I turned to Michael, my eyes wide. He was pacing, his hands wound into his colored hair as he swore. "Luke, you son of a bitch!"

I sat up, shaking my head as I felt my throat constrict. "No, no, no...He can't be gone. He promised..."

Luke couldn't be gone. After last night, and the promises he made, the things he said. How could he leave after that.

"He's fucking gone, that bastard!" Michael's back was to me as he slammed his fist down on the table, his shoulders tense.

I looked out the window. The sun was still rising. "How long ago did he leave?"

"Hell if I know!" Michael grumbled, straightening up and shaking his head. "I woke up ten minutes ago, came in here, and he was gone."

"Is - is the car still there?" It felt impossible to breathe now. I squeezed my eyes shut and pulled my knees to my chest and heads in my hand as I tried to calm down to have some silence in my head.

"Yeah, car's still there," Michael nodded and I could hear him pull out a chair to sit down. I opened my eyes at that, seeing him bent over the table with his head in his hands.

"Well, then we have to go after him." I said, climbing out of bed with the blankets still wrapped around me. I brushed past Michael and back into his room, ignoring the incredulous look he gave me.

"Go after him?" I winced at the sound of the chair scraping against the floor as Michael's footsteps thundered into my room. "Are you serious?"

"Well, what else are we gonna do, Michael?" I said exasperatedly as I knelt by my suitcase and retrieved my clothes from it. "Are you really going to just let Luke turn himself in?"

"He probably already has, Mel!" Michael's hands ran through his hair before falling to his sides in frustration. "Who knows how long ago he left! It's eight in the morning, we'd be fighting traffic too, and - "

"And are we really going to let that stop us?" I cut him off, standing up to my full hight with my hands on my hips, clothes in my hands, and eyes narrowed.

That got Michael. He looked at my blankly, his mouth open to protest, although no words came out. He clamped his mouth shut and groaned, turning around and gently banging his head against the wall. He stayed like that, with his head to the wall before he groaned again and rubbed his face.

"Alright, fine. You're right." He admitted, straightening up. Michael's eyebrows kit together and his jaw locked in a gritty sort of determination I didn't see on him often. His green eyes met mine. "Get ready. We're getting his sorry ass back."

***

It felt like an entire millennia had passed in the near hour it took just to drive twenty miles to where Marcus and Luke were. Sitting in traffic was excruciating, and that was putting it lightly. Michael tried everything he could that was somewhat safe - more for the sake of others than ourselves - to get through the mass of cars, including getting off at random exits to speed through side streets before to pass hordes of cars on the freeway getting back on. But regardless of what he did, it still felt like every second we spared wasn't enough for us.