Second Chances

Chapter 22

Luke's heart was completely broken. He couldn't believe that Mackenzie had left him, after everything they had been through. He was just so confused about how she could use his words against him, how she could say she doesn't love him. He was so angry at himself, at her, and at the world. He just needed a way to let it all out. Luke's way was boxing. He had been, basically, living at the ring. He thought it would be good to give Mackenzie space until he was sure that she didn't hate him. Luke's fist connected with the punching bag. "Fucking hell." Luke groaned, shaking his hand out. His phone vibrated in his pocket and he pulled it out, checking the notification.

Michael and I got the crib built today. Mackenzie said the baby was kicking a lot more today. -A

Luke sighed, and typed out a message to Ashton before returning to his punching bag.

Is the crib sturdy enough? I don't want my child to be falling out of his crib while he sleeps. -L

Of course it's sturdy. Mackenzie spent all day at IKEA with Bryana to get the furniture. -A

Is she happy? Does she miss me? -L

Luke sighed as he watched the dots appear on his screen. He didn't even know if he wanted to hear what Ashton had to say.

She's happy. She's laughing more, she's smiling. She's started eating dinner with us again. She makes us dinner every night because she wants to get used to having a family -A

Luke rolled his eyes and threw his phone into his bag. "Of course, she's happy. I'm not there to get in the way." He sat with his back against the wall and took a gulp of his water. He rubbed his face and looked at the ceiling as his eyes filled with tears. All Luke ever wanted was to have someone to make happy. He often watched his parents while he was growing up. The way his father looked at his mother, he knew that he wanted to look at someone the same way. He also knew that he wanted someone to look at him the way his mother looked at his father. Luke reached into his bag and pulled out his wallet. He pulled out a tattered picture as a single tear ran down his cheek.

It came as a shock when Jack pulled up to his parents house to see their front door wide open. He quickly got out his car and jogged inside. He walked down the hall, stopping in his tracks when he noticed blood on the walls leading to his parents' room. "No.." He whispered, running to their room. He pushed open the door and coughed slightly at the rancid smell. His parents laid there on their bed, unmoving and covered in blood. From the looks and smells of the room, they had been dead for at least a week. Jack reached into his pocket and quickly grabbed his phone, dialing Ben's number. When Ben arrived, Jack had already discovered the cause of death. Luke.

"What the hell happened?" Ben asked, covering his mouth and nose with his shirt.

"Luke. I told him not to talk about our family. He did this." Jack seethed, looking at his parents.

"Luke wouldn't kill our parents." Ben looked at Jack.

"No, but there are people who hate Luke and would want to bring him down. His big mouth is the reason our parents are fucking dead!" Jack yelled.

"Didn't Luke say he was coming home for a few days?" Ben sighed, closing the bedroom door. Jack nodded, looking at the floor. "We'll talk to him when he gets here, okay? We can figure out what actually happened."

Luke arrived two days later, unsure of why he felt so sick to be home. He was excited to see his family again, but he hadn't stopped feeling as if he were about to vomit. Luke chewed on his lip as he walked over to his brothers who had offered to pick him up from the airport. "So, Luke, who knows you're from Australia?" Jack questioned as Luke got in the car.

"Uh.. The boys and Macke-." Luke cleared his throat. "Just the boys. Why?"

"Mom and Dad are dead, Luke." Jack snapped. "They're dead and it's because of you. You and your big mouth lead the other gangs here and they killed our parents!" Jack yelled.

"M-Mom and Dad are dead..?" Luke asked, his voice breaking.

"Yes! They were fucking murdered, Luke! It's all because you can't keep your fucking mouth shut!" Jack yelled back at Luke. Luke shook his head and opened the car door, rolling out while the car was still moving. He pulled his bag with him and began running back down the street toward the airport. He was on the first flight back to New York, ready to run away from it all.

Days turned to weeks, and weeks to months. Luke had disappeared for 2 months, and the boys had no idea where he was. Mackenzie, too, had no idea where he was, but she knew he would come back when he was ready. She figured something had happened to cause his delay. Ashton picked up the phone one night and set it to speaker as the boys watched the evening news. "This is Ashton."

"Ash, it's Jack."

"Jackie, baby, what's up?" Ashton laughed, looking at the other boys.

"I need to know where Luke is. Our parents are dead, and I lashed out at Luke about it when he came home. I blamed him for it, but I know it wasn't his fault." Jack sighed.

"Oh, yeah, Luke's gone. We haven't seen or heard from him in months." Calum answered, turning down the TV.

"Fuck.." Jack sighed. "Celeste texts Luke a question mark every other day to make sure he's okay. Usually he just sends the thumbs up emoji, but he hasn't replied since he left Australia months ago to visit."

"He came home and left right away. What's going on?" Ashton asked, putting the phone off speaker and holding it up to his ear.

"Our parents were murdered. I lashed out at Luke, I blamed him.. I need to make things right with him," Jack sighed. "I just.. I can't let anything happen to Celeste or Ben's wife. Luke's girl.. Michaela or whatever her name is."

"Mackenzie." Ashton corrected. Her head perked up from the hallway as she heard her name being spoken.

"Yeah, Mackenzie. Luke would go on a rampage if something happened to her, so Ben and I have a plan to get you all out of the gang if something goes wrong. Can you ask his girl if she knows where he is?"

"Hey, Kenzie?" Ashton called.

"What, Ash?"

"Where's Luke?"

"He'll be home in a few days, I think." Mackenzie said. In all honesty, she knew exactly where Luke was and when he was coming home.

"She said he'll be home in a few days." Ashton spoke into the receiver.

"Alright, I'll text you the plans for getting out. But, I hope it never comes to that." Jack said before hanging up.

Luke wiped his eyes and tucked the photo back into his wallet. He pulled out the ultrasound picture Mackenzie had given him. "I'll never leave you, Baby Hemmo. I promise." He smiled softly and tucked the picture back into his wallet where he could keep it safe.