Fall.

Chapter 16.

"Are you good at keeping promises?" Luke slammed his lunch tray down on the table in front of me, his usual lunch sitting on it.

"I guess?" I questioned.

"Okay, you're coming over tomorrow." Luke nodded. He smiled, popping open his can of Coke and taking a big sip.

"What?" I asked, not having any idea what he was talking about.

"Don't ask questions." Luke held up his hand to stop me.

"I'm so confused." I let out a laugh. I wasn't fully used to Luke doing spontaneous things like this, I was used to being told exactly what was going on.

"It won't be as fun if I tell you right away." Luke rolled his eyes. He leaned back on his chair, putting his arms behind his head.

"What if I decide not to like whatever you're planning?" I questioned, raising an eyebrow at Luke.

Luke bit his lip and looked down, then back up at me. I couldn't stand when he did that, the lip biting combined with the little glance he gave me with his eyebrows raised and his eyes wide. I hated the way Luke somehow always looked attractive, even when he clearly didn't put any effort into doing so.

"You'll enjoy it, I know you." Luke said, barely shaking his head. He pushed his sleeves up slightly, revealing the now fading bruises that I noticed for the first time last week.

"Are you ever going to tell me what those are from?" I asked, pointing to his wrist.

"I did tell you." Luke's head shot up, a worried look spread across his face.

"No, I want you to tell me the truth." I said. I wanted to believe Luke more than anything, but I know that he was hiding something from me. I know that it wasn't Ashton who did that to Luke.

"I told you to truth. Jesus, Stel. I thought we already talked about this." Luke let out a shaky sigh, followed by him grabbing his wrist and examining the bruises himself.

"I don't believe you." I said. I leaned over the table, reaching out for Luke. He pulled his arm away from me, scooting the chair back a little.

Luke shook his head. "Can you trust me, please?" He whispered.

"I want to, but you're making it kind of hard. These things don't match up. Those bruises didn't come from Ashton." I sat back down, giving up.

"Please, Stel. I'm fine." Luke muttered. He pulled his chair towards the table again, seeming to have calmed down from a few seconds ago.

"No you aren't." I said I remembered what Luke told me a little while ago, he was never really fine.

"Yes I am, Stel! You're not my babysitter, I don't need you taking care of me!" Luke stood up, kicking the chair behind him. He stared down at me for a long time while I sat there, looking back up at him. Finally, Luke groaned one more time and walked away, leaving me sitting by myself.

I sat back in my chair, having an internal battle with myself on whether or not I should go follow Luke or stay here. But before I had a chance to get up and chase down Luke, I felt someone sit down next to me.

"Hey, sorry I'm late I had to meet with one of my teachers." Ashton panted, like he had run down the hall to get here. He put his arm around the back of my chair, slowly bringing it down until it was wrapped around my waist.

"It's fine." I said quietly.

"What's going on? Where is everybody?" Ashton looked around.

"I have no idea where Michael is and Luke just left a couple of minutes ago." I recalled, letting out a sigh. This feeling always came after I got in an argument with Luke, emptiness.