Paparazzi || Luke Hemmings

chapter 21: already gone.

^i know he's not actually crying in that picture, but pretend he is pleAse.

I wake up feeling dizzy and disoriented

Glancing to my left, I see a sleeping Luke, sitting in a hospital chair, head leaning against the wall uncomfortably.

I sigh at the IV cord attached to my left wrist, wanting to cry when I remember all of this morning's dramaful events.

A nurse then walks in, smiling brightly once she notices I've woken up.

"Charlotte! Glad to see you're awake now, hun. Your hawt boyfriend over there said you took quite the unexpected fall this morning!" She says, fraud enthusiasm laced with worrisome evident in her womanly voice.

Boyfriend? Unexpected fall? My ass.

"Ur yeah, how long was I out for?" I question, and then notice Luke start to stir and wake up slowly.

"About six or so hours, not too long thank the heavens." She states.

"Oh okay, thank you."

"Mhm, now just press that button by your bed if you need anything from me sweetie, I'll be on my way." She smiles brightly at me, before turning away and biting her lip once she sees Luke has woken up.

He shoots her a dazzling wink and smiles, but it doesn't quite reach his eyes. Still, she blushes fiercely before walking out of the hospital room.

Typical freaking Luke.

Once she's gone, he walks over to me, sitting at the edge of the hospital bed carefully, and averting his gaze from me.

"Hi."

"Hey."

He rubs at his eyebrow before sneakily taking another glance in my direction.

"I got a phone call this morning." He croaks out, and it's then when I notice that his eyes are bloodshot, like he'd been crying earlier.

I tense up, "Wh-what happened, Luke? Is everything alright?"

"Lauren. S-s-she died."

I start violently coughing, almost choking just from his words.

He looks alarmed, helping me sit up in bed and patting my back gently.

"She's dead?!"

He slyly cracks a half grin over his sad, broken expression.

"Yeah. It's a horrible thing, yet a- and i feel bad for saying this- but Charlotte, it means we can be together. You and I."

Tears brim my eyeballs, and I jump over to Luke, pulling him closer to me.

He laughs quietly, but it's not his usual one. He moves to lie next to me on the bed, him over the sheets and me under them.He rests his hands, folded neatly on top of his chest while he gazes at the ceiling, tranfixedly.

"H-how did she die?" I whisper quietly, still not believing she did.

Honestly, I never liked the girl.

But she died.

And dying has to be one of everyone's biggest fears, suicidal or not, it's such a freaking terrifying thought knowing that someday everything will just be over. Everything will be still, and your soul won't be here anymore.

"Car accident," he says hoarsely, and I wrap the guy up in my arms, pulling him close, because honestly fake or not, she still was his girlfriend for almost fucking two years.

"She was on her way to the nail salon. The fucking nail-salon, Charlo." He whispers, breaking down. He breathes in deeply before continuing.

"It was o-on her way there when a drunk-driver hit her. A dr-drunk driver on the road at fucking two o'clock in the afternoon. He killed her, Charlotte. She's gone." He takes another deep breath, and starts up again. I pull him even closer, embracing the poor guy warmly.

"She always loved getting her nails done. Would be so happy when she'd show me 'em. Acrylic, french, whatever the fuck, she got it done weekly. She was obsessed." His voice cracks, and I can't help but remember that time at the party where her long nails were sprawled out against Luke's cheeks while they were kissing.

I remember the color of her claws, and how terribly bad I'd despised her right then and always.

Honestly, it was just jealousy, I wanted Luke all to myself.

As much as I didn't like her, she never ever deserved to die.

Nobody did, really.

I'm snapped out of my thoughts when I hear another broken sob leave Luke's lungs. I tangle my fingers through his hair, rubbing gently and soothingly.

"I'm so, so, sorry Luke. I really am." I mumble quietly, feeling the tears prick my eyes at how immensely horrible this day was ending up to be. I just couldn't comprehend the thought of death.

One more tired, choked sob leaves his mouth before he  looks up at me with watery blue eyes and says hoarsely,

"I love you."

••••

the end.