camp || hemmings au

ten

Luke didn't come to breakfast that Saturday morning. He didn't join us in our daily activities. He didn't come to dinner. No one saw Luke all day. Calum informed the group that Luke wasn't feeling well, but by the glance he gave me after saying so, I knew what was wrong with Luke. He was having a bad day. Calum told me that he still had days where he could only think about the incident, and I couldn't blame Luke. Who could forget something so horrible, especially when you witnessed it first hand? I didn't think Luke would ever truly get over it, but I hoped the memories of that night would slowly fade for him. Since it was the first day I knew of where Luke was having a bad day, I figured that he didn't have them too much.

"What are you doing?" Elizabeth asked as she walked into our cabin. She sat down at the foot of my bed and criss-crossed her legs.

I looked up from my book and gave her a weird look. "Reading." I thought it was pretty obvious, considering I was holding the book in front of my face.

She rolled her eyes. "Okay, it was a stupid question but no need to get an attitude."

"Sorry." I mumbled. I had been a little on edge because I was worried about Luke. I wanted to go check on him but I wasn't sure if he wanted company. I knew Calum was there, but it was his cabin too so that didn't count.

"Have you seen Luke?" Elizabeth asked suddenly, as if she knew I was thinking about him. "He looks awful." She shook her head at the thought.

"You've seen him?" I questioned, laying my book down beside me and sitting up straighter.

"Yeah, I just left a minute ago," She nodded, "Calum wouldn't let me in, but I saw him from the doorway. His hair was a mess and he had bags under his eyes. Calum said that he still wasn't feeling well, so I should probably go before I catch whatever he has."

I really wanted to go check on Luke after Elizabeth said those things. He was doing really bad and I just wanted to make sure he was alright. I couldn't let him know I knew about the incident though because I promised Calum I wouldn't tell him. But I had to see Luke, I had to be there for him.

"Elizabeth, I'm gonna go visit Ashton and Jude, okay?" I lied, getting up from the bed. I just couldn't tell her I was going to see Luke.

"Can I come?" She stood up too.

"No," I said quickly, then recomposed myself, "I mean, I have to talk to them privately about something."

"Oh," she sat back down, "Okay, well I'll just read this book you were reading while you're gone." She picked up the book and lied back on my bed, completely ignoring my presence.

I left our cabin and walked down the dirt road until I reached Calum and Luke's cabin. I knocked on the door lightly and waited.

"Elizabeth, please-" Luke stopped talking when he saw me standing there. Elizabeth was right; he looked awful. Just as she said, his hair was a mess, his eyes had bags and looked so tired. I had never seen him look so horrible. I didn't like seeing him like this. Luke's eyebrows furrowed together as if he was confused that I was there. "Caroline?"

"Hi," I smiled, even though I was wondering why he was so confused.

"Uh, come in," He stepped out of the doorway and I stepped in. There were clothes all over the floor and trash, empty chip bags and water bottles. But there was no Calum.

"What are you doing here?" Luke asked as he closed the door.

"Where's Calum?" I didn't mean to ignore his question, I was just curious as to where Calum was.

"He's over at the lodge," Luke sat down on his bed and sighed. He seemed so sad, I just wanted to hug him and never let go. "What are you doing here?"

I sat down beside Luke on the bed and shrugged. "I just wanted to come by and check on you. Do you want me to leave?"

"No, you don't have to go. I just...I thought you were asleep." He shrugged.

"Why would you think that?" I asked. It was only around 8, so I didn't understand why he would think I was asleep already.

"Elizabeth told me you were."

"What?" I half-laughed.

"She came over and I asked where you were. She said you were asleep and then she started talking about things I could care less about. I told her I wasn't feeling well so that she would leave."

I was completely puzzled by his statement. Elizabeth said she hadn't spoken to Luke, just Calum, she had lied. She had also lied about me being asleep. I didn't know why she would lie, but it upset me that she did. We were friends and the fact that she had lied to me, especially so early in our friendship, hurt my feelings. If she had lied to me about speaking to Luke, she had probably lied about speaking to Calum also.

"How long has Calum been at the lodge?" I questioned Luke. He looked at me quizzically but then seemed to be in deep thought. "He came back here after dinner to check on me and then went straight there, so probably around an hour and a half."

"Well, Luke," I shook my head, "It looks like Elizabeth lied to both of us."

"What do you mean?" Luke asked.

"Nevermind," I shook my head again, "How are you feeling?"

"I'm not really sick." Luke admitted, taking me aback. I hadn't expected him to give in and tell me that he was faking. I thought he would play along.

"Oh," I said, "Well, then." I tried to play it off, not wanting him to know that I knew he wasn't really sick. Then he would wonder how I knew and I wouldn't be able to tell him.

Luke chuckled lightly and wrapped his arm around my waist, pulling me into him. I rested my head on his shoulder,wrapping my arms around his waist and peeked up at him.

"Do you want to tell me what is wrong with you?" I asked quietly. I knew Luke wasn't going to tell me, but I would be there for him if he did.

"Maybe some other time," Luke sighed, "I don't really want to talk about it right now."

I nodded and quickly leant up to kiss his cheek. I just wanted him to know that everything would be okay. And since I was already practically hugging him, I couldn't do that to show affection.

Luke obviously didn't find that as enough because as soon as my lips left his cheek, he softly grabbed my face and brought his lips to mine. I was a little surprised at first but quickly adapted and began to kiss him back. He was so gentle with me, as if the slightest wrong move would hurt me. I admired that about him, how he assumed I was so fragile. I couldn't think about anything else when I was kissing Luke. Everything around me faded. Even though that's extremely cliché, it was true. For some reason, I felt like the same went for Luke.

And that's probably why we didn't notice Elizabeth standing in the cabin doorway.

___

OOOOH SNAP ((the next chapter is going to be loooong))

that is all

bye

-falloutcalum :)